No One Fights Alone -- Help Brook Fight Cancer

What price would one put on the life of a loved one: a child, a parent, a close relative, or a spouse? A rhetorical question I know, but please bear with me for a couple short paragraphs.

My wife and soulmate, Brook McFarland, has spent the last three years fighting cancer. She has endured multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, a major liver surgery, a clinical trial, and many setbacks and recurrences. Despite battling stage 4 cancer, she has remained the same person our family and friends know and love. Brook has a smile for everyone. She is joyful, puts EVERYONE before herself, has an absolute passion for children and caring for others, and is fiercely devoted to our five children: Sadie (25), Sydney (20), Carlie (17), Annie (12), and Benjamin (8). She lives and loves her life to the fullest, and she is unwilling to give up. Just some insight into the beautiful soul that she carries every day.

Now we are asking for help as we pursue what we believe is our best option.

After relentlessly exhausting our treatment options, we began searching and praying for another path. That search has led us to Envita Medical Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Brook will undergo an integrated and intensive, personalized treatment program over approximately four months.

There have been many times over the last three years when Brook would voice concern and even apologize for all of the time, expense and exhaustion that the travel to Ohio State/The James Cancer Center and MD Anderson in Houston has taken from our family. I would simply look at her and say “My Honor, My Privilege.” And off we would go. Asking others for help does not come easily to me. But sometimes loving someone also means being willing to set aside your pride and let others fight alongside you.

I recall one of our pastors saying that one should learn to “glance at the problems in life, and stare at the solutions.” I am doing my best at that in this situation, but here are a few of the problems: it’s two thousand miles away from our home and children, and there is no insurance for this type of treatment. The financial burden is substantial. We currently expect the total cost of treatment, procedures, travel, housing and follow-up care to approach $300,000:

• Approximately $150,000 for several months of daily treatment

• Potentially $40,000–$90,000 for an additional targeted procedure that we believe will be recommended

• Housing in Scottsdale for nearly four months

• Flights and travel between Arizona and home

• Continued follow-up care

• The added costs of keeping our family connected while Brook is 2,000 miles from home

That number is overwhelming to us. But we also know that $25, $50, and $100 donations, as well as every prayer, share and introduction add up. No gift is too small to help our family take another step forward.

So, it is very much My Honor and My Privilege to ask for your support on behalf of Brook. Our faith is strong, our resolve is strong, and we will never stop this fight. If it is in your heart and you would like to help in this fight, my wife and our entire family would be extremely grateful and blessed with any amount you may wish to give.

“My Honor, My Privilege” and “No One Fights Alone” are two phrases that are part of a tattoo that I have paying homage to my family. It will truly be Our Honor and Our Privilege for anyone that is willing fight alongside Brook and our family.

Godspeed to you all, and thank you!!