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Jody Mason is a real life superhero and a fighter! He has been fighting his battle against Stage 4 Metastatic Colon Cancer for more than six years now, since he was 33 years old. He is the strongest, bravest, most determined fighter I've ever known and he has been through hell. Anyone who knows Jody will agree, he usually does it with a smile on his face! As many of you know, he has had many surgeries (nine major surgeries and 3 minor ones) over the past six years to remove tumors from his colon, liver, lungs, and brain, as well as many rounds of chemo and radiation, and many challenges along the way. One challenge in particular are blood clots, one of which was nearly fatal in March. He truly has earned the title "superman".
2017 has been particularly challenging for Jody. Just a few weeks after losing his mom, he had to have a second brain surgery. In the following weeks, while still recovering, he had a brain bleed and his oncologist felt he needed to discontinue blood thinners in order to control and stop the bleed. This resulted in a saddle blood clot in his lungs. After being rushed to hospital by ambulance. doctors were unsure if he would make it through the night. He did, thank God. While in ICU, we found out that, despite two brain surgeries to remove tumors, and radiation to help prevent re-occurrence, an aggressive tumor has returned in his cerebellum. The most recent news, and the most difficult for us thus far, is that Jody's brain tumor has progressed and attached to his brain stem and spinal cord. It has also spread to his lower spine/ tailbone. Jody has had five rounds of intense radiation to hopefully shrink the tumors on his brain and spine, which he completed on July 18th. However, his oncologist has told us that he may only have 4-5 months to live. The word "may" is the operative word, and up to now Jody has done very well with his treatments and surgeries, and he has overcome so much. If anyone can beat the odds, it's Jody. His strength and positive attitude are one of his biggest weapons against this disease.
Currently, Jody is having great difficulty walking independently, as the tumor on his spine is causing him to lose feeling in his right leg and hip. Eating solid food has been challenging recently, as the tumor as caused his uvula to become abnormal. Mobility is his right arm is also limited. Tremors in this arm are making it difficult to use, and he is trying to manage lower back pain due to the spinal tumor.
We are not giving up! Jody's radiation is complete for now, and on August 7th we will meet with his oncologist to discuss the possibility of more chemo, or a trial. He continues to require daily blood thinner injections, and he is currently on a high dose of steroids to manage internal swelling from the tumors, and the radiation in those areas. He will require a wheelchair soon, and we have been looking into renting one. Since our apartment is not wheelchair accessible, and stairs are becoming more and more difficult, we are looking at moving to a wheelchair accessible location.
Along with the professional advice of Jody's oncologists, he has also been seeking naturopathic treatments. We are also researching other possible treatments, and anything that we can do to help extend Jody's life and make it as easy, stress free and happy as possible. One way of doing that is to minimize the financial burden that is inevitable when battling this disease for so long, and being unable to work.
Jody is my rock, my life, my love. Please pray for him to beat the odds he has been given!
I will post updates throughout this campaign to let you all know how Jody is doing.
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