Brandon LaPolla's cancer support fund

Brandon La Polla needs your help! On July 12th, Brandon went to see his doctor after battling what he thought was a cold or allergies that just wouldn’t go away. The doctor’s office sent him directly to the ER and within hours, his life changed. That night, Brandon was diagnosed with cancer and was taken to surgery the following day to remove a large mass, and the source of the disease. Unfortunately, the cancer had metastasized and already spread to his lungs resulting in respiratory distress. On July 14th, he was taken by ambulance to Cottage Hospital to the ICU where he could receive in room chemotherapy treatments, which began the following day for five consecutive treatments. Just as Brandon was getting his appetite back and starting to feel better, his lungs were growing weaker and his heart was working hard to just allow him to breathe. The decision was made on July 29th to intubate him and allow machines to do the work his body was struggling to do. As Brandon’s body continues to fight the cancer and current infection, the reality of associated expenses are beginning to set in. Brandon is currently on disability, receiving 40% less of his income. He is fortunate to have good insurance, but he is already aware of many expenses not covered (ie: blood, ambulance, specialists once he is home, etc). He has a long journey ahead and knows that with the reduced income and the ongoing medical expenses, that paying things like his mortgage will be a significant struggle. All funds will be used to cover medical expenses and household expenses not covered by income during this time. The friends and family of Brandon would like to thank you for your consideration of support and if you are unable to contribute, please keep Brandon in your thoughts and prayers. 

08/08/2023

Yesterday we were minutes away from making the the most agonizing decision of our lives. We were ready to let Brandon go.

Today there is new hope. After discussing Brandon's lung CT scan with Dr. Eric Suess, and his oncologist Dr. Greenwald, they are thinking that thanks to medication that has reduced so much inflammaton, his decreased oxygen requirements and maintaining a high blood oxygen percentage, there is enough good lung mass to continue chemotherapy.

We have decided to take Brandon off of the ventilator that is supplying oxygen to his lungs through his mouth, to a Tracheostomy, which will still be connected to the ventilator until he can breath on his own. This will allow Brandon to be taken off of sedation and be able to communicate. Remove the risks that come from being on a ventilator too long.

The Tracheotomy is easily removable when he can breathe on his own.

Once he's completed his second round of chemo the oncologists should be able to better distinguish how many teratoma cells remain and how much the germ cell tumors have decreased.

08/09/2023

I just talked with his doctor, He has Brandon initiating breaths all on his own! There is still a little pressure assistance and 50% oxygen from the ventilator, but this is exactly the response he was hoping for.

In a few days when the chemo starts working he will take a couple steps backwards.

Right now this is a huge win.

08/10/2023.

The next round of chemo started on the 8th. The nausea was better than last round. Today will be the third round out of four. Then another 3 week break until the next cycle.

He's still doing good initiating breathing on his own.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. 

08/12/2023

Today Brandon had the best day so far.

His lung is fully inflated and back to normal. 

He came off of assisted breathing for about 20 minutes. He is off of all major sedation so he is communicating, texting and even got to talk through the Tracheotomy. 

Tonight is the last round of chemo for this cycle. All tumor marker tests are trending down like expected.

08/18/2023

In the last few days this physical and emotional roller-coaster has not slowed down. Brandon has made some fantastic advances. But with chemotherapy, there have been some expected setbacks too.

All tests and x rays show that his lung remains inflated.

It is still a little early to get any accurate tumor marker numbers yet. They are trending as expected. 

He has had some increased secretions from the lungs that are a bit concerning so the doctors are playing it safe and treating it as if it could be an infection.

This could also be from chemo doing its job and destroying the tumors.

From the improvements in his breathing I choose to believe that it's tumors are being destroyed. 

He has had some pain from the chest tube but it has been kept under control. 

I shaved Brandon's head and face and there is a bunch of us who have joined the "Bald for Brandon" club.

He is communicating through a text to speech app and finding it a lot easier and less frustrating. 

The chest tube was clamped off but left in place, "just in case".

PT and speech therapy have been in a few times and he's made some excellent strides in both. He was able to speak through the speaking valve and stay off the ventilator longer than anyone anticipated. 

His grandparents arrived yesterday and gave him a well needed smile and some new faces to enjoy besides Sandy's and mine. Lol...

Keep those prayers coming, he's still got a long road ahead. 

08/20/2023.

Brandon had "the best night yet", in his words.

This morning he stayed on the speaking valve for 70 minutes! The cuff around the Tracheotomy was left deflated for over an hour so he can whisper and talk lightly the entire time.

The oncologist came in and they are still waiting for the most recent tumor HCG results, but they are trending like expected. 

Dr. Belkin came in and talked about how close Brandon is to getting off of the ventilator. And that he could be transferred to the pulmonary floor "soon". He even talked about what has to happen prior to "when he goes home".

Brandon is in great spirits and even getting a little bored. According to his doctor's, that is what they love to see.

On the 22'nd I got a call at 5am from the doctor saying that at about 4am Brandon had a very serious pulmonary event causing respiratory failure and he was non responsive.

He did have a seizure and the MRI shows a Bleeding metastasis on the back of his brain. On the visionary sector. There are also a few small pea sized tumors.

These are most likely not reversible with chemo but are treatable with pin point radiation. 

Radiation can only start once he is off of the ventilator. Today he stayed off the ventilator for 4 hours and tolerated the speaking valve, he thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk with us all.

His spirits are high and he continues to smile.

08/25/2023

Brandon had a good day yesterday, he had some mild vomiting from a gagging sensation in his throat not nausea. 

This morning Mario put the speaking valve on.

The oncologist say that the tumor HCG is at 18000 and dropping. 

He was given a swallow test and video the actual results of water, ice chips, apple sauce, gram cracker, and died thicker liquid.

All went very well and he can start eating soft, moist small bite sized food.

No repeat liquid swallowing consecutively. And slow swallows.

He started eating today.

The tube feed was also replaced after getting clogged with fiber and just placed into the stomach. 

Occupational and physical therapy came and did some light leg lifts in bed.

Dietary came in and said he can start eating. So Brandon had a bowl of pureed chicken soup, apple juice and water. 

He was able to stay on the speaking valve and oxygen cup only, all day.

08/29/2023

Last night was an absolutely fantastic night. Brandon was finally categorized as "non critical", and he was moved out of the MICU and onto the oncology floor!

He starts his third cycle of chemotherapy today. We're still not certain when radiation will start, but it's sounding like he's almost at a place that he can begin that phase. 

09/03/2023

Last night Brandon finished the last round of chemotherapy for this cycle.

He hasn't had too much nausea from this cycle either. He's not eating as much as we'd like to see, but that's common in this situation. 

The tumor numbers have already been dropping, the last test result two days ago was 8500. The oncologist are expecting that number to drop significantly in about a week. 

Now he'll get about 2-1/2 weeks off before cycle 4 begins.

09/10/2023

This week has been a bit tough. He's still having problems with gagging and not being able to keep food down. Mostly caused from the Tracheotomy. Plus the NG tube (feeding tube) has been contributing to the gagging too and it has been replaced 3 more times. After the last time it was decided to leave it out but he's still not able to eat enough calories to maintain weight. The doctors considered a more semi permanent feeding tube but that would involve a risky surgery that they really don't want to do.

We're trying different foods in hopes he can get enough food to maintain a net positive caloric count.

If he can eat more consistently he could possibly start the hospital rehab program soon.

09/23/2023

Brandon has continued to improve. He has been able to eat, keep food down and even put on some weight. He has been working every day with physical and occupational therapy, and getting stronger each day.

Today his platelet count hit 100 so he will start his 4th and hopefully last cycle of chemotherapy. 

After this is over he's been accepted to Cottage Rehab Hospital and he'll be there for 2 weeks, then come home.

 Brandon was taken to the rehab center on the 29th. He is scheduled for two weeks there, but will be evaluated day to day. If he's not meeting goals at the end of the two weeks, he'll stay longer. Sandy and I will come home on the 3rd and stay. This will give Brandon time to work on getting his independence back. 

So far chemo has the HCG tumor markers dropping, and we're hoping they get to zero.

Today is 10/13/2023 and Brandon came home!

His rehab went very well. The initial PET scan result came back with no active tumors. His beta HCG number is down to 717, and still dropping. 

However those numbers do show that there is some germ cell tumors. 

His oncologist would still like to have Brandon do an auto stem cell transplant to knock out any remaining cancer cells.

He will have his blood removed, stem cells separated and stored, then have an intense chemo cycle. Which will practically destroy bone marrow and prevent it from being able to generate any white or red blood cells. His own stem cells will then be transplanted and will allow his bone marrow to make cells again. This process will be done at UCLA in about 5 weeks.

We are all so happy to have him home and feeling good.

He still has a long road ahead with chemo and possible radiation, then ongoing rehab to get muscle and weight back.

11/12/2023; Brandon has been home for about a month now. He's been getting stronger and really putting on weight.

We took him in for a blood draw last week and the tumor numbers have risen to 3366. Then on the 9th he was visiting his brother at their house when he had a seizure. Chris called 911. We followed the ambulance to the hospital and as we arrived he had a second seizure. He came out of them but they kept him overnight, gave him anti seizure medication and did multiple CT scans, x rays and ultrasound. 

He came home the next afternoon and is doing well.

We will start another round of chemo to try and keep the tumor numbers down until we can start him on the auto stem cell therapy. This will most likely be done at USC now.

12/06/2024. Brandon's chemo started today at Mission Hope. He will have this performed once a week for 4 weeks. However, in the middle of this he will need to start radiation of the brain on the 14th. Both can't happen at once so chemo may be delayed while radiation is happening.

Both of these therapies are a maintenance, or bridge to the auto stem cell transplant at USC. That scheduling is still being set up.

The tumor HCG numbers have risen to over 28000 now, so the auto stem cell therapy is needed to wipe this cancer out.

His spirit is still very high, he is feeling great, putting on weight and continues to surprise his doctors and therapists.