Cancer Sucks Less With Your Help
Donation protected
Hi, "My name is Earl". Really, it is. (remember that TV show?)
I was diagnosed with cancer last Christmas(2015). This was devastating news to me, my wife, my son, my extended family. My cancer's primary tumor is on the base of my tongue. I say "My Cancer" becuase I take it with me everwhere I go.
My cancer is Sqamous Cell Carcinoma. This type of cancer is often called "Head and Neck Cancer". It is most commonly caused by smoking and chewing tobacco. I have NEVER smoked or chewed tobacco.
The message of my page is a little different than most. It gives a brief look into the difficulty of dealing with cancer. Why it's so hard for families to stay afloat. Why familys are here looking for help.
I thought I would end up having my tongue removed and never speak again, swallow again, taste mashed potatoes again. (I really love mashed potatoes!) My cancer was already spread to my lymph nodes and at stage 4. There were no clear margins to be found so the operation to remove the tumor / tongue wouldn't help so I didn't lose my tongue, yaaah! This means the cancer is bad and the Doctors would have to be very agressive with chemo and radiation, Booo.
I worked my tail off prior to my treatment in an effort to salt away some money to pay the bills while I couldn't work. (No short term disabilty, my bad) I go 5 days a week for treatment. This is my new job but it doesn't pay well at all. In fact I am losing money at an alarming rate and that money I salted away is already gone.
I am a self employed gunsmith / blacksmith. I repair really old guns from the 16th, 17th, and18th century. Mostly flintlocks, snaphaunce, and percussion guns like the ones used in the Revolutionary War or Civil War. Mostly collectors of antique guns, reenactors and black powder hunters and shooters use my services. Anyhow, most of my customers are nation wide and sometimes worldwide and they want to talk with me over the phone. Can't do that anymore...The radiation has cooked my throat so bad it's like the worst case of strep throat times 10. I can't taste those mashed potatoes anymore either, can't swallow them no matter how runny they are. I think it's the starch. Eating anything is like swallowing a porccupine backwards. Milky shakes go down okay and that sounds good but I can't taste them. Everything tastes like a spoonful of ransid grease. The doctors tell me I will have a feeding tube if I lose too much weight. Some days it's hard to get your head up off a pillow becasue of the spinning head and nausea. I won't even talk about the constipation, night sweats and other various side effects of the illness and medications. This makes it almost impossible to work. Also, I'm not supposed to get an infection and in my line of work I get losts of little cuts and burns on my hands. This is a no- no when your blood counts are low. The parts on some of these old gun locks are tiny and my hands shake so bad I can't get a screw in the darn hole. My wife works as a secretary and feels guilty she can't go with me to my treatments but we can't afford her to miss a day of work. I know my page doesn't sound full of nice positive stuff but it does give a small window into the reality of living with cancer.
Cancer Sucks!
But I'm still trying...I have a 15 year old son and a wife who need me and I still need them.
Cancer Sucks less with your help. This is my campaign to raise money to pay my medical bills, keep the roof over my family's head, keep transportation back and forth to my treatments and my wife's work. And, keep food in the frige for a 15 year old eating machine. (He's a good boy. Makes his own money with small animal farming and is an honor student at school.) I want to help my son fix this old jeep he has, I want to see him graduate from high school, and want to see him go on to fullfil his dreams as long as I can.
I hope you understand my message which is to show that despite all the negative stuff a cancer family deals with, there IS still hope for the future if you can just take care of the day to day things. Your generous donations will help take a little pressure off my family.
Please gofundme or another family dealing with cancer.
I was diagnosed with cancer last Christmas(2015). This was devastating news to me, my wife, my son, my extended family. My cancer's primary tumor is on the base of my tongue. I say "My Cancer" becuase I take it with me everwhere I go.
My cancer is Sqamous Cell Carcinoma. This type of cancer is often called "Head and Neck Cancer". It is most commonly caused by smoking and chewing tobacco. I have NEVER smoked or chewed tobacco.
The message of my page is a little different than most. It gives a brief look into the difficulty of dealing with cancer. Why it's so hard for families to stay afloat. Why familys are here looking for help.
I thought I would end up having my tongue removed and never speak again, swallow again, taste mashed potatoes again. (I really love mashed potatoes!) My cancer was already spread to my lymph nodes and at stage 4. There were no clear margins to be found so the operation to remove the tumor / tongue wouldn't help so I didn't lose my tongue, yaaah! This means the cancer is bad and the Doctors would have to be very agressive with chemo and radiation, Booo.
I worked my tail off prior to my treatment in an effort to salt away some money to pay the bills while I couldn't work. (No short term disabilty, my bad) I go 5 days a week for treatment. This is my new job but it doesn't pay well at all. In fact I am losing money at an alarming rate and that money I salted away is already gone.
I am a self employed gunsmith / blacksmith. I repair really old guns from the 16th, 17th, and18th century. Mostly flintlocks, snaphaunce, and percussion guns like the ones used in the Revolutionary War or Civil War. Mostly collectors of antique guns, reenactors and black powder hunters and shooters use my services. Anyhow, most of my customers are nation wide and sometimes worldwide and they want to talk with me over the phone. Can't do that anymore...The radiation has cooked my throat so bad it's like the worst case of strep throat times 10. I can't taste those mashed potatoes anymore either, can't swallow them no matter how runny they are. I think it's the starch. Eating anything is like swallowing a porccupine backwards. Milky shakes go down okay and that sounds good but I can't taste them. Everything tastes like a spoonful of ransid grease. The doctors tell me I will have a feeding tube if I lose too much weight. Some days it's hard to get your head up off a pillow becasue of the spinning head and nausea. I won't even talk about the constipation, night sweats and other various side effects of the illness and medications. This makes it almost impossible to work. Also, I'm not supposed to get an infection and in my line of work I get losts of little cuts and burns on my hands. This is a no- no when your blood counts are low. The parts on some of these old gun locks are tiny and my hands shake so bad I can't get a screw in the darn hole. My wife works as a secretary and feels guilty she can't go with me to my treatments but we can't afford her to miss a day of work. I know my page doesn't sound full of nice positive stuff but it does give a small window into the reality of living with cancer.
Cancer Sucks!
But I'm still trying...I have a 15 year old son and a wife who need me and I still need them.
Cancer Sucks less with your help. This is my campaign to raise money to pay my medical bills, keep the roof over my family's head, keep transportation back and forth to my treatments and my wife's work. And, keep food in the frige for a 15 year old eating machine. (He's a good boy. Makes his own money with small animal farming and is an honor student at school.) I want to help my son fix this old jeep he has, I want to see him graduate from high school, and want to see him go on to fullfil his dreams as long as I can.
I hope you understand my message which is to show that despite all the negative stuff a cancer family deals with, there IS still hope for the future if you can just take care of the day to day things. Your generous donations will help take a little pressure off my family.
Please gofundme or another family dealing with cancer.
Organizer
Earl Kathan
Organizer
