Please Help Gloria During Her Cancer Journey

Hi Everyone, my name is Gloria. Some of you may know me personally, some of you I have met online through my teaching business, and some of you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet. I am writing on this page because the year 2023 has, for the most part, not been kind to me.

Without getting into the extraneous events of the year which have also been devastating, I will get right to the point. I have been diagnosed with head and neck cancer. What started out as a small but hard lump inside the right side of my neck this late spring, has grown to a 5 cm mass. I went to my general practitioner who ordered a neck biopsy. It showed squamous cell carcinoma, which is a form of skin cancer. I found it odd that it was on the inside of my neck and growing. I have since seen ENT oncologists, surgeons, a radiologist, a rheumatologist (I have multiple immune disorders that could affect my treatment). The cancer has spread to my lymph nodes.

After meeting with the oncologist surgeon the first time, upon his advice, I was hospitalized just this past Tuesday and put completely under so that he could take a closer look on the inside to find out where the cancer originated. After I woke up very sore, I was told that the cancer started in my right tonsil. He didn’t take it out, as it was an exploratory visit. He took various biopsies in my mouth and neck area and hopefully with speedy results. Once he gets that he will either recommend surgery plus chemo and radiation, or just chemo and radiation. Still waiting on those results.

I will be getting a second opinion once the results are in with an oncologist surgeon at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Care Center in Buffalo, NY. So far I have been treated at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, NY and everyone there has been absolutely wonderful.

Having said all this, my husband and I are in desperate need of help. So far our bills are at about $10,000 out of pocket (we pay for our own health insurance with no help since neither of us have full-time jobs) and each day we get new bills for every visit, bloodwork, tests and procedures. We are expecting/estimating a total of about $20,000 just for medical care alone. All official bills will be uploaded for proof once we have everything organized.

On top of that, I have been unemployed since June and my husband underemployed for all of 2023. Needless to say, this year has been rough in more ways than one. 

Right now we are asking for $20,000 for medical bills and will make any adjustments as necessary. We would greatly appreciate anything you are able to contribute. I will keep you all posted on my journey. Thank you for reading my story and please feel free to share.