Champions for Chuck

As some of you know, my brother, Chuck Ellis has been having health issues for the past few months. In October, he went to the ER thinking he was having a stroke because his vision had rapidly deteriorated in one eye. Fast forward, a week later, he was at Emory meeting with doctors about a mass in his head that was putting pressure on his optic nerve. Within a couple of days, he had surgery to remove and biopsy the mass. The doctors confirmed that the mass was Cancer, specifically, stage 4 Cholangiocarcinoma. This is a type of liver bile duct cancer which is aggressive, thus the metastatic mass in his head. Obviously, this news has shaken our entire family!! In December, he had proton radiation therapy at Emory on the part of the mass in his head that couldn’t be removed surgically and in January, he started chemotherapy. Needless to say, even with insurance, this has taken a huge financial toll on his family. Cancer treatment is not cheap! Every week, he and Laura travel to and from Atlanta and often have to stay in a hotel near the treatment center. For the first month, they were basically living in the hotel adjacent to the hospital. In addition, he has had to leave his job because of his vision loss and ongoing treatments. His employer has been extremely supportive and helpful during all of this, and Chuck & Laura are extremely grateful. However, it is a small business and can no longer offer him insurance. Laura too works for a small company who cannot add Chuck to their policy, but they too have been very supportive during this time. For these reasons, he is now having to pay for his own private insurance which has huge premiums, adding to the financial strain.

Having said all of that, God has been present in the whole situation. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that just this last summer, their son Justin moved to Atlanta to start a nursing job at Emory. This allows them to have family close by and sometimes a place to stay. Justin was initially working in the Covid unit but was allowed to switch units so that he didn’t have to isolate from his parents. Josh, their oldest son, has been able to be flexible in his work schedule so that he can drive his parents back and forth to Atlanta. God has also opened doors to the right doctors along the way. This is a rare cancer, and the proton therapy for this type of cancer is only offered in a few places around the country. Through the compassion and generosity of friends and family, God has demonstrated his love.

Many others have asked how they can help during this time. First, please be praying for Chuck, the doctors who work with him and the family. Second, if you are able to help financially, please give to the go fund me page. Any amount will help. In addition to all of the medical bills, they continue to have regular household bills to pay each month. Chuck has always been generous with his time, skills and money. He is the kind of person who would give the shirt off his back to someone in need. Now, it’s our turn to take care of him.
Thank you all for reading this post, for praying and for giving, if able.
Love,
The Ellis Family