Personal Fundraiser

Tom Abbott was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer at age 66 and was under the care of Dr. Peter Nelson for 3 years. Tom's effort and absolute commitment to fighting cancer gave us all more time with him. We will forever be in awe of how gracefully he endured the agony of cancer.

Unfortunately, Tom's prostate cancer was an advanced cancer referred to as a 'double negative'. Rare in not only that it is not seen often, but in Tom's case it was particularly unusual in how refractory it had been to all therapies. Tom's treatment included hormone therapy, prostate removal surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, radium, and immune therapy.

On April 8th, we lost Tom and our lives will never be the same. We find hope in knowing that Dr. Nelson and his team will continue to work hard towards solutions for this disease. 

Soon after passing, Tom’s body was transported to the University of Washington where Dr. Nelson and his team performed a rapid autopsy to remove various samples of tumors from Tom’s body. These samples will be used to test different methods of cancer treatment. This type of testing, on actual human tissue, can be catalytic in furthering knowledge about prevention, treatment, and cures.

Tom and his family knew about this plan prior to his passing and everyone, especially Tom, was supportive of this decision. 

Please consider making a donation to help Fred Hutch further Dr. Nelson's research and hopefully someday, prevent another family from losing their husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather and friend from this disease.