Melissa Bowman is my niece and she has had a rough couple years.   Her Mom (my sister) became ill and was hospitalized in critical condition and Melissa was in a motor vehicle accident which injured her back three days before her Mom passed away (July 15, 2016).     She moved to Midland, Texas for a new and better job as a Pediatric Nurse Practioner in November of 2016.    In June of 2017 we celebrated her 40th birthday with friends on a trip to Mexico.  She started having sore throats, diagnosed as sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, etc.    Ultimately in October of 2017 she was diagnosed with Cancer.  The primary tumor was located in her left tonsil.  Surgery did not go as simply as anticipated, she had a left dissection of her neck and removal of 19 lymphnodes.  Two of the lymphnodes were cancerous and had spread around her jugular vein which had to be removed during surgery.   She underwent 7 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation.    Her chemo and radiation ended December 2017.     She is not healing as expected and is suffering from radiation burns in her throat which has hindered her healing process.   It is now 7 months postop, with artificial nutrition and oral nutrition her body is still losing weight.   Her care team is recommending a trip to Houston for further testing and diagnoses.     Her personal savings are depleted as she is only able to work part time because she is still weak and recovering.  She will travel to MD Anderson Cancer Center on May 14th for a second opinion on further treatment and could use assistance with travel costs, lodging,  and out of pocket expenses.  Additionally, she will have out of pocket medical costs for treatments, as well as costs for maintaining the household and caring for her 2 year old son. She will likely have to make more than one trip to Houston over the next few months for treatment.