(Carter) Ross Bennett is recovering from head and neck cancer and the extensive surgeries to treat it. He’s unable to work and is currently without a stable home. We’re asking for your help with living expenses while he waits for a disability determination. Social Security Disability will provide a monthly income and continued health care so he can get back into a place of his own.

From Ross/Carter - Hello, Friends!

Thank you to everyone who has sent prayers, encouragement, and both financial and emotional support this year. I’ve been in and out of Parkland Hospital in Dallas these last months, and it’s kept me from updating folks as well as I’d like. So let me catch you up.

You’ve helped cover living expenses, car operation, transportation, and incidentals through more than seventy doctor office visits, five biopsies, four (or five?) surgeries, six Emergency Department visits, seven hospitalizations, tube feeding supplies, and multiple rounds of CT and PET scans. I’d have never made it without you!

The cancer has been removed from my neck, throat, cheek, gums, bottom of my mouth, tongue, and jawbone. My prognosis is good, though we’re watching carefully.

Sections of my jaw were replaced with leg bone, and big grafts in my mouth were made from tissue and blood vessels. Many teeth had to come out and the leg wound limits my walking and standing. Some face and mouth nerves had to be cut, so eating and drinking is a messy business. Speaking clearly is work. This along with the remnants of my 2004 spinal cord injury make gainful employment a fantasy.

Last month I lost my housing and access to most of my possessions. Lori has helped me arrange a place to sleep in a group home in South Dallas. I would be sleeping in my car if she hadn’t jumped in, but it’s not sustainable for her to keeping do on her own.

My previous GoFundMe campaign was closed during my last hospital stay. There was nothing untoward or improper there; the folks helping with it got busy with other things. All the contributions made there did get to me and I’m extremely grateful for them.

I’ve been advised that my best option is to apply for social security disability. We began that process in June. It can take more than 15 months for them to decide whether I qualify. There are lawyers helping, but could be after October 2026 before SSA makes a decision and any appeals are made.

Until then I need your help.

Lori has been helping me set up a budget and develop a plan for these next months. She’s also helping me launch and maintain this replacement Go Fund Me campaign.

My budget for living and getting my medical care for the next months is approximately $1850 per month (details below). That doesn’t cover anticipated expenses that don’t happen every month—things like car registration, or the new battery and two tires that will have to be replaced in the short term. It also assumes I continue to qualify for Parkland Financial Assistance (which renews this month) and that my cancer is indeed gone. Parkland Financial Assistance covers a lot, but not nearly everything. There’s still lots of out-of-pocket expense.

If they do take until October 2026 to make my disability determination—as I’ve been warned they may—we’re looking at 10 months or about $18,500 plus for just the basics.

Go Fund Me “experts” tell me successful campaigns start with a lowball estimate and raise the goal as time goes on. They say that makes it seem achievable. That seems dishonest to me. I’d rather say up front that this could run to $20,000 or $25,000 if things don’t go well. But not all of that has to be raised at the beginning. If things go well, I’d rather shut it down having collected much less—only asking for what is actually needed.

It’s also been suggested that I describe how I got to this point: My second wife’s $2.6 million liver transplant, my parents’ end-of-life medical bills on my credit cards, the pandemic killing our business of 28 years. If people are interested in stories, I’m happy to tell them.

But another time.

This is already getting so long I’m concerned people won’t read it. I’ll tell more about how things are going, how things went, and how the budget works out in updates to come. For now I’ll just say the budget is for living simply given the cost of things.

Thank you for the help you’ve given me so far, and thank you for considering my Go Fund Me campaign in the days to come. Please do me a favor and share it wherever it’s appropriate. I’m told successful Go Fund Me campaigns have been adopted by strangers as much as friends.

With love and gratitude,

Ross

Monthly Budget for 2026

Discretionary - $102.05

Essential - $1741.17

Grand Total - $1843.22

From Lori (Bryngelson) Taylor -

Ross and I knew each other in high school through Show Choir and we became friends as the years passed. I live in Washington and he lives in Texas. We became close friends after our 40th reunion in 2024 in Bartlesville, and the discovery that we have similar struggles. Ross has been a wonderful friend to me, especially through my recovery from long covid and complex PTSD. I always say I went to school with amazing people and Ross is one of them. He even played a part in connecting me with my husband Jim years ago!

Ross is my chosen family. He has survived this head and neck cancer and is finally able to live for himself after a lifetime of caring for others. I will continue to help as I can—and I'm hoping that you will donate towards this project so that Ross can have a secure place to live and get back to living and writing. Thank you for considering!