Shaffer Marathon to Health

My husband Duane has been diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma.  This is all from a mole on his back that was removed in spring 2016 and came back benign.  The mole grew back in spring of 2017 and the doctor said "let's keep an eye on this".  Thank God the mole starting irritating him in October.  The removal in November came back melanoma.  He had major surgery last week, removing 11 inches of skin which included taking out 6 lymph nodes in his armpit.  Two of those 6 came back with melanoma which makes this stage 3.  
First and foremost, please join us in prayer that the upcoming MRI of his brain and PET scan of his body come back clear!  Several of you have prayed the Shaffer family through my health crisis 10 years ago when Brian (our son) was born.  We know Jesus is a miracle worker and we have experienced the power of prayer.  WHEN these scans are clear, Duane will have a port placed and get immunotherapy once every other week for a year.  Great news is that WHEN these scans are clear and after a year of immunotherapy, he has a 70 percent chance of cure! 
Most of you know that I am a private practice clincial social worker helping individuals and families through their health journey.  I try to maintain the value of "practicing what I preach".  I can tell you that setting up this Go Fund Me is probably the most difficult action step I'm taking.  However I have control over if I choose to put my ego aside and ask for financial help.  I have also decided that I refuse to let money stand in the way of giving my husband and Brian's dad the best chance of crossing the marathon line to being cancer free!
So here's what your contributions will go to:  We're going to do traditional medical treatment along with alternative medicine which we all know isn't covered by insurance.  He will be seeing a nutirtionist to get testing done to find out what his body needs and then taking those supplements.  He wants to get accupuncture (yes a man who despises needles) to enhance his health and help decrease the side effects of the immunotherapy.  Your funds will help us pay for a consultation from a top melanoma doctor to validate that this plan is the best for Duane.  He wants to eat clean so we're going to sign up for a vegan meal delivery service to help with dinners.  Finally, your donations will help cover the loss of my income when I accompany Duane to doctor appointments and treatment days. 
This upcoming year is going to be a long marathon but we are ready to run this together and we KNOW that we are not running this alone.  We appreciate all of your prayers, supportive texts / calls, and financial support.  We could not do this without you.  We love you all!