The Gregory Family

Hi everyone, it's Cameron. I don't really know where to begin with writing an explanation for this but I guess I'll start from the beginning.

In April of 2018 my dad, Duane, was diagnosed with non-small cell, squamous cell, lung cancer. Over the course of the last three years he's been through every treatment option imaginable - chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, etc. - you name it and he's most likely already been through it or explored that option. Those treatments don't come without a hefty price tag, so if you've been a friend of mine on Facebook, or social media in general for the last couple years, you may remember this isn't our first time asking for help. A GoFundMe was created about a year into his treatments to help alleviate the stress that comes with the cost of medical bills from cancer treatment. My dad is extremely independent and prideful, almost to a fault, so after we were able to pay off some of his medical bills my dad asked me to shut the GoFundMe down and donated the rest of the money to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital for children and their families who may have needed it more.

At one point my dad had been considered to be in "remission" but not more than 3 months later it was revealed the tumor was back, and he was going to have to continue fighting for his life. Fast forward to today - the cancer has spread to other parts of his body and my dad has put up an extremely strong, brave but also long, battle. Quite frankly, he's tired. And I don't blame him. As a lot of our close friends and family know, things have gotten even harder over the last six months or so. He slowly began to lose his coordination and ability to drive, then he was unable to walk far distances, and now unable to walk at all, to the point where he's in a wheelchair or bedridden every day. We had to move my dad out of the home he and I have shared for the last 13 years - and where Colby and I visited on weekends for years before that - before my dad took full custody of us, and we made his house our home.

With my dad needing the extra care, he now lives at Colby and my sister-in-law, Olivia's, house. He has been placed on hospice care in order to get the attention he needs and deserves, as well as having the rest of our family and friends to help out/visit him as well. It's a weird feeling (to put it lightly) knowing someone you love more than anyone in life is coming to the end of theirs, and as the last few weeks have made us open our eyes to just how short life is, we've had to start planning and making adjustments to our lives without Duane (Dad, Opa, Brother, Unkie D). At 27 and 23 years old, Colby and I just don't have the kind of money it takes to pay for a funeral, bills, selling a house with a mortgage, debt, or any of the other costs associated with a parent passing away. Colby has a great full-time job that he already works a lot of overtime for in order to support his wife and daughter. And although I graduated in 2020 with a great degree from an amazing school, I haven't had much luck in the full-time job department. At one point before he moved out, I was as close as you can get to acting as a full-time caretaker for my dad. I believe things happen for a reason, so I'm happy I got to be there for him while also working my waitressing job part-time to try and save some money.

Overall, if you know Colby or I personally, you know how hard it is for us to ask for help sometimes. This page didn't come without a lot of premeditated thought and weighing some of our other options. What it came down to was we're not too proud to ask for help at this point, in any form of the word. We're very aware there's a lot of families struggling and we are not alone in what we're going through. Anything will help, so if you'd rather just share this page than donate, we'd be extremely grateful. Currently, Duane is doing as well as he can be. We are taking everything day by day. He has a lot of people that care about him, and although he might not get back to some family and friends who have already reached out, know he appreciates it. If you'd like to reach out to either Colby or I for more information please feel free.

With love,
The Gregory's

P.S. Olivia has a thrift page on instagram (@denimnpearlsthrift) where she drops items for sale she's thrifted. For the time being, all proceeds are also going to help with the cost of care for Duane, if you'd rather not directly donate.
P.S.S. We also plan to donate some of the money to Penn State's THON, the Wounded Warrior Project, and the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.