WE got this! – Medical Expenses Support

Mike was diagnosed with kidney cancer in January of this year. On February 10th he underwent surgery to remove his right kidney and a "football sized" tumor. At that time the doctors were amazed that it did not look like the cancer had spread. Then on March 31st during a follow up appointment at Strong, Mike received the devastating news that there was cancer in his lungs. On April 25th he underwent a surgical lung biopsy, which confirmed that it is indeed kidney cancer in his lungs. He was given three options; wait and see, take pills for the rest of his life which may not do a thing, or begin an extremely dangerous and toxic in-patient chemo treatment. Mike is only 45 years old. After discussions with the doctor, he made the decision to move forward with chemo. He begins chemo on Monday May 19th. He will be in the Wilmot Cancer Center at Strong for 5-6 days at a time. The goal is to complete 14 rounds of chemo treatment within that time, but he was told that most people only can handle 9-10 rounds in a stay. A main risk with this treatment is leaking capillary syndrome (internal bleeding), therefore they will monitor him closely and put him in ICU if necessary. The treatment has a 20-30% chance of success, and he has a 6-7% chance of being cured. We are praying that Mike can be cured.

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to meet Mike, he is the kindest person with a heart of gold.  For the past three Thanksgivings he has been cooking enough food to feed local employees who are stuck working on the holiday, and some needy families in the area.  He does not help deliver the food personally for two reasons; one is that he is busy cooking, but the other is that he does not want to be recognized for what he is doing.  If you ask, he says that he does things like this because he is selfish and it makes him happy to help others, and make them smile.  In the past it was common for Mike to walk into a local business and buy coffee or breakfast for everyone in there, or pay for grocercies for a random stranger in the Big M.  He has donated generously to many charities, both independently and through his business.

Mike owns a local bar/restaurant.  He has been trying to work when he is up to it, but has not been able to work like he used to.  For the past few years he has been exhausted and did not understand why.  It turns out the cancer had been growing for ~5-10 years according to the doctor.  Mike was finally able to get health insurance as of January first, and that is when he was first diagnosed.  When he is not able to work, not only is he not earning money, but it also means that employees are being paid to cover those shifts. His friends and family are helping, and put together an amazing surprise benefit for him in January. This was an awesome event, but the money raised will only begin to meet the mounting expenses. Anything that can be done to help ease the financial burden during this difficult time will be greatly appreciated. It is extremely important for Mike to focus his time and energy on healing and not on money worries. Please help in any way you can to make this happen. Thank you so much and we will continue to pay your kindness forward to others.