Support for the Riddle family

Hi my name is Jessica and I am organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Megan Riddle & family to help with end of life expenses for her father Doug Riddle. Megan and her Dad have been a huge part of my life and the type of people always willing to lend a hand so I want to help her and the family during this hard time.

In the fall of 2022 Doug visited the hospital multiple times due to trouble breathing and October of 2022 he was admitted and it was found that he had fluid build up around his heart and lungs. He had 2 procedures done at this time, a Thoracentesis to remove the fluid from his lungs and a Pericardial Window to remove the fluid from his heart. After a week stay in the hospital and liters of fluid removed from his heart and lungs the fluid build up slowed and stopped. This fluid was sent to pathology and returned with inconclusive results. Doug returned home. In the following months many hospital visits occurred, some ER visits and some over night stays, as well as many 911 calls to the home. Doug continued to have breathing trouble and extreme pain concerns. In May of 2023 Doug took a fall up a set of stairs catching himself with his hands before he hit the stairs. This fall landed him back in the hospital where they took xrays and determined that he had pulled muscles in his rib cage. Throughout June and July Doug continued having breathing issues and pain in his ribs assuming that this pain was residual from the fall a couple more trips to the ER treated his pain. On July 18, 2023 Doug was attending an appointment at the hospital for his daughter, during her appointment he decided to check himself into the ER and request new chest scans to determine the source of his continued pain, on this day it was discovered that he had Stage 4 Lung, Liver and Bone Cancer. In complete shock, he went home for the evening. The following day he revisited the ER and was admitted overnight, a biopsy was done on his liver and an appointment was scheduled with an Oncologist. Doug and his Daughter Megan attended this first oncology visit together where the liver biopsy results came back negative for Cancer, another biopsy was order for a mass on Doug’s rib cage. This biopsy came back positive for Angiosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that forms in the lining of the blood vessels and lymph vessels. Doug, Megan and the Oncologist decided the course of treatment would be to participate in chemotherapy and it was set to begin on September 14, 2023. Doug has a chemo port placed in his chest on September 1, the initial placement of the port caused a hematoma therefore the doctors went back in for replacement and drainage of the hematoma, he was released same day and went home. The following Tuesday September 5th around 8:30 PM Doug noticed that the port incision was bleeding and Megan decided to take him to the ER. Doug was admitted into the hospital and stayed for 5 nights, during this stay it was found that Doug’s blood and platelet counts were in critical ranges, the hospital began blood transfusions and administered bags of platelets and plasma. Doug was released on September 9th. On September 12th Doug and Megan went to the oncology office to attend the Chemo Education Course, prior to the course the oncologist met with Doug and Megan and it was determined that Doug’s breathing was was in such a condition that the oncologist sent them to the ER to have this condition treated prior to beginning chemo and the chemo start date was post-poned. After being admitted back into the hospital the doctors found that Doug’s platelet levels were again in critical range. Again bags on platelets were administered and this time Doug began to have allergic reactions to the platelets. He was released on Thursday the 14th. The next day Doug continued to have trouble breathing and extreme pain, at 2:30 AM Saturday morning Megan called 911 and Doug was taken to the ER. At the ER Doug’s blood oxygen level measured 83%, pain medication was administered and Doug went home around 5 AM. Monday, September 18th Doug, Megan and a family friend went to the oncology office where Doug was scheduled to begin chemo at 8 AM. Prior to beginning chemo treatment they met with the oncologist where they were told that Doug’s cancer was much too aggressive and that chemotherapy would likely kill him. After the oncologist explained the limited options that they had, Megan decided that the best decision was to bring Hospice into her home and begin comfort care for her father. Nurses and aids are scheduled to visit twice a week for a couple of hours each time. Aside from these few hours, Megan and her family are providing round the clock care for her father. Doug because comfort medication Monday afternoon with include antibiotics, heart medication, steriods, lasix, congestion medication, bowel movement medication and liquid morphine for pain management.

The above medical diagnosis and journey is just a microscopic portion of who my father is, the 62 years prior to this my father was the most outgoing, fun loving, humorous, helpful and strongest man I’ve ever known. Born in and raised Louisville, KY born to my Mammaw and Papaw with 2 older brothers and an older sister(also lost to Angiosarcoma). My father has many, many friends from home and from all of the other places he’s lived in his life time. In 1985, he married my mother Diana and became a step-father to my sister Brandy. 8 years later, they welcomed me on Father’s Day of 1993. And it just so happens, that I gave birth to my son on Father’s Day of 2018. When I was a child my father coached many of my sports teams, including cheerleading, where he taught my best friend Jessica and I to cart wheel over trash cans laid on their side when we were maybe 6, he coached my softball teams where he was always my biggest and loudest fan on the field, he would bake the most amazing cakes to represent our field and the positions of all of the girls, he would chase my best friend Shannon around the fields pretending to chop her curls off with his finger scissors. During Halloween my dad and I would spend hours making matching costumes to go trick or treating in. He has always gone above and beyond for holidays, making sure that everyone felt special, this passed Easter my son had SEVEN Easter baskets because every time my dad would go to the store he would see something that “little Mac just had to have.” During my graduation from high school my dad left the stadium and literally RAN to the dollar store to buy balloons so that I would have them released when my name was called to walk across the stage. He has been in a contractor since he was about 5 years old and anytime I have a house questions he can diagnose the problem over the phone, he helped to build a 500 sq ft deck on my home a few years ago from the top down. I could go on and on and on about all of the memories I have with my dad and about all of the things that he has taught me throughout the years. No amount of words can explain the love I and my family have for him and the enormous hole that will be created in our hearts when God calls him home, my dad has lived with me for the passed 2 years and I am terrified for the time to come that my home is a little quieter, to not receive a daily call asking what’s for dinner, for the nights I wont be listening to the whistling of Andy Griffith while he snores through the entire episode, to have a ridiculous amount of snacks in my house, seriously the man is best friends with Little Debbie. Again, there’s absolutely no way I can sum up my dad in a few paragraphs, he is so much more than that and he is so much more than that to me, I have had little time, just over 60 days to prepare myself for such a great loss. I find comfort in knowing that he will be home with loved ones when he goes and that loved ones are waiting for him when he gets there.