
Help Save River's Eye
Donation protected
This is not something I ever expected having to do, but my son River was just diagnosed with Retinoblastoma at 2.5 years old. It is an eye cancer that only occurs in children that only 200-300 children PER YEAR are diagnosed with this. We are seeking treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where there is a team who specialized in this specific type of cancer with a 99% success rate in curing it. However, we are currently uninsured. We were on Oregon State medicaid but now that we have moved to New Jersey they do not treat in this network. We have applied for NJ medicaid but have not heard back yet (treatment is in NY which is still out of network) and my job I just started doesn't have insurance starting for 90 days. We cannot wait 90 days to start treatment. We noticed a white spot in his eye about 2 weeks ago when the sun hit his eye at just the right angle. We called an eye doctor where the wait was out until February. We were planning on moving back to New Jersey (back where he was born) in a few days, so we waited until we got there to take him to his old pediatrician immediately. She said that she was very concerned about it and sent us to RWJ University Hospital directly from there to get tests done. From there he was admitted and we were told it was cancer. When he was diagnosed 2 weeks ago our son's doctor told us to expect his treatments to cost as much as a house. In a time like this all we want to focus on is our son's health but that is very difficult to do when you don't even know how you're going to pay for them to get better. As of now, he has not yet seen a specialist but has an appointment set for Tuesday 11/16 where his visit will cost $10k+ out of pocket and we need to pay before they will admit him. With his treatments, he will need to go under anesthesia each time to make sure he is still and comfortable. He has already been under anesthesia once for an MRI to make sure the cancer has not spread to other parts of his eyes or brain. From the MRI results it does not look like the cancer has reached his optic nerve so we are hopeful that he will not lose his eye so long as we start treatment ASAP. We will have to be "self-pay" patients throughout his treatment with money that we don't have. We are asking for any donation, even a dollar makes a difference. Any and all donations will be going directly to River's medical expenses and transportation to and from treatment. Please help us to get our son better.
Organizer
Garrett Leger
Organizer
Bridgewater, NJ