Medical Aid for Tommie (T.K.) and His Family

Hi everyone! My name is Joyce and I am starting this campaign for my son-in-law, Tommie King, some of whom many of you know as T.K. I am hoping this helps him with some assistance towards medical bills that have started piling up for him and my daughter (his wife), Traci King.

Here’s their story: In February of 2024, Tommie showed my daughter what looked like a raised scratch on the upper side of his back. He is a landscaper and is outdoors quite often, so they really didn’t think much of it. (It looked like a scratch from a tree branch or bush.) It then began to grow and was more raised than before. They went to the doctor, who gave him a steroid cream and told him it should clear up in a few days… it did not. They were then referred to a dermatologist who did not know what it was and did a biopsy, and unfortunately, it came back as cutaneous lymphoma. This is a type of skin cancer that could be treated with radiation. Although the biopsy results were not what they wanted, they were both relieved it was treatable without chemotherapy and contained to the one area of his back.

In March of 2024, he started radiation (16 days in a row). After his final treatment, his doctor said his skin looked good and the radiation should have done the trick and cleared up the cancer. They were sent on their way to continue life as normal. As happy as they were that he only needed radiation and the cancer was contained to his skin in this one spot, my daughter said she began to wonder… How do they know the radiation actually worked? How do they know that the cancer didn’t spread? Why wasn’t a follow-up scan ordered? It just didn’t sit right with her. She called to request a follow-up scan. She wanted “proof” that her husband was cancer-free. This was by far an extremely smart request.

The follow-up scan, in fact, did NOT show that he was cancer-free but instead lit up in his lower back. The doctors suggested further testing to find out exactly what it was. A bone marrow biopsy was ordered soon after, which confirmed the cancer was now in his spine, and he was diagnosed with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma ALK-negative CD30 positive, which is a very rare and aggressive cancer. They were crushed. Not only did they have to request a follow-up, but they also did not get the positive results we were hoping for.

Fast forward a little bit (sorry this is so long). Chemo was needed in a strong dose. As some of you know, my daughter has MS, and her husband is her rock, her helper, her provider. He always works so hard, maintaining a landscape and plowing business along with being there to support and help my daughter with her MS and their son who is in college. Panic began to set in. Her level of stress and concern was noticeable: “he can’t have chemo,” “he can’t get sick,” “we can’t do this,” BUT the truth of the matter is THEY CAN DO THIS! They are a team, always have been and always will be. They are T.K. and Traci! Just as he has taken care of her and been strong for her, it is now her turn. The only difference is, he would pick up extra jobs and work long hours, but she unfortunately is unable to do this with her MS. As much as she may want to, she simply cannot. This is where I come in to try and help eliminate the stress of medical bills and fear of financial strain for them.

Tommie is currently going through 6 rounds of high-dose chemo (BV-CHP). He has completed 4 rounds so far and has been told that he likely needs an autogenous transplant as unfortunately this rare cancer is known to come back. This would be a 2-week inpatient hospital stay where they would collect his healthy stem cells, store them, and then transplant them back into his body after they are treated with high doses of chemotherapy. He would receive around-the-clock care followed by rehab. I am hoping to be able to help them keep up with his medical bills as they are learning that chemo is far from cheap, and a substantial portion will fall on them. With having a son in college and Traci only being able to work very part-time with her MS, I am reaching out for help to try and relieve some stress for them so they can focus solely on Tommie getting through chemo, staying strong, keeping up with everyday life, and getting back to himself. Cancer sucks, but it definitely won’t win in this family!!!

If you made it to the end of this, I appreciate your time. Thank you. Anything helps and will be greatly appreciated. It took a bit for him to be okay with me making this page as he doesn’t like to ask for help as he is normally the one helping. Everyone needs help at some point, and the financial strain is something I know they would be grateful to have some help with.