Bill's Battle: Cancer and No Insurance

Hi, my name is Jennifer. I'm starting a GoFundMe to help my dear cousin Lezlie and her family. Her husband Bill is fighting for his life, and they are in great need of prayer and .

This is Bill, a devoted husband, loving father of 6 - a provider, jokester, companion. Thank you for reading his story. Yes, it is long. Yes, it is worth the read.

When Bill reconnected with his high school sweetheart, he instantly fell in love with the two little ladies that were part of the package deal. In 2007, he joined the US Army National Guard as a way to support his new, ready-made family. He trained as a medic and Bradley mechanic and quickly realized that military life was the life for him. Bill was excited to serve his country and wanted a better opportunity to provide for his growing family, so he began taking steps to enlist in the US Army.

Unfortunately, during this transitional time, in 2010, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, bringing all his plans to a halt.

24 hours after emergency surgery to remove a tumor, his daughter was born with a rare chromosomal anomaly - Edwards Syndrome. She died three days later. While mourning the loss of his daughter, Tilde, Bill continued to fight for his life. After months of chemotherapy, prayer, and support from friends, family, and Vanderbilt doctors, he beat cancer at the age of 29.

Over the next several years, he worked hard to provide for his family. By 2019, he was a father of six, and his family was complete. During this time, he worked in power line and right-of-way construction, road construction, and eventually solar energy installation. By 2021, he was a successful operator with a Nashville-based company, and his family had grown leaps and bounds beyond what doctors thought possible. Once again, he beat the odds.

Then, in summer 2022, he was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease brought on by an undetected fungal infection, histoplasmosis, which led to cirrhosis. After only 3 days on the national transplant waiting list, Bill was blessed with a new liver in October 2022. This was nothing short of a miracle as the average wait time is 8 months to 2 years.

Leading up to his transplant and during the recovery period after, Bill was without a job, and the responsibility of providing fell solely on his wife, Lezlie. During this time, he was still being treated by the transplant team at Vanderbilt. His short time in the National Guard did not provide him with VA benefits. Over the course of his recovery, money became increasingly tight, and Bill & Lezlie depleted their savings. Family and close friends aware of their situation supported them with time, small monetary donations, and most importantly, prayer.

In the summer of 2024, Bill felt as though he had recovered enough to go back to work to help support his family. Because his change in health left him unable to return to his previous line of work, he became a school bus driver for the Fentress County school system. He also took a second, full-time job as a transportation specialist with a KY-based company. Around the time of his re-entry to the workforce, Bill lost the TennCare coverage he had acquired during his transplant and subsequent treatment. He still relies daily on expensive life-saving anti-rejection medication.

Sometime in late September 2024, Bill began experiencing some discomfort in the front of his left hip area. He suspected a pulled groin muscle, but after some rest and at-home treatment, his symptoms did not improve. By the end of his family’s fall break visit to Dollywood, he was walking with a pronounced limp and experiencing pain except when completely at rest. The situation was complicated by a lack of insurance and primary care provider.

By Thanksgiving, Bill was relying on his set of hiking sticks to walk. The pain was constant, but he was determined to push through in order to continue to contribute financially to his family’s needs. Neither of his jobs offered health insurance, so he reapplied for TennCare.

At Christmas, Bill’s pain was becoming unbearable and had moved into his upper back. He had lost most of the mobility in his left leg and was no longer able to ignore the constant pain that increased with every move. During the month of December, Bill lost a significant amount of weight but was determined to keep up with both jobs until the early morning of January 16 when he felt a pop in his left hip accompanied by indescribable pain.

On January 17, his wife took him to the Vanderbilt emergency room where he was admitted to Vanderbilt Hospital, without insurance, as he had been denied TennCare coverage again a few days earlier.

Bill is completely immobile due to a tumor on the top of his left femur and femoral fractures. He also has a tumor in his heart, multiple lesions on his spine and throughout his body, as well as fractures in his spine. At the time of this article, he has been at Vanderbilt for 4 days. He has a major operation scheduled for Wednesday, Jan 22 to replace his hip and part of his femur.

Multiple teams of doctors are working diligently to develop a treatment plan, but due to his history of cancer and his recent transplant and required medication, his treatment plan is complex, and this diagnosis may be terminal.

The doctors say that Bill has advanced cancer, but they are still working to determine the type in order to know the chances it can be cured.

Time and time again, God has helped Bill and his family overcome the pains of this worldly life. Bill has been a dedicated camera operator for his church’s weekly Facebook live broadcast to help make sure others are able to hear about Jesus. Bill and his family KNOW that God can do ALL THINGS because they have seen it time and again. Right now, Bill could use your prayers. He and his family would also be blessed by any donations and other support to overcome this diagnosis and to ensure his family feels no further burden of his medical care. He has a long road ahead.

Donations will be used to pay for medical bills, transportation, childcare during his extended hospital stay & treatments, or for after-life accommodations. Diagnostic imaging and reports will be shared as they are made available to me.