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Father of six battling cancer not stopping his fight
Brandon is a DJ, artist, and electronic music creator. He's back in the hospital - in Pontiac - only able to whisper due to a paralyzed vocal chord - he also has a blood clot in his lung.
FOX 2 (WJBK) - "I want to spread my love through my music and my art," said Brandon Okamoto. "My new saying is screw cancer - but it's given me a new direction in life."
That was Brandon 11 months ago - as he learned his lung cancer had spread - as he began chemotherapy for stage 4 cancer.
Brandon is a DJ, artist, and electronic music creator. He started creating music and raising money online for his family and for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
But now he's back in the hospital - in Pontiac - only able to whisper due to a paralyzed vocal cord. He also has a blood clot in his lung.
"He couldn't walk from our bedroom across the five-foot wide hallway to the bathroom without getting winded," said Christi Okamoto, his wife.
His wife Christi says that now his therapy at U-M is on hold.
"He was supposed to start immunotherapy on Monday but - because that's kind of our last treatment option," she said. "And that's really hard."
It has been hard on everyone. Their blended family of six kids includes a 17-year-old son getting ready to graduate and their 11-year-old daughter.
"She's an amazing little human, too - she takes after her dad," Christi said. "We've been having sleepovers in my room while Daddy's in the hospital."
The last thing they should have to worry about is money - yet - they are.
"The life insurance is really hard to get and it's more expensive when you already have a terminal illness," she said.
So Brandon is raising money through GoFundMe for life insurance and an air filtration system to help Brandon breathe plus he's creating t-shirts, stickers and other merchandise on his Patreon site - where you can find his music.
"I have something he wants me to read," she said. "'It says 'I was too sick for months to do my music and art. I'm hoping with physical therapy I'll be better in a few months.'"
Until then - they're grateful for all donations - hoping Brandon is back on his feet - back to creating more dance music real soon.
"He's dancing in the background - I love that he's still got his spark," Christi said. "I hope we get to have lots more years of him because he's fun - we love him."
For more information, you can find his GoFundMe here and his Patreon here.
Brandon Okamoto