Shrader Cancer Relief Fund

In July of 2011, Sam Shrader moved from the Outer Banks, NC to Cary, NC with his wife and two step children. He started a new job, and a few months later found out that his wife was expecting their first child. Life was good.

On November 15th, 2011, Sam got a phone call that changed his life. He had cancer. Specifically, non-Hodgkin's Follicular Lymphoma. After lots of testing he was told that he was stage 4 and that the tumors were throughout his body from his neck to his groin. Even worse news was that there was no cure. However, there was good news too. Duke University Hospital had a clinical trial for his situation and they had high hopes for a period of remission. Shortly after, he started a six month long treatment of chemotherapy and radiation.

He handled his treatments well and has worked full time throughout the six months. However, he still had to take numerous days off for appointments, testing, treatment, and - at the end - the birth of his daughter. His sick and vacation time did not last him long.

As of August 2012, Sam is finished with treatment! Unfortunately, his cell counts are so low that his doctors have taken him out of work to keep him out of the public and healthy. His body is too weak from the treatment to fend off any infection. He is also in danger of having to have a blood transfusion if his counts dip any lower. But the silver lining of that is - Sam is in full remission status! The news is wonderful but does not provide much financial relief for him or his family. The doctors do not know how long his remission will last and he will need testing every three months until the cancer returns. When you add the cost of that to the lost wages and the already sky-high medical bills it can be overwhelming.

His family has created this page to help them with their medical bills and living expenses. Would you please consider donating even a small amount to help this family with their awful burden? If you can't donate please consider sharing this page to try and raise some support for them during their time of need.

PLEASE SIGN THE FOLLOWING PETITION - IT COULD BE SAM'S NEXT TREATMENT OPTION IF APPROVED BY THE FDA
http://www.change.org/petitions/to-the-fda-and-the-us-congress-please-review-biovaxid-therapeutic-cancer-vaccine-for-accelerated-approval?utm_campaign=friend_inviter_modal&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_false