Join Phil's Journey: Overcoming Cancer

Phil Lunsford is in his 3rd battle with cancer. In 2016, a cancerous mass was found on the inside of his heart (Non Hodgkin Large B Cell Lymphoma). He spent 5 months in New Orleans at Oschners Hospital, and the cancer went into remission.

In 2018, he began having problems with his vision. He was sent to an eye oncologist in Houston who confirmed that his cancer had returned to his eyes. After chemotherapy and radiation to his eyes, the cancer was gone, but he was told that without a stem cell transplant, the cancer would most likely return very quickly. In order to prepare for the stem cell transplant, which took place in 2019, he had to endure several more rounds of chemo in New Orleans. He spent several months there recovering from the stem cell transplant. The Covid Pandemic hit right after the transplant, so his wife, Samantha, retired early from teaching so that she would not bring germs home to Phil. Things were great after the stem cell transplant... Phil was cancer free for almost 5 years, for which God gets ALL of the glory, and Phil was even able to return to work. Phil is a self employed carpenter.

However, in February of this year, Phil's family started noticing small changes in him. He was forgetting things, getting confused, and slurring his speech. In March, he was taken to the hospital because Samantha feared he was having a stroke. After a few hospital visits, 3 masses were found on his brain, the largest mass being 3 cm. The family decided to seek treatment for Phil at Emory University Cancer Research Hospital in Atlanta. After a brain biopsy, it was confirmed that Phil's cancer had once again returned. Inpatient chemotherapy began immediately.

After the first round of chemo, it was discovered that it was too hard for Phil's kidneys; due to the previous chemotherapy, he has kidney disease. So, the doctors switched the chemo drugs. When Phil was released from the hospital after his second round of chemo, he returned home to West Monroe in order to try and get some work done. He was able to work one day but then became so weak he was unable to do anything. He began running fever and could no longer walk, so he was taken to the ER where they discovered that he had become septic.

Glenwood Hospital said that they could not treat him, and it would be in Phil's best interest to go somewhere else for treatment. He was flown that night by medical helicopter back to Atlanta and sent directly to the ICU. After 10 days in the hospital, he was released, but must remain in the Atlanta area since he will be receiving IV antibiotics for the next several weeks. His chemotherapy has been put on hold until the blood infections are cleared up.

Once chemo does begin again, he will be admitted to the hospital for a week and then will need to remain in the Atlanta area for 5-7 days to make sure he does not become septic again. The doctors are advising that he stay in Atlanta until his treatments are complete. Unfortunately, the bills are beginning to come in, so Samantha feels she may have no other choice but to return to West Monroe and work while Phil stays in Atlanta. She would really like to be able to stay with him in Atlanta throughout this journey.

In March, Phil and Samantha had to make the decision to move into their AirBnB, which was their main source of income, and put their home up for sale. It was impossible for Samantha to take care of the AirBnB property and care for Phil. Their house is currently on the market in West Monroe but has yet to sell. Unfortunately, they still have a mortgage on that property and the only income they currently have is Phil's medicare and Samantha's teacher retirement. Samantha has cleaned houses since retiring but has been unable to continue doing that since Phil's cancer returned. Phil and Samantha have good health insurance but because he is out of state getting treatment, many things are not covered. They were told that the helicopter flight that helped to save his life alone will cost $10,000-$20,000... they are hopeful insurance will cover some of that cost.

A note from Samantha:

"We have NEVER wanted to ask for help, but have had friends reaching out asking what they can do. We were asked by a couple of friends today if we would let them start a Go Fund Me page for us. As much as I do not want to ask for help, I want more to be able to remain with Phil in Atlanta for the rest of his treatments."

Friends, let's rally together and support this precious family by relieving some of the financial burden that cancer has caused them.