This is Sue and I thought it was about time that we told everyone what was going on. Doug had Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2015 and 2021. He lost so much weight since August so we went to his Doctors including his Oncologist and had so many tests. Everything came out good but he was anemic. So they treated it and it wasn’t getting better and he wound up in the ER the beginning of December 2023. They took more tests and a CT scan and released him because they found his Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was back in his stomach and groin. More Doctors and tests and they referred us to Carle Cancer Center by Champaign, Illinois. But we had to wait a month for an appointment. Fast forward through the holidays and all the kids were here. It was great.

On January 9 we finally had an appointment at Carle Cancer Center. The oncologist was great and we have a plan- BUT- Doug is so weak and is in bed 95% of the day. He is walking with a walker because his leg is so swollen and he doesn’t have any muscle tone anymore. So he has to do some Chemotherapy first. Then after 8 weeks he’ll go to The University of Chicago and get a Cart-T Therapy if he’s strong enough. That’s the plan. It’s like a stem cell transplant but I guess it’s better. He has to have many tests and CT scans, Pet Scans, bone marrow, cardiology etc before the Car-T. We’ll be traveling to the hospital for all of that or he’ll have to stay there for awhile.Many appointments and Doctors to be seen. We live about 1-1/2 hours away- 1 way. So sometimes we’ll have to have someone take Doug to his appointment or get a Dog sitter for the dogs we have. They’ve been really great through all this. I am taking care of Doug, the dogs, house, bills etc everything plus worrying about how we’re paying for this the 3 rd time. Not a lot of sleep. We were left with thousands and thousands of dollars after his treatments the first 2 times. Doug was working so it was easier to pay and the insurance was better. We now have insurance but it’s a very high deductible and then it’s only covered 80%. We’ll be using all the financial assistance I can find with the help of the cancer social worker. But we’re still going to be left with a big bill. The treatment is very very expensive. We both live on a fixed income now and our dog training is on hold until he gets better. So that’s why we need some help. A note, a card, gas card or $$$ would be greatly appreciated. We are very private people and we don’t share a lot especially finances so this has been very very difficult to do. I just want my husband back so we can continue to raise and train these dogs like our dream is. We moved to Illinois for the land to do it- we have the land now and we have to continue to dream.

The dogs and Doug deserve better than this cancer. They’re all so important to me and I don’t want to have to worry anymore how we’re going to pay for it.

Sorry this is long but I just wanted to tell our story. Please pray that God takes this cancer away for good this time.

Thank you everyone