Father of 3 passes away from Brain Cancer.
My name is Danielle & on behalf of Drew's family, I have created this Go Fund Me, to help ease any financial expences.
From Sarah, Drew's daughter.
In June of 2022 I sat at my kitchen table with my dad when we got the news. The room went quiet as we got the call, dad had a glioblastoma. A very aggressive brain cancer. At that point we were given 1 year to 18 months and that was with radiation and chemo as treatment options, not to get rid of the cancer but to delay the inevitable. We did the 6 weeks of radiation and chemo and when things were stable we thought we would be ok for a little while. Boy were we wrong. He developed pulmonary embolism in both lungs, requiring him to need blood thinners for the rest of his life. After that he had a random seizure where my sister had to perform chest compressions on him until paramedics arrived. So add an anti seizure medication to the mix. In March of this year we got a great MRI! The brain cancer was stable!! Finally some good news, we were so happy for him. Then Dads behavior started to change, again. He became very withdrawn, lethargic, not eating or drinking much, sleeping day and night. When he started having issues swallowing his medication, we made him go into emerg to be seen. After hours of waiting, we found out from a CT scan June 19th that his cancer was no longer stable and had grown to 6cm in just 3 months. This time it was causing speech problems, difficulty finding words, fatigue and incontinence that he was too ashamed to tell us about. When we first got the diagnosis at my table, dad and I locked eyes and I told him I’d have his back till the end or I couldn’t anymore. He had more tests done at Kingston health science centre and a lumbar drain inserted to alleviate the pressure in his brain. Sadly nothing could be done and his cancer care team asked if he could come home to be with family as he was starting to decline. I decided to bring dad to my home to be comfortable and surrounded with love and family. He needed my help to bathe, use the washroom and just to get out of bed. This man who once was doing the same for me, supporting me throughout my kidney stone disease had now been defeated and relied on me to even hold him up. We weren’t ready for this, not yet. We had nothing saved, dad couldn’t work due to his constant illness and even small jobs made him exhausted. I never thought I’d be coming to a place to ask for help, to help lay my dad to rest. This man was strong my whole life, the “go to” guy when you needed help or had a problem, or just wanted to grab a coffee and talk about the weather. He was fun, loyal and loved us 3 girls and his family so much. The last few months put this man through hell, he became a quarter of the man he was just from the illness. He started to refuse food and water and then his medications and I knew he had given up. I kept my promise, I stayed by his side until his last breath, holding him saying it was ok and I loved him. After it was time for the funeral home to take him, I even helped roll him to the service van and told him the rest was up to him. I said good bye to my rock, my hero, my dad. Right to the end, now I’m asking for help to complete my dad’s wishes. I can’t do this on my own, and I’m slowly realizing this. I’m not one to ask for help, so I hope you can find it in your heart to help me, help my dad rest in peace.
His 3 girls miss him so much.