Help Roxanne Smead Pay Bills For Cancer Treatment

When Roxanne and her husband Jeff Gagnon moved to her childhood home, to help care for her elderly mother, they could never have imagined what the next few years would bring. After her mother’s passing, they purchased her home and settled into their new jobs and situation. Then in November of 2023, Roxanne started experiencing some unusual swelling in her upper body. From here, the difficulties just kept escalating. Even before all this, in the previous year, Jeff unexpectedly had two stents placed for blockages in his arteries. While Roxanne was still feeling very ill, she hit a deer while coming home from work one night and the car was totaled. After she made several trips to urgent care and the ER, a CT scan finally determined she had a large growth pressing on her SVC vein and the diagnosis was Hodgkin lymphoma. Her first chemotherapy treatment was the day before Thanksgiving. A PET scan was scheduled asap to see the extent of the cancer activity, but they had to travel all the way to Boston for this. To add yet another strain, their only other vehicle, a 2009 Tacoma, blew a head gasket on the trip home. Although Roxanne has had some setbacks and disappointments through the challenges of her treatment, she has been trying to handle it all with a brave face and positive attitude.

You can never really be emotionally or financially prepared for unexpected medical misfortunes, such as this. Due to leave of absence, Roxanne and Jeff’s income is reduced and the ongoing financial strain is very real. A helping hand would really give them a lift during this challenging time. As lifelong friends of Roxanne; Margo, Debbie, and I are asking for your donation to reach a goal of $5500 to help pay for her medical bills. To say that we want to help is an understatement and we would love so much to give her some peace of mind. The last thing anyone needs during this trying time is the stress of financial burdens. We want Roxanne to concentrate on her health and healing so she can fight to get back on her feet as soon as she possibly can.

In Roxanne’s words:

“I must admit this much at the same time has been mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging. We are facing it head on, one day at a time and trying to calmly deal with the challenges and changes as they come. Humor and our practical natures have helped, but it’s not easy.”

Hopefully, this fund will give her many friends and family members a way to lend the support I know they want to give her during her challenging time. We will appreciate every gesture.

With sincere gratitude,

Margo, Debbie, and Lauren