Hello everyone! My name is Kayli Grindstaff. My father is Skip Grindstaff. As many of you know, my Dad was diagnosed with oral cancer back in 2021. He was very quickly declared cancer-free after roughly 2.5 months of chemo and radiation.

Three months ago, he suffered a pretty significant bleed from an artery in his tongue. This led to him being placed on a ventilator and having that artery embolized. He was left with dysphagia and unable to eat. They placed a PEG (feeding tube) before he went home. Since the bleed, he’s been PEG tube dependent and has been rapidly declining. Biopsies, PET scans, CTs, and MRIs all stated nothing until recently when he had all come back with possible recurrence of malignancy. This is where it gets complicated.

Everyone is unsure what exactly my Dad is facing. At the very minimum, he needs surgery to remove and reconstruct the left side of his tongue. He has a suspicious lymph node near his trachea that needs to be dealt with as well. We’re being told this could be absolutely nothing, this could be a thyroid cancer developing, or possible metastatic disease into his chest. Everything is so unknown, which makes it that much scarier.

He is scheduled to have surgery Monday, November 4th, and will spend at least a week in the hospital. He will also need a tracheostomy because it’s an extremely extensive head and neck surgery. The hope is the trach would come out before he gets out of the hospital. Again, there are so many variables and unknowns. We truly won’t know what we’re dealing with and what his prognosis will be until the surgery happens.

I’m starting this GoFundMe to help my parents with medical bills and everyday finances. They never ask anyone for help, so I feel this is the least I can do to try and ease the financial burden for them.

Lastly, this GoFundMe is for my Dad, but my brother is also in the fight of his life battling kidney cancer. He is the father of twin boys and works as a cop. There is a donation page for him as well on my Facebook page. It’s definitely difficult to watch my Dad and brother both battle cancer but do their best to support and be there for each other.

I never want anyone to feel obligated to give money. A like, a share, $5, spread the word, etc. Anything helps!

On behalf of my entire family, we appreciate everyone’s love and support as we navigate this difficult time.