End of Life costs for Mike Thompson

Hi, my name is Shelley and I’m starting this fundraiser on behalf of my step dad, Mike, and my mom, Stephanie. For those of you that don’t know Mike, he is an amazing musician, a master electrician, a fiercely loyal and loving husband, an exceptional father, and an even better Pop Pop to his grandkids. He is a friend to many, a mentor, and to know him is to love him. He has been mostly healthy for many years, always playing guitar, or in a serious game of golf with his wife on Nintendo Sports. When he started feeling sick a few weeks ago, Stephanie took him to see his primary doctor. Thankfully his doctor ordered tests to get to the bottom of it. On April 13th, our world was turned upside down when his doctor sent him to the emergency room due to dangerously low hemoglobin. After a transfusion and scans, they informed Mike of the unthinkable. What started as a normal doctor visit, turned into a cancer diagnosis. Metastatic gastroesophageal cancer. To say this was jarring and completely out of nowhere is an understatement. Mike is luckily in the hands of some wonderful oncologists and specialists at the University of Kentucky. He had his first radiation treatment yesterday (4/27/23), and his second today. He and Stephanie both work for UK, but as you can imagine, this is going to be a long, hard fight. He has been an electrician for many, many years and has a great job, but he is not going to be able to work for a while. Obviously, the financial ramifications of this diagnosis are hard to even fathom. Mike and Stephanie have worked so hard for many years to build a life together, and their bond is something most people dream of. They are also the last people in this world that would ask for help, but the first that would lend a hand to anyone in need. Thankfully, they gave me the green light to try and raise some money to help with the financial burden. We don’t know how far this will set them back, but I just don’t want them to have to stress about money while Mike is fighting against this horrible disease. There is a very long road ahead of them, and I just hope this can help them in any way. If you can donate, I can’t tell you how much it will mean to our family. Mike has 3 kids (Erika, Brandon, and Bailey) and 2 stepchildren (myself and my brother Zakk), and 9 grandchildren. We all want him to get better and are all working together to help our parents as much as we can. If you can’t donate, please share this wherever you can and help me boost this so we can reach more people. Thank you for reading and thank you for any donation or share.