Bill's Cancer Fund

Hi, I'm Bill.

I'm a 72 year old graphic designer and musician (rock-n-roll bass player) who's been happy and healthy my entire life until...

In September I was diagnosed with Stage IV oral cancer that had spread to a couple of my lymph nodes. In October I underwent surgery to remove the masses on my neck that appeared in the scans. The surgery also involved taking a piece of flesh from my arm to reconstruct my tongue, as well as removing nerves and veins from my arm and shoulder to support all this. I'm still recovering from that -- which includes getting all my nourishment via a "PEG" tube that puts liquid nutrients directly into my stomach. I'm slowly learning to swallow again.

Now I'm scheduled to start chemo and radiation in a week. This has been described to me by the doctors, oncologists, and therapists as being "brutal." Chemo will make me sick to my stomach and radiation will burn my mouth, throat, and neck -- like having the worst sunburn ever, inside and out. It will also mean driving 40 minutes to the oncology center (and back, obviously), every day for six and a half weeks. That alone was going to stretch our financial resources...

...but then today my wife received a phone call from HR at her company. She is one of a group of people being laid off in response to "business downturns."

Talk about timing. <sigh>

I'm sure just about anyone with cancer can use some help, but we were thinking we could get through this with some luck... but without Cara's salary and health insurance (which covers her and her young adult sons), it's not going to be possible. At all.

I hate being in this position, but I've been determined from the beginning to keep moving forward with my treatment and doing my best to keep working remotely in the hopes that life gets "back to normal" within six months or so. It'll be a new normal, no matter what, but if we can't actually weather these next six months, it all becomes meaningless. Food, rent, medical bills, drug copays, gas to get to treatments... I can't even begin to count it all. And if you're wondering, my social security check basically covers our rent with enough left over for a tank of gas.

Basically I'm asking anyone with the means to comfortably do so, to help us survive these next six months while I go through treatment and Cara cares for me, and while she begins looking for a new job and while I recover enough to get back to my freelance work. It's going to be painful, messy, not fun...

It'll still beat the alternative.

We will both appreciate any contribution that helps us get past all this.

Our deepest thanks to any who have read this far.

Most sincerely,

Bill Brickley and Cara Young.

PS: Folks have asked about helping with transportation. We are located in Front Royal, VA and the Oncology center is 40 minutes north in Winchester, VA. (Surgery took place at UVA, an hour and 45 minutes south of us in Charlottesville.) Depending on how Cara's job search progresses, we may or may not need help with the actual transportation -- beyond fuel costs, anyway.

PPS: It's now been a week since I created this Gofundme page and I am... astounded, humbled, stunned, uplifted... a dozen more words that cover emotions I can barely describe.

Nearly 200 people have contributed and there are many whose names neither Cara nor I recognize. I can only guess that most of those are friends of our friends who chose to support a cause their friends support. That's such a positive thing to learn about our little corner of the universe, the multiverse, cyberspace... wherever it is that we all really live.

We'll be thanking everyone individually over the next few weeks, but for now we'd both like to express our deepest and broadest appreciation to everyone who has contributed and or promoted this effort. It's making a difference already, but will be much more important beginning next week.

THANK YOU.