Support Dean's fight with cancer
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When Dean went to A&E in May thinking he had broken his rib, never did he imagine being told that he had a tumour. After a series of scans and tests, Dean was told he had a rare and extremely aggressive adolescent cancer on the soft tissue on his ninth rib called Ewing's Sarcoma. The survival rate of his cancer is just over half (56%). Dean is only 20 and still has so much more to give, to see, to do.
Our Dean is about to commence his fourth cycle of chemotherapy, with eleven cycles and a huge surgery yet to come. Each cycle sucks the life out of him, throws his whole body under and, just as he gets better, it all starts again. Every three weeks, Dean's body is subjected to a sea of drugs and pain, often sending him back to hospital afterwards with a lack of an immune system. We hate seeing it.
But he's been given a major lifeline.
After his sixth cycle, we start our journey with Dean receiving Proton Beam Therapy in Jacksonville, Florida. The treatment is not yet available in the UK and will mean living out there with his mum for a few months away from his friends, family and any sense of a normal life he has left. The innovative therapy will help destroy the awful cancer Dean has before his surgery and prevent his lungs, kidneys and liver being put at risk of getting cancer too. The treatment will help save his life.
But living a medical life in America for a few months, receiving this treatment on top of chemo every single day and being away from everyone for so long is going to be tough. Dean has lost his house, his ability to earn a living, his ability to continue his studies at university in Birmingham and any sense of the normality he used to call his life. We are raising money for Dean's medical fund to help cover the cost of day to day living while he's away from us all, be that feeding him and his mum, insurance, covering the costs of transportation to and from the centre and other living costs while away.
Since diagnosis, Dean has triumphed for the visibility and rights of LGBT cancer patients, blogging his journey, tackling fertility discrimination and questioning social values of cancer patients; all whilst ill.
Any raised funds will mean the world to Dean, his family and me, his boyfriend. I have slept by his side in hospital, seen him at his worst, most confused, most vulrenable and I live for the day that he's better.
Please, donate as much or as little as you can. Every penny will matter and help bring our happy and healthy Dean back to us.
Thank you so much,
Dean's boyfriend & family.
**UPDATE: we are so so overwhelmed by how much has already been raised for our trip. We never anticipated so much kindess and generosity and have always planned to donate all leftover funds to the charities that have helped Dean and us since his diagnosis, we just didn't expect there to be any**
**UPDATE: We reached 10k and couldn't thank the warmth and generosity of others enough. GoFundMe have advised we up the target to keep raising money to help support the charities that have helped Dean out along the way; Sarcoma UK, Teenage Cancer Trust etc.**
Our Dean is about to commence his fourth cycle of chemotherapy, with eleven cycles and a huge surgery yet to come. Each cycle sucks the life out of him, throws his whole body under and, just as he gets better, it all starts again. Every three weeks, Dean's body is subjected to a sea of drugs and pain, often sending him back to hospital afterwards with a lack of an immune system. We hate seeing it.
But he's been given a major lifeline.
After his sixth cycle, we start our journey with Dean receiving Proton Beam Therapy in Jacksonville, Florida. The treatment is not yet available in the UK and will mean living out there with his mum for a few months away from his friends, family and any sense of a normal life he has left. The innovative therapy will help destroy the awful cancer Dean has before his surgery and prevent his lungs, kidneys and liver being put at risk of getting cancer too. The treatment will help save his life.
But living a medical life in America for a few months, receiving this treatment on top of chemo every single day and being away from everyone for so long is going to be tough. Dean has lost his house, his ability to earn a living, his ability to continue his studies at university in Birmingham and any sense of the normality he used to call his life. We are raising money for Dean's medical fund to help cover the cost of day to day living while he's away from us all, be that feeding him and his mum, insurance, covering the costs of transportation to and from the centre and other living costs while away.
Since diagnosis, Dean has triumphed for the visibility and rights of LGBT cancer patients, blogging his journey, tackling fertility discrimination and questioning social values of cancer patients; all whilst ill.
Any raised funds will mean the world to Dean, his family and me, his boyfriend. I have slept by his side in hospital, seen him at his worst, most confused, most vulrenable and I live for the day that he's better.
Please, donate as much or as little as you can. Every penny will matter and help bring our happy and healthy Dean back to us.
Thank you so much,
Dean's boyfriend & family.
**UPDATE: we are so so overwhelmed by how much has already been raised for our trip. We never anticipated so much kindess and generosity and have always planned to donate all leftover funds to the charities that have helped Dean and us since his diagnosis, we just didn't expect there to be any**
**UPDATE: We reached 10k and couldn't thank the warmth and generosity of others enough. GoFundMe have advised we up the target to keep raising money to help support the charities that have helped Dean out along the way; Sarcoma UK, Teenage Cancer Trust etc.**
Organizer
Adam Packer
Organizer