Help Jeff & Lauren Albanese

Jeff and Lauren Albanese have been married for more than 20 years.  Jeff has owned several successful businesses in the Charlotte, NC area and Lauren worked at a hospital for many years.  In July 2018, Jeff asked his business partner if he wanted to take over his portion of the business they owned together.  Jeff really wanted to get out of the Charlotte area because of all the traffic in the city.  His partner agreed.  Around the same time, Lauren's long time job was eliminated and she is no longer able to work due to a neurological disease.  They decided to sell their house in North Carolina and move to Mountain City, TN where Jeff was promised a job with an asphalt company.  This job did not work out, but he was fortunate to find another job as a service manager at a tractor sales business. During their move, Jeff's stomach was hurting pretty badly which prevented him from lifting anything.  The pain continued and increased, so toward the end of November 2018, Jeff went to a doctor in Johnson City, TN.  He had a CT scan that showed caking on the lining of his stomach (cancer) and a PET scan showed even more obvious signs of the cancer.  A laparoscopy was performed to remove a piece of the lining of his stomach.  A biopsy of the lining showed adenocarcinoma (Stage 4) which had  metastasized from another area of his body which cannot be seen.  This is also known as cancer from the unknown primary (CUP).  Jeff started chemotherapy on January 14, 2019 but his body was not strong enough and he became very sick; he was admitted to the hospital for a few days.  He received a lighter dose of chemotherapy on January 28 and this will be the plan going forward.  He is no longer able to work due to the pain he is having. Jeff and Lauren have applied for health insurance but have not heard if either one of them have been approved. They do not have life insurance.  Lauren does receive some disability, but Jeff will not receive any disability until May of this year (if he is approved).  Their bills are increasing, and they are using their minimal income for food and other expenses. Jeff and I are first cousins, and he lived with my family for a few years right after he graduated high school while working for the Youth Conservation Corps in the Manistee National Forest. I was just 6 years old at the time but I remember him taking me two-tracking and showing me how to work on his truck. He even showed me how to avoid another vehicle on a very narrow road by driving into a water-filled ditch! He was always working on something in the yard, and we knew when he was close to home because you could hear his truck stereo blasting well before he arrived.  Jeff and Lauren will do anything to help others; they are wonderful people.  Please pray for Jeff and Lauren and give if you are able.  Thank you, Bert