Father to be fighting cancer....
Donation protected
As most of you already know, Robert has been battling with small cell lung cancer for four years now. After being diagnosed for the first time, Robert started chemo and chemo kept him in remission for about two years. After being in remission for quite a while, his cancer started to come back. He was able to keep it controlled with radiation therapy. Recently (last week) we found out that his cancer is back yet again. However, this time radiation was not an option. Starting tomorrow 1/26/2016, Robert will be receiving chemo for the next 4-6 months. Our story is not as sad as it sounds, I mean it's devastating but we do have some good news to report! After being told that we would have a hard time conceiving, me due to PCOS and Robert due to his cancer treatments...God has decided to bless us with the most exciting news we NEVER thought we'd hear. We are pregnant and expect Caleb to come May 1st, 2016. Our situation is what I'd call "bitter sweet". It's so great to be blessed with this little one growing in my belly yet it's also something that makes the cancer life a little harder. This is where I start explaining why we are trying to raise money. It's so hard to ask for help, no matter how much we know we need it and it's taken a lot for me to do this. As Roberts wife, I have decided that getting help is more important than worrying about what people will think of us because we are asking for help. To start off, when I first started working where I am currently employed, I didn't know anything about signing up for short term disability. When I found out about the pregnancy, I was told I could enroll for short term disability when open enrollment came around (for my maternity leave) so that's what I did. Turns out I got denied because my pregnancy is considered "pre exisiting". This means that while on maternity leave, I will not get paid. I have been trying to get this figured out and find something to help us but what it comes down to is me applying for non FMLA leave with no pay. I can use my PTO to get paid, however, due to all my doctors appointments for baby and sometimes appointments for Robert, I have no PTO and am unable to accumulate any PTO. Living on only Roberts disability check while I am on maternity leave is NOT an option. We need both of our incomes to pay our bills. On top of that, Robert still owes money for medical bills due to cancer and crappy insurance that we always run into problems with. We would greatly appreciate any help that we can get and in advance thank you for any help that way may receive. If you have made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read our story.
Organizer
April King
Organizer
Austin, TX
