Help Mike Thompson Through Lung Cancer Treatment
Mike has been in relatively great health until a few things just started happening. For instance, he began forgetting things and thought it was because he was getting older since he had just turned 60. While he was working refinishing furniture, he realized he would walk to the other side of the building and forgot why he went there. Then, on August 4th, his speech became incoherent. His family thought he was having a stroke, so his son Dakota and girlfriend Christie immediately took him to the hospital. While they were relieved to find out that he wasn’t having a stroke, they were shocked to find out that he had malignant tumors in his lung and brain. He was transferred overnight to Houston Memorial Herman hospital and for the next several days, further cat scans and a biopsy were conducted. While there, he quit smoking. He also applied for and got health insurance that started on September 1st.
This week, Mike met with his oncologist and radiation oncologist. He was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer, more specifically, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Adenocarcinoma. He is scheduled to have a PET scan next week to see where else it might be. We know right now that he is stage 4 and has lung metastasis to his brain. He also has lung nodules in both lungs, near his adrenal gland and near his right hip. He will be having surgery soon to have a port put in and chemo and immunotherapy will also begin within the next couple of weeks.
Mike’s oncologists and team are in Houston so he will be traveling back and forth there for many months. The plan is to have a gamma knife procedure to have very focused radiation on his brain tumor to help alleviate his current cognitive issues. Hopefully, his procedure will still happen, and his tumor hadn’t grown significantly within the last month while waiting for his insurance to begin. He’ll have two sessions of that, one month apart. These procedures done at two times will hopefully prevent brain swelling down the road.
He can’t work at this point, and the current steroid and seizure medication keep him fatigued (while keeping brain inflammation to a minimum.) His savings are almost gone. He needs financial assistance for medication, insurance premiums and deductibles, travel back and forth to Houston for treatment, supplements not covered by insurance, parking fees while at the hospital and oncologist offices, as well as living expenses.
This was a huge shock to everyone, given the fact that he didn’t show major signs. His friends and family are devastated, but they remain faithful and believe God is above all names, including cancer. In addition to prayers, we want to support Mike and his family by lifting any financial burdens that may arise. Medical expenses on top of daily necessities will add up quickly, so this Go Fund Me has been created for the Thompson family and the journey they face.