Matt's Cancer Treatments

Matthew Aaron Goldberg is my uncle. His cancer journey, over the last few years, has been a rollercoaster of emotion. He has walked through all the stages, ups and downs, positives and negatives, yes's and no's, that come with a disease that won't leave. Long before his diagnosis, he overcame incredible odds to develop a powerful testimony. Through his own strength, the love of his family and friends, and the Lord's leading, I watched him radically transform his life to be a strong husband to his beautiful wife, Colleen. He has been a powerful figure in the lives of her children, as well.

 
                                              They were married on June 16th, 2017.

A month later, the doctor first told him cancer treatments would need to begin immediately. Since then, he's spent four months of his life cancer-free. These are his words to share:

 

"I’ve been on this journey for over four and half years now. I am tired, beaten, and broken. I want to be healed, I want to move forward with life separated from cancer.

 

I have had 3 failed treatments to date, such as B&R, R&R, and OCHOP. All have failed and not brought remission. I have Follicular non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which is currently stage 3, grade 1/2. Car-T is the latest treatment to be approved by the FDA. It essentially takes my t-cells out of my body and sends them to a lab. That is where they reprogram the cells to target the CD19 cancer-causing cells. Once programmed, they put them back in my body, and then it goes to work. The success rate for follicular is about 70 percent of patients reaching remission and staying in it past a year. I have high hopes for this treatment.

 

With my insurance, I have been limited in Alabama, where I live, in how I can get this treatment. I tried and was denied, so now I am heading to Nashville, Tennessee where it has been approved. I have not been working full-time for many months now. My normal career is as a conductor for CSX, but right now I am just thankful I have been able to get out of the house for a few hours a day working on a golf course. Staring at four walls every day during these last OCHOP treatments has been brutal, not to mention all the side effects from it."

 

Here's the most important information to know: Uncle Matt needs to spend around 6 weeks in Nashville, from April 12th to May 19th. As anyone who has experienced cancer in their lives knows, everything is always up in the air until it is here. At this point in time, those dates are set but could be extended at a moment's notice. This Gofundme is intended to raise money for:

 

The primary and most important immediate need is lodging from April 12th to May 19th, as well as the travel expenses to get to Nashville from Alabama. After the lodging is taken care of, the next set of expenses will be the copays that come with the medicines he has to be on during the treatments, as well as the medical bills/expenses that the insurance won't be able to cover. This is a very expensive treatment, and while the insurance he is working with seems to be moving forward, he is still wholly unsure just how much will be covered. He also still has medical debt from previous treatments that did not work. There are also living expenses to accommodate for with his family - he has been unable to physically work for a decent time now.

 

The amount has been set, but the goal is to exceed it. I expect abundant provision to show up! This doesn't just have to be financial - if you have resources, connections, ideas, or leads to potential lodging, ways to help living expenses, or potential grants he may qualify for, please reach out to me here.

 

No matter your religious background, I want to share that my prayer/hope for Uncle Matt's journey going forward is this:

 

As he travels the desert towards the promised land of healing, his faith, grace, and body is strengthened by God's provision, like manna from the sky.