Dear Friends and Family~

 

I am writing to request your help for someone I know would not be comfortable requesting it himself. 

 

As you may know, for the last 8 months, my brother Chuck is battling Stage 3 lung cancer.  This unexpected, and unwanted journey started last September when he started feeling unwell.  At first, he thought he was just a bit run down, but over the course of a few weeks, he was sure he had pneumonia.  Like many without health insurance, he didn’t go to the doctor and just kept working through the discomfort.  One evening last September, he became unable to breathe, and convinced he was dying, finally drove himself to the Emergency Room at Grace Cottage.  Concerned he might have Tuberculosis due to his symptoms, he was placed in isolation for four days while they did multiple tests on him, hooked him up to IV antibiotics and contacted infectious disease experts to determine the cause of his illness.  Abscesses that had formed on his left lung ruptured, causing poison and infection to permeate throughout his body.  It was determined that he didn’t have TB, but he spent the next two weeks in the hospital while they tried to control the infection and determine the cause.  Multiple pulmonary and infectious disease specialists worked on his case, but the cause and diagnosis of the infection were inconclusive.  He was finally sent home, but continued to follow up with the pulmonary specialists at Dartmouth Hitchcock.

 

Through the course of their investigation and testing for his mystery illness, they discovered a tumor in the upper portion of his left lung.  In early December, further testing confirmed our worst fears.  It was cancer.  Worse, it had spread to nearby lymph nodes, and it’s proximity to his heart and critical arteries made surgery a challenge.  His team at Dartmouth created a plan, and in January, Chuck began chemotherapy in hopes of shrinking the tumor enough to be able to perform surgery later.  Though it was necessary, it was truly awful and Chuck’s physical and mental health suffered terribly.  Basically, he felt like shit.

 

In May, they determined he was finally ready for surgery, and on May 22nd, Melanie, my mom, my dad and I set up camp at Dartmouth and waited.  After 6 long hours, his patient advocate came to tell us the surgery was over and he was in recovery.  She told us that they removed his entire left lung, because once they were finally able to see his lungs, they found that the cancer had started to spread and determined that removing the entire lung would be the best way to remove as much of the cancer as possible.  They also removed multiple lymph nodes in the surrounding area.  Chuck was apparently prepared for the possibility of his entire lung being removed, but I certainly wasn’t.  I received a crash course in what happens with the removal of an entire lung, and the body’s ability to compensate because I couldn’t comprehend what it would mean for him in the long term.  However, we all celebrated that though it cost him his lung, the cancer was gone.

 

Unfortunately, our celebration was short-lived.  When the post-surgery biopsy results returned, they indicated that he still had residual cancer, and that the removal of his entire lung was not enough.  The cancer had started creeping along his arteries and were found in additional lymph nodes.  So now what?

 

At some point in the next few weeks, Chuck will start a course of radiation.  He will be driving to Rutland 5 days a week, for at least 6 weeks to get his daily dose.  The doctors ordered him to rest for at least two months after the surgery to allow his body to heal.  His surgery was incredibly invasive, and was (and still is) incredibly painful.  Though it is getting better with time, his body still has a lot of healing left to do.  Muscles, tendons, and nerves were all affected and his body is still learning to adjust to having only one lung.  He must take it slow and steady, but he must walk and get physical activity every day, though it is challenging. 

 

So here we are.  I would like to ask for your help in not only supporting Chuck with your love and positive energy (which is so welcomed and appreciated), but helping him financially as well.  My goal is to raise enough funds to help ease Chuck's financial burdens so he can stress less about paying his bills, and focus more on his healing.    Hopefully he will be able to get back to work sooner than later, but we are anticipating at least another 10 weeks until that happens.  By then, he will have been out of work for over a year.   We know that money is tight for everyone these days, and would be so grateful for whatever amount you can afford.    And if anyone happens to have a solid, inspected 4WD/AWD truck that they are willing to part with, let us know.  

 

Watching a loved one fight a life threatening illness is the most unimaginably helpless feeling in the world.  Chuck has been my best friend since the moment I invaded his life, and this is one of the few ways that I feel like I can do something.  If you know Chuck, you know that he would never ask for help.  Ever.  It is just not in his stubborn Davison DNA.  So I am asking you on his behalf.  I am the good child after all.  :)

 

With much love and appreciation,

 

Terry