New Last Minute Stream Happening This Weekend!

Well.....again the topic of charity comes up for what the OxyCleanStreams is handling between me and my mother, and again, she came up with another donation stream to handle. In this case, this one a bit close to home. It is a friend of my mom's that they all know. I'm going to copy and paste the large wall of text concerning this issue so, continue on:

In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made annually. A man’s risk of developing testicular cancer is roughly 1 in 250.


Joey Gaillard was originally diagnosed with testicular cancer in November 2008 at the age of 24, after feeling a hard lump on his right testicle. Immediately after being diagnosed, Joe’s first treatment was an orchiectomy (testicle removal). Since testicular cancer is a "curable" form of cancer, the removal of the testi might have been all that was needed to defeat the disease. Unfortunately, in this case, it was just the beginning of his battle. Due to the lack of general knowledge for identifying signs of TC, it was not caught in time. The cancerous cells spread to other parts of his body, rapidly causing the situation’s complexity and complications to increase.

In January 2009, he began intense chemotherapy treatments. Joe went through 5 straight days of chemotherapy at 8 hours a day. He continued to do so at a rate of one week on, two weeks off until March 2009. The chemotherapy used to treat TC is one of the most aggressive and powerful forms of treatment used today. Each week became increasingly worse, and he eventually lost his hair and about 25 pounds. Joe wasn’t completely "himself" until June 2009 when his hair began to grow back and his physical appearance started to resemble what it had been pre-treatment.

After the long 3 months of treatment, doctors were delighted to report that the tumor markers in his blood work had indicated that there was no more cancer in his body. The aggressive chemotherapy treatments had paid off! One of the United States’ top oncologists at the Palm Beach Cancer Institute was ecstatic to inform him that the chance of the cancer coming back was as little as 5%, meaning his chance of being cancer free was 95%.

Joe was ordered to receive blood work and CAT Scans every 3 months after the chemotherapy to make absolutely sure everything was still okay. After a year of negative readings for cancer, it was during January 2010 that Joe was told by his doctor in Florida that the cancer had returned, after viewing a large tumorous mass from his most recent CAT Scan. This time it was in his lymphatic system.

His doctor’s only recommendation was a surgery known as Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection (RPLND). RPLND is a very high-risk surgery, due to the nerves surrounding the lymph nodes needing to be removed. Sadly, there are only two surgeons in the whole country who practice the RPLND surgery, and they are only performed about 100 times a year. Joe chose Dr. Sheinfeld from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan, New York to perform the surgery in March 2010. He chose Dr. Sheinfeld over other surgeons because he performs a unique "nerve sparing" procedure which can minimize the detrimental effects of post surgical complications. The surgery was a grueling 6 hour procedure that required a 14-inch incision in Joe’s abdomen. Although the list of risks ranged from infertility to severe nerve damage, the surgery went well with no immediate complications.

Although Dr. Sheinfeld cannot guarantee, he hopes that this is the last we will see of this horrible, life-altering cancer. Joe’s full recovery time is 6 to 12 months, though he will not be able to drive for the first 4 weeks. Soon after those 4 weeks, he plans on going back to work, starting out slow, to continue receiving his medical benefits. Unfortunately, his RPLND surgery costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and Joe’s insurance only covers a percentage of the total costs. Joe is left responsible to pay the remainder of his exorbitant hospitalization costs which could exceed $45,000, along with his regular, monthly cost-of-living bills.

Joe will continue to have follow-ups with his doctor in Florida, undergoing constant tests. If Joe’s latest surgery does not prevent his cancer from returning, he will need further chemotherapy treatments.

Realizing that the economy is not at its best, we are asking for any donation possible. The donation will help us raise the money needed to try to offset some of Joey’s medical bills. We would like to thank you in advance for your generous donations to assist a young man in dire need.




So basically, I'm asking donations to help with donations for their medical bills and such. If you WANT to help, you can do the thing you guys do best. SPREAD IT OVER THE INTERWEBZ!!! I would like this to be a successful donation stream like my JDRF stream back in October. The stream will be held HOPEFULLY this weekend once I set up a few things and set up a schedule and goals as per usual. I would appreciate it lots! More info on this later!!!