Help Chris Beat Cancer!

Thank you for taking the time to look at this page. My partner Chris received an official diagnosis for oral sarcoma on his hard palate, something that has come as a shock to us, he is only 28. Sarcomas are fleshy, cancerous masses that grow on bone and connective tissues. I can't say it's been easy to watch evolve over the past several months, as what started as just an infection of sorts from a bad tooth that had to be removed became the cancer he has now. The Chris I know is bright and sharp and witty; he's outgoing and full of energy. Maybe you know him from his years performing comedy all over Orlando, or maybe more recently as a regular performer at the charity events ran by Orlando Story Club. He has always had a drive to tell a story and connect to others, and now that has slipped away. His daily life has become a battle against this cancer, and he needs all the help he can get. Often he wakes up after little bursts of fitful, feverish sleep. He can barely talk at times, and I know he hates that. He can't work, and his ability to manage some basic things we all take for granted have been taken from him. Eating is his hardest struggle, as the cancer is in his mouth. He's lost over 40 pounds. It's hard to see him need pain management the way he does, but to get out of the house and make it through the day with as much pain as he is in, he has no choice. Waiting for his meds to kick in so that we can capitalize on that hour of functionality has become an unfortunate reality.

Illnesses can sneak up on you out of nowhere. And as a young person, your first instinct is to manage instead of entering the scary world of healthcare and insurance - especially when one is a barrier to the other. We've sat in chilly waiting rooms for hours, for entire days, only to be turned away due to lack of insurance. The people who can cure him, who could really help (and would!) are being closely guarded by for-profit bureaucracy. Recently a doctor a prominent cancer clinic in Orlando has been in contact, and one of the oncologists feels confident he can beat this cancer. Now we just need to get Chris in the room with him.

We have a diagnosis. We have the biopsy results and the CT scans. We have to start the fight now.

Your donation will help turn the tide from manage to treat — even to cure — the man I love. We’re so incredibly lucky to have found doctors who are willing to work with us and a dawn is finally starting to glitter on the horizon. It’s cheesy to say, but every little bit helps. It could mean the difference between making that copay and having to do without, having to manage again.  He has dreaded asking for help in this way, any way really. I know he struggles with letting things get this bad, and I know he is scared of what is to come. That's why I am making this page, because I know he needs this help so much, but doesn't know how to ask.

This is a type of cancer that can be treated. We've caught it early enough where if we hop on board with treatment, it can be only mildly invasive. Waiting any longer could mean entire facial reconstruction to remove the tumor. It's time to act. Your donation will help us keep this momentum going. It will set us up for success by avoiding a much costlier, and much scarier, route. It will help us keep our head above water. It will help us move from hope to action. 

Your donation today will help secure a stable ground to fight this cancer tomorrow.


Thank you so much!!