This fundraiser is going towards Jim Maleta's care during his time in hospice. It will pay for outside caregiving support for the night time shift. His family is able to care for him during 12 hour day shifts.
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For those of you unfamiliar with the story of my father, Jim Maleta, please see the asterisked background section below. For those of you who are already familiar with my dad, you likely already know the pain and suffering he has endured for the last several months while fighting his battle with cancer. We will forever be grateful for those who have helped with their time, money, and love!
My dad is now in a constant state of worsening pain and we are working around the clock to make sure he is as comfortable as possible.
For months, Jim's youngest son Joe had been with him alone every day until 4pm until his oldest son Nick came home from his full time job as an occupational therapist to help with Joe until 12 or 1 am. Often, Joe would have to get up in the middle of the night several times to help him with bathroom needs.
Two weeks ago, in mid February, Jim lost full function of his bladder and bowels along with any movement of his legs at all. Since then, we have night time caregivers to help assist with the support he needs from 11pm until morning. Between the medical equipment and staff we are quickly running out of money. Jim is now transferring to hospice care as of 2/27/2024.
We have been paying Joe a minimal amount of money that we were able to gather from our first campaign in order for him to have just enough to live off of since he had to quit his job in the fall. We now need more support during the night time shifts. Jim's sons are with him from morning until 11pm every single day since Nick has now taken a second leave from work with partial pay for at least the next month in order to support Joe.
Jim's wife Katie is working full time as a teacher in order to pay the bills and helps around the house when she gets home. Mary has been incredibly supportive whenever she gets the chance with organization, ordering supplies, and coordinating care while raising four kids of her own and has limited time.
Currently we do not have the financial means to pay for this level of support. Any financial help is greatly appreciated even if in the form of sharing this page with your community. We would not ask for money if we didn't absolutely need to. At this point, prayers and thoughts are great but not enough. We are humbling ourselves in order to survive during this hellish experience. Thanks for the consideration and support!
*** (further background of Jim’s fight with cancer)***
My father, Jim Maleta, had just finished completing his 3rd annual trek of the famous pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago, in Europe this last summer with my mother, Katie. Prior to and during the journey, he had tremendous back pain. At the time, he thought it was most likely just a symptom of an aging body, and perhaps worsened by daily driving during his years of work commute.
However, the pain progressed and when he returned from his trip he went in for an MRI. To everyone's shock, his imaging showed a large tumor on his spine. When the surgeon operated to remove the mass, the medical team was unable to identify the cell type.
Fast-forward several weeks later and as of 10/11 we received a diagnosis from the lab work. Jim has been diagnosed with stage 4 primary leptomeningeal melanoma, or essentially melanoma of the central nervous system.
With this diagnosis, he also lost his ability to walk after the tumor removal due to nerve damage. He is enduring crippling pain and cannot get comfortable in any position regardless of our support and his pain medication. All day long it is a battle just to do basic tasks like toileting and transfers to various couches and chairs. He needs full time assistance now for every facet of his life and is transferring to hospice care.
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