My name is Ruth and my husband is Ralph and late last year I noticed that the mole on my husbands leg had turned black so I encouraged him to go see a doctor.  We made an appointment but before we could see a doctor the mole had grown and puss was leaking out.  Upon seeing a nurse practitioner she said, "Whoa, you need to see a dermatologist and have that removed immediately." Three days later my husband went to the dermatologist and they took off the surface of the mole to have it biopsied and referred him to USC Medical Center to have the rest of it surgically removed.  A week later we found out that it was melanoma.  In April, doctor Tsang performed the surgery to remove the rest of the mole and he also removed some lymph nodes to have them biopsied.  A week passed and doctor Tsang called and told us that 4 of the 6 lymph nodes came back positive for melanoma and he needed to come back to the hospital to have the rest of the lymph nodes removed as a precautionary measure.  All seemed good and my husband soon returned to work although his leg was very sensitive to even the fabric of his pants so he got armor alls which seemed to help.  Still my husband was experiencing quite a bit of pain and the entire family was sick with the flu so we attributed the additional pain as flu symptoms.  A couple weeks had passed and everyone had recovered with the exception of my husband, he was getting worse and the pain was excruciating.  He finally agreed to go to an out patient clinic and upon speaking with the doctor about all his symptoms, the doctor advised us to go to the emergency room.  Because my husband was having difficulty walking I pulled up to the emergency room entrance and my husband signed in as I went to park the truck.  When I got back to the emergency room my husband was already in a room being given pain meds and orders from the doctor for blood work.  The phlebotomist came to draw blood and had to stick him several times because clear liquid was coming out and she needed several vials of blood.  Several hours later he was admitted into the hospital and even with the pain meds, he was getting only minimal relief from his pain.  A week in the hospital had passed and finally the doctor came in with news, my husband had stage 4 stomach cancer and they were still running tests so they could not treat him until all the results had come in.  Another week passed with more devastating news, stage 4 bone marrow cancer.  The emotional toll was overwhelming and we were already overcoming odds. We have 4 children at home, a 15 year old, a 11 year old, an 8 year old and a 6 year old.  With my husband in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks, my children were becoming withdrawn in school and I only saw my children in the morning while I got them ready for school and my neighbor cared for my kids until I got home.  My middle son has severe ADHD and my youngest daughter was born with a missing chromosome, she has extreme challenges with speech and she has the mental comprehenssion of a 2 year old.   My husband and I were devastated but found strength in one another, we would find a way to overcome this.  The next day was October 22nd, 2015 and I was on my way to the hospital to see Ralph before I went to work.  There was a line up of cars at a red light so I came to a stop and suddenly my air bag deployed, I didn't know what had happened, I got out of my car to find out I had been hit and hit hard.  The truck behind me hit me so hard that I was forced to hit the car ahead of me and apparently the light had turned green because the car I hit rolled about 1000 feet ahead.  I called my husband, the police, a tow truck and my job and then I went to the emergency room to be checked.  Upon being released I went to my husbands room and he had already arranged for me to get a rental car which I got a few hours later.  (I was informed later my truck had been totaled and I needed to return the rental.)The next day my husband was released and a week later we were back at USC Medical Center for intervenious treatment that took an hour.  Day by day things seemed to be getting worse, I could no longer get Ralph to eat, he was losing weight fast, he couldn't walk easily, get out of bed without assistance, he wasn't sleeping, and he couldn't have a bowel movement and it had been days.  Then one early morning I noticed my husband wasn't in bed so I went to check on him, he told me he couldn't sleep so he went to the kitchen to get a drink and had almost had a fall which he feared he wouldn't have been able to get up if he did.  I called his doctor at USC and he told me to take Ralph back to the emergency room.  When we got there Ralph was immediately admitted to the hospital again, a couple days later we were told that the melanoma was in his liver and a week later after that I overheard a nurse on the phone saying that Mr. Davis had spots on his brain and a doctor needed to speak with his wife.  I questioned the nurse and she said she couldn't speak with me and a doctor would be in soon.
A doctor came in my husbands room a bit later and confirmed the spots on Ralphs brain saying it was melenestic cancer and he was being recommended for radiation treatment the next day.  He now needs several more radiation treatments and we don't know how it will affect him in the long run.  I am trying to raise money to pay hospital bills, his continued treatment and basic home expense.  We are ever so grateful for thoughts and prayers but we are in financial need to take care of our mounting expenses.