Our goal: $28,000–$56,000
At just 48 years old, Matthew went for what should have been a routine colonoscopy.
Instead, our lives changed forever when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Rectal cancer.
Now, three years later, Matthew is still fighting. The cancer has metastasized to his liver and lungs, and we have reached a point where our options are becoming painfully limited.
We've tried almost everything available to us.
Matthew has undergone:
- Multiple chemotherapy regimens — four different types so far
- Radiation treatments — twice
- Surgery
- Microwave ablation of liver tumors
- Consultations with specialists at multiple major medical centers
His local oncologist has told us that she has essentially exhausted the treatments available in her arsenal and that we need to pursue a clinical trial or other specialized options.
We've been told repeatedly that Matthew needs to remain on systemic treatment to keep the cancer from progressing rapidly. This excludes surgery and/or radiation as treatments. So our only option currently is histotripsy. Histotripsy uses precisely focused sound waves to mechanically destroy targeted tumor tissue while Matthew stays on systemic therapy! But our insurance has refused this treatment 4 times! So we have to pay for the histotripsy ourselves.
$28,000 could fund his first histotripsy procedure.
$56,000 could potentially fund two treatments if they are needed.
Unfortunately, we are not able to pay for this on our own and is why we are asking for your help!
Every donation, no matter the amount, brings us closer.
If you can't give $1,000, maybe you can give $100.
If you can't give $100, maybe you can give $25.
If you can't give financially, please share this campaign.
To learn more of our journey, Read below...
Matthew was diagnosied with Stage 4 Rectal cancer shortly after publishing the results of his postdoctoral research in a rare childhood cancer research laboratory. He was building a career dedicated to science and helping others. Cancer brought that career to an abrupt halt.
Unfortunately, the chemotherapy that is helping control the disease has also caused significant and sometimes unbearable side effects.
At one point, the side effects from his fourth chemotherapy regimen landed him in the hospital. When he tried restarting the medication, the same severe effects returned almost immediately.
We eventually restarted it at a lower dose and have slowly worked back toward the full dose. Matthew is tolerating it better now, but his doctors have determined that the cancer has progressed despite this treatment.
And yet, we are not giving up.
We believe, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that God has already provided Matthew's healing.
We don't know exactly what every step of that journey will look like.
We don't know which doctor, treatment, technology, clinical trial, or combination of therapies God will use.
But we believe that Matthew's healing is already settled in God's hands.
Our job is to listen, trust, obey, and follow Him one step at a time until we reach the place where we can look back and see the entire path He laid out for us.
That is why we are pursuing every door that opens.
That is why we have traveled hours to see specialists.
That is why we have sought opinions from some of the country's leading cancer centers.
And that is why we are pursuing histotripsy now.
We believe God can work through medicine, through science, through technology, through doctors, and through every person He puts in our path.
We are not putting our faith in a machine.
Our faith is in God.
We are simply following Him toward the healing we believe He has already promised.
And we believe Matthew still has work to do.
Before Matthew was diagnosed, he was doing something he deeply loved: using his scientific training to help children and families affected by rare childhood cancers.
We believe God has given Matthew a much larger vision for that work.
Matthew has a calling to construct a resort dedicated to the healing and restoration of people affected by rare childhood cancer.
A place where families who have walked through the devastation of childhood cancer can find hope, healing, rest, and community.
That vision is not something we believe cancer gets to steal.
The enemy does NOT get to take Matthew out with cancer before God's vision for his life is made real.
We believe Matthew will see that vision become reality.
We believe he will be here to build it.
And we believe the story God is writing through Matthew's life is far from finished.
Then we found Histotripsy.
About a year and a half into Matthew's battle, just before his microwave ablation, we learned about a technology called histotripsy.
Histotripsy uses precisely focused sound waves to mechanically destroy targeted tumor tissue without the heat used in traditional thermal ablation.
When we first learned about it, something about the technology immediately resonated with us.
From the very beginning of this journey, we have felt God speaking to us about frequencies and healing. At first, we didn't understand what that meant.
We began responding by doing what we know to do: worship.
We have spent this journey lifting our voices and our spirits in praise to the God who created us, sustains us, and walks with us through every part of this fight.
Then we discovered histotripsy — a treatment that uses sound waves to destroy cancer.
We don't believe that coincidence is the only explanation.
We believe God has been leading us, step by step, to this possibility.
Why we are asking for your help:
The procedure can be performed while he remains on his systemic treatment, which is incredibly important because his doctors have told us that being off systemic therapy for an extended period is not advisable.
Unfortunately, our insurance company has refused to cover histotripsy, after we exhausted the appeals process to the fourth and final denial. They say the procedure is not medically necessary — but they have not offered us another treatment that accomplishes the same goal while allowing Matthew to remain on systemic therapy.
So now we are asking our family, friends, community, and strangers who feel moved to help us raise the money ourselves.
The first treatment will cost $28,000.
Because of the size and location of the largest tumor in Matthew's liver, his doctors have told us that a second treatment may be necessary.
That is why our ultimate fundraising goal is $56,000.
The treatment team has told us that histotripsy can be performed as many times as necessary to address the tumors in his liver.
Histotripsy is not a guarantee of a cure. We know that.
But we believe it is one of the doors God has placed in front of us, and we intend to walk through every door He opens.
It will not necessarily address the cancer in his lungs.
But if we can eliminate the disease in his liver and potentially reduce Matthew's cancer burden to one organ, we may have more options for addressing the tumors in his lungs — and potentially more opportunities to move beyond continuous systemic chemotherapy.
There is also a potential immunologic benefit being studied with histotripsy: because the tumor is mechanically destroyed rather than simply burned, tumor material and proteins may be released in a way that could help the body's immune system recognize the cancer.
We are not asking you to believe that this treatment is a guaranteed miracle.
We are asking you to help us follow the path we believe God has placed before us.
There is a lot at stake.
Matthew is 51 years old.
He is a husband.
He is a father.
He is a son.
He is a scientist.
He is a veterinarian.
He is a worshiper.
And he is deeply loved.
We have two boys under the age of 10 who still need their dad.
At the same time that we are fighting for Matthew, we are also caregivers for both of his parents, who are living with dementia.
We have poured everything we have into this fight — emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially.
We've traveled approximately seven hours from home to seek additional treatment options. We've met with specialists across Florida and at some of the nation's most respected medical centers.
We have kept searching because Matthew is worth fighting for.
And because we believe his story isn't over.
Will you help us take the next step?
$28,000 could fund his first histotripsy procedure.
$56,000 could potentially fund two treatments if they are needed.
Every donation, no matter the amount, brings us closer!
Please pray for Matthew.
Please pray for our boys.
Please pray for his parents.
Please pray for the doctors and medical team treating him.
And please pray that God will continue to lead every single step of this journey.
We believe with everything in us that God has already provided Matthew's healing.
We believe He has a purpose for Matthew's life.
We believe He has a vision for Matthew to one day build a place where children and families affected by rare childhood cancer can experience healing, hope, and restoration.
And we believe the enemy does not get the final word.
Cancer does not get the final word.
Fear does not get the final word.
An insurance denial does not get the final word.
God does.
We've learned through this journey that we don't get to choose the battle.
But we do get to choose whether we keep fighting.
We choose to fight.
We choose faith.
We choose hope.
We choose to keep moving forward, one step at a time, following wherever God leads us.
And right now, we are asking you to stand with us.
Help us raise the $28,000 needed to give Matthew access to histotripsy — and, if a second treatment is necessary, help us reach $56,000.
Help us follow God toward Matthew's healing.
Help us keep Matthew here to fulfill the calling God has placed on his life.
With gratitude, faith, and hope,
Casey & Matthew
