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Hello family,
This is Emily Chan, Jen's wife.
First, an update to explain:
At the time of the surgery, Jen showed a complete response from the chemotherapy based on the tissue that was excised. We were told the lymph nodes tested negative for cancer cells. We thought that was that and we celebrated. Yay!
They sent the tissue off for further, deeper dive testing and that is when we received some different news.
They discovered cancer cells in her lymph node. This is not what we expected.
Her doctors now have a new plan:
She will be going through radiation for 5 weeks.
She will not have her port removed yet because they are switching her back to port infusions.
This treatment will last another year.
This sort of detailed microscopic attention to cancer cells did not exist even 5 years ago so we are incredibly hopeful and grateful that this was discovered so quickly and that there is an action plan.
We do not have the bandwidth or the finances to cover another year of treatment. We are out of ideas, we are out of energy, we are out of borrowing power.
To add insult to injury, our insurance for our employees is self funded as that is truly the only insurance that is affordable for a small business like ours. Because of Jen's diagnosis back in November, the rate went from $491 per employee per month to $1,135 per employee, that started back in April. We are looking at a 20k plus bill for June just to keep said insurance, that doesn't include our own medical bills.
We are truly at a crossroads. Our current system doesn't work anymore with this increase, even with our health insurance support we get from our guests.
Our goal is to get through the immediate shortfall so that we do not lose insurance for Jen or our team, and we can cover some medical expenses, continue grinding away at what we do, and kick this cancer to the curb.
- Currently we owe about $12,000 in medical bills from Jen's first set of treatments and we have about $60,000 pending. She will now have another year of treatment to go (amount not yet known) Our deductible will restart Dec 31.
- Our June insurance bill is $21,808.71. Subsequent premiums are $13,000 per month minus the 4% our guests contribute. These donations will go directly towards these premiums, current, and future medical bills.
- No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to our GoFundMe.
Love,
Jen, Em, and Mik Chan