Helping Drew find a hero.

Every story has a hero, Drew is certainly one in this story, his mother Susan is as well. Now they need a hero of a different kind………

This all started 3 and a half years ago when thirty-year-old Drew found out he had cancer in his larynx. Because of the nature of the location, Chemo and radiation are out of the question. So, the only other way would be removal by operation. This was determined after 5 tumor boards had looked at his case attempting to figure out how to attack this cancer. Over the last 3 years Drew has spent most of it in bed, while recovering from any of the 15+ surgeries that have resulted in 13” of tumors being removed. He has gone for immunotherapy treatments every 20 days for years along with countless hours in doctors’ offices and hospitals. Throughout all this Drew has been a real champion, never complaining, always having a hand in booking his travel arrangements, and spending time with his kids, 2 amazing English bulldogs. In his mind he has always been determined that he would return to work, and for a short while this year he tried. After he was given a temporary clean bill of health, he did return to work but that was short lived. A short while later he started feeling bad again.

The worst news you could ever hear after being given an all clear is that your cancer has returned and spread. This was the icing on the proverbial cake of the challenging journey. This was a shock to the system for Drew and his mom, Susan. They hoped and prayed that he would never have to go through this again yet here they are. Once again being the hero in her son’s life, Susan has continued to work this whole time, paying for everything that insurance hasn’t covered for Drew along with all bills in the household. If she wasn’t at home taking care of him, she was at work or finding every little thing she could do to make money and then back home to take care of anything she could. She has eaten, breathed, and slept taking care of her son every moment since they first found out it was cancer. She has had to make the treacherous choice of taking care of her son or making money to take care of her son.

This brings us to present: Drew must have lifesaving surgery in January to have these new tumors removed. If he does not have surgery, metastases will result in all parts of his body, again. Most importantly the tumors will continue to grow where they are eventually blocking his trachea, epiglottis, and esophagus. Before Drew can have surgery in January there is a $7500 payment that has to be made. His treatments after surgery will also cost $900 each out of pocket.

We are striving to raise funds for travel and other expenses that will undoubtedly accumulate during this time. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to provide Drew and Susan some peace of mind while they continue to travel down this challenging path.

Every story has a hero. This one has a few. Will you be one of many? For Drew?