73 Year Old COVID CNA Battling Cancer
Donation protected
My name is Deanna Brunner. It started as pain in my hip. At first I didn’t think much of it. I’m 73 and I thought the hip pain was just a byproduct of getting older. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The hip pain persisted for weeks until it became unbearable. I held out for as long as I could but finally the pain forced me to go to the emergency room. They did a CT Scan and admitted me to the hospital the same night. The next day I got the horrible news. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Large B Cell Lymphoma. I was devastated.
The cancer diagnosis couldn’t have come at a worse time. I just had to declare bankruptcy, and my house will be going into foreclosure. To make matters worse, I have discovered that my health insurance will only cover a fraction of the costs. In addition to my cancer treatments, I need a surgery on my foot and another surgery to repair a hernia. I still work full time in a nursing home caring for residents, quite of few of which have contracted the Coronavirus. I have to take two busses to get to work every day. Despite my paycheck and my social security, I am struggling to make ends meet. Not to mention I have to save money so I can find another place to live because I can’t get caught up on my mortgage payments. There is no way that I can afford all of the chemotherapy treatments and doctor’s appointments in the months to come.
Yesterday I received a notice from the City of Bethlehem telling me that I need to scrape and paint my house because I am not in compliance with the city ordinance. I have thirty days to comply or I could face a fine of $200 and/or thirty days in jail. I don’t have the money to pay someone to paint my house and I am not capable of doing the work myself because of my poor health. The bad news keeps on coming and I am at a loss as to how to deal with any of it.
It is not in my nature to ask for help. My pride runs deep and starting a GoFundMe campaign was a hard decision for me. That said, I am not going to able to weather this storm on my own. Any help that you can provide, even just sharing my story, would mean the world to me. Your donation would help prevent me from becoming homeless, it will help me to pay my medical bills for the treatments that I desperately need, and it will help to sustain me, not just now with expenses, but in the future, if the time comes that I can no longer work. Thank you so much and God bless.
The cancer diagnosis couldn’t have come at a worse time. I just had to declare bankruptcy, and my house will be going into foreclosure. To make matters worse, I have discovered that my health insurance will only cover a fraction of the costs. In addition to my cancer treatments, I need a surgery on my foot and another surgery to repair a hernia. I still work full time in a nursing home caring for residents, quite of few of which have contracted the Coronavirus. I have to take two busses to get to work every day. Despite my paycheck and my social security, I am struggling to make ends meet. Not to mention I have to save money so I can find another place to live because I can’t get caught up on my mortgage payments. There is no way that I can afford all of the chemotherapy treatments and doctor’s appointments in the months to come.
Yesterday I received a notice from the City of Bethlehem telling me that I need to scrape and paint my house because I am not in compliance with the city ordinance. I have thirty days to comply or I could face a fine of $200 and/or thirty days in jail. I don’t have the money to pay someone to paint my house and I am not capable of doing the work myself because of my poor health. The bad news keeps on coming and I am at a loss as to how to deal with any of it.
It is not in my nature to ask for help. My pride runs deep and starting a GoFundMe campaign was a hard decision for me. That said, I am not going to able to weather this storm on my own. Any help that you can provide, even just sharing my story, would mean the world to me. Your donation would help prevent me from becoming homeless, it will help me to pay my medical bills for the treatments that I desperately need, and it will help to sustain me, not just now with expenses, but in the future, if the time comes that I can no longer work. Thank you so much and God bless.
Organizer
Deanna Brunner
Organizer
Bethlehem, PA
