Help Kevin with Cancer Expenses
Donation protected
In June 2016 Kevin retired from the LA County Department of Public Health after a nearly 30 year career. He intended to begin a second career as an instructor at the community college level in California. To obtain the necessary degree and teaching credentials Kevin was accepted to the Master in Public Policy (MPP) Program at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, California and began school in September 2017. Unfortunately, Kevin began experiencing increasing discomfort in his mouth and was soon having trouble eating. He went to the dentist and they discovered he had a form of oral cancer.
He returned to be with his family in Indiana (where he grew up) and has been receiving treatment at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee where a renowned national expert is coordinating his care. On December 22, 2017 he had a right jaw rescission removing the right lower jaw and front bottom teeth and placing a piece of titanium steal to hold the jaw in place until after the cancer treatment is completed. For 3-weeks he had a feeding tube and could only take nutrients through the tube. The food for the tube was almost $400, which was paid out of pocket.
The cancer was not fully eradicated, and Kevin now needs radiation and chemotherapy. He will obtain this treatment in Louisville, Kentucky coordinated with his surgeon in Knoxville, Tennessee. In addition, he is in a great deal of pain and is coping with that through physical therapy and pain management. All these treatments are adding up in the new year and quickly exhausting Kevin’s savings.
Help is needed now. Already incurred expenses include the annual $500 deductible before insurance pays anything and co-insurance and co-pays at the medical visits until he reaches $2,500 out-of-pocket. He also has significant drug prescription costs right now. He has spent his savings and his family has been helping meet these costs so far, but he has only a couple hundred in reserve and he already owes one medical provider $500 that he doesn’t have. Additional expenses included are for the gas it takes to drive roundtrip to Louisville (approx. 85 miles round trip) and Knoxville (approx. 600 miles round trip). Kevin has a PET scan and a CT scan scheduled after his 6 weeks of chemo/radiation therapy. Finally, one expense not initially realized is for nutritional supplements. With the steel rod in his mouth he is unable to chew most foods and is using Boost and Ensure to prevent losing more weight (lost 21 pounds since December).
Any donation will help. A $15 donation can be a co-pay for a prescription; $25 is an office visit co-pay. Amounts larger than that help meet co-insurance for tests like the PET and CT scans and possible MRTs and x-rays. Finally, money that helps him afford to go to his doctor visit in Knoxville allow him to spend one night in a hotel (the Super 8 is $56/night) so that he can be there for early morning appointments.
Without an infusion of money soon he will be out of money to pay for medical visits, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, office visits, gas to get to appointments and could jeopardize treatment. Your donation may save his life.
Thank you so much for your help and support!
He returned to be with his family in Indiana (where he grew up) and has been receiving treatment at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee where a renowned national expert is coordinating his care. On December 22, 2017 he had a right jaw rescission removing the right lower jaw and front bottom teeth and placing a piece of titanium steal to hold the jaw in place until after the cancer treatment is completed. For 3-weeks he had a feeding tube and could only take nutrients through the tube. The food for the tube was almost $400, which was paid out of pocket.
The cancer was not fully eradicated, and Kevin now needs radiation and chemotherapy. He will obtain this treatment in Louisville, Kentucky coordinated with his surgeon in Knoxville, Tennessee. In addition, he is in a great deal of pain and is coping with that through physical therapy and pain management. All these treatments are adding up in the new year and quickly exhausting Kevin’s savings.
Help is needed now. Already incurred expenses include the annual $500 deductible before insurance pays anything and co-insurance and co-pays at the medical visits until he reaches $2,500 out-of-pocket. He also has significant drug prescription costs right now. He has spent his savings and his family has been helping meet these costs so far, but he has only a couple hundred in reserve and he already owes one medical provider $500 that he doesn’t have. Additional expenses included are for the gas it takes to drive roundtrip to Louisville (approx. 85 miles round trip) and Knoxville (approx. 600 miles round trip). Kevin has a PET scan and a CT scan scheduled after his 6 weeks of chemo/radiation therapy. Finally, one expense not initially realized is for nutritional supplements. With the steel rod in his mouth he is unable to chew most foods and is using Boost and Ensure to prevent losing more weight (lost 21 pounds since December).
Any donation will help. A $15 donation can be a co-pay for a prescription; $25 is an office visit co-pay. Amounts larger than that help meet co-insurance for tests like the PET and CT scans and possible MRTs and x-rays. Finally, money that helps him afford to go to his doctor visit in Knoxville allow him to spend one night in a hotel (the Super 8 is $56/night) so that he can be there for early morning appointments.
Without an infusion of money soon he will be out of money to pay for medical visits, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, office visits, gas to get to appointments and could jeopardize treatment. Your donation may save his life.
Thank you so much for your help and support!
Organizer and beneficiary
Michael Leslie
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Kevin Harvey
Beneficiary
