Help Dickie Fight Multiple Myeloma

Update 11/20/21

Dickie and Anna met with the transplant doctor last week. The pet scan showed an area on his right rib that will require him to start Chemotherapy again and hopefully in a few weeks they’ll do radiation. If everything goes as planned they will begin screening and harvesting his stem cells in early January and the transplant will be in February. The process is long with multiple hospital stays and a three month recovery. 

Dickie and Anna are so grateful for all the love and support they have received from the community! 

A Letter from Anna, 8/28/21

To Family, Friends, and All Those Willing to Help,

Dickie and I are so fortunate and very thankful to have so many people rally around us during this stressful and challenging time. 

What started out as a sore back, sore ribs, and extreme exhaustion led us to be told on August 3 he has Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma. We never imagined anything like this! 

With ongoing treatments and bloodwork he is now scheduled to meet with the bone marrow transplant team at Beth Israel in Boston in early September. This next year is going to be a long and hard journey but knowing we have so much love and support will get us through this. 

Thank you!

Dickie, Anna & Family

A well known member of our fishing community needs our help!

A lifelong Chatham resident, Richard “Dickie” Liska has recently been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a rare cancer of the plasma cells that causes damage to the bones, kidneys, and other organs as well as a low blood cell count. In the last month Dickie has had two back surgeries due to fractures caused by the weakening of his bones. He recently started his chemo treatments and a bone marrow transplant will be scheduled soon. This cancer is rare and only affects less than 200,000 people in the US each year.

Because he is undergoing aggressive treatment he is no longer be able to work. Money raised will help with travel expenses to and from Boston and Plymouth, as well as lost wages for Dickie and his wife Anna, who has taken a leave from her job to care for her husband if 27 years and partner of 42 years.

Dickie is the son of a fisherman who has led a life on the water himself. As a gill netter, troller and shell fisherman he has always been on a boat and on the water. A father of two and grandfather to three Dickie is a proud and loving man who would never ask for our help, but we know our small community is capable of great things! Any amount great or small is appreciated as the road ahead for Dickie and his family will be long and challenging.

With love and thanks to our fishing community, supportive small town and beyond!