Rod’s Cancer Journey

Hi! My name is Faith. I’m Rod’s daughter. The picture of my dad is from the day after his surgery! A right frontal craniotomy.

Here’s our story:

In December 2024, my dad was not well. We thought he just had a headcold or something. He was having memory issues, but we thought it was just from working a lot, not sleeping enough, and the “headcold”. He had a headache and was complaining of a “swimmy” head. It lasted for over a week and then he took a tumble (unwitnessed) in my apartment building. He told me about it and was even joking about it. I thought he had just tripped because his work boots are a little clunky. He took me where I needed to be and then went to work. He also had a fall there. His work called an ambulance and sent him to the hospital. He was in the ER and fell another 2 times. He was on vitals monitoring and I believe a heart monitor for a few hours. The ER doctor diagnosed him with BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and discharged him, told him no driving so he got a ride home. After my shift I called my dad to find out what went on — he told me they didn’t do bloodwork or a CT, nothing. I told my dad to go back to the ER and get some tests done just for peace of mind. Because all of his symptoms are just simply not like him, and I wanted to be sure it wasn’t anything more serious. Some of his friends that are nurses agreed. Took a bit of convincing of course, but he went. He got a CT and MRI done and they discovered a tumour on his brain. The size of the tumour was quite large, as well as the swelling around it, causing a midline shift of the brain as well. He was admitted to a Neuro unit and spent some time there. We went to see him and were fortunate to be there when his doctor came in and assessed him, and spoke with him about everything going on as well as the surgery, the risks, etc. Surgery was on December 13th. He has had an amazing recovery with no real setbacks! His incision healed up nicely!

The Diagnosis:

It’s now January 2025 and the pathology from the tumour has come back. It is cancerous. Type 4, very aggressive, with high risk of recurrence. He is going along with chemoradiotherapy. Even with treatment, the doctor said life expectancy may only be an additional 1.5-2 years. We are hoping for longer of course. These estimates they give are often not accurate.

Why do we need funding?

He has not been able to work since his initial ER visit on December 4th. His work insurance is only covering 67% of his income. For someone that normally lives paycheck to paycheck, this is very difficult.

While he hasn’t had any adverse effects since surgery, he is still a seizure and stroke risk, and they have pulled his licence.

I decided to create a GoFundMe to help with any additional costs that may occur such as cab rides to/from treatment, any medications not covered by insurance, and to supplement the income from his insurance.

He has registered for Wheels for Hope for rides to treatment, and while the volunteers do their best, it is not always guaranteed that they will be able to provide a ride for the date/time he needs.

Please only donate what you can. We know times are tough for everyone. But we would appreciate any donation amount.

Thank you!

Pic of Rod with no facial hair for the first time in YEARS, because he was being fitted for a mask in preparation for radiation therapy.