Help the Trumbulls

On Friday May 2, 2020 Matt had a doctors appointment over the phone because his testicle had grown to the size of a golf ball. They thought it was infected and would clear up on its own, but the doctor said to come in right away. Matt went in for the appointment, did labs and a urine test, only to find out that he had testicular cancer. This was the moment their whole world changed. After more tests that week, Matt was scheduled for emergency surgery to remove the testicle. His surgery was May 8, 2020, and it took him about a week to recover from the procedure. Their two little girls took care of him the whole time (reading to him and snuggling with him). Every 3 months, Matt has had CT scans to make sure that the cancer was gone, and for almost a year it was...

“The cancer is back and it has spread,” are the words that no one ever wants to hear. On September 16, 2021 these were the words Matt heard when he was hoping he would be in remission. The cancer spread to two lymph nodes and he would need radiation for 3.5 weeks or more. The next week or so is a blur of doctors appointments and setting up the radiation cast Matt lays in so that the radiation hopefully misses his kidneys. Radiation would be every day, starting October 5, 2021. Thankfully he will have weekends off, but he will be extremely tired a couple of weeks in. The hardest part will be waiting for 3 months to see if the radiation works or if he needs to do chemo. They will find out the results in late February 2022, which is right before his wife is due with baby #3.

Matt will likely not be fertile after treatment, so they will need to bank sperm in order to have more children if they decide to, and Lo will need to undergo IUI to get pregnant. Even though they have been successful with natural pregnancies, they would have to go this route so that they can have the highest chance of pregnancy. However, they found out this would all be expensive out of pocket costs.

About a month prior to finding out that the cancer was back, Matt was let go from his job due to company COVID policies (NO unemployment benefits). Due to ongoing misfortune, the family was without health insurance and now has insurance that won’t cover cancer treatment or fertility. He is the breadwinner in the family, and it has been a huge adjustment and taken all of the family's savings and family support to pay the mortgage, electric, etc. During the same month, Matt and Lo found out that their daughter needed to have surgery on a hernia that was causing her pain. This would have to happen in the next three weeks (while Matt is battling radiation). Finally, Lo’s car was hit by a deer (everyone is ok), and they are hopeful the car isn’t totaled. They were saving to get a van that would accommodate the whole family, with this car as the trade in. Needless to say it has been an eventful and stressful 5 weeks or so.

What does the family need the money for?

~Medical bills that aren’t covered by insurance

~Mortgage while Matt job hunts (Lo homeschools the kids during the day and owns a small business as well)

~Other everyday expenses to get through this extremely tough time

Please consider donating any amount that you can give to this family. They have so many immediate needs, and the bills are rolling in and piling up while they are in the process of recovering from bad news, pain, treatments, surgery, all while growing another little life. Thank you so much for your time and donations, it is so appreciated.