Hi, my name is Adrian and I’m living with Pancreatic Cancer.
Starting a GoFundMe was never something I felt comfortable doing, however, after my friends demanded I comply or else suffer embarrassing consequences here I am to tell my story…
In the fall of 2014, after suffering in silence with painful stomach issues for months, I finally bit the bullet and saw my doctor. Two agonizing months later I was diagnosed with Stage 4 inoperable Pancreatic Cancer and given 2 years to live!
I’ve always been a person who avoids anything once it gets stressful but something in me switched on. The usually quiet, anxious and shy Adrian suddenly became laser focused! I was determined to do all I could to:
1. Beat the terrible odds of Pancreatic Cancer by seeking out every possible avenue to ensure I would prove my Oncologist wrong
and
2. If all I have left is 2 years then they’re going to be my best years
Today, after 15 rounds of the strongest chemo out there (and the cancer spreading to my liver) then switching to a study that involved Immunological therapy plus 6 more rounds of chemo I’m healthier than I was when I was diagnosed. As of my last scan in September 2016 the lesion in my liver has disappeared, my pancreatic tumor has shrunk by 6% and my cancer markers are almost down to those of a normal person!
My oncologist has also given me another two years! 🙂
I feel so lucky and blessed! I have all my hair, I’m not in pain and I look the picture of health while 80% of pancreatic cancer patients don’t make it to their one year anniversary. I’m not sure why I’m still here, but I think it has to do with the outpouring of love, prayers, positive intentions and support that I’ve received from my friends; most of whom I’ve never met in person.
– Let me explain that one 🙂
I discovered a Karaoke app called Sing! Karaoke by Smule. Basically you sing into your smartphone and you can record video duets with people from all around the world. (You may have seen my friend Thomas Bleasby’s viral video he made on the app last year with Jesse J). On my chemo days I would come home from the cancer clinic after a 6 hour session of chemotherapy with an infuser bag attached to me holding another 46 hours worth of chemotherapy drugs and just start singing into the app. The first few songs would be horrible and I’d usually delete them but after a while the endorphins and dopamine would kick in and I’d end up singing with my online friends – sometimes till 5 am! I don’t know what I would do without the app and those late night duets but luckily I’ll never have to find out.
Now that my cancer is stable and the chemo portion of my treatment has ended, I’ve been given permission to travel. For as long as I am physically able, my dream is to travel the world and sing with as many of my Sing! friends in person as possible. I’ve created a YouTube account called Adrian’s Kancer Karaoke Therapy where I have uploaded all my favourite video duets. I’m also going to upload some of my personal video diaries that I created on Facebook Live and once I start meeting my online friends in real life I will upload them to my channel so you can all follow along with me on my journey.
So here goes!
Please share and If you would rather donate to a charity I recommend Pancan.org. Their mission is to double the 5 year survival rates of this horrible disease by 2020. Their slogan is Wage Hope and they truly were the first to give me hope that it was possible to beat the odds.
Thank you!
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