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My Dad's Battle with Leukemia

About 35 years ago my dad, plucked me out of the jungles of El Salvador, where I would have ended up being a child soldier in their civil war. Adopting me at the age of 3, meant the army and rebels would not be able to kidnap me at the age of 12, put a gun in my hands, and force me to shoot my fellow citizens.

Now I need your help to help him beat another dangerous enemy. May 1st of this year he went into the hospital with severe diverticulitis and was soon diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), an extremely aggressive form of leukemia which would have meant certain and rapid death from infection had he not gotten immediate chemo treatment to stave off the fast growing cancer cells. He ended up spending the entire month in the hospital. Total billed amount was over $200,000. Fortunately Medicare covered most of that, but there is much that Medicare doesn’t cover and further treatment includes a bone marrow transplant this summer 5 hours away in Seattle Washington, where insurance covers none of the transportation, lodging, special diet considerations, and having a care-giver live with him 24/7 before, during, and for 3-12 months after the transplant. Because of the high risk of infection he must spend a total of 4 months at least, in a specialty hotel near the hospital. Doctors have declared that in his case, a bone marrow transplant is his only chance for life. There are no other options. So far chemo has worked and they are currently looking throughout the world for a matching donor. We are estimating out of pocket costs of somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000-$20,000 if all goes well and he can come home 3 months after the transplant. This is assuming no complications, infections, or rejection of the transplant, which could require that he start all over. This all coming due now and throughout the summer.

Coincidentally, he was visiting a terminal cancer patient the very day he entered the hospital in February. At noon he was with the hospice patient as a companion, his first day of volunteering with the organization. By 8 pm he was at the ER with incapacitating pain from the diverticulitis, and the next day the diagn
osis of leukemia was delivered. How quickly your life can change. Just a year ago he was surfing in Panama and San Diego. 6 months before that he was playing senior softball in San Diego and managing a team that had won the league championship.

I have always imagined him living well into his 80’s and beyond. He drafted players in the softball league that were as old as 89. He has always been super adventuresome and ready to go, taking me surfing, skiing, hiking, biking, and camping to mention just a few things. Plus he has been a volunteer all his life. Most recently he gathered donated baseball equipment for a team in Panama that had literally so little, the players had to share shoes and gloves. No one owned a bat. In San Diego he volunteered to act as 
commissioner, manager, and open game coordinator for the softball league. Before that was Big Brothers, VISTA (working with at risk youth), Habitat for Humanity, and being a camp counselor for foster youth.

If the AML hadn’t struck when it did, he had plans to volunteer in middle school math and science classes as an aide. He also planned on mentoring “aged-out” foster care youth. This would allow him to get back to his teaching roots. With this new challenge, he is planning on adding 1 more task: helping to warn kids about cancer and the growing problem with “Juuling” – which is vaping, or using a mechanical device that looks like a usb stick to inhale concentrated nicotine. Most teenagers don't think it causes cancer, but the nicotine mixture can cause cancer throughout the alimentary canal and in the lungs.

My dad has had a unique and rewarding past and believes that his purpose on this earth is not yet fulfilled or complete.  He has spent considerable focus in his life thinking of others and how to make the planet a better place.  More now than ever he is an advocate for living your life today!   But if you have plans for getting some work done on this planet to improve your life and the lives of others, you must not wait. Tomorrow may never come ... and don't forget to have fun along the way.

I am doing the best I can, but have recently started a new job and have a huge education loan debt myself.  My dad’s out of pocket expenses are mounting rapidly and he is now solely dependent on social security.   He has much to do, and we are asking for you to help him continue his life-long caring journey. So I am asking for your help to help him get through this next year – the most crucial time period. If he can make it through that time he has a good chance of living much longer. The hospital he will be going to for the transplant is probably the best in the country for this cancer treatment, and has special protocols, recently developed, to help facilitate that most important post transplant period, where hopefully donor blood cells will completely replace his immune system.

Will you help me get him back out on a surfboard (or at least a kayak), on the softball field, and back volunteering where he is needed most. I need him. The world needs him.



 
 
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Donations 

  • William Hitt
    • $50 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Jeremy Elias Sontag
Organizer
Eugene, OR

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