Support for Bradley Paul's Cancer Treatment
Donation protected
Hi friends, family, acquaintances and strangers.
My name is Bradley Paul and in July of 2019 I found out I have a rare form of cancer called Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors. At the time I was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, working for a mental health residential treatment facility and getting ready to go to graduate school for a Master's degree in Counseling at Southwestern College. I had been in Santa Fe for about a year when I started experiencing discomfort and then pain in my abdomen, especially after I ate. After a month of trying to wait it out (and the pain getting progressively worse) I went to the ER. This is where CT imaging showed I had a mass in my pancreas and some of the surrounding lymph nodes.
I was admitted to the hospital and tests were run. The first thing they ruled out was typical pancreatic cancer, which in my case is very forturnate. Eventually they confidently concluded the tumors to be NET (Neuroendocrine Tumors), which although rare (even more rare in people under 60) is treatable. With more imaging and tests completed, it was shown that my cancer had metastasized to a large number of lymph nodes in my abdomen and some close to my heart and lungs. As the weeks turned to months and my days were filled with tests and appointments, my pain continued to increase to the point where I could no longer work and could barely eat. It became increasingly clear I needed to start treatment as soon as possible. I was hurriedly moved back to Connecticut, where I grew up, to be with my family, to get a second opinion and start treatment as soon as I was able.
I have been under the care of the oncology department in Hartford Hospital, since my return to Connecticut close to a month ago. Hartford Hospital is partnered with Sloan Kettering (a world leader in cancer research and treatment) and after meeting with some doctors at Sloan Kettering last week I am finally going to start treatment within a week. My treatment consists of a variety of chemotherapy pills that I will take for about 3 months before my cancer is going to be re-imaged. The hope is that this treatment will reduce the size of my tumors (and kill some off entirely) so that the remaining tumors can be removed surgically. Depending on how the treatment progresses, the medications/treatment might be changed or added to.
Since the beginning of this whole adventure I have been taking everything one step at a time and living one day at a time. I am keeping a neutral/positive outlook on my life and my diagnosis. What I really mean by this is that I am not putting my thoughts and energy into all the "what if's" and not focusing on either the best or worst case scenarios. I am being realistic about the situation I am in, acknowledging I could die, but not dwelling on that fact. What I do know is that whatever happens on this journey I will fight and choose life. There are good days and there are bad days, but I will continue to fight and with the love and support of those around me I will get what I need. I think that is the most important part of the message I want people to know about my life with cancer, I am accepting of what comes my way, I will battle and fight for the life I have, and that I live each day with thanks and gratitude.
The last few months have really shown me how amazing my support network is. How incredible my friends and family are. How selfless and awesome the members of the lacrosse teams I have been apart of are (both my college team, Clark University, and the teams I helped coach in Santa Fe, Santa Fe Youth and Santa Fe Prep High School). And how ready and willing to help so many strangers are. Almost every day I hear stories from my parents, my friends, other family members, telling about how someone they told my story to is going to pray for me, how theyre going to call around and see if they can get in touch with specialists they know, if there is anything they can do to help they will, etc. Everytime I hear these stories I am blown away by humanities capacity to come together and help, especially someone they don't even know.
This brings me to why I have created this GoFundMe. First off, it allows me to tell my story (a bit hard these days if you don't have social media). Second of all, it's to let people know how they can support me. I am a huge believer in the power of prayer, and positive thinking, so just sending me positive messages, thoughts, prayers, or whatever that looks like to you, is going to benefit me immensely. (Imagine the power of my chemotherapy medication with hundreds or thousands of people infusing that medication with their love and healing).
In addition to positive thoughts and prayers, I am asking for financial support as well. This is largely for the benefit of my parents who are now entirely supporting me. This means they have have absorbed my own personal bills, and expenses but also the hefty medical bills as well. I have created this GoFundMe and asked my friends and family to post it on their social media, in order to let my story be known and to give everyone an easy and very important avenue of support to me and my family.
Please give as much as you can, and pass my story along. Thank you so much for taking this time out of your day. I will keep you all in my prayers (and hopefully updated as much as I can).
Mitakuya Oyasin.
Bradley Paul
My name is Bradley Paul and in July of 2019 I found out I have a rare form of cancer called Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors. At the time I was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, working for a mental health residential treatment facility and getting ready to go to graduate school for a Master's degree in Counseling at Southwestern College. I had been in Santa Fe for about a year when I started experiencing discomfort and then pain in my abdomen, especially after I ate. After a month of trying to wait it out (and the pain getting progressively worse) I went to the ER. This is where CT imaging showed I had a mass in my pancreas and some of the surrounding lymph nodes.
I was admitted to the hospital and tests were run. The first thing they ruled out was typical pancreatic cancer, which in my case is very forturnate. Eventually they confidently concluded the tumors to be NET (Neuroendocrine Tumors), which although rare (even more rare in people under 60) is treatable. With more imaging and tests completed, it was shown that my cancer had metastasized to a large number of lymph nodes in my abdomen and some close to my heart and lungs. As the weeks turned to months and my days were filled with tests and appointments, my pain continued to increase to the point where I could no longer work and could barely eat. It became increasingly clear I needed to start treatment as soon as possible. I was hurriedly moved back to Connecticut, where I grew up, to be with my family, to get a second opinion and start treatment as soon as I was able.
I have been under the care of the oncology department in Hartford Hospital, since my return to Connecticut close to a month ago. Hartford Hospital is partnered with Sloan Kettering (a world leader in cancer research and treatment) and after meeting with some doctors at Sloan Kettering last week I am finally going to start treatment within a week. My treatment consists of a variety of chemotherapy pills that I will take for about 3 months before my cancer is going to be re-imaged. The hope is that this treatment will reduce the size of my tumors (and kill some off entirely) so that the remaining tumors can be removed surgically. Depending on how the treatment progresses, the medications/treatment might be changed or added to.
Since the beginning of this whole adventure I have been taking everything one step at a time and living one day at a time. I am keeping a neutral/positive outlook on my life and my diagnosis. What I really mean by this is that I am not putting my thoughts and energy into all the "what if's" and not focusing on either the best or worst case scenarios. I am being realistic about the situation I am in, acknowledging I could die, but not dwelling on that fact. What I do know is that whatever happens on this journey I will fight and choose life. There are good days and there are bad days, but I will continue to fight and with the love and support of those around me I will get what I need. I think that is the most important part of the message I want people to know about my life with cancer, I am accepting of what comes my way, I will battle and fight for the life I have, and that I live each day with thanks and gratitude.
The last few months have really shown me how amazing my support network is. How incredible my friends and family are. How selfless and awesome the members of the lacrosse teams I have been apart of are (both my college team, Clark University, and the teams I helped coach in Santa Fe, Santa Fe Youth and Santa Fe Prep High School). And how ready and willing to help so many strangers are. Almost every day I hear stories from my parents, my friends, other family members, telling about how someone they told my story to is going to pray for me, how theyre going to call around and see if they can get in touch with specialists they know, if there is anything they can do to help they will, etc. Everytime I hear these stories I am blown away by humanities capacity to come together and help, especially someone they don't even know.
This brings me to why I have created this GoFundMe. First off, it allows me to tell my story (a bit hard these days if you don't have social media). Second of all, it's to let people know how they can support me. I am a huge believer in the power of prayer, and positive thinking, so just sending me positive messages, thoughts, prayers, or whatever that looks like to you, is going to benefit me immensely. (Imagine the power of my chemotherapy medication with hundreds or thousands of people infusing that medication with their love and healing).
In addition to positive thoughts and prayers, I am asking for financial support as well. This is largely for the benefit of my parents who are now entirely supporting me. This means they have have absorbed my own personal bills, and expenses but also the hefty medical bills as well. I have created this GoFundMe and asked my friends and family to post it on their social media, in order to let my story be known and to give everyone an easy and very important avenue of support to me and my family.
Please give as much as you can, and pass my story along. Thank you so much for taking this time out of your day. I will keep you all in my prayers (and hopefully updated as much as I can).
Mitakuya Oyasin.
Bradley Paul
Organizer
Bradley Paul
Organizer
Manchester, CT