Hi everyone,

I'm writing this on behalf of my friend Roy, because he's currently too worn out to write it himself, and honestly, it felt right that someone who knows him should be the one to say it: he's one of the toughest, most stubborn people I've ever met.

Some of you will remember that five years ago, Roy fought colon cancer, and many of you showed up for him then in a big way. He still talks about that kindness. Now he's facing a new cancer — this time in the salivary glands and lymph nodes in his neck, just below his right jaw. It's not a return of the old cancer, but that hasn't made it any easier on him or Anna.

The diagnosis came on his birthday, of all days, after a CT scan to check out a lump in his neck. It turned out to be a fast-growing squamous cell carcinoma.

Roy reached out to Dr. Araujo in Mérida, Mexico, the doctor who coordinated his care the first time around. He flew down on Tuesday, July 7 — delayed flights, missed connections, and, somehow, his first-ever Waffle House meal along the way, because that's Roy for you. Surgery followed two days later, on Thursday, July 9.

Dr. Araujo spent over three hours removing more than a pound of cancerous tissue. Roy lost about two pints of blood. The doctor got roughly 90% of the tumor, but a few affected lymph nodes remain near Roy's aorta and jugular vein — too risky to touch without endangering those major blood vessels.

After two nights in the hospital, held together by painkillers and antibiotics, Roy is now recovering at a hotel with Anna by his side — until Friday, when she takes the bus back to Belize to look after the Dodo. He says his neck currently looks like the work of a guillotine operator having an off day.

Vintage Roy, cracking jokes days after major surgery. As for energy, he has none. A walk to the convenience store now counts as a major outing.

On Thursday, July 16, Roy meets with Dr. Castillo, the same radiation oncologist who treated him last time. Having his original medical team back — people who already know his history, whom he trusts completely — is one of the few genuinely good things in all of this. They'll map out the radiation plan that day: how long it will take, and what it will cost.

Roy and Dr. Araujo had hoped surgery alone would be enough. That alone would have stretched him financially, but he could have found a way through it. Radiation – and possibly chemotherapy – will put the total cost well beyond what he can manage on his own.

So I'm asking on his behalf, the way this community showed up for him once before.

If you’re able to give anything at all, it matters – truly, no amount is too small. $2 gets a cup of convenience store coffee. $25 helps cover a day of medication. $100 helps cover a radiation session. And if giving isn't possible right now, sharing this fundraiser would mean just as much to Roy and Anna.

Estimated Medical Costs: Surgery: $15,000 (already incurred) Radiation: Estimated $30,000–$40,000 (I'll update this figure after Roy's appointment with Dr. Castillo on July 16)

Thank you for your love, your prayers, your encouragement, and — for those who are able — your generosity. Five years ago, this community carried Roy through. I'm hoping, on his behalf, that you'll help carry him through again.

With gratitude, Sandy West