Please help Ritchie fight Lymphoma
Donation protected
I met Ritchie Johnson in 2014 during my annual winter visit to Jamaica. I have been vacationing with my husband in a remote corner of the country known for its easy going community life and friendly people – Treasure Beach. Ritchie Johnson lives with his wife, Sally, and three children in the small fishing community of Billy’s Bay in Treasure Beach. I’ve done volunteer work with the children of Billy’s Bay and have a deep fondness for it. When I heard Ritchie’s story from a friend, and was asked if I could assist in some way, I thought of all the caring people who might be able to help him in his battle against a frightening and deadly illness.
A quiet and unassuming man, Ritchie is well-liked in his adopted community. Until recently, he and his family lived in another village called Parrotee, about 25 miles away. Making ends meet in Parrotee and the surrounding villages can be tough. Remote from the larger tourist areas and cities, most people earn their living through fishing, farming, working in the modest tourist facilities in the area, and as Ritchie has, through skilled labor. He is a carpenter by trade. As he became ill, and was no longer able to work and pay the bills, he and his family had to move to Billy’s Bay to live with Sally’s family.
Until December 2014, Ritchie was able to provide for his family and could afford to send his two older children, twelve-year-old Melisha and six-year-old Malike to school. Unlike many others in the rural south coast of Jamaica, Ritchie was also able to pay the monthly expenses for little three-and-a-half-year-old Kayla to attend the public basic school – what we call preschool. In October of 2014, all that would begin to change.
One day, after showering off from a long day’s work, Ritchie noticed a swelling on the right side of his neck. Over the next few weeks, the swelling grew and began to cause significant discomfort, making it hard to work. Trips to the doctor resulted in pain medications and antibiotics. Rather than finding relief, Ritchie’s swelling and discomfort grew. After the treatments of the first two doctors failed, he found a third who wanted to biopsy the growth. Unfortunately, in Jamaica, anesthesia is not given routinely. The doctor's incision, administered without it, triggered such pain that Richie was unable to continue with the procedure. So, the doctor sewed him back up, asked for payment, and sent him on his way. It wasn’t until he saw a fourth doctor - an ear, nose and throat specialist – that a proper biopsy was performed under the proper circumstances. By this time, the swelling had grown to be larger than a tennis ball, making any movement of his head, neck, shoulder and arm difficult and very painful.
Ritchie's tumor grew rapidly
After a long and tense waiting period, and having to pay for two labs to test the biopsied tissue, Ritchie learned he had an aggressive stage-two lymphoma. Three months after his initial visit to the doctor, he finally knew what he was suffering from – a cancer that had now gone unchecked and was allowed to grow for several months.
By this point, the medical services he'd received consumed every dollar Rithchie had. The pain and inability to move his right arm and shoulder, as well as his head, made it impossible for Ritchie to work – right at a time when medical expenses were piling up.
Without going into detail about what the Jamaican health care system offers the poor and working class citizens, I will say that if Ritchie was going to get timely and consistent care, he needed to pay for it out of pocket. So, Ritchie and his family, along with his wife’s sisters who live in the U.S., have tapped into all their available resources to pay for his doctor visits, lab work, and, most recently, his first rounds of chemotherapy.
It’s been like a miracle to Ritchie that his friends and family have been able to raise almost half of the funds needed for the eight rounds of chemo he needs for the initial attack on the cancer. Timeliness of treatment is critical in preventing his aggressive form of cancer from spreading. To date, he has had four treatments – each costing $3,275. The next, due later this week, will have to be postponed. With his, and the extended family’s, funds depleted, Ritchie’s friends began holding benefit fundraising dinners. With each clearing less than $400, and the donation buckets placed around town bringing in only small amounts of money, Ritchie is short $2,478 for this treatment. The next will be scheduled for three weeks later, as will each of the last three – but only if he can pay for them. Delays will result in the tumor growing and spreading. Ritchie and his family are hopeful that caring and compassionate readers will help him raise the funds to complete his eight treatment sessions. After that, his doctor said it will be “wait and see” before determining if he will need more.
Six-year-old Malike wanted to show me one of the family's fundraising tools.
With all the support his family and community can provide, and all the prayers they say, Ritchie is still in need of help if he is going to survive to raise his young children. And, if his children are going to thrive, they need more than a loving father. They need to be able to go to school. The $410 it costs to send each child to school each term (there are three per school year) is completely out of reach for Ritchie. (While Jamaica provides publicly funded schools in the community, there is still a tuition cost for families.) Any funds raised in excess of what is needed for treatment will go toward Melisha’s, Malike’s and Kayla’s education – giving Melisha the opportunity to go to high school and ensuring Malike and Kayla will learn to read and write, and live a life beyond the poverty that afflicts so many Jamaicans.
Please consider helping this kind, hard-working and gentle man fight this deadly disease. Every donation will take him one step closer to his next treatment. And, once it’s completed, will provide him with funds to send his children to school while Ritchie gets back on his feet and can begin supporting his family as he is so determined to do.
A quiet and unassuming man, Ritchie is well-liked in his adopted community. Until recently, he and his family lived in another village called Parrotee, about 25 miles away. Making ends meet in Parrotee and the surrounding villages can be tough. Remote from the larger tourist areas and cities, most people earn their living through fishing, farming, working in the modest tourist facilities in the area, and as Ritchie has, through skilled labor. He is a carpenter by trade. As he became ill, and was no longer able to work and pay the bills, he and his family had to move to Billy’s Bay to live with Sally’s family.
Until December 2014, Ritchie was able to provide for his family and could afford to send his two older children, twelve-year-old Melisha and six-year-old Malike to school. Unlike many others in the rural south coast of Jamaica, Ritchie was also able to pay the monthly expenses for little three-and-a-half-year-old Kayla to attend the public basic school – what we call preschool. In October of 2014, all that would begin to change.
One day, after showering off from a long day’s work, Ritchie noticed a swelling on the right side of his neck. Over the next few weeks, the swelling grew and began to cause significant discomfort, making it hard to work. Trips to the doctor resulted in pain medications and antibiotics. Rather than finding relief, Ritchie’s swelling and discomfort grew. After the treatments of the first two doctors failed, he found a third who wanted to biopsy the growth. Unfortunately, in Jamaica, anesthesia is not given routinely. The doctor's incision, administered without it, triggered such pain that Richie was unable to continue with the procedure. So, the doctor sewed him back up, asked for payment, and sent him on his way. It wasn’t until he saw a fourth doctor - an ear, nose and throat specialist – that a proper biopsy was performed under the proper circumstances. By this time, the swelling had grown to be larger than a tennis ball, making any movement of his head, neck, shoulder and arm difficult and very painful.
Ritchie's tumor grew rapidlyAfter a long and tense waiting period, and having to pay for two labs to test the biopsied tissue, Ritchie learned he had an aggressive stage-two lymphoma. Three months after his initial visit to the doctor, he finally knew what he was suffering from – a cancer that had now gone unchecked and was allowed to grow for several months.
By this point, the medical services he'd received consumed every dollar Rithchie had. The pain and inability to move his right arm and shoulder, as well as his head, made it impossible for Ritchie to work – right at a time when medical expenses were piling up.
Without going into detail about what the Jamaican health care system offers the poor and working class citizens, I will say that if Ritchie was going to get timely and consistent care, he needed to pay for it out of pocket. So, Ritchie and his family, along with his wife’s sisters who live in the U.S., have tapped into all their available resources to pay for his doctor visits, lab work, and, most recently, his first rounds of chemotherapy.
It’s been like a miracle to Ritchie that his friends and family have been able to raise almost half of the funds needed for the eight rounds of chemo he needs for the initial attack on the cancer. Timeliness of treatment is critical in preventing his aggressive form of cancer from spreading. To date, he has had four treatments – each costing $3,275. The next, due later this week, will have to be postponed. With his, and the extended family’s, funds depleted, Ritchie’s friends began holding benefit fundraising dinners. With each clearing less than $400, and the donation buckets placed around town bringing in only small amounts of money, Ritchie is short $2,478 for this treatment. The next will be scheduled for three weeks later, as will each of the last three – but only if he can pay for them. Delays will result in the tumor growing and spreading. Ritchie and his family are hopeful that caring and compassionate readers will help him raise the funds to complete his eight treatment sessions. After that, his doctor said it will be “wait and see” before determining if he will need more.
Six-year-old Malike wanted to show me one of the family's fundraising tools.With all the support his family and community can provide, and all the prayers they say, Ritchie is still in need of help if he is going to survive to raise his young children. And, if his children are going to thrive, they need more than a loving father. They need to be able to go to school. The $410 it costs to send each child to school each term (there are three per school year) is completely out of reach for Ritchie. (While Jamaica provides publicly funded schools in the community, there is still a tuition cost for families.) Any funds raised in excess of what is needed for treatment will go toward Melisha’s, Malike’s and Kayla’s education – giving Melisha the opportunity to go to high school and ensuring Malike and Kayla will learn to read and write, and live a life beyond the poverty that afflicts so many Jamaicans.
Please consider helping this kind, hard-working and gentle man fight this deadly disease. Every donation will take him one step closer to his next treatment. And, once it’s completed, will provide him with funds to send his children to school while Ritchie gets back on his feet and can begin supporting his family as he is so determined to do.
Organizer
Evelyn Hengeveld-Bidmon
Organizer
Felton, CA
