Help Steve Smith with Medical Expenses

In Mid-January, our father began complaining about sharp abdominal pain. He was constantly fatigued and had little or no appetite. He went to urgent care with little results. They sent him to a specialist for testing, but the insurance company wouldn't allow that unless the referral came from his primary physician. He had to wait a month to see his physician to get the referral. He was then sent to Upstate Hospital Gastroenterology where they began giving him tests but found nothing. His father, our grandfather, passed away on February 10th Dad and was in charge of his father’s wishes, and funeral Calling hours were scheduled for February 15th.

On February 14th, Valentine’s Day, dad was suffering from so much pain, he went to the Emergency Room at Upstate Hospital. It was there they found a very large tumor on his Pancreas. A later biopsy proved it to be an aggressive form of cancer.

Our family was and is still is devastated. To lose our grandfather and then immediately be told our father has a terminal illness.......Bad news usually doesn’t come in such rapid succession. Yet in the midst of a family’s worst nightmare, we’ve found that our father remains his usual strong and optimistic self. He has continued to work and is determined to seek treatment and fight this diagnosis. Some days he does both, going into work in Watertown and then commuting to either Syracuse or Rochester for appointments. Despite illness, his sense of hope is as healthy as it ever was. This is the fight of his life, and he is facing it head-on.

As his treatments progress, so will the toll it takes on his body. Soon he will not be able to continue at this daily pace.  Lately, his pain is becoming overwhelming.  He needs help.  Going two or more times a week to Syracuse and/or Rochester and missing work, the costs are beginning to pile up as well as his medical bills. Anything helps! We appreciate all of you who have banded together to make this difficult time for us easier. We ask for prayers and thoughts as dad will continue his journey on the 22nd for Surgery.