Hi, my name is Kerri, and my husband and I are hoping for help in getting through a rough spot in life.

Back around April of this year, out of the blue, my husband was not able to swallow food or drink. Him being a Vietnam Vet and using the VA's Community Care, we had his doctor send in a referral for him to be seen by a gastroenterologist. He spent the month of April in and out of the ER, but nothing would be done other than giving him IV fluids because we had no approval from the VA. I would have taken him to a VA hospital, but the closest is Atlanta, and that is at least a 2-hour drive. We finally got the referral back at the end of April, and the day before he was seen, he ended up going to the ER because things were so bad. Because we had the referral, they admitted him, and the next day they did a throat stretch to open up the esophagus. The doctor said things were really swollen, and he had to use an infant-sized scope because the adult one would not fit. He said other than swelling, nothing seemed notable. He came home on the 7th, and things were going good for about a week, and then it started closing up again. By June 9th, he was back in the ER and admitted again. At this point, anemia was setting in, and they could not keep his potassium levels up where they needed to be. They admitted him and did another throat stretch; only this time, the doctor noticed the tissue looked strange, so he took a biopsy. Skip stayed until that Saturday and then came home. He worked the entire following week, and by the end of the week, he was back where he started on the 9th. The biopsy came back during that week and called it dysphasia. So, Monday the 23rd, he went back to the ER at the request of his gastroenterologist and was again admitted. On the 24th, his throat was stretched again; this time, the doctor noted that the area looked odd and took another tissue sample. When he woke up in the recovery room, the doctor came in and said she thought it to be cancer but was not 100%. She told him that he had a choice at that point of going on a liquid-only diet or a feeding tube, but that if this came back positive for cancer, then a feeding tube would be the only option. Wednesday, we talked it over and agreed to go with the feeding tube. Wednesday night, the results came back; it was Invasive Esophageal Carcinoma. Thursday, the surgeon came up and talked to him about putting in a chemo port while also doing the tube feed, and at that point, he said no to the port because he did not want chemo. That afternoon, the peg tube was put into place, and life changed quickly.

By this time, there was no vacation or sick time left; he has blown through 5 weeks total. We received his last paycheck on June 22, and we got both his and my SS checks on the 1st. All of our bills are paid on the first, and they eat up all of the SS checks. His pay went to get dog food and paid for my meals at the hospital, along with gas and food for the house. Needless to say, we have been struggling for the last 2 weeks. He has critical illness insurance and was hoping to get that sent in and back to live on until his short-term disability kicks in. That entire way of thinking was shot down when we asked the oncology nurse to please fill out the paperwork so that we could get this started. That did not happen, as she informed us that it does not matter what diagnosis was in his chart; they had not diagnosed him, and until they did, she was not putting in the paperwork. When I pushed the issue, she filled it out and then told the insurance agency that there was NO diagnosis or staging until ALL tests were done and we met with a thoracic surgeon to decide the course of treatment. Well, that is not going to happen for another 2 weeks at the least.

The doctors that the oncologist wants him to see were originally in Atlanta. I told her if we wanted to travel to Atlanta, we would use the VA. I then asked about Chattanooga. It is still an hour or so drive, but it was better than going all the way to Atlanta. She has us going to a gastroenterologist specialist up in Chattanooga for an endoscopy ultrasound. I guess the gastro doctor that we are already seeing in Dalton either is not good enough or just does not do this procedure. Also, the thoracic surgeon she wants us to see is also in Chattanooga.

To be dead honest, there is no money for any of this, and they do not seem to want to do anything to help us. His primary care physician was even held up by them when he wanted to just take Skip out of work and send in the paperwork. Oh, and going back to work is not possible either because they will not clear him to work, so we are stuck in limbo until they decide what they are going to do.

Please help us so that we can get through this and not lose our house because come the first, money for bills will have to be used to pay back anyone that we borrow from. This is a last option because honestly, we thought we would be all set with insurance money.

UPDATE 7/19: Saw the oncologist yesterday and she told us that it is stage 4 as this has already moved into the bloodstream and settled into his lungs. We are praying that we caught the lungs early enough that chemo can kill it.