Please Help Douglas Fransen

My name is Douglas Fransen. I’ve been a barber for the past 34 years. The last 5 years I’ve been working for Wooten Barbershop, across the street from UT in Austin, Texas.

It was suggested to me that I should make a GoFundMe, but I really wanted to figure everything out on my own. However, after much contemplation, I realized that we all need help no matter how hard it is to ask for.

The last few years have been hard on all of us. These last 3 years have been the hardest years of my life. My wife was diagnosed with stage 3 metastatic breast cancer. She had 3 major surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation. We did every treatment together - countless hours in the infusion room. I spent the night for weeks on end at the hospital with my wife, getting up every morning at 4:30 and going to the barbershop For 8-12 hour days, then going back to the hospital to be with my wife. The nurses (earth angels) would bring me coffee many mornings. I worked as hard as I could to stay on top of the never-ending medical bills. We graduated chemo together! She rang the bell after radiation last year. By October 2021, her oncologist said she was cancer-free - though we still go for check-ups every 2 months and CT Scans. Phew, we made it!

Then, on January 25th, I woke up in excruciating pain. My wife took me to the ER and I was admitted immediately. On January 29th, I had surgery for a lower bowel obstruction and required extensive intestinal repair. I spent two weeks in the hospital, released with an expected 8-12 weeks of healing and recovery.

I am truly struggling with the overwhelming medical bills incurred from my wife’s cancer treatments and now from the medical bills for my surgery and recovery.

The barbershop was closed for 6 weeks due to Covid restrictions. That, along with mounting bills: medical, rent, household, car, and insurance - has become more than I can keep up with and we’re struggling to keep our heads above water.

Because of all this unforeseen hardship, I am humbly asking for help. If there is any way you could spare any amount, no matter the size, it would help to get us through this. As I mentioned earlier, I know times are hard for everyone, so asking for help is hard, but any help at all is appreciated more than I can ever say.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this and I understand if you can’t donate, but please share my GoFundMe if you are able.

Sincerely,

Douglas Fransen