Jeremy Radke, 32, of Dayton was diagnosed
with osteosarcoma in June,
and must endure chemotherapy treatments and
surgery.
Special to The R-C
Former Gardnerville resident and 2000 Douglas High graduate Jessica (Drinnon) Radke is facing an uphill battle.
Her husband of 11 years, Jeremy, was diagnosed June 20 with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.
“It's in all the muscle, all the tissue, all the bone,” the Dayton
resident said. “It's in his lungs, and he has an 11-centimeter tumor in
his left knee.”
Doctors discovered the tumor a week before Jeremy was scheduled for knee surgery for a torn ACL.
Jeremy, 32, had fallen prompting the doctor to order an X-ray, which showed a bone spur. An MRI then showed the tumor.
“He called me crying,” Jessica said. “He said, ‘it's bad, it's really bad. I have cancer.'”
To
make matters worse, Jeremy had been laid off from his job as a salesman
for the last year, and had been collecting unemployment. Due to him
being sick, those benefits were stopped.
Because two of their three children have special needs, Jessica is a stay-at-home mother.
“We don't have any income right now,” Jessica said. “I filed for social security, but we're waiting on that.”
Jeremy
must endure three weeks of chemotherapy treatments before undergoing a
risky surgery, followed by three more months of chemotherapy.
Jessica said the surgery will be performed at University of California,
San Francisco to remove the bottom half of his left lung, as well as a
golf ball size area in his back where the biopsy was performed because
the needle used contaminated the surrounding tissue and skin with cancer
cells. There is also the possibility he will lose his left leg where
the tumor is.
“He's done OK. He was pretty sick for a bit. He
doesn't stay awake for more than two hours,” Jessica said. “I'm pretty
busy taking care of the kids. I've had two days where I melted down. We
are best friends. We do everything together.”
Swallowing her pride, Jessica created a wish list on mygiftlist.com of items Jeremy and the family could use.
Items include gas cards, grocery cards, chemo care gift baskets, movies and travel games.
“We
could really use money cards so we can pay our bills,” Jessica said.
“It's humiliating having people know our business, but I'm desperate. I
don't know what else to do.”
There is also a donation account at Wells Fargo, account no. 3651111381.
“I'm
so thankful for any help. I'm really humbled,” she said. “All I can say
is I'll spend the rest of my life trying to pay this forward.”
To track Jeremy's progress, visit his caring bridge page at
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeremyradke/journal/1.
To donate items from Jessica's wish list, visit www.mygiftlist. com/giver_main.asp?code=GUEST&buid=123067.
DETAILS
• A donation account is at Wells Fargo Bank account no. 3651111381
• To track Jeremy's progress, visit his caring bridge page at
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jeremyradke/journal/1• To donate items from Jessica's wish list, visit
www.mygiftlist.com/giver_main.asp?code=GUEST&;buid=123067
via Record Courier
