Dan needs us!

We haven't used this blog for a long time, but it is time for a resurrection. Dan continues to face daily struggles but money is not the biggest issue anymore. Stage 4 cancer and chemo every second week are a recipe for feeling defeated, both physically and emotionally.

While Dan is not ill enough to be in a hospital, and really, who would want to be there anyway, he is too ill to take really good care of himself 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. Many days Dan is too weak to even heat something up on the stove, and on those days he just doesn't eat. This obviously is not a good thing.

Dan's primary caregiver, Bevin, is his number one fan but she cannot be home all the time because she, like the rest of us, has to work. Dan's Mom and Brother also pitch in on a regular basis but Dan really needs more, and as we all know, asking for help is really hard. As a solution, I have created a calendar to make it easier for Dan and Bevin to let us know when our help would be the most useful.

On this calendar we will post Bevin's work hours, Dan's appointment schedule, and Dan's company needs.

The two days after chemo Dan really needs to have someone around most of the day as he is actually still on chemo and he is also talking a lot of extra meds to help cope with nausea and other chemo side effects. It is hard for one person to come stay the whole day, but if two or three of us can pop by for a couple of hours each, we can cover a lot of the day.

On other days, Dan could use at least one person stopping in for an hour or two to see if they can fix him something to eat and to break up the depressingly long day alone.  If you can spare a lunch hour once a week, or even once every two weeks, it would be a huge help!

Be warned that some days Dan just can't or doesn't want to chat, but he really appreciates just having someone stop in to check on him. If you can bring something along to keep you busy, sometimes if you just sit quietly for 30 min, Dan will figure out what he wants.

Finally, both Dan and Bevin would appreciate the occasional prepared meal. Home cooked is great but if you want to pick up some healthy take out, that would be awesome as well. I was thinking a couple of dinners a week would be a big help.

If you would like to sign up to help, please contact Lauri to get editing privileges on the calendar. Then, go ahead and schedule yourself for a visit, or to drop off a meal. Please don't think this means you can't come visit when Bevin is home, Bevin like company too! The purpose of the calendar is for those of us who want to help Dan to be able to coordinate our efforts.

Chemo Update

Today Dan got the results from his CT Scan and an update on his treatment. I will let him tell you in his own words.

"The chemo is working very well. lymph nodes are stable, no tumor growths. CEA levels were down by half, which means the chemo is doing its shit. Bad news? 3 more months of chemo. Can't quit while its kicking ass. Overall, I'm not happy, but I'm not upset either. The news is quite good."

Unbelievable! We have surpassed our goal.

The silent auction in St. Albert, along with some personal donations has brought as to a new total of $13500! Wow! When we set our goal only a few short weeks ago, we were pretty sure 10k was a realistic goal, but I don't think we ever entertained the idea that we would reach our goal this quickly. If you have not had a chance to donate yet, or you were planning on donating again in the new year, we will continue to keep all the Team Dan accounts open for business. We know that Dan and Bevin have already accrued debts from the last round of treatments and it would be great to help them out with those. It would be wonderful to have enough money for Dan and Bevin to treat themselves to a really nice holiday this upcoming spring or summer (when Dan is feeling better and Bevin has finished her exams). They truly deserve it! While we know that money doesn't cure cancer, we know that the love and good wishes behind the donations will help keep Dan's spirits up when he is suffering through the dark days of treatments. We hope he will feel that there is a whole team behind him, thinking about him everyday and truly wishing we could do more. Personally I am very proud to count myself as a member of Team Dan. This is hands down the most generous and caring team I have ever had the privilege to be on!

Way to go Karina and the great people of St. Albert

Thanks to all the wonderful people who came out to the fundraiser in St. Albert this past Friday. And a special thanks to all the individuals and businesses who donated silent auction items. We are very please to tell you that $5140 was raised!

Silent Auction in St. Albert tonight!

Today is the silent auction hosted by Karina Tremblay (Dan's sister). There are 65+ items - something for everyone. If you are looking for a chrismtas gift or something for yourself I'm sure you'll find it...dvds for kids, pizza and a movie for the family, wine and dinner date night, beautiful framed art, tools, booze for the holiday season, cleaning products, spa gift cards, homemade items (scarves, etc), signed hockey memorabilia, week in a mexico home, Westjet flight for 2, etc! See the fundraiser page for more info.

Christmas Cheer in Regina

Many of Dan's family and friends gathered at his brother's home in Regina this past weekend and raised over $2000. This brings our total to $6500. It is so wonderful to see such great support for Dan and Bevin.

Fundraising Update

Keila and Tayven made $275 from their cookie sale, putting our grand total just over $3K,  absolutely amazing!  It was an overwhelming experience to see the support from all the grade two students and the teachers.  Thank you Muriel Martin!