Daniel and his family are in need of your financial support as he battles his recent life-threatening diagnosis of stage 4 Head and Neck Cancer.

Daniel’s recent diagnosis came as a huge surprise as he is an otherwise healthy young man, as the ENT surgeon said to he and his wife, Carey. The tumor in his neck was discovered by a nurse during a routine wellness exam he had for health insurance. It took two months to get in to a Primary Care Provider, for several reasons, sadly in that time the mass that wasn’t visible by eye when originally found, was now bigger than a golf ball. This is what has led to this current devastating state.

Daniel is a man of faith, a wonderful husband, an amazing father of four, and a good and loyal friend. Daniel has a servant’s heart. He and his family served and worked in Children’s Ministry, for many years. They even sold the majority of their belongings in 2007 to move their family of six to Mexico to serve as Missionary’s with an organization called YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Monterrey. They were having the time of their life, sharing His word and serving the people of Mexico. Unfortunately, a severe back injury brought them back home to MN earlier than planned. Daniel & Carey have been upstanding members of the communities they’ve resided in, serving and loving the people very much and we need the community to show the same love and support in return ~ during their time of need.
To know Daniel is to know a caring and fun-loving individual, he’s always striving to make the best of all situations and help others live life that way too. He is a 45 years young man who loves to make others laugh and feel good. He is an accomplished business professional in the medical banking field. Daniel is a genuine person that strives to do great things.

Aside from fighting cancer, Daniel and Carey are dealing with the massive financial burden of the loss of more than one full-time income. Add in the additional costs of radiation, chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, massive dental work and oral surgery to prep for radiation of the mouth, clinic visits, medication copays as well as medications insurance won’t pay for, and oodles of lab tests.
Daniel was working two jobs before this nightmare began. He worked full-time from his home office for Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN and is seeking short term disability (60% of income) at this time. He also worked a second full-time job, in their community, as a manager for the local movie theater ~ where he has become very well known and loved. Short term disability isn’t even an option to help replace any of his lost income from this position. Because of how fast Daniel’s cancer was progressing while taking all the steps to prep for Radiation & Chemo, he has been unable to work either job since the beginning of February.

The Graf's don't know what the full scope of recovery will look like for Daniel going forward or when he will even be able to return to work as both of his jobs require talking at least 95% of the time. They have been told once he beats this horrific disease, recovery and rehabilitation will be at least a 5 year process, being monitored by both Oncologists closely, through very costly tests using MRI's, ultrasounds and PET Scans.

Anything you can do to help, no amount is too small, will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, God bless, and please keep Daniel and his family in your prayers!


First CaringBridge post from Daniel’s wife, Carey:

Cancer Diagnosis
Journal entry by Carey Graf — Feb 18, 2019

Daniel has a mass in his neck, it was originally found by a nurse he saw for a wellness exam when we were back home in Minnesota right before Thanksgiving.

Because we had been relatively healthy, up until this year, we hadn't gotten around to establishing a relationship with a primary care provider, since our move to Florida a couple of years ago.

This is a lesson to anyone else in that situation, even if you are as healthy as a horse ~ find a primary care provider (PCP) and get in for at least a routine exam. If you don't have a PCP and you have an urgent need, it almost doesn't matter ~ the wait time for any PCP was weeks to months!

The other delay factor we had to contend with was his job. Getting approved time off during their "busy season" is next to impossible.

Daniel requested time off for the earliest date possible to get him in to the PCP on December 26th, however it was denied, so even though I pleaded with him to go anyway, he had me reschedule his appointment for the next available date; that was January 24th. The morning of January 24th came and his time off request was still not approved ~ super infuriating!

Sadly, the mass Daniel once didn't even know he had until pointed out by a nurse, was now BIGGER than a golf ball and was clearly visible by others, when looking at him. Even though he couldn't get approved time off from work for a medically necessary doctor’s appointment ~ he "called in" and went to the appointment anyway.

He was given instructions and referrals to get lab work, an MRI & an Ultrasound of the mass AT ONCE. I called to get those scheduled as we left the doctor’s office and by the grace of God he was able to get in the very next day. Sadly, we knew on such short notice that time off request would also not be approved. Thankfully Daniel went anyway.

Then the waiting game began...

I was praying and praying, pretty much begging God to let us find out it is anything but Cancer. On Monday, February 4th we had an appointment with an ENT Surgeon who gave Daniel a diagnosis of Head and Neck Cancer. Dr. Powell said it was caught fairly early and seemed to think that 5 days a week of Radiation therapy would take care of it.

Upon meeting with Dr. Kahn, the Radiation Oncologist, a week later, we received other news. His measurement was different than Dr. Powell's so we aren’t sure if it grew that much in a week or if the measurements were just off, but now it is believed that Daniel will also need Chemo once a week, beginning at the same time radiation does. We have an appointment to confirm with the Medical Oncologist as well. The earliest appointment we could get to be seen at Florida Cancer Specialists is February 27th. Daniel is on a waiting list in case there are any cancellations to be seen before then.

Both Dr. Powell and Dr. Kahn are very optimistic and believe Daniel will make a full recovery. Sadly, they both mentioned this form of cancer is affecting "young men" at an alarming rate as of late.

We have been consumed by all the different appointments, labs, MRI's, ultra sounds, more labs and dental work (who knew?) phone calls, paperwork, etc. Just about every day we have an appointment for something or another regarding his cancer. Daniel has felt like it's been bad news upon bad news, BUT he is determined to beat this.

I ask that you DO NOT bombard Daniel with questions, I need him to remain as positive as possible and to focus on getting through treatment to recover fully so we can get back to living a big, full life. I do highly encourage you send a hello, thinking about you or praying for you note or an uplifting quote or verse.

What we know as of now is that Daniel will be starting treatment, radiation and chemo in about 3-4 weeks, sooner if the medical oncologist has a cancellation, obviously the sooner, the better. The radiation oncologist believes he should be finishing up treatment and be on the mend in about 4 months.

We are so grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have already received from so many of you. You are appreciated and loved!!

Thank you in advance for your healing prayers for Daniel!

I love you Daniel, we will make it through this!! Just like all the other curve balls we've encountered over the years, we will grow and learn from this together!


To read further updates, please visit Daniel’s CaringBridge page. Please note, donations made on the CaringBridge site makes a donation to CaringBridge, not to Daniel and his family.

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/danielwgraf