Donation protected
About 3 months ago, my wife, Tracy was diagnosed with cancer. She has an extremely rare (1 in 5 million) inoperable thymic carcinoid tumor. Most of these neuroendocrine types of cancer originate in the GI (gastrointestinal), however hers originated on her thymus. The thymus is in the chest area and the tumor has encased her major blood vessels moving up to her neck and head, restricting proper blood flow and causing her to experience a racing heart and swelling in her face and mostly left arm. This all causes her to tire easily, so she has been unable to work and has really had to learn to slow down. For those of you who know Tracy, this has been a great challenge for her!
The doctors here in Little Rock, strongly encouraged us to seek out MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Tracy had her first consultation earlier this month and while there learned the cancer is in a few other areas as well as possibility starting to affect her lymph nodes. Currently, she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment with three different types of chemo. After two months of treatment, here at home, she is scheduled to return to MD Anderson for an evaluation. If the chemo is working and significantly shrinking the tumors, we hope she can just continue on the chemo. However, there is a high likelihood that she will need to undergo radiation therapy. We have been told, if receiving radiation therapy, we will need to remain in Houston for 6-8 weeks! Just the flight to Houston, for our initial consultation, cost around $800! (fortunately we had a very generous donor help us get there, Thank You, Ben!). Needless to say, we are concerned about the cost of such a long stay.
I am currently on disability due to a double back fusion (4 rods and 8 screws). I consider this a blessing in a way, because it enables me to stay home and take care of Tracy 24/7 and for this I am grateful. However, her inability to work means that we are both on disability at the time. We could make ends meet if we did not have all the extra medical expenses. Unfortunately, the medical expenses are inevitable and most likely going to be continuing for years to come. If you are able, any assistance with our upcoming medical expenses would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Joe
About 3 months ago, my wife, Tracy was diagnosed with cancer. She has an extremely rare (1 in 5 million) inoperable thymic carcinoid tumor. Most of these neuroendocrine types of cancer originate in the GI (gastrointestinal), however hers originated on her thymus. The thymus is in the chest area and the tumor has encased her major blood vessels moving up to her neck and head, restricting proper blood flow and causing her to experience a racing heart and swelling in her face and mostly left arm. This all causes her to tire easily, so she has been unable to work and has really had to learn to slow down. For those of you who know Tracy, this has been a great challenge for her!
The doctors here in Little Rock, strongly encouraged us to seek out MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Tracy had her first consultation earlier this month and while there learned the cancer is in a few other areas as well as possibility starting to affect her lymph nodes. Currently, she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment with three different types of chemo. After two months of treatment, here at home, she is scheduled to return to MD Anderson for an evaluation. If the chemo is working and significantly shrinking the tumors, we hope she can just continue on the chemo. However, there is a high likelihood that she will need to undergo radiation therapy. We have been told, if receiving radiation therapy, we will need to remain in Houston for 6-8 weeks! Just the flight to Houston, for our initial consultation, cost around $800! (fortunately we had a very generous donor help us get there, Thank You, Ben!). Needless to say, we are concerned about the cost of such a long stay.
I am currently on disability due to a double back fusion (4 rods and 8 screws). I consider this a blessing in a way, because it enables me to stay home and take care of Tracy 24/7 and for this I am grateful. However, her inability to work means that we are both on disability at the time. We could make ends meet if we did not have all the extra medical expenses. Unfortunately, the medical expenses are inevitable and most likely going to be continuing for years to come. If you are able, any assistance with our upcoming medical expenses would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Joe
Organizer
Joe-Tracy Elliott
Organizer
Sherwood, AR