Stand With Mike. BARRESI STRONG
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Mike Barresi is a single father whom has an amazing 9 year old son named Dylan. Anyone who knows Mike has a story to tell about how amazing of a father he is, If you ask Mike what he is most passion about he would say his son. Spending time with his son is his most passionate hobby in the world. Mike is the most loyal guy I know. His loyalty to family and friends are super important to him and remains part of his life style. Remaining healthy mentally and physically has always played a big role in his life.
Back in early July 2017 Mike was diagnosed with a stage 4 Glioblastoma (GBM) Brain Tumor at age 45. After hearing the news Mike was devastated and was brought to his knees with tears in his eyes as death seemed imminent. Not being able to see his son reach 8 years old placed him in a panic mode filled with anxiety. Within days he is was in surgery for a brain tumor resection. After a second surgery 12 days later to remove it completely, he has to undergo radiation and chemo. After eight months later he experienced a reoccurrence. Mike remained a fighter and he had to endure surgery number 3 for a brain resection.
In October 2018 Mike experienced a migraine that brought him back to the hospital for another MRI. The MRI revealed that the entire right side of his brain was filled with inflammation. He received a large dose of steroids and a new treatment to reduce the inflammation. The new treatment significantly reduced the inflammation however, the doctors recommended Mike to leave his career working in IT. The doctor encouraged Mike to avoid stress as much as possible because stress would decrease his cognitive function. Mike came at a cross road in his life and faced with a major decision to make. He needed to decide to end his thriving career to focus on his health or continue to work full time. After much thought he decided to leave his career to stay focused on his health and spend as much quality time with his son Dylan. After adjusting to his new life style, he focused to remain stress free while the tumor remained present. He remained stable with no tumor growth from Oct 2018 through Aug 12th 2019.
After the most recent MRI on Aug 13th 2019 Mike was told by Dana Farber that the dormant tumor has grown larger and unfortunately, there is no more treatments available to help him. The news hit him hard, after experiencing feeling sick, going through depression, feeling angry and exhaustion Mike is now faced with a growing tumor with no more treatments available. This news not only hit Mike hard but also affected his loved ones.
Mike is now desperate to seek other opportunities (possibly outside the US) as time is of the essence. Recently we located a cancer center outside the US that sounds extremely promising, The only difficult issue is the cost as anything outside the US is not covered under his current health insurance. Travel, accommodations and treatment is all expenses that Mike will be responsible to pay for. Mike has exhausted most of his funds and Dylan’s education funds to keep him fighting the last two years despite his health insurance paying for a good portion of all his treatment.
That said, this is why we are running this campaign now, to help Mike pay for all the new expenses that will come with the new treatments. Expenses can run anywhere from $50,000.00 up to $300,000.00 depending on what is needed. No matter the outcome all funds remaining will go to Dylan’s college education. Please, let's all open our hearts for Mike and Dylan to help them continue this fight and beat this brain tumor. Any donations will be much appreciated. Updates will follow as he receives new treatments, I will be posting all updates as they become available. Thank you all for taking the time to read Mikes story. Feel free to comment or ask anything you'd like.
STAND WITH MIKE.. BARRESI STRONG
Back in early July 2017 Mike was diagnosed with a stage 4 Glioblastoma (GBM) Brain Tumor at age 45. After hearing the news Mike was devastated and was brought to his knees with tears in his eyes as death seemed imminent. Not being able to see his son reach 8 years old placed him in a panic mode filled with anxiety. Within days he is was in surgery for a brain tumor resection. After a second surgery 12 days later to remove it completely, he has to undergo radiation and chemo. After eight months later he experienced a reoccurrence. Mike remained a fighter and he had to endure surgery number 3 for a brain resection.
In October 2018 Mike experienced a migraine that brought him back to the hospital for another MRI. The MRI revealed that the entire right side of his brain was filled with inflammation. He received a large dose of steroids and a new treatment to reduce the inflammation. The new treatment significantly reduced the inflammation however, the doctors recommended Mike to leave his career working in IT. The doctor encouraged Mike to avoid stress as much as possible because stress would decrease his cognitive function. Mike came at a cross road in his life and faced with a major decision to make. He needed to decide to end his thriving career to focus on his health or continue to work full time. After much thought he decided to leave his career to stay focused on his health and spend as much quality time with his son Dylan. After adjusting to his new life style, he focused to remain stress free while the tumor remained present. He remained stable with no tumor growth from Oct 2018 through Aug 12th 2019.
After the most recent MRI on Aug 13th 2019 Mike was told by Dana Farber that the dormant tumor has grown larger and unfortunately, there is no more treatments available to help him. The news hit him hard, after experiencing feeling sick, going through depression, feeling angry and exhaustion Mike is now faced with a growing tumor with no more treatments available. This news not only hit Mike hard but also affected his loved ones.
Mike is now desperate to seek other opportunities (possibly outside the US) as time is of the essence. Recently we located a cancer center outside the US that sounds extremely promising, The only difficult issue is the cost as anything outside the US is not covered under his current health insurance. Travel, accommodations and treatment is all expenses that Mike will be responsible to pay for. Mike has exhausted most of his funds and Dylan’s education funds to keep him fighting the last two years despite his health insurance paying for a good portion of all his treatment.
That said, this is why we are running this campaign now, to help Mike pay for all the new expenses that will come with the new treatments. Expenses can run anywhere from $50,000.00 up to $300,000.00 depending on what is needed. No matter the outcome all funds remaining will go to Dylan’s college education. Please, let's all open our hearts for Mike and Dylan to help them continue this fight and beat this brain tumor. Any donations will be much appreciated. Updates will follow as he receives new treatments, I will be posting all updates as they become available. Thank you all for taking the time to read Mikes story. Feel free to comment or ask anything you'd like.
STAND WITH MIKE.. BARRESI STRONG
Organizer
Pete Barresi
Organizer
Ashland, MA