Help my Dad, James Ridgeway, fight cancer!!

My dad is the strongest and most hard-working man I know. And now he is fighting the hardest battle ever, the fight for his life. After being misdiagnosed with psoriasis a couple years ago, a trip to the ER and referral to a fantastic doctor June of last year, he was correctly diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma; a very rare type of skin cancer that is the most deadly and extremely aggressive. My Dad has already gone through two surgeries (not including putting in his port) which included the amputation of his finger and removal of 20 cancerous lymph nodes under his arm. He then had radiation every day for a month and went to work right after it to make sure he was able to provide for us, his family. Then in October of last year when the PET scan came back showing the cancer had spread to a few spots on his lungs, we watched him remain hopeful while he got chemo/immunotherapy and come home every day exhausted because he refused to stop working. We were hopeful that the treatment would slow down the spread, but we found out it was the exact opposite.  The treatment wasn’t working well enough and after another PET scan in January we were told it had taken over both lungs and moved to other lymph nodes. After consulting the leading specialist in Merkel cell carcinoma in Seattle, Washington as well as, NIH in Bethesda, Maryland they decided the best course of action was a very strong chemo treatment with two types of chemo for multiple days every few weeks. But if you know my dad, you know he always tries to smile, make a joke and make sure everybody else is OK no matter what’s going on in his life and nothing has changed. Even though he is drained physically and mentally he still pulls himself out of bed and go to work because the bills are stacking up and he truly cares about his job and the people he works for. But even as strong willed as he is he still not able to work like he wants especially the weeks of chemo where he can’t work at all.


So that’s why with the help of everybody who can, I want to try to help my dad the way I know how. First in for most please pray! My mom says, that the doctor gives us the facts but we know THE TRUTH! Prayers, good thoughts, well wishes, positive vibes, we will take them all. And then if you want to or can do more, I’m asking that you give help the mounting burden that this cancer fight is costing. Between trips to the doctors, specialists, testing, and chemo that my parents are trying their best to pay themselves but it’s impossible. I love my parents so much and I could never repay them for all they’ve done for me and continue to do. My mom and dad have enough to think about every day, and I want to try to help lessen the financial burden they are facing.  Thank you for any help you can give. But mostly, Thank you for all the Love and Prayers!!