Tim & Alyssa: Celebrating Happily Ever After By Giving Back
From Tim…
In 2017 I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. As I went through surgery and chemo, Alyssa was a constant. I am over 4 years clear now, and I am incredibly grateful for the treatment I received at IU Health, my stellar oncologist—Dr. Nabil Adra, and the network of support I discovered I have. Most of all, however, I am grateful for the thousands of hours of human effort that went towards the cure I benefitted from. Up until several decades ago, patients with testicular cancer generally did not survive. That changed with the development and usage of a particular combination of chemotherapy drugs. Now it is one of the most curable cancers. Dr. Barnett Rosenburg, the late Michigan State biophysicist, and Dr. Lawrence Einhorn, a current IU Health oncologist, are widely credited with discovering this cure. I am extremely grateful for their work and for the contribution of all the unnamed individuals who enabled the pharmaceutical R&D and clinical trials that lead the treatment regimen I received. None of that work was inevitable. None of that would have happened without funding, effort, and conscious human choice.
The cancer journey was as much Alyssa’s as it was mine. Mainly because she continuously chose to be by my side the entire way. When I waited 3 days for scan results to tell me if it was just one tumor or spread throughout my body, she was there. Before and after surgery, she was there. During my 6-hour chemo infusions at Simon Cancer Center, she was there. When I threw my anti-nausea pills across the room in anger and frustration, she was there. When I shaved my head, she was there. When I spent the night in an overcrowded ER because I was immunocompromised and my fever wouldn’t go away, she was there. When I was barely there myself, she was there.
We are extremely lucky to be in a position of financial stability at this point in our lives. We don’t need many of the things you would typically see on a wedding registry. Because of this, we would like all of you to strongly consider a donation to the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center Research Fund instead of a wedding gift. This fund supports the core infrastructure behind all research conducted by members of Simon Cancer Center (specific information about the shared facilities this fund supports can be found here). It is the type of research that I have benefitted from so significantly. Again—this is not inevitable work. It takes funding, effort, and conscious human choice to find more effective treatments for all types of cancers, many of which are not nearly as treatable as testicular cancer. I am lucky. I’m healthy and now get to marry my strongest supporter! This research can help give other cancer patients that opportunity.
We understand a donation might not feel like the right choice for everyone. We value that a gift of any type is your decision. For this reason, we put together a small list of traditional registry items as well. If you do decide to donate, click “give now” at the bottom of this page and indicate the gift is in honor of “Alyssa and Tim.”
Best!
Tim
Give Now
Gifts to the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center will support research, education, and clinical programs.
The Indiana University Foundation solicits tax-deductible private contributions for the benefit of Indiana University and is registered to solicit charitable contributions in all states requiring registration. For our full disclosure statement, see go.iu.edu/89n.
