Segal Family Cancer Survival Fund

                                                                   Segal Family Story

     Hi, my name is Jeff Segal, I am a disabled Air Force veteran and in 2009 I was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer called (CLL) Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.  In August 2011 I had a severe episode and ended in the ER. The doctor told me I had to start chemo immediately.  I said YES for many reasons. I met the woman that I now call my wife, and the mother of my      3 1/2 year old son Garrett.

I was on chemo until June 2012, and luckily the cancer went into remission. We knew it would eventually come back, but we were hoping not for many years.  I continued to go to my oncologist every 3 months for check- ups. Then in November in 2014 I got a common cold that lead into pneumonia. I had more blood work done and my white blood count was rising rapidly.  My doctor immediately ordered Positron Emission Tomography scan known as a Pet-Scan along with a Bone Marrow Biopsy.  The results were that my bone marrow and lymph nodes were 96% infected with CLL

     On February 5th my wife and I met with the doctor and he told us that CLL was back and with vengeance, and that we needed to start chemo immediately. He also said that I had to think about pursuing the route of a bone marrow transplant.  He told us that it takes a while to go through the process of getting approved for one and that there are many tests to go through. Then we talked about insurance. As of that moment I was going through the VA hospital. 

But he told us that the VA only does bone marrow transplants in Washington, Texas, or Tennessee. He then asked if we had alternative insurance, which we do. He recommended that I strongly look at the University of Minnesota’s Bone Marrow Transplant Program.  The University of Minnesota will do this lifesaving procedure called an Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant and finding a donor match through a great organization called “Be The Match”.  The good news is there are 9 potential donor matches in the national database.

     When we met with the University doctor, he told my wife and I that he was reviewing my chart and saw that I have an aggressive gene. This means that I need to have a transplant done as soon as they can get my blood counts under control, and he does not believe anything else will work.  The cost for this type of Bone Marrow Transplant can cost anywhere from $800,000 to $1.2 Million dollars, and with my insurance I would only be responsible for a percentage of this cost. 

     So I am here to ask for your help. I will be out of work for at least 4 to 6 months for this life saving transplant. Since I just started my new job back in January with the Veterans Administration, I have very little annual leave and sick leave time accrued. So that means no income from my job during that time period, which will cause a serious hardship on my family. The help that I am asking for will go will go towards health insurance premiums, lodging expenses, copayments, coinsurance, deductibles for drugs, household expenses, daycare and any unforeseen complication related expenses. 

     My son, Garrett is now 3 ½ years old will still be going to daycare, because we want to try and keep his life as close to normal as possible. My wife will take some time off but will need to also work to pay for some of the bills.  For the first couple weeks after I am released from the hospital I will need to go every day to get checked.  Luckily my mother in law (Lynn Giachino) will be able to be my main caregiver during this whole process because I will need someone with me 24/7 for the first 100 days post-transplant.

If you could donate, “LIKE” and "SHARE" our link on your Facebook page, Twitter and other social networking websites with others, it would be so helpful to my family and I.

http://www.gofundme.com/segalsurvivalfund

This a really hard time for us emotionally, physically and financially and any help would be so much appreciated.


And as we say in our family “Pay It Forward”.  And when I am healthy and able, we will pay it forward to others that need help.


Thank you for your help and God bless.

Jeff, Nikki and little Garrett