Support Chris Nodland in his battle with Cancer

11/9 After 4 long weeks, Chris has hopefully finished the daily infusions. The picture shows only 11 days of empty IV bags, can you imagine what 30 days worth would look like? He still has a long way to go, new tests are scheduled for the beginning of Dec. and more doctors appointments. He has developed lymphedema in his neck and they believe it has affected his voice, so now he has to find a lymphedema specialist!

The financial burden has not ended and they still need help. Besides the mounting medical bills and out of pocket expenses, special protein drinks are not covered by insurance, gas for trips back to San Diego for the specialists are not covered, too many things to list. If you haven't read his story, please do and donate what you can.

10/19 Chris has been home almost a week. Pam and Chris are getting into a routine of 24/7 infusions. Pam has to help with changing the bags, making sure it’s done in a sterile field, connecting to his Picc line, not an easy task for anyone! They still need your help and support to enable them to continue with Chris’ treatments.

10/12 Chris has been released from the hospital and is back at home. He will undergo infusions 3 x a day for the next 4 weeks with the help of a Home Health nurse. As stated before, the costs are piling up, these treatments are $570 a week in advance. Any help you can give is greatly appreciated, every dollar helps.

10/10 The minor complications have now turned into a major setback. Chris has a Picc line now and will be hooked up for 4 hrs, 3x a day, on heavy duty antibiotics, for the next 4 weeks, to hopefully stave off the infection that has developed near the base of his skull. These treatments have a copay of $570 a week!!! In advance!! Please share this with your friends and family and help Chris with his fight to get healthy!

10/6 Chris is back in SD in ER for some minor complications due to his radiation treatments.

*Update: as mentioned below, the medical bills are adding up. The copays for the Proton radiation treatments alone are over $10,000.00 with more to come. Chris had to wear a special mask in a giant proton machine and had 33 treatments in this machine. Pam and Chris would greatly appreciate any donation you can make.

Chris Nodland (Thor to many of you) is my Brother in Law, my sissy Pam’s husband. He is fighting cancer. No matter who you are or where you come from, you hear about someone being hit with the nasty “C” word. It’s always hard to explain or describe to anyone who has never been touched by it, the devastation it causes. It’s not just the medical part, it hits you physically, mentally and the hardest part, financially. Chris has been through hell and is coming back. I decided to do the only thing I know I can do and ask for your help to ease the financial burden this has caused. Thank God they have good insurance for all the treatments and medications but they still have to pay their bills, buy food, put ungodly amounts of gas in the car driving back and forth from Yuma and San Diego and will have to catch up to the co-pays insurance didn’t cover.

This all started with what ‘they’ thought was an ear infection or sinus infection, 3 years ago! It was back and forth to doctors, specialists, many appointments, until finally, there was an answer but not anyone wants to hear. He’d seen ENT’s, had tests, antibiotics, CT and more over 3 years time and there was no answer until they were referred to an otolaryngologist in April at UCSD. They discovered an abnormal lesion in the back of his nose/throat. Things moved STAT from there, an MRI, biopsy, PET, all to discover he never had an ear infection at all! He had nasopharyngeal cancer, extremely rare, not even seen in the US and is non-operable. The specialists decided the only way to treat this was to do it fast and aggressively. It took a few more weeks of driving back and forth from Yuma to San Diego, to get the specialist team in place and all the tests done.

His treatments would consist of proton radiation 5 days a week for 7 weeks, along with rounds of chemo. So the first question was, how do they drive back and forth from Yuma or where do they stay when in San Diego? Thank God, the VA had room at Fisher House in San Diego for them for the next 2 months. His treatments started in July and would last through Aug. They went back and forth to treatments every day plus doctor’s appointments. His last treatment was on Aug. 23rd and they headed home.

Since then, Chris has struggled with the effects radiation has on your body, excruciating headaches, not able to eat anything but high protein drinks or shakes due to the extensive sores in his mouth, fevers, weight loss and continuously changing antibiotics and has been to ER a couple of times. As I said before, when you have cancer, your whole life is turned upside down. Their car is in need of repair, any extra money they did have has been depleted with many co-pays still pending. Some prescriptions may not be covered by insurance and the shakes and protein drinks are very expensive. Since they are both on Social Security, it doesn't leave any 'leftover' for Cancer! I hope you can see it in your heart to donate to help them through some of the unforeseen expenses that will undoubtedly come up in the near future. Your donation and support will help Pam and Chris get back to living a full life.