Help Brian kick cancers ass!

Recently our dad was diagnosed with cancer. A rare form of leukemia, that only recently became its own disease, called chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. He has been doing great and he hasn't let this slow him down at all. In fact,   "slow down" might not be in his vocabulary at all. He has been attacking this disease the same way he attacks life: all out, and with humor. A lot of you know the same thing that we do: our dad is a remarkable person. And I think we can say with confidence that all our lives are better for knowing him. 

He told us often as we were growing up, "service above self," and he is the embodiment of that. He has been involved in the service organization the Jaycees, volunteered at swim meets for years (and continued to do so long after my sister and I retired), hands out Meals on Wheels on his lunch break, is a huge supporter and volunteer at the Special Olympics, was a Big Brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister organization. He has done so much for others we'd could probably run out of room here trying to list them all. He is compassionate, understanding, and has a tireless work ethic. All of these things make him one of the best leaders, and not just of our family. He leads by example, always striving to leave things better than he found them, and with a smile on his face. If you asked him, he probably would not consider himself a leader. But  we see it everyday; in the drive and determination he inspires in us; in the smiles and kind words we hear from people when they find out I'm "Brian's kids"; in the willingness people have to go the extra mile for him.

We were raised on the idea that "family isn't everything, it's the only thing." And in this moment, we need all the family we can get.
We know he will kick cancers ass with a smile on his face and cracking corny Dad jokes. But here's where we need to ask for your help. Because he can't do this alone. While his health insurance is covering most of his medical bills, there are still many things that won't be covered. Since his cancer is rare, he has been seeing a specialist at the amazing Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. While he is in the recovery process, he will require 24/7 care, and he must remain within a 7 min drive of the hospital. The down side is that Tampa is on the opposite coast of FL from where our family lives. Therefore, we will have to get a temporary apartment in Tampa while he recovers, which is not an expense covered by insurance. Our mom and Blair will be taking on the duties of primary caretakers, with Blair flying from North Carolina to Tampa every weekend. Craig will be holding down the fort in Daytona, while Robyn commutes from Houston to help where ever she can. Essentially, in order to receive the best care possible, it's going to be expensive. And the last thing we want my dad to worry about while he is going to battle is money. My dad has spent his life serving others, and would never would ask for anything in return. Anything that you all could do to help him get back on that path would be appreciated more than words could ever express.


-Blair, Robyn, Craig


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-Timeline-
9/30 Chemo starts
10/2 Hospital admission
10/7 Bone marrow transplant


****If you would like to be someone else's hero, head over to bethematch.org and register to be a bone marrow donor. It's really easy and takes less than 5 min!