Cancer Sucks Enough - Ethan O'Hara

12/31/2023

Hey everyone! Ethan and Savanna here to give you guys an update.

As of November 13th, Ethan is officially in remission! After 4 weeks of radiation, Ethan’s scan looked great and the doctors were absolutely thrilled! We couldn’t believe the news when we heard it. Even though his doctor classified him as in remission, she thought it would be best to continue doing immunotherapy for the next 7 months to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back in the other areas since he was originally stage 4. They will do another scan after he finishes the immunotherapy to see if he’s still in the clear and then hopefully get his port out!

Ethan’s neuropathy is still a bother and is only going to get worse with the immunotherapy but it’s manageable. Nausea is still a thing but he says it’s nothing like chemo. He doesn’t have any diet restrictions but sweet things have definitely been a no for him. His weight is stable but he’s still having a hard time gaining weight.

While Ethan was still in treatment, we had some very unexpected things happen with our home and in the end, we decided that it would be better in the long run to get a home instead of trying to fix the one we’re currently in. Financially, it’s a nightmare. We’re terrified and excited at the same time. We’ll have to start from scratch with almost everything. We are currently working with the bank and relator to get everything ready to go. We should be in our new home by May at the latest!

This year has been a rollercoaster but it’s all been worth it. We’re very excited to see what 2024 has in store for our family.

We cannot thank everyone enough for all the love and support. It truly means the world to us. Prayers work wonders and they definitely helped!

Love Ethan and Savanna ❤️

08/24/2023

ETHAN UPDATE!

Oof! It’s been a long, hot, busy summer.

Since our last post, Ethan completed a second round of Chemotherapy at Emory. It was half the intensity of the round he had last year when he was stage 4, so his body handled it much better. He is still experiencing neuropathy in his hands as his most major and potentially permanent side effect.

Ethan had a month-long rest post-chemo before he started on his journey through radiation. He was fitted for his mask in mid-July and started his radiation treatments on July 24th. He had 1 session, 5x a week, Mon-Fri focused on the most aggressive lymph node in his neck. This is the same one that chemo did not shrink last year, why he was not put into an official remission over Christmas, and the one that started to grow again this past March; landing him again into active treatment and giving him his current stage 2 rating.

Radiation was completed as of yesterday!

He has had several side effects from the radiation, but they aren’t as difficult for him to manage as last year's chemo. Ethan’s taste buds are fried and he can barely taste any food. Citrus items are one of the only foods completely unaffected by his radiated taste buds due to their acidity. He has excessive dry mouth and major sun sensitivity, his short-term memory is scrambled, his scalp has extensive scabbing/dryness, and he has lost weight again due to the lack of taste.

His most considerable food aversion is chicken as cooked chicken tastes raw and metallic to him. He is living off protein shakes, protein-packed snacks, and tacos. Tacos are one of the only food items he can still enjoy and taste normal to him. Savanna is adding some of his most requested protein-packed items to their Amazon list!

Ethan is now embarking on his 3-month long break to see if the radiation has been successful in shrinking that neck lymph node. The node is very swollen and angry post-radiation, so the break will allow it time to shrink and he will receive a whole new set of body scans at the end of the 3 months.

If the node HAS shrunk, they will start him on immunotherapy as the next step of his treatment. This type of immunotherapy is what we affectionately call the ‘Axolotl treatment’. The focus of immunotherapy is to teach his immune system to have regenerative qualities so his body can replace cancer-ridden cells with clean, healthy ones and his body can become a supercharged cancer-fighting machine.

If the node has NOT shrunk, Ethan will prepare for the most drastic option in his treatment plan: the chemo nuke.

This ‘chemo nuke’ involves a prolonged hospital stay where Ethan will be constantly monitored while undergoing this portion of treatment. His doctors will put him on the heaviest chemo regimen he has experienced yet to nuke his entire immune system and everything in his body, including the cancer. This will render him sterile and at major risk of ANY infection as his entire system, both good and bad, will be destroyed. They will slowly work his immune system back up, using both immunotherapy and blood transfusions to rebuild his system from nothing into an anti-cancer machine.

This route of treatment is as aggressive and volatile as his cancer is and does involve major risks, so we are praying that it does not come to the chemo nuke option.

Ethan plans on enjoying his 3-month respite enjoying time with his wife and their dog, Pandy. Fall is his favorite time of the year so this break comes at the best time!

We’d like to take a moment to thank everyone for their continued support of Ethan and Savanna, both financially and emotionally, and to give a special shout-out to the Xbox gaming community that has been one of Ethan's constant sources of joy. With his immune system compromised, he spends a lot of time playing online games with our worldwide group of 30 people and always has company. Your online companionship means more to him than you will ever know! 💚

If you would like to donate or send some care items to them, Ethan and Savanna's information is pinned at the top of this page.

If you or your company would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Ethan's continued medical expenses, please visit Friends And Family Against Cancer Inc .

04/04/2023

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are researching ways to do a cancer tshirt fundraiser for Ethan to help with the cost of his treatment.

We need to get an idea of what range of shirt sizes we need to produce.

Please participate in this poll so we can make this a reality!

Thank you!

We are in the works of starting up a tshirt fundraiser for Ethan's cancer treatment! We need your help gathering information on what sizes we need to produce. Please respond to the poll what size tshirt you would buy if you did!*This is not an order form or commitment*Tshirt design is not finalized

03/29/2023

ETHAN UPDATE!

Ethan's biopsy confirmed that his Hodgkin's Lymphoma is back.

The doctor that has been caring for him has escalated his case and transferred his care to a 5 doctor Hodgkins Lymphoma specialist team at the main Winship Cancer Insititute in Midtown. The wonderful thing about this is that he now has access to his doctors 24/7/365 and they are required to respond to him within a 2 hr window.

Ethan and Savanna have been discussing options with this new specialist team over the weekend. They were provided five different treatment options, with various lengths and percentages of success, with everything from clinical trials, chemo nukes, and bone marrow transplants.

The decision has been made to take a long, but high success rate road of treatment.

He has been accepted to a clinical trial involving immunotherapy and stem cell transplants. The really AMAZING thing about this particular route is that his favorite animal and mascot for his cancer journey, the Axolotl, is actually the animal at the very core of this treatment plan. Their cancer resistance and regenerative attributes kicked off stem cell studies in the early 2000's which has led to really excellent treatment options for current cancer patients. Ethan is calling it the Axolotl treatment.

His treatment will begin the first week of April. It will involve 16 cycles with each cycle lasting 21 days for a total of 48 treatments. He will be receiving treatments through all of 2023 and into 2024.

At some point in June or July, he will receive the 'chemo nuke' and be hospitalized for a minimum of 3 weeks, blasting his body to kill off any and all cancer cells but it will destroy his immune system. His immunotherapy and stem cell transplants will continue after.

At the moment, it appears as though his current health insurance will cover a major portion of this treatment option. With the soon coming end of his work-supported insurance plan, we will be starting heavy fundraising soon to pay the cost of his COBRA insurance to continue his healthcare coverage for the coming year that he will be receiving this treatment.

We thank you all for your emotional support, financial donations, and all prayers/good wishes you have been lavishing them in. Please keep them up. Ethan's fight has once again begun.

03/18/2023

Ethan Update!

He was released from the hospital this evening after a very successful surgery. While it was difficult to work around his swelling, the doctors were successful in their excision and biopsy of his entire target lymph node. 👏

We will have the results in a 5-7 business days of the biopsy but his scans from yesterday show that his spleen is enlarged again.

When the biopsy results come back, they will make the decision on further treatment.

Fingers crossed! 🤞

Thank you guys for all of your continued support and prayers. Both Ethan and Savanna are in both in good spirits this evening. 😊

03/16/2023

Hello all.

Hannah here. Unfortunately, I must welcome you all back to this page as we are going to be much more active again. It’s not what any one of us wanted for Ethan and Savanna, but cancer has a different plan.

Back in November, Ethan’s doctors very hesitantly declared him in a tentative remission just two months after his final chemo treatment, but Ethan decided not to ring the bell quite yet as their confidence was not complete. The cancer in his bones, spleen, and lymph nodes had receded to a point that they were no longer considered active, but his doctors were still concerned.

They opted not to post anything due to the doctor’s hesitation to declare him in remission and they slipped into a very quiet but apprehensive holiday season. His wonderful doctors refused to remove his port as one lymph node in his neck remained unchanged during his treatment. It hadn’t grown, but it hadn’t shrunk either. Since Ethan didn’t have any prior scans of the area, they had no way of knowing if it had always been that size or if it had been affected by the Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Ethan and Savanna continued to be social distanced at his doctor's orders but did get to enjoy a few quiet vacations and very careful interactions with people who also maintained social distancing and masking guidelines. His immune system had recovered slightly, but he was still at risk of catching any and all infections in the blink of an eye. They enjoyed their time immensely. Ethan’s hair started to regrow and he gained weight.

Due to his port being left in, Ethan’s wonderful employer, Frito Lay, was left with no choice but to terminate him at his year mark of being on disability. With the port in, he is at a risk for severe injury if he lifts too much weight, falls, or hits it. They waited as long as they possibly could, but as of April 30th, he has lost the job he loved and his health insurance will switch to the very expensive COBRA option.

Last Wednesday, Ethan noticed that the same lymph node that his doctors were concerned about was becoming swollen and tender. He immediately called his doctor and they put him on antihistamines and an anti-inflammatory in hopes that he was having a reaction to Georgia’s INSANE pollen count.

Unfortunately, it had no effect on him and his neck grew more tender over the weekend.

On Tuesday, he received a PET scan on the right side of his neck and today he went for the results.

It looks like his cancer is back.

We will know more answers after this weekend, but it appears that IF this is indeed the cancer, he may have caught it in Stage 1 or Stage 2. There is a small chance that it is an infection, and we are hoping for that. We will post as soon as the results come in.

Ethan was hospitalized today at Winship Cancer Insitute for tests, monitoring, and an escalated level of care. He will be receiving a surgical biopsy tomorrow where they will attempt to remove the entire right neck region of lymph nodes for testing and to prevent further inflammation and spread.

There are still no visitors allowed on his cancer floor with the exception of his wife due to Covid restrictions.

Ethan and Savanna appreciate all of the love and support that has been continually shown to them during his quiet months. Y’all have been making an impact that is SIGNIFICANT, especially with his upcoming job loss.

They have updated their Amazon wishlist and will be asking once more for your financial and emotional support.

Ethan’s insurance coverage is paid up and valid through April 30th, but supporting the full COBRA insurance price tag of $1200 a month for coverage he DESPERATELY needs will push them to the limit of their financial security. He has already been in extensive talks with insurance and government agencies to expedite his application for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid coverage, but those are nowhere near as good as his existing Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance.

If you would like to make a donation to support them during this time, please use the same links posted at the top of this page to do so. Your generosity has made so much difference to them and they are forever grateful.

Please feel free to directly message this page or Savanna O'Hara ‘s page to communicate with the couple.

They ask at this time for you to please avoid contacting them via cell phone numbers to free up their lines for critical doctor, insurance, and other communications.

We love you guys. We are sad to see you again.

07/28/2022

💙 UPDATE 💙

The finish line is one step closer. 9th chemo down, 3 more to go!

This man right here has been such a trooper. The chemo sessions have been getting harder and harder as they go on. The nausea is hitting him as soon as he sits down in the chair but he doesn’t let that stop him from laughing and joking with his nurses.

His appetite is slowly but surely coming back! During the recovery time after chemo, he’s losing about 5-6 pounds but gaining it back once he’s feeling better. His weight is starting to maintain around 145-155 but after everything’s said and done, we’re hoping it’ll go back up just as fast!

The only new side effect that has come up now is neuropathy. He started feeling a tingling sensation in his hands and feet about a week ago and his doctor jumped on it and prescribed medication to help with any sort of pain that he’ll endure. There is a possibly that it could be permeant or that it could slowly start subsiding after his last chemo treatment.

This journey hasn’t been a easy one. There’s been many tears, scary conversations and the “what ifs”. But there’s also been a lot of laugher, late night runs for ice cream and Taco Bell, and a lot of quality time. Our relationship is stronger than ever and we couldn’t be more happy. God has blessed us in so many incredible ways. Even though we still have a ways to go on this journey, we’re getting there. One day at a time.

Thank you all so much for all the prayers and constant support. We appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. ❤️

Ethan and Savanna O’Hara

06/04/2022

THE RESULTS OF THE GRIZZLY FORGE F**K CANCER RAFFLE ARE HERE!!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CeXPC2eKy8_/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Lucas and Grizzly Forge in Utah blew everyone away with their stunning raffle set... and YOU guys, along with Lucas' loyal following EXCEEDED ALL EXPECTATIONS!!

THANK YOU to Lucas, Sydni, and Grizzly Forge for organizing this raffle. THANK YOUUUUUU to everyone who purchased a raffle ticket for this gorgeous set!!

❤️❤️❤️

We love you guys so much. 😭 Thank you for supporting this wonderful couple during this difficult time. It means the world to all of us O'Haras.

This has been an incredible day.

-Hannah