David Haywood Family

My name is Judy Miller, and as a parent, one of the hardest things is to watch your children struggle, knowing there is only so much you can do to help out. Jaimie and David Haywood are in that life struggle right now, and that is why we are reaching out to help them make it through this hard time. Here is their story.

15 months ago David had emergency surgery for a perforated bowel and 3 ulcers in his stomach. He ended up with a colostomy bag until the colon could be repaired and reconnected, hopefully only for 6 months or so. In the meantime, he also developed 3 hernias in his abdomen. The surgeon then needed to reassess things. A few more months went by and the surgeon decided it was time to do the reconnect and repair. A scope was ordered and unfortunately they found a tumor in his esophagus. That changed everything. A PET scan and MRI confirmed a stage 3 cancerous tumor, and thankfully it has not spread.

David will be starting his chemo/radiation treatments within the next 2 weeks, driving from Penticton to Kelowna and back for 6 weeks. He will then have to rest for 4-6 weeks to let the body heal before they remove the tumor. Because the surgery is so intense, his expected recovery time in hospital is about 3 weeks. Once the cancer procedures are completed he will still need more surgeries for the bowels and hernia repairs. This could take up to 12 months.

David is a self employed Residential Designer, therefore we feel it will be difficult for him to carry on full time, and there will be little income for the foreseeable future. Also because he is self employed, he is not eligible for Unemployment Insurance. Jaimie is trying to take care of David and 7 year old Gunnar and "hold down the fort" with her 2 part time jobs. With the high cost of living, it will be a hardship to make ends meet. That is why we are appealing to GoFundMe.