Help Debbie get treated in Chicago!
Donation protected
My name is Karen Heath Phylow and I have started this campaign on behalf of Debbie Bartz Miller. Debbie was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2013. Most people are unaware that this particular type of breast cancer exists. Only 14-20% of those diagnosed with breast cancer have this type. This means the tumor is not an estrogen-, progesterone-, or human growth-based tumor and, therefore, the therapies to treat it are few and recurrence rates are 34% and relapse usually happens within 2.6 years. Debbie went through chemo prior to surgery to shrink the tumor. She then underwent a lumpectomy and then a subsequent mastectomy, more chemo and radiation. This cancer is extremely aggressive.
Fast forward to Sept. 15, 2015 when Debbie was told her latest PET scan showed two "suspicious" lymph nodes. Debbie was treated initially by a wonderful team at Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo, ND. However, since learning of her recent scan results, she, her family, and I have decided she needed to get a second, very specialized opinion from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. After reviewing her medical records, they agreed to take her case. She had planned on coming to the CTCA in Arizona where I live but was told by the review board that she could be treated best at the center in Chicago.
Any donations she receives will be used to help defray the costs of travel from Valley City, ND to Chicago and back for her and a friend of the family who will travel by train. Treatment will likely require more than one trip for Debbie and a caretaker. I will be traveling from Phoenix-Chicago roundtrip myself and, if we raise enough my travel expenses will be covered last. We will also need transportation to and from the airport, the train station and any place we may need to go during the stay, such as the grocery store, drugstore, laundromat, etc. The length of our stay is as yet undetermined but we will be staying at accomodations onsite or near the hospital that are at a reduced rate but not covered by insurance. Should they decide to admit her rather than treat her on an outpatient basis her insurance would kick in but Debbie's caretaker (whether it be myself or a family member) will still need a place to stay, food, and transportation. We will also be able to eat at the hospital cafeteria which, again, until she is admitted, won't be covered by insurance. Lastly, the funds donated will be used to help cover the unpaid portion of her ongoing medical bills. She is responsible for 20%. That's only $200 IF her bills were $1000. Think of the out-of-pocket expense if her state-of-the-art treatment runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In the effort to help Debbie, CTCA made her first appointment for October 18! That is a great thing! Praise be to God for the treatment center and for Jeff Kranicki, patient advocacy specialist whom I first spoke with late on a Sunday night-the night of the lunar eclipse. This means, however, that time is of the essence for fund raising.
The picture you see on the page is of me, Beth Conlon Wilkie, and the gorgeous girl on the right is my lifetime friend, Debbie Miller. It was taken in 1971. We were all neighbors and have been lifelong friends for over 40 years! Debbie is part-owner of the ambulance service in our hometown and has been for over 20 years. Her dedication and service to our community is well-known and sincerely appreciated. Last week, despite searing pain, she and three other women made 300 gift baskets for a church fundraiser that raises over $10,000 annually. They have done that for the better part of two decades. She has organized and worked soapbox derbies in ND and Ohio since her grown children were very young. I know that because every June 5th when I call to sing her 'Happy Birthday' she is always volunteering at a race! No one would take over after her children aged out so she still runs and organizes races in Valley City every summer just so that other VC kids get that experience. She even did it near the end of treatment for the initial cancer!
If you can donate even a dollar to this campaign it would be so appreciated! In these still shaky economic times it can be rough but I urge you to please help as much as you can. If you cannot donate you can still help! Please repost this and tell anyone you can! Most powerful of all, PRAY!
As Jeff from Cancer Treatment Centers of America and I ended our initial conversation on that beautiful moonlit night, he asked me, "Karen, what are you most worried about?"
My response? While sobbing hysterically, I said, "That no one is going to help my friend and that she will die!!!!"
I am so humbled and grateful that you are even reading this plea and I am praying that each and every person who does anything to help will be blessed abundantly.
Thank you in advance,
Karen Heath Phylow
Fast forward to Sept. 15, 2015 when Debbie was told her latest PET scan showed two "suspicious" lymph nodes. Debbie was treated initially by a wonderful team at Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo, ND. However, since learning of her recent scan results, she, her family, and I have decided she needed to get a second, very specialized opinion from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. After reviewing her medical records, they agreed to take her case. She had planned on coming to the CTCA in Arizona where I live but was told by the review board that she could be treated best at the center in Chicago.
Any donations she receives will be used to help defray the costs of travel from Valley City, ND to Chicago and back for her and a friend of the family who will travel by train. Treatment will likely require more than one trip for Debbie and a caretaker. I will be traveling from Phoenix-Chicago roundtrip myself and, if we raise enough my travel expenses will be covered last. We will also need transportation to and from the airport, the train station and any place we may need to go during the stay, such as the grocery store, drugstore, laundromat, etc. The length of our stay is as yet undetermined but we will be staying at accomodations onsite or near the hospital that are at a reduced rate but not covered by insurance. Should they decide to admit her rather than treat her on an outpatient basis her insurance would kick in but Debbie's caretaker (whether it be myself or a family member) will still need a place to stay, food, and transportation. We will also be able to eat at the hospital cafeteria which, again, until she is admitted, won't be covered by insurance. Lastly, the funds donated will be used to help cover the unpaid portion of her ongoing medical bills. She is responsible for 20%. That's only $200 IF her bills were $1000. Think of the out-of-pocket expense if her state-of-the-art treatment runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In the effort to help Debbie, CTCA made her first appointment for October 18! That is a great thing! Praise be to God for the treatment center and for Jeff Kranicki, patient advocacy specialist whom I first spoke with late on a Sunday night-the night of the lunar eclipse. This means, however, that time is of the essence for fund raising.
The picture you see on the page is of me, Beth Conlon Wilkie, and the gorgeous girl on the right is my lifetime friend, Debbie Miller. It was taken in 1971. We were all neighbors and have been lifelong friends for over 40 years! Debbie is part-owner of the ambulance service in our hometown and has been for over 20 years. Her dedication and service to our community is well-known and sincerely appreciated. Last week, despite searing pain, she and three other women made 300 gift baskets for a church fundraiser that raises over $10,000 annually. They have done that for the better part of two decades. She has organized and worked soapbox derbies in ND and Ohio since her grown children were very young. I know that because every June 5th when I call to sing her 'Happy Birthday' she is always volunteering at a race! No one would take over after her children aged out so she still runs and organizes races in Valley City every summer just so that other VC kids get that experience. She even did it near the end of treatment for the initial cancer!
If you can donate even a dollar to this campaign it would be so appreciated! In these still shaky economic times it can be rough but I urge you to please help as much as you can. If you cannot donate you can still help! Please repost this and tell anyone you can! Most powerful of all, PRAY!
As Jeff from Cancer Treatment Centers of America and I ended our initial conversation on that beautiful moonlit night, he asked me, "Karen, what are you most worried about?"
My response? While sobbing hysterically, I said, "That no one is going to help my friend and that she will die!!!!"
I am so humbled and grateful that you are even reading this plea and I am praying that each and every person who does anything to help will be blessed abundantly.
Thank you in advance,
Karen Heath Phylow
Organizer and beneficiary
Karen Heath Phylow
Organizer
Payson, AZ
Debbie Miller
Beneficiary