For those of you who do not know me, my name is Jodicee. The reason I am creating this GoFundMe page is for my Dad, James Howard, who was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma or voice box cancer on June 15th. He has already been fighting basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer) for over 2 years now.

He was admitted to BSW hospital in Temple for 12 days, being treated for asphyxiation due to a large tumor that filled 98% of his esophagus. He is now back in the comfort of his home. He's had some symptoms for about 4 months, which started with a cough and sore throat, and then eventually he noticed the right side of his neck was swollen. Through all this, he worked every day from 5 am till sometimes 9 pm in the cold and heat. From May to June, his neck swelled up and he lost 70 lbs. He was admitted to the hospital on the 14th of June, and on the 15th, he had to receive an emergency tracheostomy without pain meds and had to be wide awake. The next day, he received a G-tube. These both will stay in until after the cancer treatment is over unless it's deemed necessary and could possibly turn into a permanent situation down the road, but we will not know until the doctors know.

He has a long road ahead of him and has a tough and huge decision to make. With this cancer, it is very aggressive, painful, and fast-growing. Over the last 3 weeks, we've traveled back and forth to the doctors, fighting his insurance and trying to get ahead of this, fighting his insurance because the hospital he was sent to was out of network. We've had to start all over because of this. His insurance has been a mess, so we have yet to get a PET scan or to even start chemo or radiation. His first visit to his new PCP this past Thursday seemed to have helped get the ball rolling. She immediately was putting in referrals to help find him an in-network oncologist, an ENT, and a gastroenterologist.

We also tried to get him into MD Anderson in Houston. We had high hopes, but after a week of being in communication with them, they too denied him because his insurance was out of network. They said we could still get him help through their financial aid department, but even then, it would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

My Dad was told by the doctors at the hospital that he has 2 options to fight this cancer and will have to make a decision when we meet the oncologist. 1) would be to fight the cancer with chemo/radiation 5 times a week for 6 weeks and hope it rids his body of the cancer (or surgery will be needed, and after chemo and radiation, the surgery would be a lot harder on him) or 2) have surgery to completely remove his voice box, in which he would lose his voice and then use chemo and radiation to get the rest of the cancer.

For those that know my Dad, you may not know that he cannot read or write well. He can, but it's at a 1st, 2nd-grade level. He hides it well because he doesn't like anyone to know. As a young boy, he was electrocuted by an electric toy train that ran on a track, and his necklace caught the track, and he was instantly electrocuted. He was hospitalized for a time, but it traumatized him. This accident caused his learning disabilities and caused his brain to not function correctly.

He has fought the majority of his life from different illnesses, but this is the hardest one on him. His biggest fear is never speaking again with his own voice. God has blessed him more times than not. It is by the grace of God that he is still here with us after everything he has been through. I have never seen my Dad like this. My Dad is a pain in the butt most times, to me anyway, but he's always been hard-working and made stuff happen when life was crazy.

Now to my Mother,

She is his 24/7 person. He needs to be suctioned, cleaned, his trach cleaned and changed daily, fed his formula/medication through his G-tube, and on a tight schedule. He needs to be taken back and forth to doctor appointments, chemo treatments, follow-ups, and for her to be there with him in case he has a trach emergency. He is supposed to have a home health aide that is trained, but insurance won't cover it, so my Mom is doing everything in her power to care for my Dad.

With all of this, bills still need to be paid, and both cannot work at this time. We are trying to start him on disability, but that too is time-consuming.

I'd like to say thank you in advance to everyone who is drawn to donate to my parents during this difficult time. I pray you, your family, and other loved ones stay healthy and have many more years filled with love and togetherness.