Last year, Rick Gunn was diagnosed with stage three myltiple myeloma.

Previous to this, he had gone to the hospital many times, over a period of many months, suffering from extreme back pain. On each occasion, he was given painkillers and sent on his way. At one point – he was forcibly removed from a hospital and told that it was not a hotel.

Finally, his “back pain” reached a point where he became virtually paralyzed. A friend called an ambulance. This time, the doctors decided to investigate and that’s when he was finally diagnosed.

We’ll never know what might have occurred had they caught this cancer much earlier…

On november 30th 2011 a benefit concert was held by his friends including David Henman of April Wine fame. They raised close to $17,000 to help Rick survive this ordeal financially. Dunn then began a series of treatments that had him commuting several times a week to either Sunnybrook or St Margaret’s hospitals.

Rick underwent all sorts of tests and received a variety of treatments including chemotherapy. Early on, he had his stem cells removed. Which is the first part of the stem cell transplant procedure. He was scheduled to have them replaced as soon as possible. At least – that was the plan.

Unfortunately for Rick, he remained strong. Unfortunately because this strength kept getting him bumped to the back of the line for his stem cell replacement. All through this, Rick endured extreme levels of pain, loss of appetite, inability to sleep and much more.

Many attempts were made to acquire some kind of financial support, all to no avail. St Margaret’s hospital continued to postpone his stem cell replacement.

Meanwhile, his doctors at Sunnybrook took a greater interest and continued testing. The results showed that he now had full-blown myeloma. This was in June or July.

They began blasting him with higher doses of chemo and radiation. They promised  Rick that they would personally see to it that the stem cell replacement was scheduled. Rick finally decided enough was enough and demanded to have the stem cell replacement. They took him seriously and scheduled him for surgery at St Margaret’s. This was roughly 3-4 weeks ago.

The stem cell replacement was done and, according to Rick, his immune system recovered within a few days.

However, while in hospital, he contracted c-dificile, as well as a respiratory infection and a stomach infection. He has since been removed to the care of his daughter.

Rick is down to 127 pounds. Up until a few days ago, he went roughly three weeks without food, liquid or sleep.

Despite being frugal, the money raised is now gone. Much of it spent on gas, parking and maintainence of the beater he used for all those hospital visits. Most of the money went to prescriptions, medications and other treatments not covered by ohip.

Rick’s attitude – his incredible determination to stay positive (or, at the very least, angry). To get up and get moving and keep moving, despite the lack of sleep, despite the pain and discomfort, despite the many missteps and miscalculations by his doctors – has been nothing short of astounding.

The worst may be over. He has slowly started to get tiny amounts of food down, and keep them down. His doctors finally engaged a nurse to come to his daughter’s home every day to spend 4-5 hours hydrating him via a tube. He has finally been getting some sleep yet never for more than an hour or two.

In a month’s time, he will get the verdict on the success or failure of the myeloma treatments.

In the meantime, his close friends are hoping to raise enough money for him to survive until he is healthy again. A fund-raising campaign had been restarted by his close friends …

Rick Gunn Fundraiser – Kapipal

“We are hopeful that you will be able to contribute – even the smallest amount will help – and to pass this along to as many people as you can.” – David Henman

Rick Dunn is a former Montrealer and musician residing in Toronto.