Help Dave Fight Kidney Cancer and Heart Failure

Friends and family of Dave Reynolds some know him as Super Dave and for those of you who don't know him and wonder why is he called Super Dave? Well he is just a loving special human being I would like for everyone to support him during the battle he is going through fighting cancer and heart failure. We would like to support medical and monthly expenses; we appreciate you supporting Dave in his battle with Cancer and Heart Failure.

 

Until Sunday, August 29th Dave always felt fine and somewhat healthy but woke up with shortness of breath. A hard-working southerner, Dave just thought it was fatigue or sleep apnea. At 10:45 am on Sunday Dave knew something wasn’t right and headed to the ER.

He was quickly admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with heart failure and through the process of CT scans and MRIs a renal mass was found in his right kidney. Completely unaware and no symptoms of any kidney issues Dave was completely shocked. He was told his health will diminish unless treated quickly. His heart will have to wait until the doctors can decide how to best treat this kidney mass. Twice in the ER he was scheduled for surgeries 1 a biopsy of the kidney mass, 2nd heart surgery to try to clear blood flow to help strengthen the heart. Both were canceled last minute leaving Dave wondering what is going on. He was fighting hard for 4 days to get well and progress. However, the emotional trauma the hospital kept putting on Dave was difficult due to canceling procedures at the last minute after not being fed for over 20 hours. It is unimaginable. He lost around 30 lbs. while being in the hospital by being medicated with diuretics daily.

 

 

 

 

 

Well after being released from the hospital Dave went to see a Cardiologist, Urologists' and an interventional radiologist surgeon. The Cardiologist ran more tests and concluded I will need surgery to clear the blood flow to and from the heart to improve heart function which is now at 30%. Dr. Gupta said however the kidney would need to be addressed first before the heart can be worked on.

 

So Dave met with the Urologist to see his option with the renal mass. Dr. Taylor said he was 99.9% sure it was Cancer and that the mass has been growing in him for probably many years. He explained most of these cases are found randomly through going to the hospital for something else. The problem is Dave's renal mass is larger than most and where it’s located making it very hard to treat. He referred him to Dr. Bombstick with Radiology Associates of NV about a possible Cryoablation procedure that may be a solution to save the kidney. Dr. Bombstick said it would be a temporary solution and reviewed the MRIs, concluding he could attempt to freeze the mass and save the kidney from being removed for a while. This was admittedly the hardest surgery he has tried due to the size and location of the mass within the right kidney. Neither he nor any doctor successfully has killed a mass of this size before. What would make this more difficult was the location so close to the arteries feeding the kidney?

 

So with time to think Dave decided to move forward with the Cryoablation procedures to try and save the kidney for a while. His first Surgery was November 16th at Desert Springs Hospital. This procedure was to insert clips through the leg into the kidney to cut off blood flow to the mass. The second surgery was performed on December 1st at Centennial Hills Hospital. This was the Cryoablation procedure to try by freezing the mass in the right kidney.

 

Dr. Bombstick told Dave it is a 50/50 chance he can kill the mass. It will require MRIs every 3 months to make sure the mass is completely killed or if it just bought time for a kidney transplant. If at any point the mass shows signs of growing still he will either have to try the Cryoablation procedure again or remove the kidney. With Dave's current kidney function rating GFR is only a 30 this means kidney failure and possible dialysis until a kidney donor is found and Dave gets moved up the national wait list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has had some complications since the last procedure with severe left leg swelling and a lot of pain making it difficult for him to walk. Doctors aren't sure why or what is causing the swelling other than the heart possibly causing him to hold and retaining fluids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is extremely talented, focused, and gifted, he earned numerous awards in soccer, hockey, and business. He also won a presidential award for exercise and fitness as a young man. He would volunteer to help elderly neighbors with gardening and chores around the house growing up. Dave was that little boy who just helped everyone and always had a smile on his face. When girls in school went through a breakup with their boyfriends he was that little boy in the hall letting them cry on his shoulder. Growing up very active playing sports and just being a normal kid in the neighborhood he was very popular with other kids and teachers. Despite growing up in a hard family environment in an abusive home Dave still manages through life as a kid. He remembers in elementary school a gas leak that almost killed students and teachers. The school was an older one in the County he lived in and developed a gas pipe leak in the school basement. Teachers and students were passing out in the halls and fire department and police were called to the scene. I can’t imagine going through that as a small child myself. He had a passion for standing out and loved music growing up. He said he used to wear a white glove to school and his friends June and Chad taught each other how to breakdance. As he entered high school at Riverside High at standout school in the area he grew up in, he wondered about the future. He focused on his talents dancing, hockey, and soccer and just being the outgoing guy he was becoming. He made friends with so many other kids around the city he lived in at other high schools. Also at the time the nightclub industry was something that was thriving with teen nights and dance competitions. He met a friend named Mark who was from another high school and into skateboarding and running around at various house parties in the area. The other friends he hung out with were his dance buddies and the DJ at a club called Characters, a massive 50,000 ft. night club. He knew right away he loved that industry and how much joy it brought everyone dancing and listening to music. Dave started volunteering at the local ice rink when he wasn’t in school or at practice. He was the 1st ever volunteer that the county ever had. Giving his free time to help others was something he never thought twice about. While at the rink he learned how to drive the Zamboni, and taught others how to skate on ice safely without hurting themselves. There were accidents however and he had to carry children or elderly off the ice for paramedics to take care of them. Remembering one occasion when a young girl skated into the wall and tried to stop herself by putting her arms out. He knew right away it would be bad and skated as fast as he could to the little girl. Once he got to her he knew she had a double compound fracture of her left arm. He right away talked to the girl, calming her and getting her to focus on something else while help was coming. After he was able to get help he carried her off the ice while another employee held the arm still. It all happened so fast he said “I just reacted and did what I was trained to do”. The little girl to this day calls him a hero even after all these years. He told me it reminded him of when he was a little 6 year old and his father accidently shot himself in the leg cleaning his pistol. “I heard a loud noise from my parents’ room and ran to see what happened. I saw my dad on the ground bleeding. My only reaction was to run as fast as I could next door to my grandparents.” Because he reacted so quickly to get help he saved his father’s leg. When he told me this I was like when I was 6 I no way would have reacted that fast I would have started crying and probably froze.

 

After going off to college and a few years of growing through different things, he decided to move to Clemson, SC. Several of his high school friends had went there and were running a few different venues in down town tiger town. Dave quickly became known as Super Dave by locals and students around campus. He ran a venue called Fiesta Grill formerly known as Explores quickly becoming known around campus and with athletes. Giving discounts to faculty and students the business grew 300 percent and with tailgate spots sold to Fraternity and Sororities mostly the profits were looking great. He enjoyed handling the entertainment and booking local bands and Dj’s to perform as well. In 2008 the owner and partner decided to not renew the lease to move his focus more towards his family. So Dave partnered up with a new investor from Atlanta to create a new concept on the property focusing on more of a bar style with special slushy machines on the wall behind the bar. His experience with design and concepts like Characters the club he grew up going to and several other venues he was a part of in his home city helped offset a lot of the cost in construction. Thus Flip Flops was created and with his connections with many R&B artists he got then to come and perform on Game days in Clemson. Unfortunately the partner was doing a lot of illegal things with the money and profits and basically took everything and disappeared leaving the business with nothing. He learned a lot from this lesson and continued to help the community with his fitness expertise working with clients at Golds Gym and Anytime fitness. After developing a company called Campus Fit he moved to Atlanta to build the night life Industry their then onto Las Vegas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He became close with many Clemson players over the years and attended many games including the 2016 National Championship Game in AZ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I met Dave in 2014 at an event he created for a bunch of pageant girls to celebrate NYE together as sisters. The event covered 3 days and was full of amazing events and activities for us all to enjoy free. Yep free only thing we had to cover was our own plane ticket which we thought it was too good to be true. This was one of the best times I had ever had to that point in my life. He went out of his way to do these things for us and I wondered why? The last night I was able to hang out with him and his girlfriend at the time and a famous dress designer, whom I admired. It was NYE we all were taken care of by him and his partner Mahesh at one of Atlanta’s top night clubs.  Around 4am we all were getting food and I said why are you doing this for us? He replied “because no one else does and you girls deserve it.” He explained later while eating he had the connections and the resources so figured why not. Over the years he did so much for everyone, especially many of us girls. In 2017 he put us next to Calvin Harris in the DJ booth at a pool party and Calvin photobombed us in a picture. We all sang and danced all day and took pictures with Calvin while he was performing. Again it was all free and he received nothing from anyone I asked him if I could work with him as an assistant and help somehow. He was in shock and asked me why? “There isn’t any pay” I replied Dave ``this is so much fun and rewarding I just want future girls to enjoy this as much as I have”. Biggest thing is he takes care of everyone and makes sure everyone is safe and having a good time, always checking and asking. That tells you when someone has a good heart and means well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave was very active in the night life community and always showing support to some of his friends many of which are DJ's and venue owners. His love for music has never gone away and his passion for real customer service can’t be touched by anyone in the business. He has been a teacher in industry for years now and only wants to make everyone better. It is heart-wrenching to see him go through this devastating situation and we want to help him as much as we can. He lost his mentor just a few months ago Manny who was an instrumental part of TAO group and its development. He passed away of cancer and told Dave to never give up before he passed. 

 

Unfortunately through this whole process since August Dave hasn't been able to work and has exhausted all of his savings on what Medicaid doesn't cover and living expenses. With the upcoming doctor’s appointments and heart procedure as well as prescription drug costs he will not be able to cover all this without help. Let’s all pitch in and take this burden away from him and let him heal. We are his family and friends and all the years he has given to everyone else it’s my mission to make sure he is ok. Wishing for prayers and God's wisdom we all can help whether it’s by giving a little or a lot we can. Just by Spreading the word and sharing it with everyone you know or who follows you on social media will go a long way.

 

Some of you have asked about other options to send a donation and you can Zelle him directly which doesn’t get any fees applied. Go Fund Me is a business and charges a percentage. His Venmo is @David-Reynolds-77