Helping our friends, Charley & Nini Nelms

If you know our good friend and brother Charley Nelms, you know that he’s much more comfortable doing for others than himself.  He’s much too proud to ever ask for any kind of help.   Luckily for him, he has great friends that are eager to lend a helping hand.  First, some background....

As many of you know, Charley has had a tough stretch of road to navigate the past 12 months.  His hellish journey started in August 2018 when Charley met with his doctor regarding a sore on his foot that wouldn’t heal.  Charley has diabetes and this is not uncommon.  Unfortunately, his big toe ultimately had to be amputated.  The recovery had its setbacks and required many expensive sessions in a hyperbaric chamber.  Charley did recover sufficiently to get back to work early this year only to get laid off a few weeks later, losing his health insurance in the process.  Charley’s loving wife and primary caregiver, Nini, doesn’t have insurance with her job so they found themselves in a pickle.  Unable to afford COBRA, Charley decided to take a chance that he’d be OK until his 65th birthday later this year when he’d become eligible for Medicare.   It wasn’t to be...

A few weeks later, a lesion on Charley’s head was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma - skin cancer.  The good news is that it doesn’t appear the cancer has spread. However, in the process of the diagnosis, he was found to have quite a lot of fluid on his left lung that had to be removed surgically - nearly two liters!  Furthermore, as the docs attempted to treat the lesion, it became clear that there were many more cancerous spots on his head, requiring the complete removal of his scalp - a very-involved and EXPENSIVE surgical procedure.

The road to recovery for Charley continues to be fraught with speed bumps - the latest being another surgery this week to remove the skin graft on his scalp (the initial procedure didn’t take and the skin died) along with the removal of another liter of fluid from his lung.  He has a fresh graft of surgical “skin” and the docs are optimistic it will take.  However, all of this has taken a huge toll on Charley and Nini - financially and emotionally.

Let’s come together in Charley’s moment of need and show him how much he means to us all.   First, I humbly ask you to keep Charley in your prayers and ask your friends and family to join us in praying for his full recovery.   Second (and no less important), I’m asking you to make a gift from your heart and your wallet. You know Charley and Nini would never ask - and will appreciate your generosity more than you will ever know.  Any and all gifts are welcome.

Thanks in advance for your generosity and God Bless!

Wendel