Hello! This is a story about love and second chances. If you know George, you know there are no strangers to him, just friends he hasn’t met yet. His infectious smile, zest for life and warmth endears him to people quickly and he is grateful for the life and love he enjoys each day. Because George is truly a one in a million guy, he just happens to have this incredibly rare disease. He was diagnosed with Von Hippel Lindau Disease (VHL) at the young age of 25. VHL is a rare, inherited disorder that causes tumors and cysts to grow in certain parts of the body. The tumors are usually benign (not cancer), but some may be malignant (cancer). George is now 56 years old and has been battling VHL most of his life. He has been part of a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health for the past 30 years. Until recently, his tumors have been operable. Over the past 20 years, George had eight surgeries to remove tumors. Sadly, the disease has recently progressed into metastatic renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) and can no longer be treated surgically. This has forced him to move on to systemic therapy (chemotherapy and immunotherapy) to treat the disease. It is impacting our life in a way that is difficult to appreciate if you have never gone through something like this. It affects the entire family on a day-to-day basis. Recently, due to complications from medication’s and brain lesions, George has been in the ER three times in the last month. Most recently with pneumonia. This leads us to today, many of you have asked what you can do to help and sometimes that’s a complicated question when you don’t know what you need. My dear friend, PK, has helped set this site up to make helping easier for those who have the time and desire to support us. We also appreciate any and all prayers. All our love and gratitude, Andrea & George