Bob's Cancer & Keep Kids Close Fund
My name is Kelley and I am writing on behalf of my good friend Bob Casey. Not only is he my friend, but he's also a Bolsa Grande High School alumni. Most of you know Bob was recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) found at the base of his tongue on Dec 15th 2016; the doctors believe that this is its primary origin. A PET scan showed cancer near his lingual tonsils, so surgery was performed and they were removed. Samples of Bob's throat tissue and tonsils were biopsied, but they were unable to conclude if all the cancer was removed. Ultimately it was determined that the cancer had indeed spread to his neck lymph nodes. As with anyone, Bob had some concerns about the treatment he was being offered and sought a second opinion at MD Anderson in Houston. It turned out to be the perfect fit! Bob spent 10 days there in Houston this month getting additional tests. The specialists concured with the Colorado oncology team and they too believe that the primary cancer is located at the base of tongue; this was not removed during his prior surgery. It is too complicated to use surgery to remove this tumor due to the risk of killing the tongue.
The recommended treatment for Bob’s cancer, SCC of the base of tongue staged T2N2c, is Chemo Radiation Therapy CRT. He will get radiation at the maximum level where there is tumor and less radiation in the surrounding area 5 days a week for 7 weeks and chemo, Sisplantin every Monday for 7 weeks. The good news is this treatment has been known to be very effective for this kind of cancer, but the bad news is this treatment is one of the most painful and dibilitating, as Bob may lose use of his throat until he recovers from the treatment.
It was a tough decision to get treated at MD Anderson in Houston due to having his kids back in Colorado, but he trusts this is the best place to receive a cure in that they give him the highest long-term prognosis. Bob’s begins his CRT on January 30th in Texas.
Above all this Bob is a young and dedicated father of four young children, with whom he is co-parenting, with his ex (who was diagnosed with breast cancer one month before his diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma.). She will be going through chemo and radiation at the same time. Imagine this...
Over the past few weeks Bob has had time to talk to each of his children one on one and they are very distraught about him leaving. My hope here is that we can raise enough money to fly each of them from Colorado to Texas to see him one at a time for a weekend, during his treatment, because eventually he’ll be too sick to travel. He’ll also be accruing child care costs while out of state, because he needs to compensate people to care for his kids.
I’m hoping that with your help that we can alleviate some of Bob’s financial burdens and free him to breath a bit easier while he enters into his treatment with less stress knowing his children will be able to visit him.
Thank you so much and please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.