The Utley Family Fund

Cass Update 02.08.2024

This is going to be a lengthy and very honest update.

Let’s start from the beginning.

September 2015. Cass started having complications. They set him up an appointment with a urologist and got him in asap. Once he got his official diagnosis, it was a huge shock and nothing like what he had prepared for. He was 25 years old.

October 1 2015. Cass had surgery that morning and had the cancer removed. Two weeks later, he received a report from the doctor that the cancer had not spread, he had clear scans, and he wouldn’t need any further treatment.

May 2023. Cass had been having some gastro and back problems and went to an urgent care. They gave him some antibiotics and a diagnosis and sent him on his way. A few days went by and he was still having serious pains so he thought the chiropractor might help. He went to see Kyle Gvillo. So after seeing Cass, Dr Gvillo told Cass that he didn’t think he was having a ‘bone’ issue, and that it was more of a tissue or muscle issue based on what he was seeing. Days continue to go by and there wasn’t much of a change of how Cass was feeling. SO he goes back to the urgent care where they reevaluate him and tell him that this is obviously something viral and just needs to run its course until he finishes his antibiotics.

June 26, 2023. Cass is at work and gets very dizzy and almost passes out at work. He knew something wasn’t right so he went to his primary doctor. They did a scan and the doctor knew right away that this was all misdiagnosed by urgent care. In fact, Kyle, the chiropractor, was actually the closest correct diagnosis. Casses primary doctor sent him straight to his oncologist. The cancer had come back. There were masses in both lungs, his liver, and multiple lymph nodes.

This was his last day of work after working at Coca Cola for 14 years.

July 2023. We all sprung into action trying to figure out what the best route to take would be. Cass moved out of his apartment and back home with his parents. Janet was referred to Huntsville by a friend to Dr Waples for a second opinion and they got the ball rolling immediately. Cass was taking chemo by July 24th.

Since July of last year, Cass has had 40 chemo treatments, 9 blood transfusions, 4 platelet infusions, electrolyte infusions, and countless bags of fluid. Cass has had a bone marrow transplant and was inpatient at UAB for 18 days. He received outpatient treatment at UAB post transplant afterwards. He and Janet have traveled to over 67 doctors appointments between here and Birmingham.

I typed all of this to say, a few dollars goes a long way. When you take into account that Cass has not worked in, going on, 7 months now. Janet has had to take off work to get him to and from and care for him at home. Gary has been the only constant income since this started. Since this has all unfolded, Cass has lost BCBS health insurance and had to swap to COBRA which is $600 a month, he also lost his life insurance that he had with Coca Cola. It has been blow after blow since July of last year.

So here I am, explaining to you all what your dollar goes towards when you donate and why it is so important that I get them as much help as I can. It’s all I know to do without being able to physically help.

We have got to get him to MD Anderson and are trying to get him there by next week. There has to be another option. We are NOT giving up.

Recent update -

Cass completed another week of chemo last week and received two units of blood this morning. He will have a few days for his body to rest and do it’s job trying to recuperate from the treatments. The past few days have been rough on him due to side effects.

*Treatment update:*

He will be having a stem cell transplant at UAB Kirklin Clinic. The doctors feel this is a good option for him to someday be healed completely and cancer free. He [and Janet] will be traveling to Birmingham next weekend to begin the outpatient part of the process. Cass is having an autologous transplant which will be the use of his own cells, rather than a donor’s. They will pull out his good stem cells every day the following week through an apheresis machine. This will clean and filter out good cells to freeze for future transplant back into his blood stream, where the good cells will travel to the bone marrow and create all new stem cells. WE ARE BELIEVING AND PROCLAIMING THIS!

Once the stem cell removal is complete, he will be able to leave and then they will start conditioning him with various steps and high-dose chemo for the future transplant date. With this, they hope to destroy ALL cancer cells in his body. This will make his immune system very weak and he could be in the hospital for an extensive period of time.

Original post-

As many of you know in October 2015, Cass, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. After surgery, he was deemed cancer-free and no treatment was needed.

Until we found out the cancer returned in June as an aggressive Metastatic Carcinoma Stage IV. It has metastasized to his lymph nodes, lungs, and liver.

He started plan A chemo on July 17th. There have been many emergency visits due to him needing bags of fluid to stay hydrated, blood transfusions, and just recently a blood clot. On Sept 25th he started Plan B. As of today he is on one of the most aggressive chemo treatments.

During this time, he has been unable to work. Our wish is for him to concentrate solely on beating this cancer and not have any financial worries. We are hoping this will help with medical bills, travel, gas expense, etc. Our hope is for Janet to be able to travel with him and not worry about anything as well during this time, as she is not only his mother but his main care giver.

He deserves to know that people care about him, are praying for him, and are here for him -- especially in times of need!

If you’re not a fan of GoFundMe or wish to donate anonymously, you can reach out to the following myself, Heather Spencer or Kristina Royce. If you would would like to donate directly his venmo is @Cass-Utley and cashapp is $CassUtley.

Now... let's keep FIGHTING!