Hi there!

This go fund me is something I never thought I'd ever have to start...

Anyone who knows my younger brother Sam knows what a great person he is. The nicest/genuine/kindest person I know, and one of my best friends. He's 25 and was just diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma from a growth on his back that we didn't notice soon enough and had left untreated for 2+ years. After the surgery to remove it a few weeks ago, and a biopsy was also done on his lymph nodes, we discovered that it is worse than we thought - stage 3 at best. We are waiting for more sonograms/full body imaging to be done over the next few weeks to see where and how badly it has spread, before treatment begins. I will provide an update as soon as we have one after that.

My brother just got health insurance because of this and has already had to give several thousand dollars out of pocket due to initial deductibles, and going forward not everything is covered. He is an apprentice plumber, studying to become a journeyman, and will be in and out of work going forward as well, so money will be tight. He lives with me and my daughter, and is a huge part of our lives so we are all taking this pretty hard. After helping take care of my aunt until she passed from breast cancer, I'll admit I have some extra intense anxiety about all of this, even though Sam is putting on a good face for us and maintaining his usual good spirits (if you know him you know what I'm talking about).

I'm not sure why bad things happen to good people... but we are lucky to have so many good friends around us when the bad things do happen. If you can't afford to donate anything (I know everyone's tight these days) please re-post/share this GFM and send us some prayers :)

Thank you!

-Sarah