Help Leah Griffin With Medical Bills
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I am Leah’s mom and those of you that know her know that she is always one of the first to jump in and help anyone but she will never ask for help for herself. So I will tell her story in hopes of helping her.
In December of 2017, my healthy daughter was told that she had squamous cell carcinoma (a form of cancer) in her nose at a STAGE T-4. After many tests and consults with doctors it was determined that the cancer was localized to that area and had not spread!! Plans were made for surgery on January 16, 2018. On the day of her surgery they did a repeat scan to find that the cancer had totally eroded her nose, gone through her skull base and was now into her brain. The surgeons said this was a nasty, aggressive and fast moving cancer. We were told after her surgery that 1 - 3 weeks later and we may have been looking at a whole different problem. Either it being too later for surgery or having to treat first and try to shrink the tumor and the do surgery. Fortunately that wasn’t the case and the surgery proceeded and after a 10 - 12 hours surgery, she was in recovery!! Due to the extent of the damage from the cancer, they had to remove her nose, rebuild her skull base and she had 41 staples across the top of her head. She woke up from surgery singing! They kept her sedated until the next day and by the following day she was demanding to get out of bed and go for walks and her surgeon was ecstatic to give his permission. Once discharged from the hospital after surgery she went home to recover further and await Proton Radiation to begin. That began on February 26 and ended on April 12. She endured 58 treatments going for 29 days - 2 treatments a day. She never skipped a beat, she became a fiend to everyone she met. Her radiation doctor has even asked that she talk to him about being an ambassador once she is fully healed because of her positive attitude through everything. Once radiation ended she then began the wait to be deemed medically ready to begin the reconstruction process for her nose. As she healed from the damage of radiation it was discussed with her that reconstruction may not be the best and most viable option and it was suggested that she meet and discuss a prosthesis option. It’s not what she initially wanted but after studying the pros and cons - biggest con being needin up to 20’surgeries for the reconstruction, she agreed to investigate the prosthesis option. She met with that doctor yesterday and came out more excited about the process than I have seen her in a long time. She said she finally felt as if she could see the end of the road - we are nearing 9 months. Almost 9 months of being on disability from work at only 60% of her salary and no monthly commission. We all live to the best of our means but most live pay check to pay check. We never expect to have a devastating event and she never expected that she would be unable to go back to work for such a long time and she has still not been giving the go ahead to return. On top of struggling with bills, paying for parking, copays, deductibles, tolls, etc, she was told yesterday that her out of pocket for the prosthesis nose could be up to $5000. Money that she just doesn’t have.
I know and have witnessed the friend she is to many, often giving of herself and her time and never asking for anything in return.
So what I am asking is that if you can help and you can see it in your heart to help it would be much appreciated and if you can’t - maybe you could just share this I hopes that someone else who sees it may be able to help.
Thank you for taking the time to read and for anyway that you may choose to help!
In December of 2017, my healthy daughter was told that she had squamous cell carcinoma (a form of cancer) in her nose at a STAGE T-4. After many tests and consults with doctors it was determined that the cancer was localized to that area and had not spread!! Plans were made for surgery on January 16, 2018. On the day of her surgery they did a repeat scan to find that the cancer had totally eroded her nose, gone through her skull base and was now into her brain. The surgeons said this was a nasty, aggressive and fast moving cancer. We were told after her surgery that 1 - 3 weeks later and we may have been looking at a whole different problem. Either it being too later for surgery or having to treat first and try to shrink the tumor and the do surgery. Fortunately that wasn’t the case and the surgery proceeded and after a 10 - 12 hours surgery, she was in recovery!! Due to the extent of the damage from the cancer, they had to remove her nose, rebuild her skull base and she had 41 staples across the top of her head. She woke up from surgery singing! They kept her sedated until the next day and by the following day she was demanding to get out of bed and go for walks and her surgeon was ecstatic to give his permission. Once discharged from the hospital after surgery she went home to recover further and await Proton Radiation to begin. That began on February 26 and ended on April 12. She endured 58 treatments going for 29 days - 2 treatments a day. She never skipped a beat, she became a fiend to everyone she met. Her radiation doctor has even asked that she talk to him about being an ambassador once she is fully healed because of her positive attitude through everything. Once radiation ended she then began the wait to be deemed medically ready to begin the reconstruction process for her nose. As she healed from the damage of radiation it was discussed with her that reconstruction may not be the best and most viable option and it was suggested that she meet and discuss a prosthesis option. It’s not what she initially wanted but after studying the pros and cons - biggest con being needin up to 20’surgeries for the reconstruction, she agreed to investigate the prosthesis option. She met with that doctor yesterday and came out more excited about the process than I have seen her in a long time. She said she finally felt as if she could see the end of the road - we are nearing 9 months. Almost 9 months of being on disability from work at only 60% of her salary and no monthly commission. We all live to the best of our means but most live pay check to pay check. We never expect to have a devastating event and she never expected that she would be unable to go back to work for such a long time and she has still not been giving the go ahead to return. On top of struggling with bills, paying for parking, copays, deductibles, tolls, etc, she was told yesterday that her out of pocket for the prosthesis nose could be up to $5000. Money that she just doesn’t have.
I know and have witnessed the friend she is to many, often giving of herself and her time and never asking for anything in return.
So what I am asking is that if you can help and you can see it in your heart to help it would be much appreciated and if you can’t - maybe you could just share this I hopes that someone else who sees it may be able to help.
Thank you for taking the time to read and for anyway that you may choose to help!
Organizer
Dawn Locke
Organizer
Essex, MD
