Donate to Mark Speece's Cancer Fight

Mark Speece is a beloved father, son, brother, friend, and much much more. He is the hardworking father of Elly, 13, Boston, 10, and has raised two others, Lennix, 15, and Cassius, 14, sons (along with Boston) of Cassandra Vargas, as his own. He works at Bayer, and is assistant coach of Northern Lebanon High School's varsity baseball team. In August 2024, Mark was diagnosed with stage 4 jaw cancer.

In October, Mark underwent surgery for a chemo port and feeding tube. He then started aggressive chemotherapy in November, which lead to further hospital stays.

On December 9th, Mark endured 22 hours of surgery to remove the tumor. Surgeons removed the right side of his jaw and lower lip, and harvested bone from his leg to reconstruct his jaw. They also removed skin from his thigh to create a graft for his face. The tumor was successfully removed.

What was supposed to be a 7-10 day stay in ICU after surgery turned into 5 weeks. During that time, Mark had surgeries for a colostomy and tracheostomy to be placed, as well as a couple other minor surgeries. He was then sent to rehab for three weeks.

In late January Mark was admitted to the hospital again. His cancer cells were reactivating, as radiation was not able to be started. He had another surgery for a tracheostomy to be placed again. Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy were started at this time.

On February 27th, Mark was taken to GSH and subsequently transferred to HMC where his oncology team could manage his care. He is currently unable to speak, has some difficulty hearing, and has little vision due to severe facial swelling. His lymphatic system was damaged during surgery, and his body is unable to drain fluid fast enough, causing this severe swelling. His second round of chemo will hopefully start this month.

In the last 5 months, nearly 3.5 of them have been spent in the hospital. Mark missed Christmas with his kids and family, his kids' basketball season, has not been able to eat food since December, and has lost 100lbs since August. He is not yet in the healing stage, as hospital stays and complications keep arising. Mark is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted . But he is a fighter! He is able to communicate with his loved ones by using his finger to write on the palms of their hands.

Mark has been out of work since July. We all know how daunting medical bills and bills in general can be when you are trying to raise a family. Please consider helping Mark and his family in this fight. If there is something more you would like to do, please do not hesitate to reach out to one of us. Whether it be something as simple as helping to get the kids to their practices or making the family a meal, anything is appreciated.

We want them to know they are not alone, and they are so very loved! And pray, please keep praying. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!