Our Fight Against Cancer
Donation protected
Rob and I are about to enter into the next part of this fight against his Cancer. We decided to re-create the GoFundMe page under my name bc it got very confusing trying to navigate the page when my best friend set it up for me. This way I have easy access to update everyone on how Rob is doing.
A little bit about the start of this whole thing, to where we are now and the plan going forward.
To start from the beginning and condense it down to now. On Febrary 13th Rob was admitted to the hospital for dizziness and abnormal lab work at his doctors office. His blood work at the hospital came back that his blood counts were very low, requiring transfusions and all his other labs were off. This was the day he was diagnsed with luekemia. It shook our world to say the least and it's been a whirlwind ever since.
His local oncologist and the oncologist from Moffitt Cancer Center were stumped by what he had. It has taken multiple bone marrow biopsies and a month and a half of testing to narrow it down. Rob has now been officially diagnosed with MDS/MPN-unclassified. (Myelodysplasic myeloproliferative neoplasm unclassified) This is a VERY rare type of cancer. So much so that many oncologists go their whole career never seeing a case. There is no chemotherapy that can help this type of cancer. His only option for treatment and possibly a cure is receiving a bone marrow transplant ASAP. Bone marrow transplant of course has its own risks (infection, rejection etc). But if it works, it could cure him and this is his only option to fight this cancer. Right now he is requiring blood transfusions about every 8 days to keep his blood levels up. These seem to be getting closer together, because at the start it was about every 2 weeks. He sees the local oncologist weekly for blood work to check his blood level and ensure he has not converted to a form of acute Luekemia called AML, which is a big risk with the type of cancer he has. This is why it crucial he gets to transplant ASAP, as AML is extremely aggessive should he convert to this.
April 19th is our first appointment with the Transplant Coordination Team at Moffitt Cancer. This will be a 3 hour appt where they will provide us with all the detailed information regarding the process and ins and outs of bone marrow transplant. This is what we do know, and why we are taking steps like utilizing the GoFundMe.
For transplant it requires that Rob and I (as his caregiver) live in Tampa for 4 months. 1 month he will be inpatient at Moffitt receiving chemo before transplant and then monitoring after transplant. After that we are required to stay within 15 miles of Moffitt for 90 days for close outpatient monitoring. During this time, we have to be away from our children due to risk of infection to Rob. I will be out of work the 4 months caring for him in Tampa. My family will be here taking care of the kids. Of course there is still costs involved with daycare for the kids, ongoing bills/rent etc and now new medical bills already beginning to roll in which have created a big mound already needing to be paid. It's going to prove to be an incredibly difficult time for all involved. And we are planning to at least attempt to be ahead of the game financially having already prepaid a month of rent with the previous GoFundMe funds and set up a separate bank account and have been putting away what we can for my family to use while we are gone to help care for the kids and for me to try and keep up on our bills and costs of having to be away from home.
This GoFundMe is not only a way for anyone who wishes to donate money but also a way to keep everyone updated, which I will try to do as much as possible. Thank you so much to every single person for every thought and prayer sent our way. It's going to be a tough fight for Rob and for our family, but we determined to get him through this and have never ending thanks to our family and all the support we have around us.
I will posts updates on here as they happen!
A little bit about the start of this whole thing, to where we are now and the plan going forward.
To start from the beginning and condense it down to now. On Febrary 13th Rob was admitted to the hospital for dizziness and abnormal lab work at his doctors office. His blood work at the hospital came back that his blood counts were very low, requiring transfusions and all his other labs were off. This was the day he was diagnsed with luekemia. It shook our world to say the least and it's been a whirlwind ever since.
His local oncologist and the oncologist from Moffitt Cancer Center were stumped by what he had. It has taken multiple bone marrow biopsies and a month and a half of testing to narrow it down. Rob has now been officially diagnosed with MDS/MPN-unclassified. (Myelodysplasic myeloproliferative neoplasm unclassified) This is a VERY rare type of cancer. So much so that many oncologists go their whole career never seeing a case. There is no chemotherapy that can help this type of cancer. His only option for treatment and possibly a cure is receiving a bone marrow transplant ASAP. Bone marrow transplant of course has its own risks (infection, rejection etc). But if it works, it could cure him and this is his only option to fight this cancer. Right now he is requiring blood transfusions about every 8 days to keep his blood levels up. These seem to be getting closer together, because at the start it was about every 2 weeks. He sees the local oncologist weekly for blood work to check his blood level and ensure he has not converted to a form of acute Luekemia called AML, which is a big risk with the type of cancer he has. This is why it crucial he gets to transplant ASAP, as AML is extremely aggessive should he convert to this.
April 19th is our first appointment with the Transplant Coordination Team at Moffitt Cancer. This will be a 3 hour appt where they will provide us with all the detailed information regarding the process and ins and outs of bone marrow transplant. This is what we do know, and why we are taking steps like utilizing the GoFundMe.
For transplant it requires that Rob and I (as his caregiver) live in Tampa for 4 months. 1 month he will be inpatient at Moffitt receiving chemo before transplant and then monitoring after transplant. After that we are required to stay within 15 miles of Moffitt for 90 days for close outpatient monitoring. During this time, we have to be away from our children due to risk of infection to Rob. I will be out of work the 4 months caring for him in Tampa. My family will be here taking care of the kids. Of course there is still costs involved with daycare for the kids, ongoing bills/rent etc and now new medical bills already beginning to roll in which have created a big mound already needing to be paid. It's going to prove to be an incredibly difficult time for all involved. And we are planning to at least attempt to be ahead of the game financially having already prepaid a month of rent with the previous GoFundMe funds and set up a separate bank account and have been putting away what we can for my family to use while we are gone to help care for the kids and for me to try and keep up on our bills and costs of having to be away from home.
This GoFundMe is not only a way for anyone who wishes to donate money but also a way to keep everyone updated, which I will try to do as much as possible. Thank you so much to every single person for every thought and prayer sent our way. It's going to be a tough fight for Rob and for our family, but we determined to get him through this and have never ending thanks to our family and all the support we have around us.
I will posts updates on here as they happen!
Organizer
STACY CARROLL
Organizer
North Port, FL
