Help Dave Fight Lung Cancer
Hi, my name is Kathy and I'm David's wife. Dave went in to the Doctor for pneumonia and shortness of breath. They did a chest x-ray and found a mass in his right lung. They then did a CT scan to get a better look at it. He was sent to a Pulmonologist in Milwaukee who was certain it was cancer but a biopsy needed to be done to confirm, and also to see if his lymph nodes were involved. He had the biopsy on the 21st, and his Pulmonologist called on on Thursday the 24th to confirm it was malignant and Non Small Cell Cancer. He's already missed a lot of work, but had vacation to cover it, but that's going to run out soon. He has a PET Scan, an MRI, and a Pulmonary test within the next 2 weeks to see if it has spread to his brain or any other organs. Once those results are known we'll find out if he's a candidate for lung removal. We don't know if he will receive chemo and or radiation at this point, but we need them to do all they can to eradicate the cancer. The bills are already piling up. As they say, here in America you're one diagnosis away from financial ruin, and sadly it's true. Due to my personal illnesses, I am unable to work and do not receive or qualify for any disability. Dave's income is what we get by on, and that's all up in the air now. We have started the paperwork for his disability insurance but they will only pay a percentage of his income after he's been out for 80 hours and it could be a month or more before we see any funds. Everything is up in the air at this point. We need to make our car payments so we can get him to Milwaukee for his appointments, but we don't know if we'll be able to make the payments. Cancer is a horrible thing, but with your help, we can make it. I'll be updating often. Thank you in advance for donating, sharing this fundraiser, and for your prayers. Dave is adored by all who meet him, and no one deserves to worry about money when they're fighting cancer. Again, thank you.
Katherine Barts
Update: Today, September 6th, he goes for an MRI to see if it's in his brain, and tomorrow, a PET Scan to check everywhere else. We may not know the results until he meets with a surgeon on the 12th.
Today, September 12th, Dave had an appointment with his Oncologist and his Surgeon to review his scan results and his breathing test results. We were told that his lung cancer is treatable with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. They did not find cancer anywhere else which is excellent news. We have a plan of action to shrink the tumor Dave will have to undergo three rounds of chemo and immunotherapy to try to shrink the tumor in his lung to a manageable size so the surgeon won't have to take out his entire lung. They figure his quality of life will be much better with even 20% of that lung left. They're going to try to save as much of the lung as they can. The prognosis sounds good but the recovery time from the chemo, immunotherapy, and recovery from surgery is going to require time off that we really can't afford financially. We're trying to just focus as much on Dave's health as we can and I'm trying not to let him worry about the financial aspect but you know he's worried about it. I can't let him worry about finances when he's got so much other stuff on his mind. We are relieved that there's a plan in place, two great doctors on his side, and that according to them they've seen this be a curable type of cancer. We are grateful to everyone who's donated, prayed, and been supportive during this time. We hope that we can count on you to help us get through this. It's not easy to admit that you need help, but here we are. Just know that we are eternally grateful for your prayers, for your donations, and for your support.
UPDATE:
Dave goes Thursday, Sept 21st to have a port placed for his Chemo and Opdivo. (OPDIVO is an immunotherapy treatment that helps your immune system launch a response that fights cancer. OPDIVO (pronounced op-DEE-voh) is given as an infusion with chemotherapy every three weeks for nine weeks before surgery.)
He'll have 3 infusions, 20 days apart, starting on September 27th. Following appropriate tumor shrinkage he will have surgery to remove a portion of his lung.
Dave had his first Chemo and Immunotherapy and is doing ok. He's used the last of his vacation time on his appointments so days off for all future appointments are not paid. You're sharing, prayers, and donations are greatly appreciated. ❤️
UPDATE: Dave has successfully finished his courses of chemo and Opdivo. As you can imagine it wasn't easy. Things are getting real now, his surgery is scheduled for December 14th. Before that he'll have to have two scans and his pre-op EKG and all that fun stuff. We figure we've made it through roughly 20 appointments, and countless dollars later. We don't have any idea how long Dave's going to be off work. To put it pretty frankly we're both panicking about money of course. Dave's health and well-being is obviously more important, but you can't help being worried about foreign situations that you've never encountered before and not working just adds more feels of the fire when you're the major bread winner. We really hate asking for help. But things are already so very tight. Your help is greatly appreciated.