brink637
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2009
- Messages
- 123
- Likes
- 51
Hi Volnation -
As some of my friends on here know, my family is facing serious adversity right now and I'm asking for support from anyone who would be generous enough to provide it. Last year, my wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening form of cancer while she was pregnant with our daughter. Immediately, we began pondering the possibility of a family of 3 becoming a family of 1 - just me. Some of our medical team advised us to abort our daughter due to risk factors, but we just couldn't do that. We had our daughter 5 weeks early and while she had a series of medical issues and an extended stay in NICU, we fully expect her to grow up to be a happy, healthy, normal girl. She is truly a miracle and a blessing. Our case was so rare that our dream team of doctors spanned both U.S. coasts and 3 European countries. The medical community rallied for us and we deeply, deeply appreciate this. But this has all come with a very serious financial burden. I've dedicated every dime from my work to help offset medical bills. I've also liquidated my retirement fund. This is very scary because I'm middle-aged and I know I'll probably never retire now, but I was willing to make this sacrifice for my wife and daughter. It's the vow I took. As bills have continued to stack up, I see that I managed to put a band-aid on a very serious gaping wound. I just don't have enough resources, and I don't think anyone except the very wealthiest could take on this type of financial burden.
I've created a GoFundMe account here where you can read about our story and donate if you choose to: https://www.gofundme.com/cancersurvivors1
If this is a cause that you're able to support, I can't tell you how absolutely grateful my family would be. This has been the most harrowing situation of my life. I've almost lost my wife twice now. My baby has struggled but is going to be ok. I'm trying to get my own health back in order. A year ago, I had perfect blood pressure. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with extreme hypertension that would wind up killing me if I didn't reel it in. I've gone to support groups for family's battling serious cancer and I've learned that hypertension has a lot to do with feeling an enormous amount of responsibility, but really not being able to help the situation. I've felt desperate at times and I've relied heavily on the verse from Psalms 23:4. It's meant a lot to me and I've relied on my faith to get me from day to day as we continue to battle this.
Thanks for reading this and considering us. If you ever need my advice on cancer or just someone to pray for you, don't even hesitate to PM me. I'm here for any Vol fan or for anyone battling this for that matter.
--------------------------------------------------------------
So you can put our faces to this story, here's what our journey of cancer while pregnant looks like. We've been to hell and back, and we're still trying to put the pieces back in place:
A year before diagnosis, going to UT football game: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
Giving Birth, Lord I was nervous because of the risks but I didn't want to show my wife any signs of it. You can see that she's wearing her wig here: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
This is what my daughter looked like in NICU. She had severe floppy baby syndrome meaning she wasn't curling up the way babies do, she wasn't drinking fluid, she didn't have normal reflexes like crying or repsponsiveness. The doctors did a panel of tests assuming that she contracted some sort of illness due to the nature of the pregnancy. By the grace of God, they were wrong! She stayed in this 'shocked state' for 3 months but for whatever reason, just sort of rebooted and found her footing in the world. She's developmentally a little bit behind but she's going to be perfectly normal: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
To get an understanding of what cancer "looks like", compare the 1st photo of my wife and I going to the UT game with this photo of her holding our baby on our porch. This photo breaks my heart because this doesn't look like my wife at all. She's listless and her eyes are grey and hollow. I never remember her cracking a smile during these days. Chemo destroys good cells and bad cells. There's also a problem called "chemo brain" where you literally are not yourself psychologically. I was worried for my wife but I was also worried for my daughter during this because this would normally be the time when mom's/daughter's bond. But it was a really tough time: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
Thank you for reading - God bless.
As some of my friends on here know, my family is facing serious adversity right now and I'm asking for support from anyone who would be generous enough to provide it. Last year, my wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening form of cancer while she was pregnant with our daughter. Immediately, we began pondering the possibility of a family of 3 becoming a family of 1 - just me. Some of our medical team advised us to abort our daughter due to risk factors, but we just couldn't do that. We had our daughter 5 weeks early and while she had a series of medical issues and an extended stay in NICU, we fully expect her to grow up to be a happy, healthy, normal girl. She is truly a miracle and a blessing. Our case was so rare that our dream team of doctors spanned both U.S. coasts and 3 European countries. The medical community rallied for us and we deeply, deeply appreciate this. But this has all come with a very serious financial burden. I've dedicated every dime from my work to help offset medical bills. I've also liquidated my retirement fund. This is very scary because I'm middle-aged and I know I'll probably never retire now, but I was willing to make this sacrifice for my wife and daughter. It's the vow I took. As bills have continued to stack up, I see that I managed to put a band-aid on a very serious gaping wound. I just don't have enough resources, and I don't think anyone except the very wealthiest could take on this type of financial burden.
I've created a GoFundMe account here where you can read about our story and donate if you choose to: https://www.gofundme.com/cancersurvivors1
If this is a cause that you're able to support, I can't tell you how absolutely grateful my family would be. This has been the most harrowing situation of my life. I've almost lost my wife twice now. My baby has struggled but is going to be ok. I'm trying to get my own health back in order. A year ago, I had perfect blood pressure. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with extreme hypertension that would wind up killing me if I didn't reel it in. I've gone to support groups for family's battling serious cancer and I've learned that hypertension has a lot to do with feeling an enormous amount of responsibility, but really not being able to help the situation. I've felt desperate at times and I've relied heavily on the verse from Psalms 23:4. It's meant a lot to me and I've relied on my faith to get me from day to day as we continue to battle this.
Thanks for reading this and considering us. If you ever need my advice on cancer or just someone to pray for you, don't even hesitate to PM me. I'm here for any Vol fan or for anyone battling this for that matter.
--------------------------------------------------------------
So you can put our faces to this story, here's what our journey of cancer while pregnant looks like. We've been to hell and back, and we're still trying to put the pieces back in place:
A year before diagnosis, going to UT football game: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
Giving Birth, Lord I was nervous because of the risks but I didn't want to show my wife any signs of it. You can see that she's wearing her wig here: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
This is what my daughter looked like in NICU. She had severe floppy baby syndrome meaning she wasn't curling up the way babies do, she wasn't drinking fluid, she didn't have normal reflexes like crying or repsponsiveness. The doctors did a panel of tests assuming that she contracted some sort of illness due to the nature of the pregnancy. By the grace of God, they were wrong! She stayed in this 'shocked state' for 3 months but for whatever reason, just sort of rebooted and found her footing in the world. She's developmentally a little bit behind but she's going to be perfectly normal: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
To get an understanding of what cancer "looks like", compare the 1st photo of my wife and I going to the UT game with this photo of her holding our baby on our porch. This photo breaks my heart because this doesn't look like my wife at all. She's listless and her eyes are grey and hollow. I never remember her cracking a smile during these days. Chemo destroys good cells and bad cells. There's also a problem called "chemo brain" where you literally are not yourself psychologically. I was worried for my wife but I was also worried for my daughter during this because this would normally be the time when mom's/daughter's bond. But it was a really tough time: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
Thank you for reading - God bless.
