Young father fights stage 3 cancer
Don protégé
Hello, My name is Jamie Pratt. With the encouragement of family, friends, nurses, and doctors I've created this page to help lessen the burden on our family. The last thing I ever thought I would have to do is ask for help. As I sit here with George lying asleep I find myself doing just that. I am reluctantly asking family, friends, coworkers, and fellow firefighters with whom George served for the last 17 years to open your hearts and give. No amount is too small.
Here is just a short synopsis of the past year for us. Beginning early in 2015 George began losing a tremendous amount of weight. All together he ended up losing almost 150 pounds. His doctor believed it was from his diabetes and medication he was taking so he continued doing as they said.
On July 29th I found him severely lethargic and turning yellow. I rushed him to the local hospital, they in turn transported him to Upstate Medical University Syracuse NY. (over two hours from home) That's where he underwent his first surgery, a stent between the pancreas and the liver. On August 15th we were told he had pancreatic cancer. We eventually learned that it had progressed to stage 4. With a combination of surgery (The Whipple procedure) and chemotherapy George would have about a 20% survival rate.
Being the fighter he is, George met the challenge head on and did everything the doctors told him to do, Beginning with a 13 day hospital stay. He made it through that and began Chemotherapy the end of October. Between treatments 2 and 3 his body began holding a lot of fluid and he began to swell badly. The local doctors removed what they could but nobody really understood everything his body was going through at the time.
On December 14th his bloating had gotten worse than ever and I couldn't keep him awake. Again I rushed him to the local hospital. They did what they could and transported him to Syracuse. By the time he arrived in Syracuse he was non responsive and couldn't breathe on his own. He was put on life support. The next several days brought lots of tests, cultures, X-rays, ultrasounds, cat scans etc. We were told he had a severe case of pneumonia with multiple other infections including a fungal infection from the port used for Chemotherepy. His poor body has been beat up but he's still fighting. Now we are waiting to see if the infection has caused heart damage.
George and Our entire family have endured a long journey, and hopefully have an even longer and uncertain journey ahead of us. We are extremely greatful to everyone for their support and thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
George, Jamie, Christine, and Georgie
Here is just a short synopsis of the past year for us. Beginning early in 2015 George began losing a tremendous amount of weight. All together he ended up losing almost 150 pounds. His doctor believed it was from his diabetes and medication he was taking so he continued doing as they said.
On July 29th I found him severely lethargic and turning yellow. I rushed him to the local hospital, they in turn transported him to Upstate Medical University Syracuse NY. (over two hours from home) That's where he underwent his first surgery, a stent between the pancreas and the liver. On August 15th we were told he had pancreatic cancer. We eventually learned that it had progressed to stage 4. With a combination of surgery (The Whipple procedure) and chemotherapy George would have about a 20% survival rate.
Being the fighter he is, George met the challenge head on and did everything the doctors told him to do, Beginning with a 13 day hospital stay. He made it through that and began Chemotherapy the end of October. Between treatments 2 and 3 his body began holding a lot of fluid and he began to swell badly. The local doctors removed what they could but nobody really understood everything his body was going through at the time.
On December 14th his bloating had gotten worse than ever and I couldn't keep him awake. Again I rushed him to the local hospital. They did what they could and transported him to Syracuse. By the time he arrived in Syracuse he was non responsive and couldn't breathe on his own. He was put on life support. The next several days brought lots of tests, cultures, X-rays, ultrasounds, cat scans etc. We were told he had a severe case of pneumonia with multiple other infections including a fungal infection from the port used for Chemotherepy. His poor body has been beat up but he's still fighting. Now we are waiting to see if the infection has caused heart damage.
George and Our entire family have endured a long journey, and hopefully have an even longer and uncertain journey ahead of us. We are extremely greatful to everyone for their support and thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
George, Jamie, Christine, and Georgie
Organisateur
Jamie Pratt
Organisateur
Hammond, NY
