Help Us Create a Safe Home for Dad’s Healing

Two years ago, my parents moved into their home, believing it would be a place of peace, comfort, and joy. They’ve always lived a humble life, working hard, staying kind, and making do without much in savings. Now, in a heartbreaking twist, that very home may have contributed to jump started my father’s recent lung cancer diagnosis.

A Fight on Two Fronts: Cancer & Our Home

In late February, Dad had a bronchoscopy biopsy. They said to call if he developed a fever. He did. I called. They said it was normal the first week. The second week, he had fever off and on, coughing, chest pain, still, no urgency. Even his oncologist seemed unconcerned.

I brought him to two ERs (one hospital on March 1 and another March 2) and both dismissed any infection, despite his symptoms and alarming labs. I kept pushing. CT scans were brushed off as unchanged, (they had changed).

We switched oncologists, and finally, someone listened. A week later, I insisted again, and they told us to come to oncology urgent care at Penn.

Turns out, Dad had a super infection: pneumonia. He was hospitalized for eight days. I stayed with him the entire time to advocate for him. and THANKFUL I DID. He’s thankfully back home now, resting, but the battle is far from over.

Before his last hospital stay, something in my gut told me to test for mold. What I found was devastating: BLACK MOLD in the basement, directly in front of Dad’s recliner in his Eagles fan cave, where he spent hours each day. That same space also houses our laundry and HVAC system. For who knows how long, the house has been circulating contaminated air through every vent.

His pulmonologist had only been doing chest X-rays for years, never the low-dose CT scans he needed as a former smoker (he quit almost 20 years ago). Now I can't help but wonder, how long was he breathing in mold and could have caught it earlier. To make matters worse, a storm in February caused a leak, likely accelerating the mold growth.

Why We Need Help

Doctors have made it clear: Dad cannot continue living in this house while receiving chemo as it jeopardizes his immune system. The mold situation has to be cleared, ASAP. He’s scheduled to begin chemo and radiation this week, and he needs a clean, safe space to heal, and quickly.

Unfortunately, mold remediation, HVAC cleaning, and temporary housing costs are not covered by insurance. Neither are many of the essential support tools he now needs.

We are asking for support to help us:

✅ Remove the black mold and purify the air

✅ Professionally clean the HVAC system, & then more Mold tests.

✅ Repair the deck and foundation to ensure water doesn’t continue leaking into the home

✅ Purchase three strong air purifiers for the bedrooms, main floor, and basement

✅ Hire help to clean, move furniture, and prep the house

✅ Install a stair lift, as it’s already becoming difficult for him to climb stairs

✅ Cover temporary housing or hotel costs, if it becomes unsafe to stay at home

✅ Afford ongoing medical costs like hospital bills, parking, tolls, food, and lost income from taking time off work

✅ Fund a 12-week integrative oncology program and post-treatment IV therapy to help Dad stay in remission (he doesn’t qualify for immunotherapy or targeted chemo pills due to lack of genetic markers)

Right now, I’m doing my best to hold it together with positivity and by leaning deeply into faith. It’s a lot to carry, but I know how important it is to stay rooted in hope, and to keep our focus on what matters most: my amazing father, his healing, and the joy we still feel as a family.

Dad has been nothing short of incredible. He’s adopted a Mediterranean diet, committed to multiple healing modalities, and he’s keeping his head up. He’s preparing for GAME DAY, Thursday, when treatment begins. He continues to smile, to hope, and to lift us up with his courage.

My mom has been a steady force full of presence, prayer, and her yummy green healing drinks. She and Dad share such a sweet connection. He missed her deeply during his hospital stay and lit up every time I picked her up to visit.

This experience has been hard on her too. The same flu that led us to discover Dad’s cancer also affected her heart, and she’s been healing in her own way, showing so much grace through it all.

It’s tough asking for help. I hesitated a lot before starting this fundraiser, but with loving encouragement from friends, here we are. :)

How You Can Help

This journey has tested us in every way. We are doing everything we can, day by day, to advocate for Dad, make the home safe, and stay hopeful. But the truth is, we can’t do it alone.

Every donation helps us give Dad a fighting chance in a clean, healing environment. If you can give, it means the world. If not, sharing this page helps more than you know.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, for caring, and for being part of our family’s journey in dad's healing.