Tom is a wonderful and loving father to 4 boys, he's a loving husband, a cherished son, a brother, and a thoughtful and kind friend to so many. He has fought for the past 6 years against Lyme Disease. Tom has been on countless medications and supplements to fight Lyme Disease and several specialist appointments that insurance wouldn't cover. There were so many days that he was very ill. He was unable to get out of bed, work, or be with his family. He has been to so many specialists trying to cure him of this debilitating disease. He would experience wave after wave of exacerbations from the Lyme Disease and was worried that he couldn't be cured. Finally, after years of treatment, Tom thought that he might be in remission.

All of a sudden, he began feeling unwell again and thought that it was yet another flare-up of the Lyme. He was tired, had lost a lot of weight, and was miserable. Then, he noticed a lump in his throat that was making it uncomfortable to swallow. Something about that lump just didn't feel right and they feared that this wasn't Lyme. He was able to get into the doctor's the next week where they did a biopsy. They were given a cancer diagnosis. At that time, they didn't know what type of cancer this was. Tom's father lost his life after a short battle with brain cancer 10 years ago. Several other members of Tom's family have also succumbed to cancer of various types. To say that Tom and his family were devastated and terrified of this news would be an understatement.

After PET scans, multiple biopsies, ultrasounds, CT scans, ER visits, and several oncologist appointments, it was determined that he had metastatic papillary thyroid cancer. Tom will be undergoing a complete removal of his thyroid and removal of 50 lymph nodes from his neck. This will require a 3-night hospital stay and a 4-week recovery period. Once he is recovered from surgery, he will need to undergo Radioactive Iodine Therapy (RAI) which will hopefully kill off any other cancer cells in his body. This will most likely result in another hospitalization, as the RAI can be harmful to his family.

After the initial treatments are complete, Tom will need frequent testing and monitoring to ensure that the cancer hasn't returned. With his family history, this is an unfortunate, but very real possibility. These tests will be ongoing, for the rest of his life. He will also undergo genetic testing to make sure that he has not passed any genes down to his 4 sons that would predispose them to cancer.

Through this all, Tom and his family are praying to God for a good outcome. They have faith that He has a plan. We are unsure what the cost of his medical bills will be, but we are asking for your help to support Tom and his family during this difficult time. Both Tom and his wife Mandie will be required to miss time from work and make several trips and overnight stays to receive treatment. Thank you for considering helping. We are so grateful to each and every one of you. God Bless!!