Help Bryan Beat Stage 4 Cancer
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My brother is Bryan McQuide. A couple months ago he was living a normal, happy life with his wife (married 13 years in May) Jonette, and their adorable 3 year old boy, Zachary. On November 16th, his 44th birthday, everything changed. That was the day he learned that he had stage 4 rectal cancer.
I would like to share his story of how he went from a healthy, 44 year old husband and father to battling a deadly cancer. He has all intentions of beating this, but he can’t do it alone.
But first, a little bit about Bryan. He, Jonette and Zachary live in Johnston, Iowa where he is a professor of Political Science at Grand View University. Bryan is a genuine, honest, kind, selfless, hard-working, faith-filled, GOOD man. He has no guile, no self-serving agenda. He simply wants to love and serve others.
From birth, Bryan’s journey has been filled with many uphill battles. I have always marveled at his perseverance, his strength and how the difficult trials he has faced have never changed his positive outlook. Although life knocks Bryan down, he never fails to pick himself up and carry on. This time will be no different. Though this is the toughest of the battles he has fought, he continues to face it with the calm assurance that “God is in charge.”
It was only a few weeks prior to his 44th birthday, when Bryan noticed some blood in his stool. After a week of this, he went to his primary doctor who said it was probably just irritated hemorrhoids. To be safe, his doctor sent him for a colonoscopy (thank God he did). To Bryan’s surprise, the colonoscopy showed a large mass in the rectum. The doctors said they need to biopsy the mass but it didn’t look good. Bryan was stunned, but still held out hope that is was benign. When the biopsy came back, Bryan learned that he had cancer. There it was. Cancer. That awful word. This was a shock. How could this be happening?
The next step was an MRI to determine the stage of the cancer. Because Bryan had acted so quickly on his symptoms, everyone felt the news would be good – stage 0 or stage 1. We would get the results on Bryan’s birthday. That had to be a good sign. We comforted each other with the knowledge that rectal cancer is very treatable if you catch it early. If the cancer hasn’t spread, the protocol is a rather routine surgery to remove the tumor and that should be the end of it. That was the plan we were all counting on.
But the cancer had different plans. On November 16, 2015, Bryan learned that the cancer had spread to his liver and his lymph nodes. He had stage 4 cancer. He would be fighting for his life. We were all shocked and devastated. How did we go from a diagnosis of hemorrhoids to stage 4 cancer in less than 2 weeks?
The stats of survival rates for stage 4 cancer is anything but encouraging but they are just stats. Bryan is a person who is young, strong, healthy and most of all has amazing HOPE and FAITH. Nothing is impossible! From the outset of the horrible news, Bryan has been resolved to stay strong and fight.
Bryan immediately took action to find the best plan to attack this cancer. Surgery was not an option yet as he needed to first contain the spreading and somehow kill the 6 liver tumors and lymph node tumor. If and only if this was successful could they consider surgery to remove the rectal tumor. As the doctor said, “the rectal tumor is the least of our concerns”.
The bright side of being so young with cancer is that the doctors were able to prescribe a more aggressive form of chemotherapy. As of now, he has completed 7 rounds of chemo over 14 weeks. As anyone who has gone through this knows, he has had his share of rough days, battling fatigue, nausea, weakness, and loss of appetite. Through it all, he has done his best to keep life as normal as possible – teaching his classes with a chemo drip bag and enjoying life at home, especially playing with little Zachary whenever he can.
After the last round of chemo, Bryan received some encouraging news. The CT scan showed 3 liver spots were gone and the remaining 3 had reduced. The lymph node tumor appeared to be gone as well. He will receive a MRI in mid-March. If the chemo is successful in eliminating the liver and lymph node tumors, he can have surgery as soon as the end of March or early April. Otherwise, they will continue the chemo treatments as long as they are effective.
That is the story as it stands today. Bryan is fighting hard and currently winning. So many people are praying for his complete healing and I truly thank you for those prayers. When Bryan initially met with his oncology doctor, he said Bryan would need “divine intervention” to beat this. That is exactly what we believe will happen. Bryan’s faith is unshakable and that is more powerful than any drug.
Although we are encouraged with the latest positive news, fighting cancer is unpredictable and costly. The cost of Bryan’s medical treatment is adding up and causing financial strain on his family. If you can help with the cost in any way, it would be most appreciated and you will have our lasting gratitude. Please also pray for Bryan and for all those suffering from cancer. Feel free to share Bryan’s story with anyone else. Every little bit helps.
Thank you for helping Bryan beat cancer. He is McQuide Strong.
I would like to share his story of how he went from a healthy, 44 year old husband and father to battling a deadly cancer. He has all intentions of beating this, but he can’t do it alone.
But first, a little bit about Bryan. He, Jonette and Zachary live in Johnston, Iowa where he is a professor of Political Science at Grand View University. Bryan is a genuine, honest, kind, selfless, hard-working, faith-filled, GOOD man. He has no guile, no self-serving agenda. He simply wants to love and serve others.
From birth, Bryan’s journey has been filled with many uphill battles. I have always marveled at his perseverance, his strength and how the difficult trials he has faced have never changed his positive outlook. Although life knocks Bryan down, he never fails to pick himself up and carry on. This time will be no different. Though this is the toughest of the battles he has fought, he continues to face it with the calm assurance that “God is in charge.”
It was only a few weeks prior to his 44th birthday, when Bryan noticed some blood in his stool. After a week of this, he went to his primary doctor who said it was probably just irritated hemorrhoids. To be safe, his doctor sent him for a colonoscopy (thank God he did). To Bryan’s surprise, the colonoscopy showed a large mass in the rectum. The doctors said they need to biopsy the mass but it didn’t look good. Bryan was stunned, but still held out hope that is was benign. When the biopsy came back, Bryan learned that he had cancer. There it was. Cancer. That awful word. This was a shock. How could this be happening?
The next step was an MRI to determine the stage of the cancer. Because Bryan had acted so quickly on his symptoms, everyone felt the news would be good – stage 0 or stage 1. We would get the results on Bryan’s birthday. That had to be a good sign. We comforted each other with the knowledge that rectal cancer is very treatable if you catch it early. If the cancer hasn’t spread, the protocol is a rather routine surgery to remove the tumor and that should be the end of it. That was the plan we were all counting on.
But the cancer had different plans. On November 16, 2015, Bryan learned that the cancer had spread to his liver and his lymph nodes. He had stage 4 cancer. He would be fighting for his life. We were all shocked and devastated. How did we go from a diagnosis of hemorrhoids to stage 4 cancer in less than 2 weeks?
The stats of survival rates for stage 4 cancer is anything but encouraging but they are just stats. Bryan is a person who is young, strong, healthy and most of all has amazing HOPE and FAITH. Nothing is impossible! From the outset of the horrible news, Bryan has been resolved to stay strong and fight.
Bryan immediately took action to find the best plan to attack this cancer. Surgery was not an option yet as he needed to first contain the spreading and somehow kill the 6 liver tumors and lymph node tumor. If and only if this was successful could they consider surgery to remove the rectal tumor. As the doctor said, “the rectal tumor is the least of our concerns”.
The bright side of being so young with cancer is that the doctors were able to prescribe a more aggressive form of chemotherapy. As of now, he has completed 7 rounds of chemo over 14 weeks. As anyone who has gone through this knows, he has had his share of rough days, battling fatigue, nausea, weakness, and loss of appetite. Through it all, he has done his best to keep life as normal as possible – teaching his classes with a chemo drip bag and enjoying life at home, especially playing with little Zachary whenever he can.
After the last round of chemo, Bryan received some encouraging news. The CT scan showed 3 liver spots were gone and the remaining 3 had reduced. The lymph node tumor appeared to be gone as well. He will receive a MRI in mid-March. If the chemo is successful in eliminating the liver and lymph node tumors, he can have surgery as soon as the end of March or early April. Otherwise, they will continue the chemo treatments as long as they are effective.
That is the story as it stands today. Bryan is fighting hard and currently winning. So many people are praying for his complete healing and I truly thank you for those prayers. When Bryan initially met with his oncology doctor, he said Bryan would need “divine intervention” to beat this. That is exactly what we believe will happen. Bryan’s faith is unshakable and that is more powerful than any drug.
Although we are encouraged with the latest positive news, fighting cancer is unpredictable and costly. The cost of Bryan’s medical treatment is adding up and causing financial strain on his family. If you can help with the cost in any way, it would be most appreciated and you will have our lasting gratitude. Please also pray for Bryan and for all those suffering from cancer. Feel free to share Bryan’s story with anyone else. Every little bit helps.
Thank you for helping Bryan beat cancer. He is McQuide Strong.
Organiser and beneficiary
Lindsay Tristine
Organiser
Monroe, CT
Bryan McQuide
Beneficiary
