My mother suffers from a relentless squamous cell carcinoma. Her life is plagued with painful procedures and long days at the cancer center. She is tired and painful almost every second of the day. She constantly fights for the energy to keep going. After having the cancer return for the fourth time, one can only imagine the feelings of hopelessness she is experiencing.  I've watched this cancer take my mother away from me and my family. I've watched her slowly become a shell of what she used to be, a strong, vibrant, force to be reckoned with. She has had multiple surgeries to remove cancerous tumors, various types of painful radiation, devastating chemotherapy, and all of the hospitalizations that come along with cancer. She has been treated for a chronic wound that will not heal due to the cancer at the wound care center, the hospital, and the hyperbaric chamber. She has dealt with seizures, deep vein thomboses, and pulmonary embolisims. All of that medical treatment and no cure. She is at a point now where she will more than likely never be cured. Now, we can only hope for remission. Because all of the other options have been exhausted with no success, her oncologists have prescribed Opdivo. Opdivo has been proven successful in treating other types of squamous cell carcinomas. Unfortunately, Opdivo is not FDA approved to treat my mother's type of cancer so she is forced to pay for it out of pocket, or not receive the treatment at all.  If you are familiar with "Big Pharma", then you know that the price of anything worth having isnt cheap. This could very well be my mother's last hope for remission, but it is so expensive that it has crippled my parents  financially. My mother took her first round of Opdivo yesterday, 4/17/18. My parents had to write a check for $10, 700 just to get the drug, nearly wiping out their accounts they've worked so hard to save for.  Initially, Bristol-Myers Squibb denied to help my parents in any way financially.... even after writing an appeals letter pouring our hearts out and begging for assistance. Now, they have said the following: "If you pay up-front $10,700 a treatment, for 3 consecutive treatments, we will consider assisting you financially". This is a small ray of hope, but still, no one has an extra $33, 000 lying around. My parents are being forced to sell family property and other sentimental belongings to make ends meet. My dad already works 12-16 hour days, 6-7 days a week as it is. He can not work any harder than he is already. My parents are mortified that we (her family) are asking others for financial help. They are the couple that gives and gives of themselves when others are in need.  My parents are the type of people that donate to The Cancer Society and St. Judes Research Hospital. 
I truly do not know of any persons more generous than they are. Our hearts are broken that she is sick and not showing any signs of healing, but to know that the medication that could potentially save her life will soon be out of reach because it isnt affordable, is the worst news anyone can ever receive. 

Today I am here begging for your help. If you can donate a monetary amount, please do. Any amount will be helpful. If everyone I knew donated a little, that would end up being a life-changing amount and would impact our lives in ways you could never imagine. If you can not donate, please share her story with as many people as you can. She has so many people that love her and we are so thankful for that. Please continue to pray and lift her up. It's not over until it's over. The Lord has the final say and we will continue to praise him in everything we do.