Help Mark Madore, while he fights his illness.

Mark Madore is my wife’s brother. About 4-5 weeks ago, Mark was diagnosed with stage 3 Adenocarcinoma. He has esophageal/stomach cancer. Until this difficult diagnosis, Mark was an otherwise healthy 55 year-old, who enjoys spending time with his family and friends.

Mark and his wife Lou Anne raised 3 great children, Mark, Stephanie and Kara. Mark junior has an 8 year-old, who is very attached to his grandfather. The entire family lives in or near Caribou, Maine, which is where my wife was born and raised.

Mark works for the State of Maine, DOT and Lou Anne is a self-employed hairdresser, operating a salon out of their home. Mark and Lou Anne have always been very hard working and financially self-sufficient people. They are very proud and have always been the kind of people who would be the first to help someone else in need. Well, now it’s their time of need and they need a lot of help. That’s where we come in.

Mark is being treated at Dana Farber in Boston, which is about a six-hour drive from Caribou. Mark will soon begin receiving a rigorous round of Chemotherapy called the FLOT regimen. It’s 4 rounds of a 24-hour treatment every 14 days, followed by surgery in Boston. Then 4 more rounds after the surgery, followed by another PET Scan to reassess further treatment. This is not only overwhelming for Mark and Lou Anne mentally, but financially as well.

Obviously, during the treatment, Mark will not be able to work and Lou Anne has already lost a lot of work in her salon. Lou Anne’s salon is in her home, so she is in a very difficult situation, because Mark needs to be very careful he isn’t exposed to any kind of infection.

Mark has health insurance through his work for the State of Maine. While it is good insurance, it has out-of-network limits, so a large portion of his medical bills will not be covered by his policy. As we all know, medical bills for an illness of this nature pile up quick and that is already starting to happen.

In addition to dealing with the huge medical bills, Mark and Lou Anne have a household to run, which comes with everyday bills that they need to continue to pay.

Let’s help to make their Christmas one where they see the good in others. Even if you can only donate $5, every little bit will help. All funds will be sent from Go Fund Me directly to Mark and Lou Anne and it will be used to pay for medical and household bills, until they can both return to work.

Please keep Mark, Lou Anne and their family in your prayers.

Thank you,

Don and Rhonda Lachapelle