Team Morano... Fight & Succeed!
Donation protected
In July 2009, Chris received news that no one ever wants to hear... CANCER! Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) to be exact. A cancer that typically chooses white males over the age of 60 to go after. But not this time... This time MCL choose a young and strong 31 year old to take on its life threatening challenges. Chris fought hard his first time around, undergoing intense chemotherapy and treatments, constant trips back and forth to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City, and many months of recovery. In February 2010... Remission, his first bone marrow transplant (autologous transplant) and a second chance at a cancer free life!
Check ups every 6 months for over 5 years... All good and cancer free!
Then on August 11th, 2015, bad news came again... Cancer is back and with a vengeance. This has been the hardest year for Chris and everyone on his team. He has fought even longer and much harder this second time; a full year of different chemos, meds, and clinical trials. Non stop trips back and forth to the city again, days and sometimes weeks laying in bed after his body took a beating from treatments, weeks and sometimes months out of work. Even pneumonia took it's turn at him... And still he fought. Chris's strong and healthy body, his will to live and never give up, his selfless support system of family and friends and the incredible team of doctors, nurses, and every single person you come in contact with at MSKCC, all contributed to the great news that we received just last month... FULL REMISSION!
But the fight is not over yet. The time has now come for Chris to undergo a second bone morrow transplant (allogeneic transplant), and this time from a donor. But not just any donor... His big brother! With a 10 out of 10 sibling match and remission in his corner, he couldn't have better odds. This type of transplant has a 60% cure rate and that's just what we're all hoping for! Chris was admitted on Sept 7th and if all goes well, hopefully we can have him back home sometime in January.
Chris is a fighter. He accepts every challenge the doctors and nurses give him and he does it with a smile on his face and hope in his heart. Chris is one of the funniest people I know. He cracks jokes even when he's at his worst just to make the people around him laugh. Heck, most of the time he cracks himself up too! He is a loving father of 3, and he's also a wonderful step dad to my 3 little ladies, and yes we know... we have a lot of kids and we love it!! He's also a son and a brother, he's an uncle, nephew, cousin and a dear friend to so many and he's the love of my life and we all need him here with us!!
So many people want to help him and our family and I know most people feel helpless because almost every time they ask, him or I say that we don't need anything and that we are fine. Asking for help is hard enough! Him and I share the same "I don't need help... I can handle everything myself" attitude, which makes accepting help even harder. But it's not just about him and I... it's about our children and every single person in our support system, so for that reason, and that reason alone... I set up this campaign. All donations will go to travel expenses, medical expenses, and financial expenses during his absence and recovery. Even if you're unable to donate, your well-wishes, thoughts and prayers mean just as much.
Although these 2 words just don't seem like nearly enough for how we feel about your continued love, support and donation... Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.
Sincerely, Rachel xoxo
Check ups every 6 months for over 5 years... All good and cancer free!
Then on August 11th, 2015, bad news came again... Cancer is back and with a vengeance. This has been the hardest year for Chris and everyone on his team. He has fought even longer and much harder this second time; a full year of different chemos, meds, and clinical trials. Non stop trips back and forth to the city again, days and sometimes weeks laying in bed after his body took a beating from treatments, weeks and sometimes months out of work. Even pneumonia took it's turn at him... And still he fought. Chris's strong and healthy body, his will to live and never give up, his selfless support system of family and friends and the incredible team of doctors, nurses, and every single person you come in contact with at MSKCC, all contributed to the great news that we received just last month... FULL REMISSION!
But the fight is not over yet. The time has now come for Chris to undergo a second bone morrow transplant (allogeneic transplant), and this time from a donor. But not just any donor... His big brother! With a 10 out of 10 sibling match and remission in his corner, he couldn't have better odds. This type of transplant has a 60% cure rate and that's just what we're all hoping for! Chris was admitted on Sept 7th and if all goes well, hopefully we can have him back home sometime in January.
Chris is a fighter. He accepts every challenge the doctors and nurses give him and he does it with a smile on his face and hope in his heart. Chris is one of the funniest people I know. He cracks jokes even when he's at his worst just to make the people around him laugh. Heck, most of the time he cracks himself up too! He is a loving father of 3, and he's also a wonderful step dad to my 3 little ladies, and yes we know... we have a lot of kids and we love it!! He's also a son and a brother, he's an uncle, nephew, cousin and a dear friend to so many and he's the love of my life and we all need him here with us!!
So many people want to help him and our family and I know most people feel helpless because almost every time they ask, him or I say that we don't need anything and that we are fine. Asking for help is hard enough! Him and I share the same "I don't need help... I can handle everything myself" attitude, which makes accepting help even harder. But it's not just about him and I... it's about our children and every single person in our support system, so for that reason, and that reason alone... I set up this campaign. All donations will go to travel expenses, medical expenses, and financial expenses during his absence and recovery. Even if you're unable to donate, your well-wishes, thoughts and prayers mean just as much.
Although these 2 words just don't seem like nearly enough for how we feel about your continued love, support and donation... Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.
Sincerely, Rachel xoxo
Organizer
Chris Morano
Organizer
Wallkill, NY