Rick's Mayo Clinic Surgery
Donation protected
My immediate need: On June 20th, in order to reverse a currently losing battle with laryngeal cancer, I will have surgery to remove my larynx (voicebox) at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, which is more than 900 miles from my home in Knoxville, TN, and many miles too from the friends and limited family I can rely on for physical and emotional support while I undergo and recover from that surgery. While I am appealing for assistance longer-term, as the “whole story” below explains, my very immediate need is to raise $5,000 for the purpose of funding my travel and accommodations, and the travel and accommodations of friends, who will help me get to the Mayo Clinic; stay with me while I am there; and get me back to Knoxville, TN; and for the purpose of paying my ordinary bills (rent, utilities, etc.) during the one or two months I will not be able to work.
The whole story: I have been battling laryngeal cancer since I was officially diagnosed in September 2015. It is my second time battling this specific disease. I beat it first in 1995‑1996 with a combination of (minor) surgery and (major) radiation therapy. Although I quit smoking for a time after that first battle, it was not then “forever.” So while I feel guilty generally about finding it necessary to seek funds to help me pay my medical and related bills, I also feel especially guilty in this case for not quitting smoking back when I was “duly warned.” Well, the second warning worked much better. As of the date I wrote this appeal, I have been cigarette free for 333 days.
On June 20th, I will have surgery at the Mayo Clinic to remove my larynx (also known as voicebox). The surgery is known as a “Total Laryngectomy.” According to three specialists in Knoxville, specifically an Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) specialist, an Oncology specialist and a Radiation Oncology specialist, this is the only remaining option I have to be cancer free, i.e., “cured.” This was reinforced when I obtained a second opinion from specialists at the Mayo Clinic on May 23rd. I feel extremely blessed that the surgery will be performed at the Mayo Clinic by an ENT surgeon, Dr. Eric Moore, who is nationally recognized for the surgical treatment of my specific disease, including by Total Laryngectomy when appropriate.
When my recurrence was diagnosed in September 2015, it was determined that my 1996 radiation treatment precluded me from being treated by radiation again. Given that having my larynx removed will saddle me with lifetime handicaps, albeit handicaps that might not have life-altering consequences, my doctors and I decided I would try an intensive course of in-patient chemotherapy to treat my laryngeal cancer before undertaking the surgical option. While chemotherapy shrank my tumor and provided other palliative benefits, after additional CT scans and re-biopsy in February 2016, my Knoxville specialists determined that chemotherapy had not and would not in the future eliminate my tumor in its entirety. In other words, it would not be curative treatment.
I have been employed by H&R Block for several years as a Tax Preparer (eight), Office Manager (five) and Instructor (six or seven). As it will become clear when I discuss my socio-economic circumstances in more detail, and despite the risk, it did not make sense for me to quit working for Block in February 2016, in the middle of tax season 2016, to have my larynx removed. So through the end of tax season; through the acquisition of my second opinion from the Mayo Clinic; and continuing until my surgery on June 20th, I have been and will continue to receive palliative care to prevent my cancer from spreading or significantly impairing my ability to breathe. I did receive a palliative chemotherapy treatment on May 13th. I am still suffering the side effects of that treatment and ongoing drug therapy, particularly steroid therapy I am receiving to keep the breathing passage in my larynx open.
Based upon my most recent CT scans and physical examinations, my physicians believe that removing my larynx will remove my cancerous tumor and thus render me free of laryngeal cancer for the rest of my life. In this regard, therefore, I feel blessed. “Curing” this cancer will resolve my breathing issues and eliminate the need for further chemotherapy and related drug therapy, also a blessing; even more so when considering that I should otherwise be able to resume much of my pre-cancer “normal life,” i.e., diet, exercise, sleep and so on.
I will trade these blessings for a speech handicap, which may or may not be significant (and which may or may not affect my future employment); and for a manageable physical handicap associated with the fact that post-surgery I will have a permanent hole in my neck (a “stoma”) through which I will breathe versus breathing through my nose and/or mouth. This will limit certain physical activities that others might identify as “normal,” for example activities that relate to water like swimming and boating.
Although a potentially scary trade‑‑ is that not true about all surgical trades—it is an easy trade for me to make. Perhaps if I were 90 or 100 years old, I would not make it. But I am only 61 years old and I believe I still have much to offer this world. Dying from cancer in the very near future by failing to treat my disease as it should be treated is not a viable option to me.
Also, having the opportunity to observe real “Laryngectomees” (people who have had laryngectomies) in action (there are videos galore on the Internet), I am confident that I will be able to adapt to my handicaps in such ways that I will ultimately lead a life, including a working life, that will not be materially different from “normal.” In this regard, I have been profoundly moved by the support of my clients who, despite knowing I will soon be different from the person who has been serving them, are looking forward to having me serve them in the future; and who are confident that I will serve them as well as I have served them in the past. I have also received the support of my employer who is ready to provide the reasonable accommodations I will need to continue my employment. In fact, I have already been re-hired as both a Field and Online Instructor for Tax Season 2017. I look forward to being in front of students as early as August 1st and no later than September 1st.
The plus side of my ledger is obviously not empty. I am grateful. But socio-economically, the negatives currently outweigh the positives. I was born an only child and my parents are long ago deceased. I have three cousins remaining who I have not spoken to you in years. I have two adult children, neither of whom live in Knoxville, and who are not currently in a position to offer me substantial support while I undergo and recover from my upcoming surgery. I do not currently have a wife or girlfriend.
Thankfully, I do have one friend who will be able to accompany me to the Mayo Clinic and spend a week there with me; and, hopefully one or two friends that can split that duty during the second week I am there; and finally another friend who can spend a week in Knoxville helping me recover and otherwise adjust to my new life. All of them will be travelling to Minnesota (or Knoxville) from far away. I would like to be able to reimburse them for any out-of-pocket costs they incur. From my perspective, by giving me time away from their homes and loved ones, they are already performing above and beyond the call of duty.
In addition, I am not personally on strong economic footing. Although I love my job with H&R Block, I am not a full-time employee. I am a seasonal, part-time employee, without health insurance benefits. I am also under the age of 65, so I do not qualify for Medicare; I am not currently “permanently disabled” as would qualify me for health insurance and disability income benefits from Social Security; and I do not qualify for Tennessee’s version of Medicaid. I do have “Obama Care” (Affordable Care Act) health insurance with a premium subsidy for which I am very thankful, but it has paid (and in the future will only pay) a small portion of the costs of my medical treatment. The “good news,” however, is that if my upcoming surgery successfully renders me cancer free, my ongoing medical expenses should decline enormously in a relatively short span of time.
Over the longer-term, I plan to use whatever funds I raise to pay what medical bills I have incurred that have not been paid by insurance. I expect them to exceed $200,000, even after negotiation. Once I have recovered from my upcoming surgery, and my prognosis has been upgraded (I just know it will be), then I will update this post with more information.
In the meantime, as I said at the beginning of this appeal, I am trying to raise $5,000 to carry me through until I can resume work at H&R Block as early as August 1st and hopefully no later than September 1st.
Thank you for considering my appeal.
The whole story: I have been battling laryngeal cancer since I was officially diagnosed in September 2015. It is my second time battling this specific disease. I beat it first in 1995‑1996 with a combination of (minor) surgery and (major) radiation therapy. Although I quit smoking for a time after that first battle, it was not then “forever.” So while I feel guilty generally about finding it necessary to seek funds to help me pay my medical and related bills, I also feel especially guilty in this case for not quitting smoking back when I was “duly warned.” Well, the second warning worked much better. As of the date I wrote this appeal, I have been cigarette free for 333 days.
On June 20th, I will have surgery at the Mayo Clinic to remove my larynx (also known as voicebox). The surgery is known as a “Total Laryngectomy.” According to three specialists in Knoxville, specifically an Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) specialist, an Oncology specialist and a Radiation Oncology specialist, this is the only remaining option I have to be cancer free, i.e., “cured.” This was reinforced when I obtained a second opinion from specialists at the Mayo Clinic on May 23rd. I feel extremely blessed that the surgery will be performed at the Mayo Clinic by an ENT surgeon, Dr. Eric Moore, who is nationally recognized for the surgical treatment of my specific disease, including by Total Laryngectomy when appropriate.
When my recurrence was diagnosed in September 2015, it was determined that my 1996 radiation treatment precluded me from being treated by radiation again. Given that having my larynx removed will saddle me with lifetime handicaps, albeit handicaps that might not have life-altering consequences, my doctors and I decided I would try an intensive course of in-patient chemotherapy to treat my laryngeal cancer before undertaking the surgical option. While chemotherapy shrank my tumor and provided other palliative benefits, after additional CT scans and re-biopsy in February 2016, my Knoxville specialists determined that chemotherapy had not and would not in the future eliminate my tumor in its entirety. In other words, it would not be curative treatment.
I have been employed by H&R Block for several years as a Tax Preparer (eight), Office Manager (five) and Instructor (six or seven). As it will become clear when I discuss my socio-economic circumstances in more detail, and despite the risk, it did not make sense for me to quit working for Block in February 2016, in the middle of tax season 2016, to have my larynx removed. So through the end of tax season; through the acquisition of my second opinion from the Mayo Clinic; and continuing until my surgery on June 20th, I have been and will continue to receive palliative care to prevent my cancer from spreading or significantly impairing my ability to breathe. I did receive a palliative chemotherapy treatment on May 13th. I am still suffering the side effects of that treatment and ongoing drug therapy, particularly steroid therapy I am receiving to keep the breathing passage in my larynx open.
Based upon my most recent CT scans and physical examinations, my physicians believe that removing my larynx will remove my cancerous tumor and thus render me free of laryngeal cancer for the rest of my life. In this regard, therefore, I feel blessed. “Curing” this cancer will resolve my breathing issues and eliminate the need for further chemotherapy and related drug therapy, also a blessing; even more so when considering that I should otherwise be able to resume much of my pre-cancer “normal life,” i.e., diet, exercise, sleep and so on.
I will trade these blessings for a speech handicap, which may or may not be significant (and which may or may not affect my future employment); and for a manageable physical handicap associated with the fact that post-surgery I will have a permanent hole in my neck (a “stoma”) through which I will breathe versus breathing through my nose and/or mouth. This will limit certain physical activities that others might identify as “normal,” for example activities that relate to water like swimming and boating.
Although a potentially scary trade‑‑ is that not true about all surgical trades—it is an easy trade for me to make. Perhaps if I were 90 or 100 years old, I would not make it. But I am only 61 years old and I believe I still have much to offer this world. Dying from cancer in the very near future by failing to treat my disease as it should be treated is not a viable option to me.
Also, having the opportunity to observe real “Laryngectomees” (people who have had laryngectomies) in action (there are videos galore on the Internet), I am confident that I will be able to adapt to my handicaps in such ways that I will ultimately lead a life, including a working life, that will not be materially different from “normal.” In this regard, I have been profoundly moved by the support of my clients who, despite knowing I will soon be different from the person who has been serving them, are looking forward to having me serve them in the future; and who are confident that I will serve them as well as I have served them in the past. I have also received the support of my employer who is ready to provide the reasonable accommodations I will need to continue my employment. In fact, I have already been re-hired as both a Field and Online Instructor for Tax Season 2017. I look forward to being in front of students as early as August 1st and no later than September 1st.
The plus side of my ledger is obviously not empty. I am grateful. But socio-economically, the negatives currently outweigh the positives. I was born an only child and my parents are long ago deceased. I have three cousins remaining who I have not spoken to you in years. I have two adult children, neither of whom live in Knoxville, and who are not currently in a position to offer me substantial support while I undergo and recover from my upcoming surgery. I do not currently have a wife or girlfriend.
Thankfully, I do have one friend who will be able to accompany me to the Mayo Clinic and spend a week there with me; and, hopefully one or two friends that can split that duty during the second week I am there; and finally another friend who can spend a week in Knoxville helping me recover and otherwise adjust to my new life. All of them will be travelling to Minnesota (or Knoxville) from far away. I would like to be able to reimburse them for any out-of-pocket costs they incur. From my perspective, by giving me time away from their homes and loved ones, they are already performing above and beyond the call of duty.
In addition, I am not personally on strong economic footing. Although I love my job with H&R Block, I am not a full-time employee. I am a seasonal, part-time employee, without health insurance benefits. I am also under the age of 65, so I do not qualify for Medicare; I am not currently “permanently disabled” as would qualify me for health insurance and disability income benefits from Social Security; and I do not qualify for Tennessee’s version of Medicaid. I do have “Obama Care” (Affordable Care Act) health insurance with a premium subsidy for which I am very thankful, but it has paid (and in the future will only pay) a small portion of the costs of my medical treatment. The “good news,” however, is that if my upcoming surgery successfully renders me cancer free, my ongoing medical expenses should decline enormously in a relatively short span of time.
Over the longer-term, I plan to use whatever funds I raise to pay what medical bills I have incurred that have not been paid by insurance. I expect them to exceed $200,000, even after negotiation. Once I have recovered from my upcoming surgery, and my prognosis has been upgraded (I just know it will be), then I will update this post with more information.
In the meantime, as I said at the beginning of this appeal, I am trying to raise $5,000 to carry me through until I can resume work at H&R Block as early as August 1st and hopefully no later than September 1st.
Thank you for considering my appeal.
Organizer
Richard Bruno
Organizer
Knoxville, TN