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Be a Light for Andy

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Life was good.  We were involved in our faith family at church, in our jobs, the kids lives, busy and on the go.  Enjoying our blessings and giving back as much as we could. And then, life threw us a curve ball. Everything came to a halt.  Our world was turned upside down. 

You have stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer.

We heard those words 6 months ago.

Andreas “Andy” Nicolaou is 55 years old.  He’s a loving husband to his wife Sandra, the love of his life who he’s been married to for 24 years.  And he’s an amazing father to his 2 sons who are 28 and 27 years old and 2 beautiful daughters who are 23 and 15 years old. 

6 months ago Andy was not feeling too good, on a visit to his doctor, he was diagnosed with pneumonia.  After several weeks the symptoms where still there, so he went back to see his doctor. This time, the doc ordered a CT scan and results revealed a mass on his right lung. He was admitted the same day to the hospital to undergo tests.

On September 27th, 1.8 liters of fluid were removed from Andy’s right lung. Over the course of the next 4 weeks he would have almost 7 liters of fluid removed during 5 separate procedures.

A biopsy of the right lung was performed on September 28th. And on October 3rd the results were received and Andy was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. 

The news was devastating. So many questions...how did it get so far without us knowing?  Where did the other stages go?

 Andy remained in the hospital for the next 2 weeks until he received his first Chemo/Immuno therapy treatment. He continued his treatment every 3 weeks for a total of 6 treatments.

Upon conclusion of the treatment another CT scan was performed. The scan showed a reduction in the size of the mass within his lung and some other areas also showed some improvement.  However, a mass appeared in Andy’s left femur and hip. Radiation treatment was immediately ordered to slow or stop the mass from growing. Andy has severe pain on and off almost daily, with some days being so bad that Andy cannot get out of bed.

His wife, Sandra has taken on the main responsibility of providing for the family and carrying the insurance that pays for the medical bills.  Of course, the family is still responsible for 20% of anything billed.  As you can imagine, these bills are astronomical.  

Radiation treatment has now concluded after 10 sessions and Andy continues to receive Chemo/Immuno treatment every 3 weeks. Andy has been so strong throughout all of this and his faith in God remains.  Seeing him in pain is one of the hardest things for his family, as one can only imagine.

The family is now waiting for Andy to have another CT scan to reveal how the radiation has affected the femur/hip as well as the Chemo/Immuno treatment on the lung and other areas. Andy’s family and friends continue to pray for healing.  

We have set up this GoFundMe account to help ease the family’s stress with not only every day necessities like groceries and gas for travel to treatments but for larger current and future financial responsibilities such as medical bills, mortgage, and other heavy financial responsibilities. 

If you find that you can help this beautiful family financially, words cannot express the gratitude for your kindness.  If you do not have the means to financially help Andy and his family we ask you to please keep them in your daily prayers. 

God bless all of you and we thank you for taking the time to read our story.

PS: A benefit concert has been scheduled for Andy for June 1, 2019 at 7:30pm in West Palm Beach, FL at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.  Ticket information is available at https://www.mercedesnodarse.com/andy
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Donations 

  • Charlie Hughes
    • $200 
    • 5 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Mercedes Nodarse
Organizer
West Palm Beach, FL
Andreas Nicolaou
Beneficiary

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