Ray Mercer's Cancer Battle
Donation protected
As many of you know I don't post or share much on socail media. With that being said you know it must be very near and dear to my heart in order to do so. Some of you on my friends list know who I am about to talk about and some of you do not. I ask that even if you don't know them, please read and share about this awesome couple.
Penny and Ray Mercer are an amazing couple and long time friend of mine who have been through a lot over the years but are now battling their biggest fight yet. They grew up in small towns in Central Illinois, met at a young age and just knew from there they were destined to be together. They have since moved to Florida because they decided they wanted to live in their favorite place rather than just vacation there every now and then. Now, 25 years later, their love, faith, and commitment is to be tested to the limits.
Ray had not been feeling well the past few weeks, doctors and himself just put it off as the flu. A young healthy man, why would they think anything different? Until they decided it was too much and went to the emergency room. They found out that he had a horrible infection in his ear that blew his eardrum and after some blood test they were given the devastating news of Leukemia. It has taken several days of blood work and testing to get an exact diagnosis, which is B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This is a very aggresive and life threatening type of cancer, not exactly what we were hoping for or expecting. It's not in the norm for doctors to start chemo when a patient has an infection as bad as Ray does, however they have decided there are no other options but to start it. With that being said they had to give him platelets in order to get his count up high enough to surgically insert a port to administer the chemo. The surgery to install the port was successful and he has had his first round of chemo with no immediate adverse drug reactions. They will soon be inducing two new chemo drugs and we are hoping and praying that his body does not reject these.
Ray has been working while he was sick, but he will not be working for the next 2-6 weeks during this round of treatment. At this point it is undetermined when he will return to work. On top of that, Ray worked for a small family owned business that does not offer medical leave or disability. Therefore, there is no income for him. Penny has done some work from the hospital, however she is losing a lot of hours of work.
I am setting up this gofundme account for Penny and Ray for several reasons, one of those being they are good friends of mine and they need our help. We are asking for all of your support, well wishes, thoughts and especially, prayers. If you feel inclined to help out financially and can do so, that would be greatly appreciated as well. The money that is raised will be used towards growing medical bills and cost of living.
Penny and Ray Mercer are an amazing couple and long time friend of mine who have been through a lot over the years but are now battling their biggest fight yet. They grew up in small towns in Central Illinois, met at a young age and just knew from there they were destined to be together. They have since moved to Florida because they decided they wanted to live in their favorite place rather than just vacation there every now and then. Now, 25 years later, their love, faith, and commitment is to be tested to the limits.
Ray had not been feeling well the past few weeks, doctors and himself just put it off as the flu. A young healthy man, why would they think anything different? Until they decided it was too much and went to the emergency room. They found out that he had a horrible infection in his ear that blew his eardrum and after some blood test they were given the devastating news of Leukemia. It has taken several days of blood work and testing to get an exact diagnosis, which is B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This is a very aggresive and life threatening type of cancer, not exactly what we were hoping for or expecting. It's not in the norm for doctors to start chemo when a patient has an infection as bad as Ray does, however they have decided there are no other options but to start it. With that being said they had to give him platelets in order to get his count up high enough to surgically insert a port to administer the chemo. The surgery to install the port was successful and he has had his first round of chemo with no immediate adverse drug reactions. They will soon be inducing two new chemo drugs and we are hoping and praying that his body does not reject these.
Ray has been working while he was sick, but he will not be working for the next 2-6 weeks during this round of treatment. At this point it is undetermined when he will return to work. On top of that, Ray worked for a small family owned business that does not offer medical leave or disability. Therefore, there is no income for him. Penny has done some work from the hospital, however she is losing a lot of hours of work.
I am setting up this gofundme account for Penny and Ray for several reasons, one of those being they are good friends of mine and they need our help. We are asking for all of your support, well wishes, thoughts and especially, prayers. If you feel inclined to help out financially and can do so, that would be greatly appreciated as well. The money that is raised will be used towards growing medical bills and cost of living.
Organizer
Susie Inman
Organizer
Sullivan, IL