Brain Tumor Surgery For Pete
Peter is an extremely caring husband, and a father of two beautiful girls. He is also a US Air Force veteran.
A few months back, Peter had severe hearing loss of his left ear and the left side of his face was starting to have a very numb sensation. Upon going back and forth to several doctors and several ER room visits across Southern New Jersey, the doctors thought he might have had a TIA, which is a form of miniature stroke. After seeing a neurologist which ordered an MRI, the doctor shortly called him frantically.
It turns out that that Peter had a rare form of a tumor that was growing out from his ear canal, and into his head. This type of tumor only occurs in about 2,000 per year. The tumor is so large that it is pushing up against his brain stem causing fatally dangerous symptoms. The neurologist sent Peter to some of the best doctors in the country over at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia.
Upon visiting with an ENT surgeon and the Neurosurgeon, the doctors decided that they wanted to move forward ASAP in removing the tumor. The surgery is scheduled to be performed on Thursday May 17th at Jefferson.
The chance of fatality during the surgery is very low, however Peter will lose all of his hearing in his left ear. Another major complication when having this surgery, is that the facial nerve is wrapped around the tumor. When operating, there is a very real risk that Peter could have permanent facial paralysis. We pray that this surgery will bless Peter with the health and strength to come out as close to 100% as possible.
Peter’s surgery is expected to be about 12 hours long. He will then have about a two to five-day stay in the ICU to recover. From there he will have another six-week of recovery from home.
Peter and his family have had a roller coaster year. He has been saving for a down payment and closing close for a home for his wife and kids for several years now. As of about 3 months ago, they were able to finally make their dreams come true and purchase a house. He was however met by an unfortunate event about 2 weeks ago where his family Golden Retriever (Bear) was hospitalized and needed a $6,000 surgery. Peter had just discovered that he needed brain surgery several days prior, and Peter was forced into a very tough decision. Because of the medical bills and time out of work that is needed for recover, he knew that it wasn’t possible to pay for Bear’s surgery. Knowing that euthanasia was not in the cards for their family pet of 9 years, Peter looked to other options. He found the Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue to assist. They gave him the option of paying for the surgery, but at the cost of relinquishing his rights of the dog. Peter and his family were crushed, but they knew it was the right thing to do in order to give Bear another chance at life.
Surgery costs for neurosurgery are not cheap to say the least. Even with insurance and disability, the out of pocket costs, copays for inpatient surgery, ICU, and out of work for 6 weeks is hard for any family. I would like to assist Peter and his family in these trying endeavors and try and assist them with the financial stresses.
Please feel free to donate what you can as every little bit helps greatly. Even if you can’t afford to donate, please do us the curtesy of keeping Peter in your prayers!
Thank you for you kindness!
