Help Joe Ferro Family w Cancer Expenses & Funeral

It is with a very heavy heart Amy Ferro shares that her dear husband, Joe, passed peacefully at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. He was surrounded by family, and Joe was not in any pain. He battled rare & aggressive NUT Cancer since March 2022, which especially attacked his throat. An obituary and service arrangements will be posted as an Update on this page as soon as available. Please keep the family in prayer and check your Updates.

Amy has many outstanding medical bills and utilities to pay. She has not been able to work for quite some time now since she was caring for Joe and their sons. Please continue to share this page and give to this fund as you are able.

Thank you for your love, concern, financial support, & continued prayers.

In His Grace,

Dvora Gehring

On behalf of Amy Ferro & Family

Erin Swint, Amy's Sister & Fundraising Member

Bonnie Walier, Amy & Erin's Mom & Fundraising Member

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Former Main Page:

Since March of 2022, Joe has been fighting cancer. It started out as Stage 3 Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Epiglottis. Joe went through a very intense round of chemotherapy coupled with radiation. He went into remission in September 2022, but by November, the cancer was back and had spread into his lymph nodes.

It was considered Stage 4 at that point. Joe underwent a radical neck dissection, where they cut out all the cancer they could. They had to sacrifice his jugular, taking part of his trapezius muscle due to the spread, but also grafting some healthy muscle to cover the carotid artery.

Four weeks later he started another round of targeted radiation to the neck to hopefully kill off any cancer left behind from surgery. In the meantime, the tissue taken from Joe's neck was sent off to pathology. It came back questionable, so it was sent to ANOTHER lab which was a specialist. They concluded what the first Radiologist had suspected, that it was the rare NUT Carcinoma. 

This particular cancer is a very rare midline cancer that can pop up anywhere between the head and stomach. Without treatment, it is a very nasty disease. It is aggressive and spreads quickly. 

In August of 2023 Joe had a PET scan, which revealed that his cancer had returned to the original site of the vocal cord area, but had also spread to his adrenal glands. The doctors here in North Carolina have exhausted all options for Joe's treatment. His only remaining option, according to the doctors, is Clinical Trials. There is only one trial happening right now in the U.S., and that is in Houston,Texas.

Joe has been accepted into this Clinical Trial. They truly believe their treatment will benefit him; however, it is all out-of-pocket at $40,000 per cycle! Each cycle is three (3) months, and there could be as many as four (4) cycles. This cost is for his standard of care only. (The medication is the only thing covered by the trial.) Our hurdle is that MD Anderson does NOT accept Joe's insurance!

There are also weekly travel costs to and from Houston to factor in, as well as lodging and food when they are away. None of this includes the Ferro's regular monthly bills. Joe and Amy have six boys, three of which still live at home. 

The cost of this treatment, and the other expenses, are the only things standing in the way of a possible life-saving treatment for Joe! Without treatment, the prognosis is very grim. The doctors gave him a six-month timeframe in which to live. 

Love and blessings to you all.

Dvora L. Gehring

Erin Swint

Amy Ferro

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There are alternative ways to help listed below for those who have asked.

Letters of encouragement, please send to:

Joe and Amy Ferro

3032 Rockingham CT SW

Concord NC 28025

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE:

Venmo @Amy-Ferro-3

Zelle REDACTED