Phil’s fight against stage 4 throat cancer

Recent updates below.

Hi, all. My name is Jessica, and I’m Phil’s daughter. I’m asking for some assistance in my dad’s fight against stage 4 throat cancer so far consisting of extensive surgery, 2 hospital stays, 33 rounds of radiation, and 6 chemo sessions. A little bit about what he has been through over the last few months…

On May 2nd of this year, my dad was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in his throat after months of looking for answers, officially stage four.

He had surgery on June 15 for removal of the mass in his throat, removal of his soft palate, and removal of 93 of the lymph nodes in his neck. He had to stay in the hospital for 5 days. Though he ended up with an infection and needed a temporary nasal feeding tube, after all was said and done, he recovered like a champ.

Then, just under one month later in July, there was a terrifying complication from the surgery. He had severe hemorrhaging from his throat, and we didn’t know if he was going to make it. It was one of the scariest nights of our lives. He needed 4 blood transfusions and a 4 night hospital stay. This was the first unexpected complication. He made a miraculous recovery from that, and his strength absolutely blew us away.

His radiation and chemo journey has started. He needs 33 rounds of radiation and 6 chemo sessions. He‘s successfully started his radiation as of August. However, chemo was initially delayed due to low white blood cells. He has had to receive a series of injections, three times/week, to keep his white blood cells up. He was finally able to get his first chemo session on August 15 and has to continue with the injections every week. The side effects of all of these treatments are truly a force to be reckoned with. But so is my dad.

With all of these unexpected complications, hospital stays, doctor visits, food for the special diet he’s on, travel to and from treatment 5 days a week, radiation, and especially the cost of the chemotherapy, this is where I’m asking for your help. Insurance has covered a lot less than we had anticipated, and we really thought we could keep up. We’ve been working hard as a family to make it work, but the unexpected bills have had added up so much faster than we could have ever thought. It has been an incredibly challenging journey, and we still have the road ahead of us.

A donation, a share, a prayer, a positive vibe… anything will help. The doctor’s goal for my dad’s treatment is curative. They expect him to go on to live cancer free with a good quality of life. That’s a huge deal, and we want to make sure he has every chance possible to hit that goal.

My dad is not one that is good at asking for help and values his privacy. He is always the helper, but he never asks for anything in return. So I’m doing this for him, to help win this. We all know he is also one to NEVER step down or shy away from a fight… and he can fight like hell!!!

I truly appreciate your time in reading this and any help you can give. Thank you so much.