Cancer Treatment Support for Raven

In early May 2024, my wife Raven was diagnosed with breast cancer. Needless to say, this was quite a shock to our family of four children, and very unexpected. She is quite young for this type of cancer, without any risk factors. We are fortunate to have some of the best oncology experts in the world at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City to treat her, and we are confident we'll get through this challenging time. But it has been and will continue to be very difficult, and Raven needs a lot of support.

We have quickly discovered just how expensive it is to treat cancer and provide all the support one needs to heal well from it. Although we have been able to get through chemotherapy and surgery with your generous support, we are running up against further financial strains, and so we have needed additional support.

Our health insurance company denied coverage for a critical cancer drug, Perjeta, which is standard of care, and which could have been very expensive for us to cover out-of-pocket. Fortunately, the drug manufacturer, Genentech, has offered to cover this medicine. Raven is still undergoing active care, and has started daily radiation treatments and hormone therapy, which may require extra support and interventions that insurance will likely not cover.

Additionally, beginning in January 2025 we will be up against another high deductible for insurance that we will begin paying ($7,000). We have some left in savings and from donations/gifts that we can use towards this.

Examples of expenses we've covered up until this point (with your help) include acupuncture (to treat and prevent chemo side effects), scalp cooling (to prevent hair loss), hands/feet cooling (to prevent neuropathy), special diet, clothing, and our high deductible, which is quickly emptying our savings. This fund is to help with all of those treatments and aids, to help support Raven and help us financially afford getting through this difficult time and recover well.

Thank you for your support. We are very grateful.