OT: My Cousin's Cancer Fight
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:50 pm
My 12 year old cousin is in a fight for his life at Children's Hospital of Dallas with an exceptionally rare form (only 3 people in 1,000,000 in the US diagnosed annually) of cancer called malignant pheochromocytoma, or cancer of the adrenal glands. His parents do not have a lot of money and the bills for his treatment are going to be staggering; unfortunately the odds are strongly against him at this point and treatment options for such a rare cancer are unproven, so they are going through some experimental treatments that are not covered by insurance.
I thought the football board would be the best place to post this as it is the most active board, combined with the fact that prior to his sickness, he was an exceptional left tackle on his middle school team in Van Alstyne - frankly, he's probably about as large as some of our linemen are now and was an absolute dominator last season; I don't think his QB was sacked all season thanks to his protection. I always used to tell him that once he got into high school I was going to do everything I could to push him toward SMU so that he could anchor our offensive line. Now...well, I just hope he has the chance to be a normal kid again and maybe later we can think about all that.
A fund has been set up at Landmark Bank in Van Alstyne to assist his family with paying the bills and other costs associated with his treatment. Any Ponyfans (or Frogs, Owls, Coogs, Longhorns, Aggies...whoever) that can help in any way - financially or just in thought/prayer - we ask that you please do so. The doctors have given him less than a 10% chance of survival, which is something no kid should ever, EVER have to face.
Additionally, if anyone knows the proper channels to contact someone with the University to try and get some publicity it would be greatly appreciated. I am the only SMU related-connection to him, but I hope you guys don't mind me taking up a little space on this board for his sake.
Thanks for reading,
Tim
CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE INFO:
http://www.4shared.com/file/58150128/14661e24/BEAUX_WINS.html
I thought the football board would be the best place to post this as it is the most active board, combined with the fact that prior to his sickness, he was an exceptional left tackle on his middle school team in Van Alstyne - frankly, he's probably about as large as some of our linemen are now and was an absolute dominator last season; I don't think his QB was sacked all season thanks to his protection. I always used to tell him that once he got into high school I was going to do everything I could to push him toward SMU so that he could anchor our offensive line. Now...well, I just hope he has the chance to be a normal kid again and maybe later we can think about all that.
A fund has been set up at Landmark Bank in Van Alstyne to assist his family with paying the bills and other costs associated with his treatment. Any Ponyfans (or Frogs, Owls, Coogs, Longhorns, Aggies...whoever) that can help in any way - financially or just in thought/prayer - we ask that you please do so. The doctors have given him less than a 10% chance of survival, which is something no kid should ever, EVER have to face.
Additionally, if anyone knows the proper channels to contact someone with the University to try and get some publicity it would be greatly appreciated. I am the only SMU related-connection to him, but I hope you guys don't mind me taking up a little space on this board for his sake.
Thanks for reading,
Tim
CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR MORE INFO:
http://www.4shared.com/file/58150128/14661e24/BEAUX_WINS.html