Fighting With Andy
Donation protected
Those who know Andy, know he has been one of "The Few & the Proud" serving this country as a United States Marine. Now, Andy is part of a "few" in a different way, and we are proud to be able to stand behind him in this next battle.
Late March, Andy suddenly became ill (bloated) and after 2 days of significant discomfort, he went to the hospital to find his appendix had ruptured. Surgery was done to remove the appendix and Andy returned home to recover and move on with his life.
A week later, the pathology reports came back indicating the cause of the rupture was a very rare (4 reported in the last 20 years) form of appendix cancer. When the appendix ruptured, it released a pollination of cancer cells into Andy's body. Because of this, he will be going in for yet another surgery on April 26 and will soon after begin chemotherapy. Because of it's rarity, there is very little information- including how to properly treat it . Little do those cancerous cells know- they invaded a fighter with a militia behind him.
Any war fought unfortunately comes at a price. With the first surgery alone racking up a bill close to 10,000 out of pocket, the second surgery will likely be far worse. On top of this, Andy will be needing to take a break from work to fight. The Briggs are always the first to donate, plan, jump to the aide of others- often others they don't even know. It is now time for the rest of us to serve this family who have served others in so many countless ways.
APRIL 29, UPDATE***
From Michelle: Thank you all for the continued love and massive amount of support you have shown our family over the last couple weeks. It is through a complete fog that I type this. The surgery yesterday did not go the way we were hoping. The doctor got in there and found that the cancer had spread to 2 other areas, the small intestine and the peritoneal wall. Seeing this, the doctor immediately backed out, closed Andy up and came to tell me the bad news. Since he confirmed that the cancer had spread, it puts Andy in stage 4 cancer. If you know anything about cancer, you know that stage 4 is bad. We were devastated by the news, but the doctor had a Plan B going into this, knowing that this might be a possibility, so we are on to Plan B. This consists of a much more invasive, 8-12 hour long surgery where they will remove all the tumors, do the right colectomy (as they were supposed to do yesterday) and conduct a procedure called HYPEC. HYPEC is a process where a highly targeted and potent heated chemotherapy solution gets swirled around in the abdomen for 90-120 minutes. Its awful and it absolutely terrifies me to think that my Andy will have to undergo this. We were just confirmed for the date of this new, longer surgery on Monday, May 6th. That day I will be living my nightmare, this whole situation is my nightmare -- but we are really trying to stay positive! Andy is in unbelievably good spirits and is keeping me as sane as I possibly can be.
The doctor said that the prognosis is promising if all the tumors can be removed and the HYPEC does what its supposed to do, but reminded us that this is an extremely aggressive form of cancer. He also seemed very confident that he could get a positive outcome, so that is very encouraging! So its not all bad news! However, there is a very long road ahead of us right now and looking up at that mountain from the bottom, it looks insurmountable.
As usual, keep the prayers, positive thoughts and positive energy focused towards us We have our eyes set on May 6th.
*If a monetary gift is not possible, the Briggs family covets your prayers. Please also keep Michelle and their children, Avery, Evan, Brady and Freddie (the pup) in your prayers as they navigate this journey by his side.
Late March, Andy suddenly became ill (bloated) and after 2 days of significant discomfort, he went to the hospital to find his appendix had ruptured. Surgery was done to remove the appendix and Andy returned home to recover and move on with his life.
A week later, the pathology reports came back indicating the cause of the rupture was a very rare (4 reported in the last 20 years) form of appendix cancer. When the appendix ruptured, it released a pollination of cancer cells into Andy's body. Because of this, he will be going in for yet another surgery on April 26 and will soon after begin chemotherapy. Because of it's rarity, there is very little information- including how to properly treat it . Little do those cancerous cells know- they invaded a fighter with a militia behind him.
Any war fought unfortunately comes at a price. With the first surgery alone racking up a bill close to 10,000 out of pocket, the second surgery will likely be far worse. On top of this, Andy will be needing to take a break from work to fight. The Briggs are always the first to donate, plan, jump to the aide of others- often others they don't even know. It is now time for the rest of us to serve this family who have served others in so many countless ways.
APRIL 29, UPDATE***
From Michelle: Thank you all for the continued love and massive amount of support you have shown our family over the last couple weeks. It is through a complete fog that I type this. The surgery yesterday did not go the way we were hoping. The doctor got in there and found that the cancer had spread to 2 other areas, the small intestine and the peritoneal wall. Seeing this, the doctor immediately backed out, closed Andy up and came to tell me the bad news. Since he confirmed that the cancer had spread, it puts Andy in stage 4 cancer. If you know anything about cancer, you know that stage 4 is bad. We were devastated by the news, but the doctor had a Plan B going into this, knowing that this might be a possibility, so we are on to Plan B. This consists of a much more invasive, 8-12 hour long surgery where they will remove all the tumors, do the right colectomy (as they were supposed to do yesterday) and conduct a procedure called HYPEC. HYPEC is a process where a highly targeted and potent heated chemotherapy solution gets swirled around in the abdomen for 90-120 minutes. Its awful and it absolutely terrifies me to think that my Andy will have to undergo this. We were just confirmed for the date of this new, longer surgery on Monday, May 6th. That day I will be living my nightmare, this whole situation is my nightmare -- but we are really trying to stay positive! Andy is in unbelievably good spirits and is keeping me as sane as I possibly can be.
The doctor said that the prognosis is promising if all the tumors can be removed and the HYPEC does what its supposed to do, but reminded us that this is an extremely aggressive form of cancer. He also seemed very confident that he could get a positive outcome, so that is very encouraging! So its not all bad news! However, there is a very long road ahead of us right now and looking up at that mountain from the bottom, it looks insurmountable.
As usual, keep the prayers, positive thoughts and positive energy focused towards us We have our eyes set on May 6th.
*If a monetary gift is not possible, the Briggs family covets your prayers. Please also keep Michelle and their children, Avery, Evan, Brady and Freddie (the pup) in your prayers as they navigate this journey by his side.
Organizer and beneficiary
Amy Meyerott
Organizer
Saint Charles, MO
Michelle Briggs
Beneficiary
