The stakes couldn’t be higher for Flynn Post as he begins his battle against stage 4 liver cancer, but the Scotts Valley resident says his spirits are high and he is determined to fight the disease every step of the way.
To make his fight a little easier, the Scotts Valley community is rallying together, planning events and fundraisers to help Post as he undergoes treatment, works to keep his clothing and skate shop open, and awaits the birth of his first child, who is due in April.
Post, 35, who owns the Cali Style skate shop and clothing store in the Kings Village Shopping Center with his wife Kelly, said that his diagnosis was a result of an incident that happened as a child, when he was shot in the eye with a paintball as he searched for fossils at the beach in Aptos, just days after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
“My pupil didn’t dilate properly (after that incident),” he said, adding that because his eye was unable to dilate, the eye absorbed an unsafe amount of ultraviolet light over the years, eventually leading to ocular melanoma — which then spread to his liver.
Since the confirmation of his diagnosis on Saturday, Dec. 27, Post said he’s been working to do everything he can to stay as healthy and active as he can.
“I feel pretty good, I have some pain here and there,” he said. “I’ve lost 50 pounds I’ve been eating really, really healthy.”
Since his type of cancer will not respond to chemotherapy or radiation therapy, Post says he will be undergoing a treatment centered around tumor blockers that his doctors hope will give his immune system a fighting chance against the cancer.
Despite his now-positive outlook, Post admitted that when he first received the bad news, his first thought was to close his business, declare bankruptcy, and give up.
Once word of his illness got out though, his neighbors in the Kings Village Shopping Center and the wider community began reaching out to him, looking for ways to help.
To help with his expenses, an all-day pasta feed is set to take place on Sunday, Feb. 8 at Bruno’s Barbecue.
Organized by Dawn Teall of Scotts Valley Artisans, Chris Ow of Ow Family Properties, and Rosanna Herrera of Bruno’s Barbecue, 50 percent of the proceeds from the event will be contributed to Post and his family.
“This situation with Flynn is really just devastating for all of us here,” said Teall. “The whole Kings Village is really coming together … helping with medical expenses and helping them to get the treatment he needs and to keep their business open.”
The pasta feed will take place from 12 to 9 p.m., and will cost $12 for adults, and $8 for kids 10 and under.
“It’s going to be a big, community, family-style event … it’s going to be family-style bowls of pasta and bread,” said Teall. “We’re going to have a bunch of raffle items — people are donating things from all over the place.”
Post said that, at first, he was reluctant to reach out the community for help — “I’m a prideful individual,” he said — but added that once he did, at the prodding of his friends and neighbors, he was overwhelmed by the love and support that came flooding in.
“Amazing, overwhelming, way above and beyond anything I could’ve imagined — I don’t even know what to say,” Post said. “I have a lot of friends in this community … they’ve really brought strength back into my life.”
All month long in February, he said, Cutesy Cupcakes will offer a chocolate cherry cordial cupcake as its flavor of the month, with half of the proceeds going to support Post as well.
The wider community is reaching out to support Post, too. A GoFundMe fundraiser has raised more than $45,000 in barely two weeks’ time to support him — which Post says will help him keep Cali Style’s doors open.
“Due to all the support and overwhelming contributions, we’re definitely going to keep the store open as long as we can,” he said. “It was probably the best thing we ever did moving over here.”
Despite all of this, Post said that he is working on keeping his eye on the prize — the April birth of his first child, a daughter that he and his wife, Kelly, plan to name Leah.
“I want to meet that little girl,” he said.
For more information about the Flynn Post Day at Bruno’s Barbecue, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1405990699698656/
For more information about Flynn Post’s GoFundMe page, visit http://www.gofundme.com/flynnpost
