In Memory Of: Bill Fights Cancer
***Latest Update: Bill lost his fight with pancreatic cancer, we are raising money for his funeral and cremation services***
Hi Everyone,
My family and I decided to make this GoFundMe page for my dad Bill Lomonte to help with medical expenses. through his fight of heart failure and pancreatic cancer. As well as telling his story.
First of all, my dad (Bill Lomonte) is a Marine. He fought for our country in the Vietnam war and that was the first time he put his life on the line for something he believed in. He earned his purple heart fighting there...and also lost 2 fingers.
Bill is a father of 6 children. The grandfather to 16 children. A son, a brother, an uncle, and an amazing friend. In 1984 Bill suffered his first heart attack. As always, he fought through and he recovered. Then in 2006 he suffered a 2nd heart attack and had open heart surgery done and a quintuplet bypass. He fought hard to come back home to his children and again he made it through.
Since then he has had many heart problems, but it never stopped him from hiking and camping in his beloeved mountains. Because that is how my dad is, he never stops fighting and never lets his health get in the way of the things and people he loves. Most recently, he became very ill. He was vomiting non-stop, his pacemaker was pacing 80% of the time, they surgically put in a defibrillator and still they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Being a veteran he was waiting appointments from the VA, and they never came. Finally, we took him to an amazing Doctor I have known for years. Of course his insurance didn't cover it, but we needed an answer.
This doctor found that answer; pancreatic cancer. My dad was officially diagnosed on 7/24/2016 with pancreatic cancer. The scans showed he has 1 large mass that has been growing in his pancreas. They immediatly inserted a PortaCath (a connection that lays directly in the heart) so he could receive pain and nausea medication. He also started chemotherapy through his port recently as well.
He is now receiving chemo 2x a week and home care as well. We are still trying to get a good medication regiment in place. Unfortunately, a main medication he needs for both his heart and the cancer costs $488 alone. His insurance won;t cover any of the medications because his insurance is through the VA (and by the way, they still haven't called him back for an appointment there, meanwhile he has been diagnosed and treated here already) So the hospital stays, the chemo, the medications, the appointments, the testing, none of this is covered by insurance so we have been desperately trying to pay out of pocket for this.
Now we are asking you to please donate towards his fight with cancer. Even $1 adds up. Please help us save my dads life. We all still need him and we know he can fight to get through this. We would be so thankful to all of you for helping. If you cannot donate, please share the link and ask others to share and donate as well.
Thank you,
Bill Lomonte and his family