Rest in Peace Joel
Donation protected
This is Joel Lee. He's a husband, a father, a coach, and one hell of an amazing human being... I had the privilege to make his acquaintance almost two decades ago and since then, have been life long friends. Joel has an amazing wife and two beautiful daughters who continue to provide unwavering love and support for him.
Joel has met cancer before. In 2004 he woke up in the morning and couldn't see out of one eye. The doctors told him that he had melanoma and he would need to have immediate treatment and surgery. He fought it head on and beat it. Cancer unfortunately took his sight in that eye.
As soon as he could, he was back to his normal schedule, and has led a healthy productive life of excellence until just a few months ago when melanoma returned.
Joel learned that Uveal Melanoma had manifested itself in his liver when he began to experience pain in his abdomen after visiting his doctor.
This secondary cancer is aggressive, and resistant to traditional cancer treatments, but Joel's treatment options remained open with a trial drug 'IMCGP100' which is only available in Toronto.
Joel was fortunate to be selected and included in a trial with this new treatment which has been providing some positive preliminary results with his battle.
The treatment received in Toronto worked when it was combined with immunotherapy. Unfortunately the trial drug didn’t last forever and the cancer started to gain momentum again. After a great half summer followed by winter and another awesome summer, Joel started feeling pain between his shoulder blades. As the pain escalated, he started to notice mild changes in feeling in one of his feet. The pain escalated to what was excruciating and he went to the hospital. Sadly, the cancer surprised him by invading his spine and more worse, his spinal cord.
The two tumours combined with radiation treatment has unfortunately left him unable to walk. After seven weeks in hospital, the doctors agreed to discharge him and allowed him to go home in mid-November.
The biggest challenge for Joel and his family is to find a way to comfortably live and have access to tools which will allow him to access the amenities in their home such as the main bathroom that is on upper floors of the home.
The extension of Joel's GoFundMe fundraiser will allow him to rent or purchase the tools and equipment that is needed to give a newly handicapped person a normal life.
The funds raised so far for this campaign has assisted Joel and his family with the costs associated with his ongoing travel needs and accommodations to and from Toronto for his treatment and for the rental and purchase of medical equipment needed at home.
Please help Joel and his family by donating again and sharing on your social media.
**Please Note: When donating, an optional 15% tip is added to your donation which the gofundme corporation suggests as this is a personal campaign. Please free to change that 0% before submitting your donation to Joel.**
Joel has met cancer before. In 2004 he woke up in the morning and couldn't see out of one eye. The doctors told him that he had melanoma and he would need to have immediate treatment and surgery. He fought it head on and beat it. Cancer unfortunately took his sight in that eye.
As soon as he could, he was back to his normal schedule, and has led a healthy productive life of excellence until just a few months ago when melanoma returned.
Joel learned that Uveal Melanoma had manifested itself in his liver when he began to experience pain in his abdomen after visiting his doctor.
This secondary cancer is aggressive, and resistant to traditional cancer treatments, but Joel's treatment options remained open with a trial drug 'IMCGP100' which is only available in Toronto.
Joel was fortunate to be selected and included in a trial with this new treatment which has been providing some positive preliminary results with his battle.
The treatment received in Toronto worked when it was combined with immunotherapy. Unfortunately the trial drug didn’t last forever and the cancer started to gain momentum again. After a great half summer followed by winter and another awesome summer, Joel started feeling pain between his shoulder blades. As the pain escalated, he started to notice mild changes in feeling in one of his feet. The pain escalated to what was excruciating and he went to the hospital. Sadly, the cancer surprised him by invading his spine and more worse, his spinal cord.
The two tumours combined with radiation treatment has unfortunately left him unable to walk. After seven weeks in hospital, the doctors agreed to discharge him and allowed him to go home in mid-November.
The biggest challenge for Joel and his family is to find a way to comfortably live and have access to tools which will allow him to access the amenities in their home such as the main bathroom that is on upper floors of the home.
The extension of Joel's GoFundMe fundraiser will allow him to rent or purchase the tools and equipment that is needed to give a newly handicapped person a normal life.
The funds raised so far for this campaign has assisted Joel and his family with the costs associated with his ongoing travel needs and accommodations to and from Toronto for his treatment and for the rental and purchase of medical equipment needed at home.
Please help Joel and his family by donating again and sharing on your social media.
**Please Note: When donating, an optional 15% tip is added to your donation which the gofundme corporation suggests as this is a personal campaign. Please free to change that 0% before submitting your donation to Joel.**
Organizer and beneficiary
Steve Ellis
Organizer
Manotick, ON
Joel Lee
Beneficiary