<div>Every time Max goes in for his MRIs, I wait outside the room, stomach knotted in terror, waiting for the sword dangling over our heads to drop. Last week it finally did; where there was nothing in July, now there are two tumors, growing in the same ventricle of his brain as the last. They are very likely remnants of the first one, just one or two cells left behind to wreak havoc the second his body was too tired and run down to fight. Anybody who encountered us in September, October, and November knows that we were both completely drained and destroyed after endless vending, which he worked through full time with no days off.
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<div>In the year and a half since the brain tumor first appeared and was treated, we climbed mountains, traveled across most of the country, got married, bought a house, deepened our connections with Art Family, vended at conventions we’d never dreamed of going to, met some of our long time Art Heroes, and finished projects we’re proud of.
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<div>I’m grateful for all of that beyond what words can express, but it isn’t enough. A lifetime would honestly not be long enough to spend in his company, but it would be a start, and we’re going to fight for it. Max deserves to beat this and live.
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<div>Last time, the necessity of a go fund me was questioned- “doesn’t your health insurance cover a lot of this?”
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<div>Having gone through this before, I can now confidently answer that while health insurance covers a quite a lot, there are a ton of other costs that nobody thinks about unless they’ve been through it before.
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<div>There are two stages to treatment, surgery/recovery, and radiation/physical therapy/chemo.
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<div>The biggest costs are lodging and gas for travel to and from treatment. Last time I spent the first four nights of Max’s surgery recovery at a hotel next to hospital. If you’ve ever witnessed the person you love the most go through and recover from intensive surgery, then you understand how important it is to be as close as possible. Last time I sat with him every day in the ICU, from the second they let me in in the morning to the moment I was kicked out at night.
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<div>We now live in Vermont, so when the second phase of treatment begins, we’ll likely be staying with parents and friends during the week, commuting into the city every day, then leaving for home on the weekends. I promise you, those travel costs add up fast.
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<div>I haven’t mentioned food, because I find I can’t really eat much when this is all going on, but it is in fact a cost.
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<div>On top of all of it, I will be out of work for an unforeseen amount of time while I care for Max. I have already cancelled my holiday client work and craft shows, which equates to a loss of several thousand dollars of income, and am currently making the call to cancel longer term client work.
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<div>We still have a mortgage. We still have bills.
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<div>Have we winterized the house yet? No, we’ve been traveling almost nonstop for work since august, and had exactly three days at home before his MRI results came back. We don’t have a generator, snow tires haven’t happened yet- can’t wait to see how much they’ll cost! - and we have yet to pay the second half of the new wood stove and chimney reline that the house needs and is in theory happening in December.
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<div>Essentially? We’re in trouble. Please help. We don’t really know how much we’ll need, since we don’t know exactly what treatment will entail.
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<div>Max wants me to add: “did I mention that we also need to buy wood for the stove?”
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Brain Cancer Treatment Expenses for Max Martelli

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