We are friends of Mike & Taryn Strand, and we are fundraising to help them with their medical bills. On November 11, 2022, Mike went to the ER and was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, which has turned not only his life but the lives of his family upside-down.
We ask for your help in supporting and uplifting them in thought and prayer as he begins his cancer journey. He will have brain surgery on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 and will face chemo and radiation afterward. They have a long road ahead of them. Please be prayng for the surgery Tuesday.
Mike and Taryn have two children at Tesoro High School - Nikolas, a senior, and Natayla (my daughter’s best friend), a freshman. Taryn not only works for the school district but also volunteers tirelessly and does it all while managing the needs of her family.
If you know this family, you know they are the first to drop everything and lend a helping hand in any way possible to help those around them. Now it’s is our turn to help them in this very difficult time of need. Your help is greatly appreciated, both emotionally and financially. Please leave them a message of support and prayer and any monetary funds you may want to bless them with as they begin Mike's cancer journey.
Let us support them and love on them in all ways possible.
Thank you, Fabiana and Greg
Strand Family Memorial Fund
Fundraising for
Mike and Taryn Strand
Fundraising forMike and Taryn Strand
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Las Flores, California
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Fundraiser Updates (5)
July 21, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
“It’s with heavy a heart that I have to share that my beloved Mike passed away suddenly yesterday evening."
He was an amazing husband , father, brother and son. The last 22 years are something I will forever treasure. We were blessed with two beautiful kids that he loved more than anything!
He fought the good fight against this extremely aggressive and painful cancer.
We are all so heart broken, but we know he is no longer in pain, no longer suffering, and resting peacefully in the arms of the Lord.
Celebration of life is TBD. In lieu of flowers if you feel inclined, please donate to the family support fund.”
Love, Taryn
June 29, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Hello Family and Friends,
It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone on Mike and our family. I do want to say thank you all for your continued support and prayers!
We’ve been on this journey since last November when Mike was first diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma. Mike went through 33 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy over the course of 2 months- he took a break and with the advise of his nuero-oncologist he went back on chemo five days a month at double the dose along with 2x a month infusion which also acted as a form of chemo to help with all the swelling. As you could imagine, this took a toll on his body and also his cognitive ability. We had a couple of big scares when he had a seizure at home and one while in the car. With the large portion of the tumor not growing… his mri showed signs of little fragments on the left side, which means new cells were developing. Mike was having extreme bouts of high intensity pain on the left side and we decided to take him to the hospital. He was kept there for almost a week and this is when they spotted the cells on the left side.
While all this is going on, they found a huge slab leak in our kitchen and our landlord had the entire kitchen and living room blasted out and sealed off to begin the demo…. This left us without a kitchen and half our house… June 1st our Landlord gave us 60 days to be out and thus put me on the hunt for a new place to live… with the Lords help, we found a place and started packing up.
Mike wasn’t doing well, the headaches were intensifying, and about to come home, we made the tough decision to put him on Hospice. This wasn’t made lightly, but much thought and many prayers. Mike is so tired and has fought the battle for the last 8 months. Staying in the chemo would only give about 2 extra months, without it, he will only have a few months. He will no longer have any treatments and will have a nurse here a few times a week to check on him and his meds. He wants to be comfortable and enjoy this time with friends and family, while he can get out and still get around a bit. He’s really having a hard time as he knows he’s not the same person, his memory is slowly slipping and sometimes it’s hard to get a sentence out. Sometimes he has these moments where I can’t get him to STOP talking… with all this happening we are still giving it to God as Hes the only one who sees it all and knows what will be. We’ve been so blessed with friends and family and neighbors coming to the hospital and helping us move(still a work in progress) it’s been amazing.
We are taking it day by day. Some days are better than others and some days are just unbearable. The kids are doing their best to be strong and they have their days as well. We are all spending as much time together as possible, especially with Nikolas going to NAU in august, every moment counts.
I love my family more than anything and I’m so thankful to have been married to the love of my life the last 20 years and have two kids, that are my world. Please continue to pray for Mike and his comfort and that he has peace and time with loved ones, and for the kids who continue through this journey.
Much love to everyone, and please keep the prayers coming!
Love ,
Taryn 
January 05, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
January 05, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Mike Update:
January 3rd 2023.
Happy New year to everyone! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and new year!
Mike is in his second full week of chemo and radiation and he starting to feel some effects.
We finally have our new insurance, which is beyond a God thing.... both chemo and radiation drs take the new insurance and we also have a new primary which is wonderful as well! He's also Armenian (Bonus!)
We have to take the wins where we can... I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's been a rough couple of weeks... Mikes memory and cognitive issues are challenging and he’s still unable to work at all, and I’m still also out on workers comp having been injured by one of my students. I am glad to be able to be here with him to navigate everything for him.
Its a definite struggle to navigate Mikes temperament which has been challenging and very draining. I know the anger and frustration comes only from the situation, his meds and the fact that he still has a tumor residing in his head. It seems to want to take up permanent residence and we just can't have that.... there have been many tears, tears of sadness tears of anger tears of happiness tears of what the heck is happening?!!
Mike is stuck to me like glue and is not a happy camper when I'm not here with him, which isn't very often. I try to take him with me if I have errands to run and we pack a blanket for the car and he waits when I go do my things. We're trying our best to navigate our new norm and it's not what I was expecting at this stage of life, but this is what God has given us and even though I question every day why? .... why my family?... why again?... I ultimately have to give it to Him and know He gave us this amazing support system (that's you all...) there are people in worse situations with no friends, no family.... we have both!
We were so lucky to have such a wonderful Christmas and were able to see and spend time with most of you..... huh... time... such a precious thing... it means so much to us now and we should never take any second we have with each other for granted.
We will have a blood test done this week to see how his counts are doing.... as he gets further along we hope to see those stay steady. He won't have another MRI until after the treatment is complete and that will give us a good indication on what's happening.
The kids are doing good... they keep my heart beating and my mama head spinning at all times! I love them so much and try to protect their hearts as much as possible.
Thank you to everyone for your continued love, support, phone calls, texts, cards, I can't imagine riding this roller coaster without you...... we are truly blessed.
I will send another update in a week or so, but just know how much I love you all!
Love, Taryn
December 18, 2022
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Mike Update: December 18th, 2022
Hello friends and family… I’m sorry it’s been a while since I’ve updated, we’ve had so much going on and trying to get everything in order so Mike can start treatments.
Here’s what’s been going on:
We’ve seen both Chemotherapy and Radiation Oncologists and they are both fantastic… Mike will undergo radiation and chemo at the same time.
This will be starting in the next week or so, probably around the 27th. The Chemo will be pills taken at home that I will monitor and the radiation will be 33 treatments about 10-15 each. So we will go in Monday-Friday for about 6 weeks. The combo of both together will hopefully extend his time about 6 months. He will go in weekly for blood work to make sure his blood counts are good and we will keep a close eye out for blood clots as that can be a major concern.
After the treatments are over we’ll have another MRI to see how the tumor reacted, if it grew, stayed the same or in a perfect world, it shrunk.
If it grew then we will look at other options, most we have already discussed with both doctors.
If it stays the same, he can go on maintenance and the same if it shrunk. This type of cancer (stage 4 , terminal glioblastoma) is very fast moving and we don’t know what it will do.
According to the pathology report, there are indicators given on different levels that will show positive reactions to treatment, unfortunately every marker came back negative. We aren’t letting that get in the way of proceeding with any treatment possible.
On a whole, Mikes taking it pretty hard and the tumor is definitely affecting his memory and even his temperament, it’s been difficult to navigate.
We continue to pray and face each challenge as it comes with faith and support from our family and friends.
The kids are dealing with it the best they can, it’s a lot to process at their ages. I continue to give them extra love and talk to them, and coming from a place of understanding exactly what they are going through. They both have great support from friends as well.
Thank you to all our amazing friends and family for your continued love and support, it amazes me each day how much we are loved and cared for.
All your love and prayers are felt in abundance! We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our family and making memories to cherish for years to come. With everything we are going through, we still have many things to be thankful for.
May you all have a blessed Christmas with your families and enjoy every moment you have with them.
Love,
Taryn
Elizabeth Whiting
$50 • Recent donation
Stephen Gallagher
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Anonymous
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Organizer
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger is the organizer of this fundraiser
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Las Flores, California
Fundraising for
Mike and Taryn Strand
Fundraising forMike and Taryn Strand
Donation protected
👍 0% fee
We are friends of Mike & Taryn Strand, and we are fundraising to help them with their medical bills. On November 11, 2022, Mike went to the ER and was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor, which has turned not only his life but the lives of his family upside-down.
We ask for your help in supporting and uplifting them in thought and prayer as he begins his cancer journey. He will have brain surgery on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 and will face chemo and radiation afterward. They have a long road ahead of them. Please be prayng for the surgery Tuesday.
Mike and Taryn have two children at Tesoro High School - Nikolas, a senior, and Natayla (my daughter’s best friend), a freshman. Taryn not only works for the school district but also volunteers tirelessly and does it all while managing the needs of her family.
If you know this family, you know they are the first to drop everything and lend a helping hand in any way possible to help those around them. Now it’s is our turn to help them in this very difficult time of need. Your help is greatly appreciated, both emotionally and financially. Please leave them a message of support and prayer and any monetary funds you may want to bless them with as they begin Mike's cancer journey.
Let us support them and love on them in all ways possible.
Thank you, Fabiana and Greg
Fundraiser Updates (5)
July 21, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
“It’s with heavy a heart that I have to share that my beloved Mike passed away suddenly yesterday evening."
He was an amazing husband , father, brother and son. The last 22 years are something I will forever treasure. We were blessed with two beautiful kids that he loved more than anything!
He fought the good fight against this extremely aggressive and painful cancer.
We are all so heart broken, but we know he is no longer in pain, no longer suffering, and resting peacefully in the arms of the Lord.
Celebration of life is TBD. In lieu of flowers if you feel inclined, please donate to the family support fund.”
Love, Taryn
June 29, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Hello Family and Friends,
It’s been a while since I’ve updated everyone on Mike and our family. I do want to say thank you all for your continued support and prayers!
We’ve been on this journey since last November when Mike was first diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma. Mike went through 33 rounds of radiation and chemotherapy over the course of 2 months- he took a break and with the advise of his nuero-oncologist he went back on chemo five days a month at double the dose along with 2x a month infusion which also acted as a form of chemo to help with all the swelling. As you could imagine, this took a toll on his body and also his cognitive ability. We had a couple of big scares when he had a seizure at home and one while in the car. With the large portion of the tumor not growing… his mri showed signs of little fragments on the left side, which means new cells were developing. Mike was having extreme bouts of high intensity pain on the left side and we decided to take him to the hospital. He was kept there for almost a week and this is when they spotted the cells on the left side.
While all this is going on, they found a huge slab leak in our kitchen and our landlord had the entire kitchen and living room blasted out and sealed off to begin the demo…. This left us without a kitchen and half our house… June 1st our Landlord gave us 60 days to be out and thus put me on the hunt for a new place to live… with the Lords help, we found a place and started packing up.
Mike wasn’t doing well, the headaches were intensifying, and about to come home, we made the tough decision to put him on Hospice. This wasn’t made lightly, but much thought and many prayers. Mike is so tired and has fought the battle for the last 8 months. Staying in the chemo would only give about 2 extra months, without it, he will only have a few months. He will no longer have any treatments and will have a nurse here a few times a week to check on him and his meds. He wants to be comfortable and enjoy this time with friends and family, while he can get out and still get around a bit. He’s really having a hard time as he knows he’s not the same person, his memory is slowly slipping and sometimes it’s hard to get a sentence out. Sometimes he has these moments where I can’t get him to STOP talking… with all this happening we are still giving it to God as Hes the only one who sees it all and knows what will be. We’ve been so blessed with friends and family and neighbors coming to the hospital and helping us move(still a work in progress) it’s been amazing.
We are taking it day by day. Some days are better than others and some days are just unbearable. The kids are doing their best to be strong and they have their days as well. We are all spending as much time together as possible, especially with Nikolas going to NAU in august, every moment counts.
I love my family more than anything and I’m so thankful to have been married to the love of my life the last 20 years and have two kids, that are my world. Please continue to pray for Mike and his comfort and that he has peace and time with loved ones, and for the kids who continue through this journey.
Much love to everyone, and please keep the prayers coming!
Love ,
Taryn
January 05, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
January 05, 2023
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Mike Update:
January 3rd 2023.
Happy New year to everyone! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and new year!
Mike is in his second full week of chemo and radiation and he starting to feel some effects.
We finally have our new insurance, which is beyond a God thing.... both chemo and radiation drs take the new insurance and we also have a new primary which is wonderful as well! He's also Armenian (Bonus!)
We have to take the wins where we can... I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's been a rough couple of weeks... Mikes memory and cognitive issues are challenging and he’s still unable to work at all, and I’m still also out on workers comp having been injured by one of my students. I am glad to be able to be here with him to navigate everything for him.
Its a definite struggle to navigate Mikes temperament which has been challenging and very draining. I know the anger and frustration comes only from the situation, his meds and the fact that he still has a tumor residing in his head. It seems to want to take up permanent residence and we just can't have that.... there have been many tears, tears of sadness tears of anger tears of happiness tears of what the heck is happening?!!
Mike is stuck to me like glue and is not a happy camper when I'm not here with him, which isn't very often. I try to take him with me if I have errands to run and we pack a blanket for the car and he waits when I go do my things. We're trying our best to navigate our new norm and it's not what I was expecting at this stage of life, but this is what God has given us and even though I question every day why? .... why my family?... why again?... I ultimately have to give it to Him and know He gave us this amazing support system (that's you all...) there are people in worse situations with no friends, no family.... we have both!
We were so lucky to have such a wonderful Christmas and were able to see and spend time with most of you..... huh... time... such a precious thing... it means so much to us now and we should never take any second we have with each other for granted.
We will have a blood test done this week to see how his counts are doing.... as he gets further along we hope to see those stay steady. He won't have another MRI until after the treatment is complete and that will give us a good indication on what's happening.
The kids are doing good... they keep my heart beating and my mama head spinning at all times! I love them so much and try to protect their hearts as much as possible.
Thank you to everyone for your continued love, support, phone calls, texts, cards, I can't imagine riding this roller coaster without you...... we are truly blessed.
I will send another update in a week or so, but just know how much I love you all!
Love, Taryn
December 18, 2022
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger
Mike Update: December 18th, 2022
Hello friends and family… I’m sorry it’s been a while since I’ve updated, we’ve had so much going on and trying to get everything in order so Mike can start treatments.
Here’s what’s been going on:
We’ve seen both Chemotherapy and Radiation Oncologists and they are both fantastic… Mike will undergo radiation and chemo at the same time.
This will be starting in the next week or so, probably around the 27th. The Chemo will be pills taken at home that I will monitor and the radiation will be 33 treatments about 10-15 each. So we will go in Monday-Friday for about 6 weeks. The combo of both together will hopefully extend his time about 6 months. He will go in weekly for blood work to make sure his blood counts are good and we will keep a close eye out for blood clots as that can be a major concern.
After the treatments are over we’ll have another MRI to see how the tumor reacted, if it grew, stayed the same or in a perfect world, it shrunk.
If it grew then we will look at other options, most we have already discussed with both doctors.
If it stays the same, he can go on maintenance and the same if it shrunk. This type of cancer (stage 4 , terminal glioblastoma) is very fast moving and we don’t know what it will do.
According to the pathology report, there are indicators given on different levels that will show positive reactions to treatment, unfortunately every marker came back negative. We aren’t letting that get in the way of proceeding with any treatment possible.
On a whole, Mikes taking it pretty hard and the tumor is definitely affecting his memory and even his temperament, it’s been difficult to navigate.
We continue to pray and face each challenge as it comes with faith and support from our family and friends.
The kids are dealing with it the best they can, it’s a lot to process at their ages. I continue to give them extra love and talk to them, and coming from a place of understanding exactly what they are going through. They both have great support from friends as well.
Thank you to all our amazing friends and family for your continued love and support, it amazes me each day how much we are loved and cared for.
All your love and prayers are felt in abundance! We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our family and making memories to cherish for years to come. With everything we are going through, we still have many things to be thankful for.
May you all have a blessed Christmas with your families and enjoy every moment you have with them.
Love,
Taryn
Organizer
Fabiana (Fabi) Bamberger is the organizer of this fundraiser
