Support for Doug DuLac

Doug DuLac is a dedicated and caring father to 3-year old Bodhi and a loving partner to Angela. He's one year into his fight with stage IV rectal cancer. After working as much as he could through 9 months of chemo, he has recently returned home from major surgery to remove the cancer tumor, a portion of his colon, his rectum, his bladder, and his prostate. The surgeons also made Doug's colostomy permanent and constructed a urostomy to externally replace his bladder.

Dooley, as he is known to many friends, is now recovering at home and getting prepared to resume chemotherapy and undergo another surgery for the cancer that remains on his liver. But he is facing more than an immense physical and mental battle. After being approved for short-term disability by one insurance company he has since been denied long-term disability by a second insurance company – and is now also fighting the financial burden of lost wages and medical costs. He and his wonderful family are truly special friends and family members to so many. They need our help!

The Diagnosis

Doug has always been a healthy, active guy. He hiked the Pacific Crest trail and has completed seven marathons, including the NYC Marathon and the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC. In March 2018, he was happy to begin a new position with a well-known Crown Corporation. Just few months after starting his new job, during his shift in June he experienced terrible abdominal pain, and asked a friend to take him to the emergency at UBC Hospital. The report the next day showed his liver enzymes were all over the map. He saw his own doctor that same day, and after an exam was told he did have a mass in his rectum. His doctor warned him to be prepared to find out the worst, and told Doug to go to the emergency room at VGH.

Doug did. Several more exams and scans followed before two of the doctors there gave him their verdict: he had 9 months to live. It was a brutal shock to him and Angela. He was still in the fog of that news two days later when he had laparoscopic surgery to assess the state of the cancer. The doctors also did a biopsy and gave Doug a reversible colostomy. After these procedures, a CT scan, and an MRI, the results weren't positive: he had cancer in his rectum, liver, and prostate.

But Doug was healthy and in shape to battle, and a new surgeon encouraged him that there were many new treatments. The surgeon stepped back the initial assessment and gave Doug a fighting chance.

He went into the system and waited for BC Cancer to begin his chemo. The wait was rough, but Doug's new oncologist helped. Though realistic about the severity of Doug's disease, he was encouraging, and he made clear that they never gave (or should give) a "months to live" prognosis. He reminded Doug that not only are cancers different and dependent on so many factors, but every patient is also different and reacts differently to treatments.

With his spirits lifted a bit by his oncologist, supported by Angela and with the unwavering love of Bodhi, Doug waited with an upbeat attitude, learning how to manage his colostomy bag, doing what he could with and for his family, and working as much as possible. No one who met him could have guessed that he was in a fight for his life.

Treatment Begins

After what felt like forever, chemo finally began in August. Every 2 weeks he went to BC Cancer where through a bioflow port implanted in his chest he was given cocktail of drugs called Gifolfox, plus -- based on a genetic match -- Panitumumab, an antibody therapy and one of the strongest chemo drugs available. Combined, the two medications are one of the most aggressive treatments available, and Doug was one of the few people in Canada to be on it. The IV drip through the port lasted four hours each session. Then Doug would go home to Angela and Bodhi with the bottle of chemicals attached, slowly draining into him over the next two days. The side effects followed, including nausea, dry and cracking skin, acne, high susceptibility to sunburns, severe fatigue, neuropathy in fingers and toes, and changes to his sense of taste.

Despite the side effects, Doug sometimes managed to work as many as 10 hours the first week after his chemo treatments. The second week, he often got in up to 30 hours. Then it was time for chemo again. This cycle continued for months. For Doug, Angela, and Bodhi life was turned upside down by the pain, the appointments, the uncertainty, the time off work, the chemo, the stress, and the side effects. Angela continued to work managing three apartment buildings and maintaining a fourth, and she filled what seemed all her other time as a part-time dental hygenist and yoga teacher, and full-time mom. Bodhi was cared for by Doug, when he was well enough, Angela and a small supportive group of friends. With both Doug and Angela's family not living nearby the challenges were immense.

In April of this year, Doug took a break from chemo. He and Angela and Bodhi took a trip to see Angela's relatives in Nova Scotia. It was a trip that had been booked the year before, before the cancer, but one

they couldn't take once Doug was diagnosed. The flights were non-refundable, so before the flights expired, they decided to go – with his doctor's blessing. It was a wonderful time but challenging on so many levels. Not long after they got home, Doug went in for surgery.

Major Surgery

After his pre-op scans Doug got some tough news. The colostomy was going to become permanent. And his prostate and bladder would have to come out. Chemo had shrunk his tumor significantly, but it was still touching his prostate. The surgeon could try to remove all signs of the cancer from his prostate, but if she missed even a little bit of it there was a risk of the cancer coming back. They couldn't take that chance, so after removing his prostate and bladder doctors would perform a urostomy and Doug would have another bag for the rest of his life. The scans also revealed that Doug has cancer lesions on his liver, but those would have to be dealt with later. First things first.

Doug's surgery lasted 7 ½ hours. By all accounts it went well. The surgeon was happy with the results, and in the first hours afterward Angela shared the upbeat news with friends.

But the recovery was a long and bumpy one. Doug got a dangerous fungal infection. He had a fever of 40 degrees C (105 degrees F) for more than three days. His port had to be surgically removed and doctors prescribed a strong course of anti-fungal medication. He had numerous scans of his heart, abdomen, and eyes to determine if the infection was "stuck" in any organs and – if so – assess the damage there.

A hospital stay that was expected to last seven to ten days turned into a month. During this time, Angela was back and forth to the hospital, working as much as she could to pay the bills and caring for Bodhi. It was a very difficult time and the only time in a year that friends or family saw or heard Doug ever down or "complain" about anything related to his cancer – and even then it was only because he was sick and tired of being in the hospital.

Post-Op

Doug is home now. In mid-July he had new port put in so he can resume chemo to blast out any cancer that remains where his colon, rectum, bladder, and prostate used to be. In the fall, he will need surgery to deal with the malignant lesions on his liver. That is a fight that awaits.

The physical and mental toll he has dealt with is more than most of us can imagine. It comes with cancer, and it is outside of anyone's control. But the financial stress that has been added to Doug and Angela's life is not. It has been worsened by an insurance company that has denied him long-term disability coverage. The company looked at the dates he was hired, the date his "trial period" began, and the date he paid his benefits allocations. The company that provided short-term disability insurance had no problem with any of those dates. But the long-term disability insurance provider did. It said Doug's cancer was a pre-existing condition. He didn't qualify. The adjuster empathized with Doug, but it was a contractual issue, he told Doug over the phone, and he couldn't do anything but deny the claim.

Massive Challenges Remain

Doug is going to be 60 in December. He wants to be at Angela's side to raise a good son. As Doug has said from the day of his diagnosis, he wants to see Bodhi graduate from college. But there are closer milestones to attain first: seeing Bodhi go to preschool, enter kindergarten, learn to ride a bike, go on a first date, and graduate from high school. Doug has big hurdles to clear to reach those high points in Bodhi's life. He and Angela are doing everything they can to make that future happen, without complaint, without self-pity. But they are getting knocked down, especially financially.

During chemo Doug worked at least 50% of each two-week period, and usually more. For the time he missed, short-term disability insurance covered 70% of his wage. He and Angela were grateful for this. But short-term disability has ended, and the challenges have piled up.

· Doug has not worked since his surgery in May, and he is not medically cleared to go back to work until August. Angela does her best to work around her time caring for Doug and Bodhi.

· Doug cannot apply for short-term disability until he works 30 days of 8-hour shifts. His next rounds of chemo are set to begin in late July, and will seriously inhibit his ability to work – no matter his spirit. And even if he qualifies again, it's not clear he'll be approved. Meanwhile, Doug will continue to pay into a long-term disability insurance fund at work but not benefit from it.

· Through various programs Doug does get up to 80% of some supplies and medications reimbursed, but the costs grow quickly. A recent purchase of supplies is a good example: three months of urostomy bags, one month of colostomy bags, and one month of rings for attaching them came to more than $700. Some medications – including to treat acne (a chemo side effect) and to fight his fungal infection – are not reimbursed at all.

· On July 12th Doug's mother Jane died at 86 years old. She'd raised Doug and his sister Heather on her own since he was twelve. She lived a full life in Ketchum, Idaho, but after years of dealing with diabetes and dementia she entered palliative care in early July. Doug, Angela, and Bodhi had to make the trip to Idaho to say goodbye. They met his sister Heather in Seattle and continued to Ketchum. After spending several days at her side in the hospital, they said their final farewells, and Doug's mom passed away hours later.

A Request for Generosity

The events that put Doug, Angela, and Bodhi in the situation they are today are not all related. That's life. It comes at you from a thousand different directions. The last year has undoubtedly had its moments of small victories and hard-won smiles. But mostly it has been a series of events that has put them into incredibly difficult circumstances.

Not one of us – friends, family, or strangers – can cure Doug's cancer. None of us can remove the pain of losing a mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. We cannot fix Doug's long-term insurance claim.

But each of us can help lessen their financial stress. And all of us together we can help cover Doug's medical costs and lost income. Any contribution you make today is a blessing for a wonderful friend, father, and partner. It is a blessing for Angela and Bodhi. And the opportunity your donation gives Doug to fight with a little less worry, the relief it brings to the family's spirit, does absolutely give Doug a chance at a longer life changed by – but not defeated by – cancer, a life with Angela, young Bodhi, and their lucky friends and family.