This is Ben's (Herman) story. In 2008 Ben was  diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. (Cancer of the lymph nodes) Treatment was 6 sessions of chemo. Remission came and went in 6 months.  Cancer came back in a much more agressive form.  Chemo this time was very rough on Ben because the more agressive the cancer the stronger the chemo. After 3 treatments Ben got very sick and was taken to the emergency room.  After 4 days in the hospital they finally found that 12 inches of the small bowel had died due to the chemo. Surgery was done and Ben had to live with a ileostomy for 6 months while the bowel healed.  After 6 months the ileostomy was reversed and chemo resumed.  After the last of the six treatments and radiation remission finally came. Roughly 2 years later Ben's left leg began to swell to twice the regular size. It turns out that when you remove lymph nodes there is nothing to filter the blood of toxins and the left leg became infected with a strep toxin. In order to remove the infection they had to cut his leg from the groin to just above the knee and scrape the jello like infection out.  The leg will never be the same.  We were struggling to pay the bills that the insurance did'nt cover and we were getting alot of phone calls from creditors.  We made a hard decision to file bankruptcy. We lost most everything we had .  We moved to Montana to be closer to family so that we would have some support.  Ben has cancer for the third time now.   We just came back from the Mayo clinic in  Arizona because the Doctor here wanted a second opinion. 
We are trying to raise money for all the medical bills that are coming in everyday now.  We will be using the money that you all so generously donate to pay all those bills.
When you face cancer it is extremely hard on your body and your self confidence. It wears you down physically and mentally. On top of the physical hardships you have the worry of the bills that sit waiting to be paid.  Instead of using energy  worring about bills Ben could use that energy to face down the ugly cancer that invades his body.
Greatful, thankful and appreciative of all your donations do not begin to describe how we will feel but they are the only words we have.  Thank you.