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MATTHEW'S CANCER FUND AS HE FIGHTS NHL

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Our son Matthew who is now 16 years old was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Primary Mediastinal Large B Cell Lymphoma on 6-29-18.  It is a form of the disease that is located in his chest & had started pressing on his heart. He had 6 rounds of chemo & was in remission as of 12-10-18. During a routine scan on 7-10-19, they found that the cancer had returned in the same area, but a bit farther up his neck. He had a very hard time with it coming back. He started radiation on Aug. 6th & finished on September 10th.  During that time, he & I stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Aurora, CO. It's an amazing place that has helped many people. Matthew's dad would come up on weekends as he had to work.  We were told that we would have to wait 6-8 weeks before Matthew could have another PET scan because the inflammation from the radiation would make it difficult to see if it had worked. He tried on line school again but he just hasn't been able to keep up. He is usually too tired & just not feeling well. He had wanted to go back to public high school when all this started but wasn't able to.  In mid-November, Matthew started having night sweats again which goes with the lymphoma he has. We were hoping it was nothing.  He had his scheduled PET scan on Dec. 2nd. The good news: the area that they concentrated the radiation at (his chest & lower neck) are "clear," which means it shows no active cancer cells. He has a major fear about his heart so was happy that it wasn't around his heart anymore. He always tries to stay positive.  The Bad News: there are two more areas where the cancer has started again.   A lymph node near his left collarbone & one between his liver & spleen which is causing cancerous fluid to build up in his left lung. He had surgery on Dec. 4th to remove the lymph node that was near his collar bone so they could biopsy it.  They are, once again, seeing if it's the same cancer or if it has changed. Treatment depends on which it is.  We should find out the results on Dec. 9th. This has been like one long nightmare. We just live day to day & enjoy it as much as we can. Though that also means staying home a lot because he doesn't feel well enough to do much. It's been very hard to watch my youngest child go thru this. He was always the healthy one, exercising, hanging with his friends, being independent & very opinionated at a young age. Lol So full of energy & happiness. He has always been an outgoing child & has met many people who have become friends during this journey.  His best friend, Jacob, though now living in Denver, has been a great friend & person during all of this. I'm thankful for that. I don't know what we will face now on this part of Matthew's journey.  We are all grateful for the financial help we have gotten thru this page as well as thru fundraisers. Everyone has been amazing.  I will keep you updated as we find out what all is going on now.   Keep your families close,, make friends, be happy, go places & see what you want to see & do what you want to do, don't worry so much, don't stress over the little things & be more in the now.  I hope that all of you are having a very Happy Holiday season. .

Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $25 
    • 4 yrs

Organizer

Tammy Vigil
Organizer
Salida, CO

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