Todd's stage 4 cancer journey
Donation protected
Todd Jenkins is my husband and father to our beautiful little girl and from this picture, it does not look like he has stage 4 melanoma, but he has been thriving with it for over 8 months! And other than the fact that he has cancer, he is in the best shape of his life.
I'm going to summarize our journey on here, but please check out the blog on our website for more details. We have learned so much and would love to share it with you. I will continue to update the blog regularly with what we need the funds for and our progress. I will also post the links and updates on this page. (blog link at the bottom of the page)
In December 2017, we had both recently quit our full-time jobs to be in business with each other when Todd was first diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. He had an enlarged lymph node removed from his left axilla and nothing could have prepared us for the news that it was cancer! He went through numerous scans, there was no evidence of cancer anywhere else in Todd's body. We did a little research at the time with alternative protocols, but ultimately we were scared into conventional treatment with the immunotherapy drug Opdivo.
On October 25th, 2018 after 7 months of the toxic immunotherapy drug along with being put on a steroid and an antibiotic, we found out there were four new positive lymph nodes in the same area. The initial suggestion was to continue with the same drug as planned, which just did not make any sense to us. We know now that the survival rate or even the reoccurrence rate is really low for this treatment.
It was an immediate instinct that we both felt at that moment...we knew we had to do something different. We had to listen to our hearts and follow the path we were lead down. It all started to make sense that Todd could do better with natural non-toxic treatments. Starting with a radical diet change of mostly organic fruits and vegetables, juicing, supplements, medical marijuana, coffee enemas, exercise, and meditation. These brought on unexpected expenses that are not covered by insurance. He also sees an alternative medicine doctor and was able to have some vitamin C infusions along with the ozone therapy. We found ourselves quickly in debt especially because Todd was not working as much. He is trying to focus on healing, surviving for his daughter, for his wife, mother and to make a bigger impact on this world.
With our previous funding page, we raised almost $10,000 and we were so grateful! That made a huge impact on our new expenses and helped keep us afloat for a little bit. And to be completely honest we removed the site because we were scared to be vulnerable and our pride stood in the way, but we need more funds, I realize that this is the most important obstacle in our lives right now. Todd has decided to go to CHIPSA hospital in Mexico. We need to make this trip happen. Todd and I had a consultation with a doctor at CHIPSA to go over an individualized treatment plan and he was instructed not to have the tumors removed prior to arriving. We have made the deposit and have reservations to be there on August 19th for 3 weeks! Yes, we realize this is only 5 weeks away and we have faith that we will be there. I have broken down the cost on a blog post that will be up tomorrow.
We need the funds to cover the cost of all Todd's treatments, our flight, and hotel stay. The estimated cost for the trip alone is about $30,000. Please keep in mind that there will be no work or pay while we are gone and that Todd will need to continue his healing journey when we are back. We ask that you help us by giving and sharing, any amount is never too small and will always be appreciated. Every little bit helps more than you could ever know, even if it is sharing!
UPDATED:
We made it to CHIPSA hospital in Mexico with the support from all of you! However we did have to barrow the last bit to get us there and will need to pay that back. With that said the expenses have not stopped…Todd opted to set up a surgical consult before we left Mexico and on October 11th he had a lymph node dissection done along with a lymphovenous bypass surgery. The surgery was not fully covered by our insurance seeing is how we have not used medical insurance most of 2019 and we are responsible for almost $1,000. The recovery from this surgery has been more than we expected and now Todd is receiving physical therapy from a lymphedema specialist for his range of motion. Unfortunately our insurance is out of network and they are the only facility around with a specialist that he needs. We are asking that you please continue to share our story in hopes that we can keep moving in the right direction. Also for more details or to refer anyone that you think could benefit from our story to the blog on our website:
https://peacebeach.net
We also have a , , Apple pay and Google pay options available.
Please feel free to ask any questions and share, share, share!!! Thank you ALL so much from the bottom of our hearts xoxo
I'm going to summarize our journey on here, but please check out the blog on our website for more details. We have learned so much and would love to share it with you. I will continue to update the blog regularly with what we need the funds for and our progress. I will also post the links and updates on this page. (blog link at the bottom of the page)
In December 2017, we had both recently quit our full-time jobs to be in business with each other when Todd was first diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. He had an enlarged lymph node removed from his left axilla and nothing could have prepared us for the news that it was cancer! He went through numerous scans, there was no evidence of cancer anywhere else in Todd's body. We did a little research at the time with alternative protocols, but ultimately we were scared into conventional treatment with the immunotherapy drug Opdivo.
On October 25th, 2018 after 7 months of the toxic immunotherapy drug along with being put on a steroid and an antibiotic, we found out there were four new positive lymph nodes in the same area. The initial suggestion was to continue with the same drug as planned, which just did not make any sense to us. We know now that the survival rate or even the reoccurrence rate is really low for this treatment.
It was an immediate instinct that we both felt at that moment...we knew we had to do something different. We had to listen to our hearts and follow the path we were lead down. It all started to make sense that Todd could do better with natural non-toxic treatments. Starting with a radical diet change of mostly organic fruits and vegetables, juicing, supplements, medical marijuana, coffee enemas, exercise, and meditation. These brought on unexpected expenses that are not covered by insurance. He also sees an alternative medicine doctor and was able to have some vitamin C infusions along with the ozone therapy. We found ourselves quickly in debt especially because Todd was not working as much. He is trying to focus on healing, surviving for his daughter, for his wife, mother and to make a bigger impact on this world.
With our previous funding page, we raised almost $10,000 and we were so grateful! That made a huge impact on our new expenses and helped keep us afloat for a little bit. And to be completely honest we removed the site because we were scared to be vulnerable and our pride stood in the way, but we need more funds, I realize that this is the most important obstacle in our lives right now. Todd has decided to go to CHIPSA hospital in Mexico. We need to make this trip happen. Todd and I had a consultation with a doctor at CHIPSA to go over an individualized treatment plan and he was instructed not to have the tumors removed prior to arriving. We have made the deposit and have reservations to be there on August 19th for 3 weeks! Yes, we realize this is only 5 weeks away and we have faith that we will be there. I have broken down the cost on a blog post that will be up tomorrow.
We need the funds to cover the cost of all Todd's treatments, our flight, and hotel stay. The estimated cost for the trip alone is about $30,000. Please keep in mind that there will be no work or pay while we are gone and that Todd will need to continue his healing journey when we are back. We ask that you help us by giving and sharing, any amount is never too small and will always be appreciated. Every little bit helps more than you could ever know, even if it is sharing!
UPDATED:
We made it to CHIPSA hospital in Mexico with the support from all of you! However we did have to barrow the last bit to get us there and will need to pay that back. With that said the expenses have not stopped…Todd opted to set up a surgical consult before we left Mexico and on October 11th he had a lymph node dissection done along with a lymphovenous bypass surgery. The surgery was not fully covered by our insurance seeing is how we have not used medical insurance most of 2019 and we are responsible for almost $1,000. The recovery from this surgery has been more than we expected and now Todd is receiving physical therapy from a lymphedema specialist for his range of motion. Unfortunately our insurance is out of network and they are the only facility around with a specialist that he needs. We are asking that you please continue to share our story in hopes that we can keep moving in the right direction. Also for more details or to refer anyone that you think could benefit from our story to the blog on our website:
https://peacebeach.net
We also have a , , Apple pay and Google pay options available.
Please feel free to ask any questions and share, share, share!!! Thank you ALL so much from the bottom of our hearts xoxo
Organizer
Ashley Todd Jenkins
Organizer
Florida Ridge, FL