Help the Morriss Family Through Medical Crisis

My name is Daniel Morriss. I am a medically retired combat infantryman. I served from 1998-2012 when I was medically retired due to a TBI and PTSD. I was wounded in Iraq on 9/11/2005, for which I was awarded a Purple Heart. My wife of 22 years, Cameron Huss-Morriss, and the mother of our 7 children, has been sick for many years, with no reasonable explanation as to the cause. Doctors largely ignored her complaints and told her she just needed to accept her “new normal.” For the last 18 months, she has been going through procedures and exploratory surgeries to try to find the cause of her symptoms. In April, they found she had several tumors in her colon. Most were benign and removed immediately. She has one left that cannot easily be removed. There are no providers in Alaska who could do the surgery, and 4 providers in the lower 48 refused her as a patient because of the complexity of her condition.

The surgeon we found in Seattle who finally agreed to see her says there is a high probability that there is cancer in it because of its size. The tumor is the size of a man’s fist in a difficult spot to remove, but the size creates almost a complete blockage. We are having to travel out of state regularly for doctors' appointments and treatment. Insurance is reimbursing some of our costs, but I have to pay for everything for both of us and our kids we have at home while I take her to Washington for care, then wait for our insurance to reimburse for what they cover. This is a huge burden for our family, emotionally and financially.

With upcoming surgeries, the Alaska winter, and all that goes into keeping a large family alive and healthy, we are quickly exceeding our realistic limits of handling everything coming at us.

Cameron has always been active in helping others as a leader in our unit's FRG and military organization. Most recently, she has been contributing her energy as a mentor for thousands of craftspeople locally and around the world to help them improve in their crafts and small businesses, even while she’s been sick.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Dan Morriss