David Schwanke Cancer Relief Fund

Hey Everyone! We have started this fund to help serve David Schwanke and his family through David's battle with cancer and all of the stressors and financial costs that come with it.

David Schwanke (AKA: Dave, Schwank, Schwanke, Uncle Monkey, Donkey) was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of Leukemia this last week of July. He was feeling his usual self until he noticed some very sudden and profound bruising on his body. He would just nudge something, and a huge black bruise would result. On Tuesday 7/25 he decided not to ignore it and went to the doctor to get some blood work done. Within hours of the bloodwork results, the doctors called him back to the hospital for more bloodwork. The labs revealed that Dave had leukemia and needed to see a cancer doctor as soon as possible. 48 hours later on Thursday 7/27, Dave and Lindy were sitting in the office of the local cancer doctor in Steamboat when they were told his confirmatory diagnosis. The doctor said that if Dave had not sought medical attention... he probably would have met his demise in just 2 months. The doctor said that Dave needed to get transferred to a Denver hospital to start treatment right away. The hospital bed was currently being saved for him... so Dave and Lindy packed up and headed to the front range. Dave has been at Presbyterian/Saint Lukes's Hospital in Denver ever since. He has been an inpatient there in their specialized Leukemia unit. After more testing, imaging, a not-so-fun bone marrow biopsy and a PICC line, he was confirmed to have Acute Myeloid Leukemia ( AML for short). This is a rapidly progressing cancer of the white blood cells and bone marrow. It is unclear how he ended up with this cancer.

Dave has already undergone multiple IV chemotherapy drugs on top of oral drugs during his stay. He will have completed his first round of chemo by the end of this week. He was in great spirits, had a great appetite and was walking miles per day around his unit. The chemotherapy finally caught up to him and a few days ago he finally settled down, began getting tired, his appetite changed, and he began retaining some water weight as a result of the volume of IV drugs he was getting. It is a blessing that he has not had any nausea or vomiting as the nursing staff preventatively administers anti-emetic meds around the clock to prevent nausea.

The doctor's plan is such: they will finish the last few days of oral chemo drugs and then just "let Dave be". His body's blood counts already show his immune system is at the bottom level... meaning he has NO immune system whatsoever. They will see how his body does over these next 2 weeks without cancer treatment, and then he will endure another bone marrow biopsy. The treatment path forward depends on how the bone marrow cells look at that time. He may need a bone marrow transplant (or stem cell transplant) to try to "cure his body" of cancer by giving him a "brand new" bone marrow from an outside donor. The other path would be similar treatment to the chemo that he has already done.

As many of you know, Dave owns and runs his own electric company, Dome Mountain Electric. His wife Lindy works full-time for Rex's Restaurants. They also have their son Calvin and their very old pup Watson. David's parents Richard and Nancy are both retired, and Lindy's parents live in South Africa. David's sister Hanni and her spouse Kier work locally as well. The family has been juggling trying to maintain their jobs while taking turns watching Calvin and visiting David in the hospital. They have rented a pricey VRBO on the spot for this month and then may need further housing in Denver until December. The travel expenses of driving back and forth for all the family members have been costly. Calvin is also enrolled in a daycare in Steamboat but does not have a steady childcare option for Denver. Calvin is not allowed to visit Dave in the hospital, so funding is needed to help the family with childcare costs for Denver and respite times for Lindy in Steamboat.

The Schwanke family did not want to do a Go Fund Me but after much convincing and begging from their friends and family they finally agreed! The immediate need is housing, travel costs and childcare costs. The initial goal is around $50,000 for these costs... which will increase if Dave gets on the bone marrow transplant list. Updates will be provided on here for all his supporters.

The family is trying to navigate this the best they can and is no doubt overwhelmed by calls, texts, and messages from people wanting to help. At this time, the best way to help is to donate to their relief fund. We ask that all the family's supporters give the family rest and privacy by using this platform to connect and find ways to help the family. There are many ways to show your support for the family other than giving money to this fund. There is a Facebook support page you can join if you want to join the network and organization. There is also a meal train link coming to help with food donations and childcare. See the links below.

The family has okayed 2 local fundraiser events... stay tuned for more information.

Thank you all for supporting David and his family during this stressful time. They need us as much as we need them so let's show this family some love and support!!!

The team leads Adam and Brittany Grimes have been lifelong friends with the Schwanke Family and have spent the last decade adventuring with our families and kids around the county. Adam grew up with David in Clark, CO and they have remained very close friends since childhood. All proceeds will be deposited into an account directly accessible to Dave and Lindy to use on medical-related costs as they arise: Housing, travel costs, food, and of course medical costs.

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