Camille’s Kickin’ Kidney Cancer

First of all, we’ve always hated to see these things posted but figure if people had spent the time to put their personal business out there, there is usually a good reason and 99% of the time we donate.  It’s easy to be cynical about strangers, but not with people we care about.

Camille is facing a challenge once again with cancer.  She’s had 4 other bouts of cancer in her life over 20 years - cervical, thyroid, skin and breast - and she has kicked each one’s ass.  Now, it’s kidney cancer.  An MRI taken as a result of a car accident several months ago turned up a suspicious image and a biopsy before Thanksgiving proved it was malignant.  

The treatment will be complete removal of the right kidney in early January 2018.  Prognosis is good at this point and we hope it was caught in time.  Thanks to the little dog that ran in front of Camille’s car, causing her to swerve into the rear end of a Jeep Cherokee at 30 mph in order to miss it, totalling her car and sending her to the Emergency Room for an MRI, we never would have caught this in time to do anything proactive.  So, I guess thank goodness for the dog and his irresponsible parents for letting him roam free in the neighborhood.  (Barney is fine, by the way, and on a leash.)

Thanks to an untimely job loss for me earlier this year - and the experience of participating in the wonderful world of the Insurance Marketplace - this could not have come at a worse time.  

Our deductible is ridiculously high and thus we’ll be footing a large portion of the bill.  The $ goal is not nearly the complete cost of the operation, but it would certainly put a dent in it.  Camille is worried about costs as she will be out of commission for at least 2 months.

We’ve had so many good friends come forward asking to help in whatever way they can.  We truly appreciate their offers.  This is probably the best help we can get at this point.  Anything given is gratefully accepted and we understand the holidays are a difficult time in many ways.

Months ago we had planned a getaway over the holidays and, of course, this diagnosis came right after the deadline to get a refund.  Hopefully it will be a good distraction for her before the surgery next month.

Camille has always had a big heart for helping others (human and animal).  I am hoping she’ll feel a little love back in all of this.  

There will be an email chain with updates on Camille’s progress and if you’d like be included please text me and I’ll make sure to keep you up to date.

Thank you!