Assist with Thyroid Surgery Expenses

I didn’t want to do this, but the hotel stay is going to be almost twice as much as last time, and with surgery a month away I’m struggling to get everything arranged. So, a little bit of help can go a long way.

Some of you probably already know, but last November - after almost two years of appointments and an inconclusive biopsy - I finally had surgery in Seattle, at Swedish Hospital, to remove a 2.5-inch growth along with half of my thyroid. The doctor hoped that would be the end of it, but further biopsies of the removed growth found an Encapsulated Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma that led the cancer team at Swedish to recommend removal of the remainder of my thyroid. The surgery is scheduled for June 4th. I’ll be able to make payments after the procedure, so the medical bills aren’t my main concern (yet). The flight from here to Juneau is $200 each way, and the flights for both my mother and myself to get to Seattle total approximately $700, making the airfare $1100. The hotel we stayed at in November, which is close to the hospital, would be over $2000 (I paid $1100 in November) for the 9 nights I’ll be required to stay in Seattle before being cleared to fly home. I will also have to pay a pet sitter as the person who normally watches my younger dog will be unavailable, and I’ll need to have someone let both dogs out multiple times a day. That will cost a minimum of $200 for the 10 days I’ll be gone. I’m using my vacation days to cover my days off, so I won’t be missing much pay, but there’s always a chance of complications requiring me to miss more days than I have remaining in PTO.

That’s a worry for the future, though. For now my main concern is making sure I can pay for the hotel and pet sitter while still having money for transportation and food for 10 days in Seattle. Every little bit helps, but I know things are rough right now and I understand if nothing comes of this. Either way, thanks for reading!