Help Trevor Kick Cancer's A$$

You may know him as Cnemuis, Mr. Disfusional, Uncle Treasure. Maybe you just know him as Trevor Kalthoff. If you know him, you know he is an amazingly passionate, kindhearted, brilliant, fierce man who will do anything for the people he loves. He's a dedicated husband, son, brother, cat-dad to Puck and Stitch, and friend. He has an infectious laugh and a sense of humor to get you through the best and worst times. If you don't know him, I hope this helps you see what we see in him and what an amazing person he is.

Trevor's interests and passions are diverse, but the common thread is that he always goes full in, happily. Aside from working full time helping his close friends build, run and establish their farm, he has spent the years as his wife Ashlee's (Disfusional Studios) dedicated roadie, hype-man, business partner, and biggest fan. He's well known for his knowledge and abilities in music and plans to teach his niece all the instruments he can when she's old enough. He's no stranger to video game nerdom. His big foray into video games was with the original World of Warcraft with his brothers. Over time he's had some dedicated time to Eve, recently he said he was planning on starting Diablo 4, and we can't ignore the influence that Warframe has had on him. Not only has he played Warframe for personal interest, when he and Ashlee had to live apart for a year shortly after getting married, they had nightly Warframe dates. Ashlee said those nightly Warframe dates saved their marriage and that's a small part of why they love the game, the community and the people who developed it. He still plays with Ashlee and they use the game as inspiration of her cosplay. He and Ashlee also worked in conjunction with Warframe and Digital Extremes to raise thousands for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

Unfortunately, February 10, Trevor's life was upended with a nightmare of epic proportions. Over the weekend, he had gone to urgent care and the ER with headaches. On the 10th, he was brought back to the ER and was diagnosed with 2 grade 4 brain masses. One of the masses is a significantly large, inoperable, butterfly tumor in the center of his brain. The diagnosis is likely glioblastoma (the most aggressive and deadly of brain cancers) and a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis has been completed and we're awaiting results. Whatever it officially is, the prognosis is dire. On February 14 he received a detailed CT and MRI and declined so quickly that he ended up being admitted to a Neuro-Critical Care Unit that night. He's since stabilized and is receiving excellent care, but the outlook is grave. Trevor being Trevor, though, he's not going out without a fight. It's too early to know what the treatment options will be, but he's going to pursue everything at his disposal.

Once the biopsy results are in, the most likely contenders are radiation and chemotherapy. While the typical treatment involves surgery to debulk the tumors, this isn't an option for the bigger tumor. If all goes well, Trevor will receive treatment 2 weeks after the biopsy; the delay is necessary to ensure that he has healed sufficiently and can avoid bleeding. If he is a candidate, radiation will involve a machine that directs radiation at the tumors in the brain. If successful, this can help kill cancer cells and can help reduce the chances of further growth. He also may be a candidate for chemotherapy at the same time or after radiation. In this case, it'll likely be an oral pill taken with the goal of killing the cancer cells and reducing the chance of further growth and spreading. He will also need palliative care involving medications and treatment to manage the symptoms and help retain some degree of quality of life.

The hope is that radiation and chemotherapy can keep the tumors at bay enough that Trevor can have as many, quality days ahead of him as possible. Trevor is young (40) and otherwise healthy so he's committed to being aggressive as he can be. But these treatments aren't going to be cheap.

This is where you come in. Trevor is no longer able to work and Ashlee will need to take a leave of absence to be with him as well as to tend to his care and treatment. And I won't pussyfoot around this: As you can imagine, the NCC treatment and stay will incur astronomical costs. Whatever the treatment options are, they're going to be expensive, at the low end we're expecting at least 100,000-200,000. Add in to that the fact that Trevor and Ashlee will have additional expenses to cover bills, moving, living expenses, and accessibility modifications to accommodate him when he's released from the hospital. And unfortunately, sooner than they should have to, there will be costs associated with end of life and funeral care. If you can donate any amount it'll help Trevor and Ashlee be able to pursue what they need to give him the best life possible while we can and will take care of Ashlee as she cares for him. If you can't donate, please share often and wildly. Feel free to be obnoxious about it, we don't mind.

As we know more details about what treatments are viable, we'll provide more detailed updates about what the next steps and options are and what you can do to help.

I'll end on an anecdote: Ages ago, Trevor was a roadie for his friends' band. If you know anything about roadies, they do it solely for love and passion. It's (usually) a thankless, exhausting job that doesn't really pay well (if at all). You aren't a roadie for any reason other than passion. From what they said he was the best they could have asked for and was as dedicated as they come, if not more so. Recently, we saw one of those friends playing a solo-gig in a bar. When the friend's guitar string broke mid-song, without a second's thought, Trevor jumped up, swapped guitars, and started restringing and tuning the guitar. This is how Trevor is with everything and everyone he loves. He jumps in and helps, without any consideration for himself. Now, it's our turn to be his roadies. As he sets down the mantle, it's our turn to pick it up and help him.

We want to thank Debra, Ashlee's mom, for handling the donations. She has a dedicated bank account just for the donations and will be using the money to take care of Trevor and Ashlee's expenses.