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Hi everyone.
My husband and I are kind of private when it comes to our personal lives. He doesn’t share much about what is going on with him especially health wise. We have struggled throughout the years with medical debt and each time we think we are about to be free of it, something else happens. My husband’s name is Jesse. He is 39 years old and we have been married for 9 years. He enjoys listening to music, playing his guitars, hiking with our dogs, fishing, being outdoors, playing video games, and spending time with family. He is the kindest man you’ll ever meet and is more than willing to do anything you need to help.
Jesse has always suffered from serious back issues throughout his adult life. When he was in his 20s, he was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease which is a narrowing of the discs between his vertebrae and this has prevented him from doing a lot of things he enjoys. Many times his back would go out to the point where he could barely walk and he’d have to spend days to weeks just laying down waiting for the pain to stop. In August 2017 he ruptured a disc in his lower back that paralyzed his left leg. Jesse underwent surgery to repair the disc and months of physical therapy to regain movement in his left leg. Even though he recovered from this, he still suffered extreme back pain. In December 2017 Jesse was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had surgery to remove the tumor and believed we caught it soon enough that it wouldn’t get the chance to spread. Throughout 2018 and 2019 Jesse continued to have back problems which would result in him missing work for days, weeks, or even months. We would get dropped from our health insurance due to his inability to work enough hours to qualify as a full time employee.
In the fall of 2019 Jesse’s back problems started to become worse and again he was unable to work. He was in and out of his doctors office and meeting with pain specialists to try different medicines and procedures to help with the pain. He received multiple rounds of epidurals to manage the pain and would get a decreasing amount of relief from each shot. In January 2020 Jesse had a procedure done called a nerve ablation. The doctor went in and burned 6 nerve groups in his back. The procedure helped to an extent but Jesse was still having pain and was starting to again to develop extreme pain and loss of movement in his left leg. The doctors believed that this pain was due to one of the nerve groups becoming inflamed as a result of the procedure and said it would take some time for it to calm down. Jesse went throughout the entire month of January still having to cope with all this pain and his left leg slowly getting worse. In February 2020 the pain in his left leg was intensifying. We thought he had ruptured another disc as the pain was similar to the rapture in 2017. We went back to the doctors and they ordered a CT Scan. Unfortunately we had to wait for the insurance to approve the scan which could take up to 2 weeks. Every day we waited Jesse’s pain seemed to increase exponentially. The pain got to the point where he could barely walk and we ended up in the emergency room. While there the doctors were able override the insurance and do the CT scan. When the doctor gave us the results of the scan he announced that the pain wasn’t from Jesse’s back and instead was coming from a mass the size of a grapefruit in the lower left side of his abdomen. This mass was pushing on his internal organs and on the nerves going down his left leg. The ER doctor informed us that they had contacted the on call oncologist and we had an appointment with her the next day. We met with the oncologist and she confirmed what we suspected, the testicular cancer had spread. Jesse’s tumor markers were above 1900, when less than 200 was a normal level, and his cancer had metastasized. The oncologist advised that due to the size and location of the mass they would not be able to just go in and remove it but they did want to do a biopsy for confirmation that it was seminoma. The next morning Jesse needed to be rushed into the ER again because he was having trouble breathing and his heart rate was out of control. Jesse had another scan done and this time they found he had blood clots in his left leg and in both of his lungs. They decided to admit him into the hospital under critical care for observation and treatment as they were afraid he would have respiratory failure. During his time in the hospital they did tests almost everyday. He was hooked up to a heart monitor as they found out the blood clots in his lungs had damaged his heart. He had ultrasounds done on his heart, lungs, and left leg. They had him on an extreme amount of morphine and fentanyl to try to manage the pain. They completed a biopsy on the mass at this time and it came back as stage 3 seminoma cancer. Because of the amount of medication they had Jesse on he was out of it most days. The news of Jesse’s cancer spreading was concerning enough but to then have him in the hospital with the fear that I might lose him was almost too much. After 8 days of being in the hospital Jesse’s condition was stabilized enough that he was able to come home and begin the process of the treatment plan the oncologist had laid out for him. Jesse's treatment plan was a more aggressive approach. He would have chemo treatment for 5 days straight and then have the next 3 weeks off before he had another round of treatment, for a total of 20 treatment days.
As if the stress of your spouse going through all of this wasn’t enough, COVID quartaine was about to begin and I lost my job. Although not having to go into work allowed me to be by Jesse’s side while he was getting treatment, the stress of losing our only income and trying to find another job at a time when everything was shutting down didn’t help.
Jesse’s treatments were very rough on him. His first round made him so sick he could barely eat, drink, or move. Jesse was receiving 2 different types of chemo during his treatments which would be administered individually over the course of 5 to six 6 hours a day. After his week of receiving chemo he would spend the next week coming into the cancer center to get fluids due to the severe dehydration the chemo would cause. He was constantly nauseous and didn’t want to eat or drink anything. He would be hungry or thirsty for something one day and the next day not be able to handle the texture or taste of that item. It was a constant guessing game of what he would be able to eat or drink. His second week off from treatment would sometimes require him to come in for more fluids or he would be so drained of energy he wouldn’t be able to do much. His third week off from treatment would usually result in Jesse slowly starting to feel better. He would have a little more energy and a bit more of an appetite. But it would all start over again the next week as he would go through another 5 days of treatment. This was the cycle Jesse went through from March to June. Usually on his third week off treatment he would have enough energy to go for a walk or do something outside of the house.
Watching your loved one go through this process is very difficult. You can see the pain and agony in their eyes and you just want to do anything you can to fix it, but there is nothing you can do. I did my very best to stay positive and encouraging but some days were a lot harder than others.
Jesse’s last week of treatment was the first week in June. We were excited to be done and looking forward to him feeling better, as he always did after 3 weeks. The routine stayed the same, he got his treatment for the week and the next week or two he had to receive fluids. The third week is when he always started to regain his energy but this time, that wasn’t happening. Instead Jesse started to have a lot of problems with his blood pressure and heart rate. At one point he became overheated from just being outside that he almost passed out. We were back to the doctors and they kept trying different medicines to try and get his heart rate and blood pressure under control. Jesse could barely handle the heat and humidity of summer. We were afraid that if he got overheated again he would pass out or worse, potentially have a stroke. Jesse started to have pain in his hands and his feet. It was gradual at first. He couldn’t be on his feet for very long before the pain increased and he would have to lay down. Jesse went to several different specialists and went through testing until it was determined that he was suffering from chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (severe nerve damage) to both his hands and his feet. The neuropathy was also why his heart rate and blood pressure was out of control. The doctors were able to help keep Jesse’s heart rate and blood pressure under control but we were told that his hands and feet were going to take time to heal. The pain just kept increasing. Jesse could barely walk and he wouldn’t do a lot with his hands. He couldn't play the guitar, write, or some days even hold a glass. Jesse’s doctor suggested that he try physical therapy to try and help with the fatigue and loss of motor skills. Jesse went to two separate physical therapists. One that focused on his hands and another that focused on his feet. Over time his hands started to improve. He slowly started to get the ability to pick up his guitar and play it again. It took some time but eventually he regained full use of his hands again. However, his feet and legs continued to get worse. Walking or standing for even a short amount of time caused him severe pain. He continued to go to physical therapy for his feet until he was told by the therapist that there was nothing else they could do for him.
This is where we are now with his recovery. He is still experiencing a lot of pain in his feet and legs. We were told that it takes longer for the feet and legs to heal from neuropathy so it’s just a waiting game now. Jesse still isn’t able to work. Jesse’s nerve ablation to his back has started to wear off and he is starting to experience back pain again. He will have to go through the process of getting the procedure done again. Jesse will also have to have surgery to remove the port that was put in for him to receive his chemotherapy infusions.
While Jesse’s cancer is in remission and his neuropathy is slowly healing, we have accumulated a massive amount of medical debt due to the hospital stay, surgeries, chemotherapy, prescriptions and he will continue to have to get scans and testing done throughout the next 5 years (at least). It has been over a year since Jesse was able to work. I have been lucky enough to find a new job which is enough to cover household bills and health insurance but nothing more. We were encouraged to create a gofundme to help with the growing medical debt. We have been emotionally, mentally, and in Jesse’s case, physically beaten down over the past year. We have tried to handle this privately but have reached a point where we need to ask for help. Any support you can provide us is very MUCH appreciated. We have no idea what amount to anticipate and hope and pray that we do not have to go through all of this again. THANK YOU for your continued prayers and support.
My husband and I are kind of private when it comes to our personal lives. He doesn’t share much about what is going on with him especially health wise. We have struggled throughout the years with medical debt and each time we think we are about to be free of it, something else happens. My husband’s name is Jesse. He is 39 years old and we have been married for 9 years. He enjoys listening to music, playing his guitars, hiking with our dogs, fishing, being outdoors, playing video games, and spending time with family. He is the kindest man you’ll ever meet and is more than willing to do anything you need to help.
Jesse has always suffered from serious back issues throughout his adult life. When he was in his 20s, he was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease which is a narrowing of the discs between his vertebrae and this has prevented him from doing a lot of things he enjoys. Many times his back would go out to the point where he could barely walk and he’d have to spend days to weeks just laying down waiting for the pain to stop. In August 2017 he ruptured a disc in his lower back that paralyzed his left leg. Jesse underwent surgery to repair the disc and months of physical therapy to regain movement in his left leg. Even though he recovered from this, he still suffered extreme back pain. In December 2017 Jesse was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had surgery to remove the tumor and believed we caught it soon enough that it wouldn’t get the chance to spread. Throughout 2018 and 2019 Jesse continued to have back problems which would result in him missing work for days, weeks, or even months. We would get dropped from our health insurance due to his inability to work enough hours to qualify as a full time employee.
In the fall of 2019 Jesse’s back problems started to become worse and again he was unable to work. He was in and out of his doctors office and meeting with pain specialists to try different medicines and procedures to help with the pain. He received multiple rounds of epidurals to manage the pain and would get a decreasing amount of relief from each shot. In January 2020 Jesse had a procedure done called a nerve ablation. The doctor went in and burned 6 nerve groups in his back. The procedure helped to an extent but Jesse was still having pain and was starting to again to develop extreme pain and loss of movement in his left leg. The doctors believed that this pain was due to one of the nerve groups becoming inflamed as a result of the procedure and said it would take some time for it to calm down. Jesse went throughout the entire month of January still having to cope with all this pain and his left leg slowly getting worse. In February 2020 the pain in his left leg was intensifying. We thought he had ruptured another disc as the pain was similar to the rapture in 2017. We went back to the doctors and they ordered a CT Scan. Unfortunately we had to wait for the insurance to approve the scan which could take up to 2 weeks. Every day we waited Jesse’s pain seemed to increase exponentially. The pain got to the point where he could barely walk and we ended up in the emergency room. While there the doctors were able override the insurance and do the CT scan. When the doctor gave us the results of the scan he announced that the pain wasn’t from Jesse’s back and instead was coming from a mass the size of a grapefruit in the lower left side of his abdomen. This mass was pushing on his internal organs and on the nerves going down his left leg. The ER doctor informed us that they had contacted the on call oncologist and we had an appointment with her the next day. We met with the oncologist and she confirmed what we suspected, the testicular cancer had spread. Jesse’s tumor markers were above 1900, when less than 200 was a normal level, and his cancer had metastasized. The oncologist advised that due to the size and location of the mass they would not be able to just go in and remove it but they did want to do a biopsy for confirmation that it was seminoma. The next morning Jesse needed to be rushed into the ER again because he was having trouble breathing and his heart rate was out of control. Jesse had another scan done and this time they found he had blood clots in his left leg and in both of his lungs. They decided to admit him into the hospital under critical care for observation and treatment as they were afraid he would have respiratory failure. During his time in the hospital they did tests almost everyday. He was hooked up to a heart monitor as they found out the blood clots in his lungs had damaged his heart. He had ultrasounds done on his heart, lungs, and left leg. They had him on an extreme amount of morphine and fentanyl to try to manage the pain. They completed a biopsy on the mass at this time and it came back as stage 3 seminoma cancer. Because of the amount of medication they had Jesse on he was out of it most days. The news of Jesse’s cancer spreading was concerning enough but to then have him in the hospital with the fear that I might lose him was almost too much. After 8 days of being in the hospital Jesse’s condition was stabilized enough that he was able to come home and begin the process of the treatment plan the oncologist had laid out for him. Jesse's treatment plan was a more aggressive approach. He would have chemo treatment for 5 days straight and then have the next 3 weeks off before he had another round of treatment, for a total of 20 treatment days.
As if the stress of your spouse going through all of this wasn’t enough, COVID quartaine was about to begin and I lost my job. Although not having to go into work allowed me to be by Jesse’s side while he was getting treatment, the stress of losing our only income and trying to find another job at a time when everything was shutting down didn’t help.
Jesse’s treatments were very rough on him. His first round made him so sick he could barely eat, drink, or move. Jesse was receiving 2 different types of chemo during his treatments which would be administered individually over the course of 5 to six 6 hours a day. After his week of receiving chemo he would spend the next week coming into the cancer center to get fluids due to the severe dehydration the chemo would cause. He was constantly nauseous and didn’t want to eat or drink anything. He would be hungry or thirsty for something one day and the next day not be able to handle the texture or taste of that item. It was a constant guessing game of what he would be able to eat or drink. His second week off from treatment would sometimes require him to come in for more fluids or he would be so drained of energy he wouldn’t be able to do much. His third week off from treatment would usually result in Jesse slowly starting to feel better. He would have a little more energy and a bit more of an appetite. But it would all start over again the next week as he would go through another 5 days of treatment. This was the cycle Jesse went through from March to June. Usually on his third week off treatment he would have enough energy to go for a walk or do something outside of the house.
Watching your loved one go through this process is very difficult. You can see the pain and agony in their eyes and you just want to do anything you can to fix it, but there is nothing you can do. I did my very best to stay positive and encouraging but some days were a lot harder than others.
Jesse’s last week of treatment was the first week in June. We were excited to be done and looking forward to him feeling better, as he always did after 3 weeks. The routine stayed the same, he got his treatment for the week and the next week or two he had to receive fluids. The third week is when he always started to regain his energy but this time, that wasn’t happening. Instead Jesse started to have a lot of problems with his blood pressure and heart rate. At one point he became overheated from just being outside that he almost passed out. We were back to the doctors and they kept trying different medicines to try and get his heart rate and blood pressure under control. Jesse could barely handle the heat and humidity of summer. We were afraid that if he got overheated again he would pass out or worse, potentially have a stroke. Jesse started to have pain in his hands and his feet. It was gradual at first. He couldn’t be on his feet for very long before the pain increased and he would have to lay down. Jesse went to several different specialists and went through testing until it was determined that he was suffering from chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy (severe nerve damage) to both his hands and his feet. The neuropathy was also why his heart rate and blood pressure was out of control. The doctors were able to help keep Jesse’s heart rate and blood pressure under control but we were told that his hands and feet were going to take time to heal. The pain just kept increasing. Jesse could barely walk and he wouldn’t do a lot with his hands. He couldn't play the guitar, write, or some days even hold a glass. Jesse’s doctor suggested that he try physical therapy to try and help with the fatigue and loss of motor skills. Jesse went to two separate physical therapists. One that focused on his hands and another that focused on his feet. Over time his hands started to improve. He slowly started to get the ability to pick up his guitar and play it again. It took some time but eventually he regained full use of his hands again. However, his feet and legs continued to get worse. Walking or standing for even a short amount of time caused him severe pain. He continued to go to physical therapy for his feet until he was told by the therapist that there was nothing else they could do for him.
This is where we are now with his recovery. He is still experiencing a lot of pain in his feet and legs. We were told that it takes longer for the feet and legs to heal from neuropathy so it’s just a waiting game now. Jesse still isn’t able to work. Jesse’s nerve ablation to his back has started to wear off and he is starting to experience back pain again. He will have to go through the process of getting the procedure done again. Jesse will also have to have surgery to remove the port that was put in for him to receive his chemotherapy infusions.
While Jesse’s cancer is in remission and his neuropathy is slowly healing, we have accumulated a massive amount of medical debt due to the hospital stay, surgeries, chemotherapy, prescriptions and he will continue to have to get scans and testing done throughout the next 5 years (at least). It has been over a year since Jesse was able to work. I have been lucky enough to find a new job which is enough to cover household bills and health insurance but nothing more. We were encouraged to create a gofundme to help with the growing medical debt. We have been emotionally, mentally, and in Jesse’s case, physically beaten down over the past year. We have tried to handle this privately but have reached a point where we need to ask for help. Any support you can provide us is very MUCH appreciated. We have no idea what amount to anticipate and hope and pray that we do not have to go through all of this again. THANK YOU for your continued prayers and support.