SCPO David "Gman" Garrels Med Exp
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Greetings from Central Florida! My name is Michelle Garrels and I am blessed & privledged to be the wife of Retired Senior Chief Petty Officer David "GMan" Garrels, who was very recently diagnosed with uncurable Stage 4 Bladder Cancer on Feb. 24th.
To say that we & all of our family & friends are in total shock is an understatement! What started out to be what was THOUGHT a possible kidney stone, turned into the worst nightmare of our entire lives!
Before I get started with the details of this devastating disease , I MUST tell you of our beautiful love story! Dave and I were both Military (Navy) dependants & met in 1979 at the Oceana Naval Base Bowling Allley (Va Bch, VA)! We dated for nearly 4 years until Dave joined the Navy in '82 and we went our own ways only to reunite after 32 years apart! He was my FIRST LOVE! I knew our love was strong and always felt that we would be together again! We just celebrated a year of marriage on Jan. 9th 2016 and we are so excited to finally be husband and wife! Dave is full of LIFE! He has a great personality, his work ethic is way above the standards, he is such a giving and loving man and holds his friends & family very dear to his heart! When you meet Dave......you've met quite a character, lol! He is unforgetable!
It all started in mid Oct. 2015 with a slight pain in his right side area where the kidney is located and then blood in his urine. Immediately an appointment was set with our Primary Care Specialist who sent him for an ultra sound which showed dialation of the right kidney then onto a CT scan which showed fluid in the kidney. Then onto a Urologist who ordered bloodwork & a camera scope of the urethra. (By this time, 2 months had gone by & all the while the pain getting worse and starting to radiate down his right leg & Dave was in too much pain to continue woking his job as a lead material specialist with Allegiant Air in the parts shipping & handling dept.).
After the 45 minute procedure, the Dr. came out, sat me down & told me that the area of concern was too swollen to get up high enough (in the uterer, in the mouth of the kidney), to see what was going on. He said he didn't like what he was seeing and he'd been doing this for a long time & knew that things weren't looking like a normal kidney stone situation. He put in a stint in to open the up the area & the plan was to get back in there in 2 weeks. When Dave woke from the surgery, he was so looking forward to being out of pain, only to hear me say that the Dr. will have to go back in again to investigate this further. A repeat of the same was completed, biopsies were done of the growth the Dr. saw in the mouth of the kidney. 1 week later at the followup appt. the Dr. told us it was bladder cancer that showed up in the kidney (bladder was fine), and the kidney and the uterer would have to come out. He wouldn't know if chemo would have to be done un til after the surgery. A week later, (Feb. 8th the kidney was removed and the results showed that the growth was twice the size than at first thought and the cancer spread to a large lymph node next to the kidney. Dr. said he couldn't say he got it all & chemo would highly recommended. Hospital stay was 4 days and we were looking for Dave to start healing and getting strong to withstand the chemo treatments. Instead of getting better, he was getting worse and all the while had lost approx. 20 lbs. by this time & still using the walker he had from the surgery to get around. A week later, Dave got a CT Scan to make sure the bladder was healed up in order to remove the catheter. At the appt. the next day, the catheter was removed and we talked about being referred to an Oncologist. The Dr. then told us it looked like the cancer was spreading to the the bones meaning the hips & spine. We were in total shock & despair!
The Urologist referred us to the Oncologist STAT so 5 days later we had a 3:30 pm appt. and after a short dicussion, he was immediately admitted into the hospital because he was in much pain & very weak. The Oncologist told us at the appt. that the scans showed lesions and a fracture to the pelvic bone that held the ball in the socket. The first order of business once admitted to the hospital was a bone scan, chest & abdominal CT Scans. 2 days later we were told that the bladder cancer spread to every bone in Dave's body & there was no cure! The areas of most concern were the right hip/leg, lower back & the left side of the skull near the eye. An Orthapedist, after looking at the xrays said that the right femur bone, under the ball of the leg would have to have a rod put in or within 3 weeks it was going to break due to deterioration. We were in a fog.....hoping that we were just dreaming and that when we woke up, this nightmare would all be over! Dave & I didn't show much emotion with one another, but silently we were in agony. When we were alone, that's when we let all the emotions out with unending tears and cried out to our loving Father God for strength & healing! We were then able to face this giant together with God's help & all our family & friends & BELIEVE for our MIRACLE & use the wisdom he has given us for Holistic Remedies to do ALL that can possibly be done to save David's life!
Dave spent 3 weeks in the hospital recovering from the leg surgery and had a few encounters with VERY high heart rate from all that was happening to his body. He is now on medication to help keep the rate under control. He spent 2 weeks totally in bed and 1 week struggling to get out of bed and move around. He has now been in a rehabilitation center for 1 week & 3 days & will not be released until we move from a 2nd floor apartment to the ground floor level. We have given a deposit and the move in date is April 8th. We just moved into our current apartment a year ago and moving is not an easy task, especially when all your time is being spent with the love of your life! It was suggested by a friend to look into hiring a moving company so as not to add any more stress than already exists and we felt peace about that.
The reason I opened this GOFUNDME account is because Dave has SO MANY wonderful NAVY friends that want to pour out monitary blessings on our family to help with the medical bills, the holistic remedies & the move. Someone suggested THIS avenue as to make it easier to give & we cannot tell you how grateful we are for your love! Thak you so very much! We will use your gifts wisely! <3
To say that we & all of our family & friends are in total shock is an understatement! What started out to be what was THOUGHT a possible kidney stone, turned into the worst nightmare of our entire lives!
Before I get started with the details of this devastating disease , I MUST tell you of our beautiful love story! Dave and I were both Military (Navy) dependants & met in 1979 at the Oceana Naval Base Bowling Allley (Va Bch, VA)! We dated for nearly 4 years until Dave joined the Navy in '82 and we went our own ways only to reunite after 32 years apart! He was my FIRST LOVE! I knew our love was strong and always felt that we would be together again! We just celebrated a year of marriage on Jan. 9th 2016 and we are so excited to finally be husband and wife! Dave is full of LIFE! He has a great personality, his work ethic is way above the standards, he is such a giving and loving man and holds his friends & family very dear to his heart! When you meet Dave......you've met quite a character, lol! He is unforgetable!
It all started in mid Oct. 2015 with a slight pain in his right side area where the kidney is located and then blood in his urine. Immediately an appointment was set with our Primary Care Specialist who sent him for an ultra sound which showed dialation of the right kidney then onto a CT scan which showed fluid in the kidney. Then onto a Urologist who ordered bloodwork & a camera scope of the urethra. (By this time, 2 months had gone by & all the while the pain getting worse and starting to radiate down his right leg & Dave was in too much pain to continue woking his job as a lead material specialist with Allegiant Air in the parts shipping & handling dept.).
After the 45 minute procedure, the Dr. came out, sat me down & told me that the area of concern was too swollen to get up high enough (in the uterer, in the mouth of the kidney), to see what was going on. He said he didn't like what he was seeing and he'd been doing this for a long time & knew that things weren't looking like a normal kidney stone situation. He put in a stint in to open the up the area & the plan was to get back in there in 2 weeks. When Dave woke from the surgery, he was so looking forward to being out of pain, only to hear me say that the Dr. will have to go back in again to investigate this further. A repeat of the same was completed, biopsies were done of the growth the Dr. saw in the mouth of the kidney. 1 week later at the followup appt. the Dr. told us it was bladder cancer that showed up in the kidney (bladder was fine), and the kidney and the uterer would have to come out. He wouldn't know if chemo would have to be done un til after the surgery. A week later, (Feb. 8th the kidney was removed and the results showed that the growth was twice the size than at first thought and the cancer spread to a large lymph node next to the kidney. Dr. said he couldn't say he got it all & chemo would highly recommended. Hospital stay was 4 days and we were looking for Dave to start healing and getting strong to withstand the chemo treatments. Instead of getting better, he was getting worse and all the while had lost approx. 20 lbs. by this time & still using the walker he had from the surgery to get around. A week later, Dave got a CT Scan to make sure the bladder was healed up in order to remove the catheter. At the appt. the next day, the catheter was removed and we talked about being referred to an Oncologist. The Dr. then told us it looked like the cancer was spreading to the the bones meaning the hips & spine. We were in total shock & despair!
The Urologist referred us to the Oncologist STAT so 5 days later we had a 3:30 pm appt. and after a short dicussion, he was immediately admitted into the hospital because he was in much pain & very weak. The Oncologist told us at the appt. that the scans showed lesions and a fracture to the pelvic bone that held the ball in the socket. The first order of business once admitted to the hospital was a bone scan, chest & abdominal CT Scans. 2 days later we were told that the bladder cancer spread to every bone in Dave's body & there was no cure! The areas of most concern were the right hip/leg, lower back & the left side of the skull near the eye. An Orthapedist, after looking at the xrays said that the right femur bone, under the ball of the leg would have to have a rod put in or within 3 weeks it was going to break due to deterioration. We were in a fog.....hoping that we were just dreaming and that when we woke up, this nightmare would all be over! Dave & I didn't show much emotion with one another, but silently we were in agony. When we were alone, that's when we let all the emotions out with unending tears and cried out to our loving Father God for strength & healing! We were then able to face this giant together with God's help & all our family & friends & BELIEVE for our MIRACLE & use the wisdom he has given us for Holistic Remedies to do ALL that can possibly be done to save David's life!
Dave spent 3 weeks in the hospital recovering from the leg surgery and had a few encounters with VERY high heart rate from all that was happening to his body. He is now on medication to help keep the rate under control. He spent 2 weeks totally in bed and 1 week struggling to get out of bed and move around. He has now been in a rehabilitation center for 1 week & 3 days & will not be released until we move from a 2nd floor apartment to the ground floor level. We have given a deposit and the move in date is April 8th. We just moved into our current apartment a year ago and moving is not an easy task, especially when all your time is being spent with the love of your life! It was suggested by a friend to look into hiring a moving company so as not to add any more stress than already exists and we felt peace about that.
The reason I opened this GOFUNDME account is because Dave has SO MANY wonderful NAVY friends that want to pour out monitary blessings on our family to help with the medical bills, the holistic remedies & the move. Someone suggested THIS avenue as to make it easier to give & we cannot tell you how grateful we are for your love! Thak you so very much! We will use your gifts wisely! <3
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Michelle Van Dyck Garrels
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