Andrew's Care Fund

As some of you know, but most of you don't, I have an “almost 21” year old grandson Andrew. Andrew was born with cerebral palsy, was diagnosed with autism when he was 5, diagnosed with seizure disorders when he was 16 and in the past two weeks has been diagnosed with cancer. Andrew had a mass growing on the side of his head. Some doctors thought it was a cyst. When Andrew fell at school four weeks ago, the bleeding was so bad that he had to go to the emergency room. The doctor on call performed a CAT scan and told my son that he wasn't sure if it was a cyst or a tumor, but it needed to be addressed right away. Andrew went to a surgeon who scheduled the surgery for two weeks ago. At the follow up appointment my son was told that Andrew had a tumor and that it was malignant. Andrew has seen an oncologist and has had some scans done. He will be a patient at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa in the coming weeks for an additional surgery and to begin cancer treatments.

As we all know the insurance companies have large deductibles, co-payments and try to get out of paying anything they can. Right now Andrew's current medications are a significant cost after what little insurance pays. With the second surgery coming up, there will additional expenses that insurance will not cover. Trips to the hospital which is hundreds of miles from my son's home. There will be follow up visits to the hospital, specialized nursing care at home after surgery. None of these “additional” costs are covered by insurance and will need to be paid for by my son. Our family is helping my son and Andrew in every way that we can, but there is just so much we can do.

We're asking you to put yourself in his place. What would you do for your child or your grandchild? Most of the time my son will need to take off from his job will be unpaid. We'd like to try and help defray the additional costs for my son so he can concentrate on getting Andrew well without worrying about how he's going to pay for all of this, plus keep a roof over their head and food on the table. We can't do it alone. We need your help, the help of philanthropic organizations you may know, the help of non-profit organizations, anyone who can help. All money raised will go directly to Andrew's Care Fund and we will be eternally grateful.

Andrew has a long road ahead but with the strength of his father, his brother and sister, his family, friends like you and God, we'll make it through.