Help Donnie in his Battle Against Cancer

Hi, my name is Vanessa and I am fundraising for my close friend Donnie Carter. He was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 oral cancer and has already gone through so much to try to beat it. But it's really hard to focus on surgeries, chemo, and radiation when you are not able to work and are worrying about how everything will get paid.

I have known Donnie for 12 years and a lot of that time we were a couple. Even though we are no longer together, we are still the closest of friends and that is because Donnie is truly a kind, caring person with such a big heart. He has been there for his 10-year-old nephew since he was a baby. Uncle Donnie loves taking his nephew camping, swimming, and all things outdoors. Uncle Donnie was the one who taught his nephew to ride a bicycle, with and then without training wheels. Donnie has been there for his nephew through thick and thin.

He is always ready and willing to help others in need. That's why I believe it is so important to help him in his own time of need.

When Donnie and I first found out he had mouth cancer, it was from a local oral surgeon. She seemed to believe he need surgery to remove a tumor from his bottom gum and then everything would be okay.

She referred him to a specialist at the University of Maryland who could perform the surgery. Imagine the shock when Donnie found out he had Stage 4 mouth cancer and would require a 9-hour surgery and possibly a month's stay in the hospital.

Donnie's surgery, while incredible from a medical standpoint, was quite difficult to go through and to recover from. There were 2 teams of doctors, one team to remove the cancer and another team to reconstruct the whole bottom part of his mouth.

The first team pulled almost all of Donnie's bottom teeth and then had to remove his bottom gum. Then Donnie's jaw bone had to be almost completely shaved down. Finally, a large group of lymph nodes had to be removed from his neck. That is when the doctors saw that the cancer had spread outside of some of the lymph nodes. Donnie's chances of survival had just dropped greatly.

The second part of the surgery was a marvel of science but was also the most difficult and painful. The reconstruction team had to put a titanium bar in his jaw. Then they had to go deep into his left forearm and take out a large amount of muscle, tissue, blood supply, and skin to create his bottom gum. After that, they took skin from his thigh and performed a skin graft with that onto his forearm. Finally the surgery was over.

The full recovery time for this surgery is a year and so far, it has only been a few months. However, from the time Donnie came out of the surgery, he has been put through the wringer. He has had to have a tracheostomy, drainage ports in his neck, a feeding tube, wounds on his forearm and thigh, among other things. He has also had to deal with a great amount of pain.

After the trachea tube, drainage ports, and feeding tube were removed and Donnie was released from the hospital, things have not gone smoothly. He developed an infection in his neck and had to spend several days back in the hospital. Some of his wounds have had difficulty healing. He currently has bone coming through his bottom gum which should not be there and he needs another surgery to fix this problem.

When we went back for a follow up appointment with his surgeon, we were shocked again when the doctor told Donnie he would have to get both radiation and chemotherapy, which he had told us previously Donnie wouldn't need. Because of the infections and wounds that weren't healing quickly, it took more time than it should have for Donnie to receive treatment. He also had to have another surgery to put in another feeding tube when he started treatment.

Donnie has been a real trooper throughout all of this. He has had to have radiation to his mouth and neck 5 days a week, every week, along with chemotherapy once a week. He has been doing this on his own with no one to help because my mother died suddenly and I haven't been able to be there for him. He is still having a terrible time with swelling and pain in his mouth and loss of feeling in various places due to damage to his nerves.

Donnie has been unable to work during these last few months, so he hasn't been getting a paycheck. His work has not been helpful with his health and dental insurance, so he now has to get COBRA insurance, even though he is still employed. Donnie has been proactive, applying for help with the mortgage, applying for help with paying for radiation which is not covered by his insurance. Donnie still has to get reconstructive surgery because he needs bottom teeth, which also is not covered by insurance. Finally, he owes several thousand dollars to his doctors, surgeons, and the hospitals because his insurance only covers a percentage of those bills.

We do not know what the future holds and but we hope and pray the surgery and treatments will work to get all of the cancer and Donnie will make it through this. But I do know that stress and worry about how everything will get paid is not good for keeping the cancer at bay. That is why I feel it is so important to help Donnie with paying his medical bills now and possibly in the future. He is still in a fight for his life and even the smallest of donations can build on each other. Thank you so much and please share this with as many people as you can.