Hi there!

I am fundraising for the Glioblastoma Research Foundation in honor of Dennis MacFarlane, a childhood friend, who battled against glioblastoma this past year. I grew up and am friends with Dennis's sister, Taylor, and she and her family are the kindest people you'll meet. Please read Taylor's words below: 

Dennis peacefully passed away in his home in the arms of his family and surrounded by his cherished dogs. As all of you know, Dennis fought so incredibly hard against this vicious disease. He never, ever complained through this entire process and had the greatest attitude imaginable. As the bravest person many of us will ever meet, Dennis battled and battled hard because he wanted to live for his parents, sister, fiancé, niece, nephew, and all of his family and friends. He was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme in June 2022 and went through 6 weeks of daily chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Dennis was also one of the first patients accepted into a clinical trial with an Optune device that he wore for over 18 hours a day to help deliver electromagnetic waves to the cancer cells to disrupt their replication process. Dennis started to notice some pain in his neck and back in November 2022. His cancer had metastasized as Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis, where Dennis developed numerous tumors on his brain and full spinal cord. Yet again, Dennis faced the odds with incredible tenacity and underwent 5 days of intense full spinal radiation followed by brain surgery to place an Ommaya Reservoir to deliver chemotherapy directly to his spinal cord. He also started immunotherapy treatment to help cut off the blood supply to the tumors. With every test, surgery, MRI, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy dose, Dennis kept telling everyone that he wanted to live, and he would do anything the doctors told him to do. At this point, Dennis’s prognosis was 4-6 weeks. Dennis defied the odds and survived 5 more months until his passing this morning. Dennis always said that he didn’t even want a full lifetime, just a few more years so he could be there for his mom and dad, get married, start a family with his beautiful fiancé and love of his life, and cherish his time as Uncle Dennis. His resilience and strength allowed him to have 10 months from his diagnosis to spend time with his family and make memories both Dennis and his loved ones will cherish forever. This relentless cancer ripped away everything from Dennis, yet he still faced it head on with a bravery that was admired by all. He is finally at peace with God and can walk, see, and use his hands again. Dennis can play golf and throw a baseball now without any more pain or suffering. Dennis can make perfect impersonations now and is filling heaven with laughter and smiles, just like he filled every room on Earth.

With the biggest heart imaginable, Dennis would want everyone to keep fighting against Glioblastoma as he wouldn’t want anyone else to hurt the way he did. He would want people to learn from his story and work together to find a cure so no other person or family would have to endure this devastation.

Thank you so much for your support to this cause - all donations made to this page are secure and are donated directly to the charity. -Emily