Help Duke Fight Brain Cancer

My name is Minsoo Thigpen, Duke's daughter, an immigrant to the US with my single mother, Chun Ae, and my brother, Tony. When I was around 10 or 11, my mom met Duke at the grocery store, where he helped her pick out ice cream. As they say, the rest is history. We’ve faced challenges as a family before, but this time, it’s more than we can handle alone. We need your help to get through this period.

In January of this year, my dad was diagnosed with very aggressive brain cancer. When his coworkers suspected he was having a stroke, they rushed him to the hospital where CT and MRI scans revealed a huge 7cm-wide brain mass. He was initially in a community hospital in Macon, GA, where we couldn’t get him the best care possible. Fortunately, my brother, who studied dentistry at UAB, and his wife, who was a nurse at the UAB hospital, advocated for his transfer to the Neuroncology group at UAB. At first, doctors thought that the tumor looked like glioblastoma, a form of terminal brain cancer with no known cure, only treatment to prolong life. This, of course, devastated us—most of all, my mom.

At this point in their lives, my parents were only a year away from retiring. A year ago, they moved from Birmingham, AL to Pensacola, FL, to get a headstart on their new life of retirement. My dad has worked hard his whole life—to then have his golden years taken away is deeply unfair. With the diagnosis we were given, we were shaken and in deep grief.

Then the unbelievable happened. After doing a biopsy, we found out that the tumor was actually a non-Hodgkins Large B-cell Lymphoma, which was much less fatal and better prognosis with a good chance of survival. Immediately, we got him started on a protocol of Methotrexate (chemo) and Rituximab (immunotherapy) at UAB. With his treatment plan set, my dad would need to return to UAB for five days at a time, every two weeks. Living in Pensacola, FL, my parents made the four-hour trip every two weeks to admit my dad for his chemotherapy and then return home. With a high chance of survival and a clear plan of attack, we were ready to fight to live.

Three months later, after his fourth chemo treatment, my dad spiked a fever that would change everything again. A routine round of chemo turned into an 11-day stay at the hospital when we discovered that his fever was caused by an infection, which because of his weakened immune system ended up becoming life-threatening. After his fever went away, he was sent home with nothing more than antibiotics and a couple of oxygen tanks to aid his recovery. However, his fever came back a few days later. He was not able to breathe or move. Acting quickly, my mom called the ambulance and got him to the ER at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital, in Pensacola, FL. We thought that antibiotics would help my dad recover from the infection, but his health rapidly declined in the following week, even after completing multiple courses. He was eventually intubated due to acute respiratory failure and admitted into the ICU. Sacred Heart was not equipped to handle his complicated situation so we transferred him back to UAB where he could have more comprehensive care and resources to diagnose the root cause of his illness. On 5/1/23 he was airlifted to the UAB Bone Marrow Transplant wing where we are now hoping he can make a recovery.

After consulting the pulmonary team, we suspect that his illness may be a chemo-related side effect (i.e. methotrexate-induced pneumonitis), but a definitive diagnosis hasn’t been made yet. We are praying for his recovery but it is ultimately up to my dad's body to pull through. I will post updates here for everyone as we get them.

We are a small family with only, my parents, and my brother's young family of four, and myself. Unfortunately, my mom's family in Korea, and my dad's family aren’t able to provide support during this time. My mom’s PTO/unpaid FMLA is running out this month and my dad is of course in no condition to go back to work. Any help, no matter how small, would alleviate the financial burden that compounds the emotional and physical toll of my dad’s battle with cancer. Your contributions to this GoFundMe would go towards:

We are so thankful for every donation. Fighting cancer has been (and undoubtedly will continue to be) an extremely tough battle. But the greatest support you could give, especially if you are far away but still looking to help, would be to help us with the uncertain financial obstacles ahead. This will allow our family to focus on defeating this cancer so that my parents can spend their golden years together, as they had always planned.

For those who want to do a direct donation, my mom’s venmo is @Chunae-Thigpen. Thank you!