Rodney's Battle: From Cancer to Recovery

Hello, my name is Debbie Burke and this fundraiser is for my son Rodney Burke. One day while working, he injured his shoulder and went to the hospital. They took X-rays and found that he had a torn rotator cuff, and that is when they found that he had esophageal cancer, which we think was caused by having bad indigestion for many years. He was then given radiation and chemo, which was really hard on him. He then had surgery to remove the cancer by taking out most of his stomach and part of his esophagus. He has been through a lot, and I have been there most of the time to help him. It's been hard and very sad to watch him go through this. He has not been able to eat or do anything, including working. His wife filed for divorce, and he had to move in with us. He became so depressed because he lost so much so fast. He can't work, he became divorced, and doesn't get to see his kids because he had to move in with his dad and me, and we live so far away. He loves food and cooking and can only eat small amounts. He has been in the hospital constantly. His esophagus has had to be stretched 26 times, and now it's totally closed and can't be stretched anymore. He has also been in the hospital for dehydration and DKA. He also had a feeding tube put in. He's always in pain and tired.

On top of all of that, something is wrong that has caused him to have all these problems, and now he has to have another surgery that will take 6 to 7 hours. This surgery is supposed to be worse than the first surgery so he can eat again and have quality of life and not die from lack of nutrition. On top of all this, he is diabetic. As if this is not enough, he doesn't get much from disability. After he pays for car insurance, medicine, and a few small things, he has no money left to be able to fly back to see his kids, rent a car, and do things with his kids. We help as much as we can, but we live on Social Security.

This is why he needs your help so badly. If after this surgery, I'm hoping and praying his life will be so much better for him. I would like to go ahead and thank you for reading this, and you have no idea how much we will appreciate all the donations in this time of need for Rodney.