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Having been healthy all my life, in July, following a work trip to Charlotte with Samaritan's Purse, I returned home with severe back pain, throwing up, and just generally felt aweful. I made an appointment to see the doctor. Little did I know then, it would be a life altering next few days. At 10:00 pm on Tuesday night we received a call from our Doctor. She informed me that I had Multiple Myeloma- a Cancer of the blood that affects the bones and the bone marrow. An uncommon diagnosis for someone my age. We had never heard of it.
By Friday, I was in the hospital with acute kidney failure, multiple myeloma, and severe back pain. Toni was praying I would make it for one more Christmas. Our Oncologist encouraged Toni that I would be around for Christmas and his goal would be to get me into remission.
At this point I was placed on disability for the next six months at sixty percent of my pay and after treatment for kidney failure, five compression fractures in my vertebrae, two back surgerys, and more that sixty chemo infusion treatments, my cancer is in remission and in February I was able to return to work.
Now our next step, through much prayer and research, we are planning for me to have a stem cell transplant at Cedars- Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, a two plus hour drive from our home. This will be a long process of mobilization, harvesting, conditiontioning, transplant, and waiting for my immune system to re-boot. As I will be in the hospital for much of this, Toni will be both travelling back and forth, staying in the Hospital, and in local Air BnB housing. Our costs during this time will be high due to the travel, lodging, and addtional expenses.
My treatment begins on April 11, 2017 and is critical to get started as soon as we can. Our doctor says that for the optimum success for this type of treatment, it's important to start now, while I am in remission.
We also have many medical bills from my first eight months of ER visits, cancer treatments, back surgeries, phsical therapy, the list goes on.
Thank you in advance for considering and praying about how you can help. Please keep us in prayer for a safe transplant and a full recovery.
By Friday, I was in the hospital with acute kidney failure, multiple myeloma, and severe back pain. Toni was praying I would make it for one more Christmas. Our Oncologist encouraged Toni that I would be around for Christmas and his goal would be to get me into remission.
At this point I was placed on disability for the next six months at sixty percent of my pay and after treatment for kidney failure, five compression fractures in my vertebrae, two back surgerys, and more that sixty chemo infusion treatments, my cancer is in remission and in February I was able to return to work.
Now our next step, through much prayer and research, we are planning for me to have a stem cell transplant at Cedars- Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, a two plus hour drive from our home. This will be a long process of mobilization, harvesting, conditiontioning, transplant, and waiting for my immune system to re-boot. As I will be in the hospital for much of this, Toni will be both travelling back and forth, staying in the Hospital, and in local Air BnB housing. Our costs during this time will be high due to the travel, lodging, and addtional expenses.
My treatment begins on April 11, 2017 and is critical to get started as soon as we can. Our doctor says that for the optimum success for this type of treatment, it's important to start now, while I am in remission.
We also have many medical bills from my first eight months of ER visits, cancer treatments, back surgeries, phsical therapy, the list goes on.
Thank you in advance for considering and praying about how you can help. Please keep us in prayer for a safe transplant and a full recovery.