Brian Lund Cancer Sucks Donations
Donation protected
Brian Lund,
In 2007 my sister noticed a mole I had on my back had grown and changed shape. She beat me over the head to get it checked out, and sure enough, those Santa Cruz summers as a child returned many years later. I had it removed easily and the dermatologist acted like, no big deal, he removed it all and I was good to go. Just get a check up every year.
Fast forward to April 2015 working in Omaha, pain in my side. Cat Scan negative, treated for muscle strain. Bay area August, excruciating pain on right side. CT shows 3cm mass. Had it removed right before Christmas. at removal it was 10cm. It had tripled in size in 4 months. Came back home August 2015 work and find an oncologist. Worked thru surgery and laid off Jan 4. P.E.T. scan clean, no evidence of disease. Yay!! Started immunotherapy in February 2016 to try and keep it from coming back. P.E.T. scan in June was just body, insurance didn't allow for head scan. But this type of cancer usually moves to lungs or liver, so doc thinks its ok to get the cranium on the next three month scan. The immunotherapy I was on basically rendered me an invalid for the next 7 months. I lost 50lbs and had zero energy. Unemployment ran out out, my fiancé who has Multiple Sclerosis is working two jobs to pay our bills and keep us from being homeless, while I'm sick and laid up on the couch feeling like a failure. At my follow up with the doc last month I was a physical and emotion mess, and the immunotherapy is causing depression and masking symptons of brain damage. I told the doc I was tripping over my own feet, I fell out of bed one night, I was experiencing a lot of confusion. She ordered me off the meds immediately, prescribed Paxil for the depression and a PET scan immediately, suspicious the cancer had migrated to my head. Two days before my brain scan, I stood up from the couch and took a nosedive knocking over the recliner and head first into the wine cabinet. I couldn't stand up and had to crawl to the phone to call 911. My fiancé is in Nebraska, because her grandmother has only days to live. She missed services to come home to me. 8/14/16 CT scan shows tumor on my right periatal just a little bigger than a golf ball. There was nothing there 5 months previous. Man this grows quick inside me!! 8/23/16 brain surgery successful in removing 98% of the tumor with just a little brain damage. My left side is numb from my fingers down to my toes and I have loss of motor function and cannot sense my limbs unless I concentrate and stare at them visually, balance is also an issue. Hopefully with some intense therapy, I can regain some of what I lost. in a couple weeks I start radiation therapy to try and remove the 2% of the tumor that is left in there. and then follow up with chemo to try and eradicate it. The radiation is going to cause some more brain damage. hopefully minimal with this new Cyberknife technology, but I doubt with the brain damage, I'll ever spin a wrench again, or be allowed on a ladder. This is an aggressive cancer and I don't know if I have 2 months, 2 years, or longer. What I do have is a positive attitude that I can beat the cancer and the brain damage. I'm feeling good about it, but financially we are desparate and will have to figure a way to keep paying for insurance when mine runs out in May. Every little bit helps !! I want to personally thank you all.
In 2007 my sister noticed a mole I had on my back had grown and changed shape. She beat me over the head to get it checked out, and sure enough, those Santa Cruz summers as a child returned many years later. I had it removed easily and the dermatologist acted like, no big deal, he removed it all and I was good to go. Just get a check up every year.
Fast forward to April 2015 working in Omaha, pain in my side. Cat Scan negative, treated for muscle strain. Bay area August, excruciating pain on right side. CT shows 3cm mass. Had it removed right before Christmas. at removal it was 10cm. It had tripled in size in 4 months. Came back home August 2015 work and find an oncologist. Worked thru surgery and laid off Jan 4. P.E.T. scan clean, no evidence of disease. Yay!! Started immunotherapy in February 2016 to try and keep it from coming back. P.E.T. scan in June was just body, insurance didn't allow for head scan. But this type of cancer usually moves to lungs or liver, so doc thinks its ok to get the cranium on the next three month scan. The immunotherapy I was on basically rendered me an invalid for the next 7 months. I lost 50lbs and had zero energy. Unemployment ran out out, my fiancé who has Multiple Sclerosis is working two jobs to pay our bills and keep us from being homeless, while I'm sick and laid up on the couch feeling like a failure. At my follow up with the doc last month I was a physical and emotion mess, and the immunotherapy is causing depression and masking symptons of brain damage. I told the doc I was tripping over my own feet, I fell out of bed one night, I was experiencing a lot of confusion. She ordered me off the meds immediately, prescribed Paxil for the depression and a PET scan immediately, suspicious the cancer had migrated to my head. Two days before my brain scan, I stood up from the couch and took a nosedive knocking over the recliner and head first into the wine cabinet. I couldn't stand up and had to crawl to the phone to call 911. My fiancé is in Nebraska, because her grandmother has only days to live. She missed services to come home to me. 8/14/16 CT scan shows tumor on my right periatal just a little bigger than a golf ball. There was nothing there 5 months previous. Man this grows quick inside me!! 8/23/16 brain surgery successful in removing 98% of the tumor with just a little brain damage. My left side is numb from my fingers down to my toes and I have loss of motor function and cannot sense my limbs unless I concentrate and stare at them visually, balance is also an issue. Hopefully with some intense therapy, I can regain some of what I lost. in a couple weeks I start radiation therapy to try and remove the 2% of the tumor that is left in there. and then follow up with chemo to try and eradicate it. The radiation is going to cause some more brain damage. hopefully minimal with this new Cyberknife technology, but I doubt with the brain damage, I'll ever spin a wrench again, or be allowed on a ladder. This is an aggressive cancer and I don't know if I have 2 months, 2 years, or longer. What I do have is a positive attitude that I can beat the cancer and the brain damage. I'm feeling good about it, but financially we are desparate and will have to figure a way to keep paying for insurance when mine runs out in May. Every little bit helps !! I want to personally thank you all.
Organizer and beneficiary
Michael Shank
Organizer
North Las Vegas, NV
Brian Lund
Beneficiary