Unfortunately, this is personal... (written 9/23)

As many of you know, this has become personal for me in the last few months. After my dad started feeling a bit of back/leg pain and lethargy in June, an MRI on July 15th revealed the cause: cancer. The next day he was in back surgery to remove the tumor growing in his back, causing the back/leg pain and a week later we had the diagnosis: advanced NHL B-Cell (large cell gcb type). To say we were shocked is an understatement. My dad was super strong during my last visit, and had kept up with his travel group in Hawaii in April. And-- like so many people say- there is no cancer in our family.  Basically, he went from enjoying 4th of July with his closest friends to 4 weeks later: not eating, not breathing, not walking, and not managing his other bodily functions on his own.

Since his diagnosis, he has spent the entire time in either the hospital or a nursing/rehab center with the exception of 14 days in July post-back surgery. In August, he suffered from a major setback-- pneumoia coupled with his weakened lungs from years of apnea, he had to receive a trach, which he has been on since.

I hope to raise money for better diagnostics. My dad's cancer is considered fairly treatable but unfortunately, he's an outlier in his reaction to treatment and his was discovered very late. My hope is to raise money for LLS and my greatest hope is that in December, we'll be celebrating the holidays together in my mom and dad's home with all of this behind us.

UPDATE (10/9):

An update on Dad:

• Since my first note (above), he has had his 3rd round of chemo but was cut 40% from the full dose
• We are waiting for the 4th round, after which he'll have his first PET scan where we'll learn how his response to chemo has been
• He is still getting assistance with breathing and still hasn't been home

An update on fundraising: 

• With your help, we reached my personal goal of $1800* within 48 hours!
• I am the top 10 fundraiser out of more than 1200 walkers for the Morristown walk!
• My girls are joining my effort.  Last week we assembled materials for the walk at the LLS offices and they also had the idea of hosting a bake sale.
• HR has achieved 67% of our team goal and we are striving to 100%

Thank you,

Rachel Gonzalez Levy

#staystrongPa

*why $1800? http://judaism.about.com/od/judaismbasics/g/chai.htm