This is a cry from the heart, as we are fighting to save the life of my dear husband, and father of our newborn son Gijs, Ivo Visser.
In 2010 he was diagnosed with non-hodgkin lymphoma. Back then, an illness that should be relatively easy to treat with chemo and with good prognoses regarding life expectancy. Eventually, Ivo had to be treated in 2013 and all seemed to be going well.
In September 2016 we got married! Soon afterwards I became pregnant, expecting to welcome our little boy in July 2017.
Then, in December 2016 the non-hodgkin had returned, but now it transformed to an aggressive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He immediately started medical treatment, again with the expectation that he would be cured. Unfortunately, he became resistant as the cancer proofs stronger than all the (11) chemo therapies he received up till now.
And now, we’re desperate. We’re out of options regarding standard treatment and are now forced to look into alternatives in clinical trials worldwide.Ivo has very good chances with CAR T-Cell therapy. However this therapy is not yet approved in The Netherlands and we don’t have the time to wait for this.
If we don’t take action now, doctors are talking about weeks…we have no time to lose.
But there is one last chance for Ivo: in Seattle, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Ivo can enrol in a CAR T-Cell program and the outlook is very promising! Moreover, he could start this therapy in January which is crucial in the treatment of this disease. Only, medical costs are self funded and amount to €400.000.
Thanks to a small amount of savings and several loans from the bank, family and friends, we hope to start soon. But it is unsustainable for us to carry these costs ourselves in the long term. Hence, to raise this €400.000, we need your help! We would be very grateful if you could share our story and donate whatever you can so we can save the love of my life and make sure our 5 months old son Gijs will grow up with his amazing dad and can ensure that we and our little man can enjoy each other for many years to come and are able to celebrate the next Christmas and the Christmases thereafter as a family.
Even though not everyone knows Ivo, I hope many of you can relate to the situation we’re in. I’m facing the anxiety of losing the person I love so much and would be eternally grateful for all the help I can get to prevent this from happening.
Thank you very much.
Anne-Marij, Ivo & Gijs
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Account name: Stichting Steun Onderzoek Non-Hodgkin
Registered office: ’s-Gravenhage (The Hague)
Bank account number IBAN: NL67INGB0006927718
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