Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Please feel free to share stories, pictures, memories of Adam. Thank you for visiting.
After over a month and half of searching for answers for my double vision in my left eye, an MRI finally uncovered a substantial growth intrinsic of my brainstem and thalamus. This required me to have brain surgery in the form of a needle biopsy on 1/9. We finally received a pathology report and full diagnosis on 1/27. I officially have a malignant Grade 4 (H3K27M) midline glioma. The good news is we caught this as early as humanly possible, got in with a world renown cancer care team at the U of Minnesota, and we avoided the dreaded glioblastoma. I will be starting a combination of weekday radiation treatments, along with an oral chemo drug. After a month of treatment, we’ll meet with my oncologist and reassess the treatment plan moving forward.
People have been asking what we need, now we know:
1.) Money - With me being unable to work for the foreseeable future, we will only have Stacy’s income to support us and pay medical bills. We will be putting up info for accounts with PayPal, Venmo, and for those that want to make it a tax write off, we’ll also have a Go Fund me link. Anything you can give is overwhelmingly appreciated. 2.) Rides - Due to my vision, I’ve not allowed myself to drive since end of November. I will mainly be looking for rides to daily radiation treatments and to Lifetime Fitness in Eagan. They are suggesting I make time for 20-30 min of daily activity or as much I can handle with this medication, so in other words, it’s important to stay active. We’ll be settling up a schedule for people to sign up for spots on the CaringBridge site. 3.) Visitors - we are gonna need our friends and loved ones more than ever. I will need people around to help me stay positive and keep my spirits up. Stacy will need people to reach out to her and take her out for coffee, a movie, a meal, etc. Checking in to ask how she is holding up. She might not be going through this physically like myself, but trust me, this is effecting her just as much in a different way. Phone calls are always preferred over texting and in person visits are even better. Keep in mind, visits could be short and will depend on my level fatigue that day. Call before to make sure it’s worth your time & effort. 4.) Spread the word - please share my posts and links to CaringBridge & our Facebook group with everyone you can. This is going to take a village and this calls for all hands-on deck. 5.) Continue sending your positive healing vibes, good thoughts, and prayers. - This is only the beginning and we’ll take every bit you can muster, cause we’re gonna need them and you all. This is my healing path, but we can’t walk it alone. 6.) Any other way you want to help - Some people have suggested different fundraisers, possibly some type of benefit, apply for grants through your workplace or other venues on our behalf or bring them to our attention, if you want to bring a meal over to share with us, want to come over for a game or movie night. Feel free to brainstorm and reach out if you have thoughts or ideas.
Monday (along with the past month a half) was a lot to take in and I’m in mourning for the life that was that I worked so hard for. It’s time to let it go and adapt to this new one. There will be good & bad days, but there will still be days. I never once asked to survive my surgery. What I asked for was the opportunity to overcome this, become stronger from it, and to reach my higher potential. I’m being given that opportunity and I’m damn sure gonna make the most of it. I have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon and plan to give this everything I got and then some. Tomorrow is never guaranteed and each day I rise is a gift. I will continue to treat it as such. Please send us your positive healing vibes, good thoughts, and prayers. Thank you all for seeing me through on my journey. We love you all! And stay tuned…my best is yet to come =)
