Healing for Harold
Donation protected
How are we here again? It was just two years ago Dad was fighting vocal chord cancer. Months of radiation. A tracheotomy. Feeding tube. But then the best news ever. The cancer was gone.
Then last year Dad was injured at work. This required several surgeries and months of physical therapy. He had enough of being hurt and sick so he decided 2019 was gonna be his year. He decided to retire on his birthday, 2/13/19. He wanted to retire before, (his words), “the cancer comes back”. Last Monday he and Mom went to the doctor for a scope of his esophagus. He has suffered from Barrett’s Esophagus most of his life so these scopes were fairly common. They go in, look around, stretch it out and he has relief from the symptoms. They called me Monday afternoon and told me that they found cancer. We weren’t looking for cancer. We were shocked. Then on 2/13/19, his birthday, they called with the biopsy results to confirm that it is in fact cancer. By Friday we were at Emory with the doctors to discuss the CT scan he had the previous day. It was a blur. “Not a candidate for surgery” “spots on the liver that have us worried” “hope for one year” I don’t remember what all they said or what order it was said in, but those 3 statements are on repeat in my head. Dad handled the news with a grace and strength that only could come from God.
We are not going to give up. We are already talking with Cancer Treatment Centers of America to get our options with them. Treatment out of state isn’t easy, we learned that back in 2014 when he was treated in Chicago for his skin cancer. The financial strain of cancer is real. It is the problem that you don’t think about. It takes money to fight. Mom and Dad aren’t prideful people, but they don’t want to need help. They are usually the helpers. If you know them, you already know that. But here we are. They need help. We will be doing everything we can, fundraisers, events, whatever it takes. Sitting and doing nothing is the hardest thing, so I just couldn’t wait to help them. If you can’t donate, please pray. We believe that God heals. He performs miracles. We are praying for one now.


Then last year Dad was injured at work. This required several surgeries and months of physical therapy. He had enough of being hurt and sick so he decided 2019 was gonna be his year. He decided to retire on his birthday, 2/13/19. He wanted to retire before, (his words), “the cancer comes back”. Last Monday he and Mom went to the doctor for a scope of his esophagus. He has suffered from Barrett’s Esophagus most of his life so these scopes were fairly common. They go in, look around, stretch it out and he has relief from the symptoms. They called me Monday afternoon and told me that they found cancer. We weren’t looking for cancer. We were shocked. Then on 2/13/19, his birthday, they called with the biopsy results to confirm that it is in fact cancer. By Friday we were at Emory with the doctors to discuss the CT scan he had the previous day. It was a blur. “Not a candidate for surgery” “spots on the liver that have us worried” “hope for one year” I don’t remember what all they said or what order it was said in, but those 3 statements are on repeat in my head. Dad handled the news with a grace and strength that only could come from God.
We are not going to give up. We are already talking with Cancer Treatment Centers of America to get our options with them. Treatment out of state isn’t easy, we learned that back in 2014 when he was treated in Chicago for his skin cancer. The financial strain of cancer is real. It is the problem that you don’t think about. It takes money to fight. Mom and Dad aren’t prideful people, but they don’t want to need help. They are usually the helpers. If you know them, you already know that. But here we are. They need help. We will be doing everything we can, fundraisers, events, whatever it takes. Sitting and doing nothing is the hardest thing, so I just couldn’t wait to help them. If you can’t donate, please pray. We believe that God heals. He performs miracles. We are praying for one now.
Organizer
Jennifer Watkins
Organizer
Temple, GA