My name is George A Knight II I am a diesel mechanic for the railroad. I have an amazing wife Bethany and we parent 5 wonderful children Zoey 9, Annabella 8, Elizabeth 4, David 2, and Abbygail newborn. For 3 years I have been experiencing neck pain, back pain, extreme fatigue, dizziness, high blood pressure, and headaches. My primary care doctor had taken regular x-rays and could not see anything wrong in my neck or upper back. He assumed it was Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) or something muscular. So I trusted my doctor and continued on with my life the best I could. I went to see a chiropractor who did help with the pain a little bit but I had to visit him 3 or more times a week for just a little bit of help with the pain. That chiropractor was worried about a blood flow issue and told me to go see my doctor or go to the ER. I had him treat me and blew off his suggestion feeling better from the muscle therapy that he had performed. On May 18, 2022 I got very very sick. Uncontrolled vomiting, dizziness like I was falling off the edge of the earth, severe stiff neck and upper back pain, and a headache that blurred my vision. While at work I got worse and worse. I started to collapse while I was vomiting. I called my wife to come and pick me up from work and my boss said I was either going to the ER by ambulance or he would take me himself. So I let my boss take me to KU Med. After hours in the ER, blood work, migraine cocktail, and a CT scan the doctor finally had a talk with me. He found a mass in my brain. I didn't know how to react. Needless to say, I was in shock. It was the oddest feeling I have ever had in my life. I was admitted to icu and had my first brain surgery. The surgery lasted 7.5 hours and they successfully removed 70% of the tumor. I was released from the hospital on May 28, 2022, my daughter's 4th birthday. From that point I went to the ER and for about 6 weeks I went without pay while waiting for my disability to come in. My family and I have just bought a house and only been in it for just over a year. Our mortgage company could only offer me a 3 month forbearance from June- August that would end with us being in a foreclosure. My bank with the note on our vehicle could only offer me 2 months on that loan July and August. I have been out of work since May 18th and my income has been cut by more than 50%. We have applied for all state and federal help that we could find. We were able to get food stamps and that has helped a lot. I am struggling to keep our house and our mode of transportation though. In the middle of all of this I discovered the medical spending account that I have been paying into dropped me because I am no longer working. I am no longer making automatic payments to them. We had $1300 in that account that we had paid last year to spend on medical this year and they just took it from us. I am writing this on 07/16/2022 and my earliest return to work is 11/3/2022 if I choose not to do radiation. I was soon diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer for an adult called Ependymoma, we haven't received the full biopsy to this day since it was sent to the national institute of health. The oncologist informed us that this type of tumor does not respond to chemo at all and he said radiation will not kill the tumor but only possibly slow its growth. He informed us of some of the risks with radiating through the brain and they were overwhelming to hear. New tumor growth, full or partial blindness, going deff, speech problems, and paralyzation were only some of what he said were possibilities. This is why they need surgery #2 The tumor relies heavily on surgical extraction but the neuro surgeon said that it would be impossible to get 100% of it because it is attached to important vessels and parts in my brain. Although he can't get all of it he said it would be beneficial to try and get as much as possible. My return to work also depends on my recovery from surgery #2. It is scheduled for 08/10/2022. I could be out of work through the beginning of 2023. I am asking for help to keep the things we need: a roof over our heads, a car to get from point A to point B, and to be able to cover medical expenses. I just need help covering the basics of life and to keep my family in our home and afloat until I can return to work. This is very difficult for me to have to write or ask but know in this very trying time I have to.