Jessica And Rob’s Cancer And Fertility Campaign
Donation protected
“I have Stage 2 Prostate Cancer…. “
When I found out I sat in my car for almost 6 hours trying to grasp it. I repeated that phrase over and over, saying it out loud, so that I could rehearse saying it in private. I had to keep repeating it simply to practice maintaining my composure for when I'd inevitably have to tell my Fiancée, family and friends. Man, it sucks. For a while there I thought, “I’m 41… I’m in decent enough shape… I don’t smoke… I don’t do anything ‘bad for you’… this can’t be happening to me.”
I’m no stranger to adversity, but I really did have a hard time believing this when I’m completely asymptomatic as I write this. I’ve served 6 years in U.S. Army Counterintelligence and survived another 6 nonconsecutive years as a civilian Counterintelligence Agent working in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now I’ve been a Police Officer these last 6 years and nothing I’ve seen or done before could have prepared me for how to handle this.
However, as the doctor’s appointments kept stacking up, 2nd and 3rd opinions came in, I had to accept that this is my new reality. I’m apparently too young for any clinical trials so the only option available to me is surgery to have my prostate removed. I have a Gleason Score of 3 + 4 and based on the MRI there’s a 48% chance that once the cancer has been removed I’ll still have to undergo radiation.
The toughest issue is that Jessica, my Fiancée, and I have always wanted to have children. I will never be able to conceive naturally after going through this surgery. Our only option is to seek out fertility preservation for IVF in the future. Unfortunately, none of that is covered by health insurance. We reached out to the Livestrong Foundation and they kindly accepted our application which gives us a little bit of a discount on some procedures. The Austin Police Association and Austin Cops 4 Charities have also made a gracious donation, for which I can’t thank them enough.
I’m being seen at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. My surgery date is set for the robot-assisted radical prostatectomy to have the cancer removed on October 4th. While my insurance is covering most of this, we are still overwhelmed by the amount of out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, and unforeseeable costs that come with so many doctor’s appointments. Normally, I would handle these surprise expenses by working extra overtime. That's just not possible for the foreseeable future given how incapacitated I'll be.
All of this really leads me to my apology to my family and friends. Jessica and I had grandiose plans of doing a cool vacation wedding with you all in Summer 2020 before we learned of my condition. But the money we’ve saved for the wedding is now going towards Cancer bills and Fertility Preservation. Jessica and I have had to change our priorities and timeline to overcome these new challenges we face.
We are now getting married right away. If something goes wrong, Jessica only being my Fiancée is a legal gray area that we can’t have going into this surgery. We instead have secured an Airbnb in the Austin area so we can have a small private ceremony followed by some bbq. For anyone in the greater Austin Area that would be interested in coming, please absolutely reach out to me for details. Again, I’m very sorry for such a short notice.
Please, no gifts though. In lieu of gifts, please consider helping us out with some of these bills for the Cancer Surgery, Radiation Treatment, and Fertility Preservation.
When I found out I sat in my car for almost 6 hours trying to grasp it. I repeated that phrase over and over, saying it out loud, so that I could rehearse saying it in private. I had to keep repeating it simply to practice maintaining my composure for when I'd inevitably have to tell my Fiancée, family and friends. Man, it sucks. For a while there I thought, “I’m 41… I’m in decent enough shape… I don’t smoke… I don’t do anything ‘bad for you’… this can’t be happening to me.”
I’m no stranger to adversity, but I really did have a hard time believing this when I’m completely asymptomatic as I write this. I’ve served 6 years in U.S. Army Counterintelligence and survived another 6 nonconsecutive years as a civilian Counterintelligence Agent working in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now I’ve been a Police Officer these last 6 years and nothing I’ve seen or done before could have prepared me for how to handle this.
However, as the doctor’s appointments kept stacking up, 2nd and 3rd opinions came in, I had to accept that this is my new reality. I’m apparently too young for any clinical trials so the only option available to me is surgery to have my prostate removed. I have a Gleason Score of 3 + 4 and based on the MRI there’s a 48% chance that once the cancer has been removed I’ll still have to undergo radiation.
The toughest issue is that Jessica, my Fiancée, and I have always wanted to have children. I will never be able to conceive naturally after going through this surgery. Our only option is to seek out fertility preservation for IVF in the future. Unfortunately, none of that is covered by health insurance. We reached out to the Livestrong Foundation and they kindly accepted our application which gives us a little bit of a discount on some procedures. The Austin Police Association and Austin Cops 4 Charities have also made a gracious donation, for which I can’t thank them enough.
I’m being seen at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. My surgery date is set for the robot-assisted radical prostatectomy to have the cancer removed on October 4th. While my insurance is covering most of this, we are still overwhelmed by the amount of out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, and unforeseeable costs that come with so many doctor’s appointments. Normally, I would handle these surprise expenses by working extra overtime. That's just not possible for the foreseeable future given how incapacitated I'll be.
All of this really leads me to my apology to my family and friends. Jessica and I had grandiose plans of doing a cool vacation wedding with you all in Summer 2020 before we learned of my condition. But the money we’ve saved for the wedding is now going towards Cancer bills and Fertility Preservation. Jessica and I have had to change our priorities and timeline to overcome these new challenges we face.
We are now getting married right away. If something goes wrong, Jessica only being my Fiancée is a legal gray area that we can’t have going into this surgery. We instead have secured an Airbnb in the Austin area so we can have a small private ceremony followed by some bbq. For anyone in the greater Austin Area that would be interested in coming, please absolutely reach out to me for details. Again, I’m very sorry for such a short notice.
Please, no gifts though. In lieu of gifts, please consider helping us out with some of these bills for the Cancer Surgery, Radiation Treatment, and Fertility Preservation.
Organizer
Robert Brady
Organizer
Buda, TX