Protons for Lesley

We are now to the radiation part of my treatment - we have gotten multiple opinions and done a lot of research and have come to the conclusion that Proton Therapy Radiation is the best and safest option for me. My cancer is located on the left side right above my heart - this poses extra risk to my heart and lungs from traditional radiation because as much as they will try to avoid it my heart and lungs will receive some radiation which is not good. Proton Therapy radiation is much more targeted and can avoid my heart and lungs altogether. It reduces the risk of a heart related incident due to radiation by 42%! My heart has already taken one hit from chemo and we want to protect it as much as we can - we plan for it to beat strong for many years to come! The only problem is that there is not a Proton center in-network for me and my insurance has denied our request for out of network treatment. The estimated cost of this treatment is around $62,000. This is such a hard decision to make because on one hand you can't put a price on your health and what could be potentially life saving treatment, and on the other hand it would be putting our family into quite a bit of debt. If you feel led to help us ease this burden we would be more appreciative than my feeble words can express. The plan will be for me to start treatment at the Proton Therapy clinic in Knoxville, TN 3-4 weeks after my surgery on July 18. I will have to stay up there 5-6 weeks. This will be tough logistically but we feel like it is worth it in the long run. (If you have any questions about specifics, please don't hesitate to ask)