My name is Sharon Orme. My brother, Paul Honig, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in September of 2024. My brother is a very proud man who provides for his family and would never think to ask for help, but he has come to a point where he finally needs it. Let me tell you about his journey.

Paul had a rough road during his younger years. After leaving home at an early age due to family trauma, he became deeply involved in drugs. He followed the path of addiction for many years before finally finding himself in jail for an extended period. This was in 2007. Upon leaving jail, my brother knew that he had to change his life or he would end up dead. He became involved in AA and eventually went on to lead groups himself. He found his way back to religion and set about creating a life for himself that did not involve drugs nor alcohol. That was 18 years ago!

Paul met his beautiful wife, Amanda, shortly after becoming clean. Together, they set about creating a life together that involved taking care of and partnering with others who struggled with addictions. Paul became a loving father to his step-daughter, Natalie (now 21). Fast-forward a number of years later to when Paul and Amanda welcomed their daughter Delaney (now 8) into the world, followed by their son Madden (now 7). My brother's world had become something of beauty and love. He had a family and friends, a life far away from his past, but he refused to forget about that, knowing that it made him who he was. It made him stronger and more reflective upon how he can impact the world around him. Paul worked 50+ hours a week to provide for his family, and every Sunday he would spend hours at the church doing setup, security, and cleanup. Every other moment of his time was spent with his young children and wife (other than spending some time on his beloved motorcycles).

During the long days of COVID, Paul was hospitalized with the virus, and upon doing a scan of his lungs, a small nodule was found. The doctors did not biopsy the nodule but would do a scan after six months, then every year after, to ensure that it was not growing.

During the early summer of 2024, my brother began to experience chronic sickness. He suffered from uncontrollable vomiting and was beginning to experience increasing amounts of pain. Eventually, in September of 2024, his mother-in-law convinced him that he needed to go to the hospital. It was during this hospitalization that the doctor discovered the nodule in his lung had in fact grown since the last scan. It had grown to six times its original size. In the coming days, the ongoing tests would reveal that the nodule, now classified as a tumor, was cancerous. Not only that, but it had spread to eight different parts of his body, including multiple tumors in his stomach, adrenals, and lymph nodes.

The prognosis: Paul was diagnosed with stage 4, terminal cancer, a rare form called adnoid cystic carcinoma. He was told that without treatment, he would not live to see Christmas.

There are no words to explain the shock and grief we all experienced in the realization that Paul, a father, husband, son, brother, and friend, would not survive this. After everything my brother did to change his life after addiction, cancer would be the thing that would kill him. The doctors did not give any hope for my brother to beat his cancer. They only gave him options on what they could do to slow it down. So that's what he has been doing for the last 10 months. He has now finished two full rounds of chemotherapy, reoccurring every three weeks. He also began something called amino therapy which uses the body's immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. The doctors have found that his tumors have indeed shrunk, exactly as they had predicted. However, they are still there, and they cannot do these treatments forever as they are slowly killing his other organs.

Throughout this time since his diagnosis, my brother has attempted to continue working as he was originally the sole provider in his family. His wife stayed home to homeschool their children. He was able to access Oregon Paid Leave so he could make some kind of money during the week following each treatment. Eventually, this ran out. Beginning in April, my brother became too sick to go to work at all. His family has been surviving off of his small amount of unemployment since then, but in a few months that too will run out, as well as his health insurance. He is applying for the Oregon Health Plan to hopefully help with all the medical bills.

My brother knows that his wife of 15 years, and their two young children, Delaney who is eight and Madden who is seven, will need a lot of help after he is gone. He has done everything he could to continue working and figuring out how to help his family during this time. Friends have had fundraisers that have helped them to pay some of their bills for the time being. He has now run out of options and finally confessed to me that they need help. This was not easy for my brother. My proud, strong brother. A man who is always trying to find a way to help others. A man who is trying to repay his debt to society after everything he did in his younger days. A man who is trying his best to take care of his family in an impossible situation. He needs help now.

This is where we are. I am asking on behalf of my brother and his family for any support that can be provided to them during this time. No, this is not a long-term solution. But it will help Paul to pay the monthly bills through the remainder of his life, and allow him to focus on treatments, resting, and spending whatever time he has left with his family without the constant worry about how he will keep them in their home.

Thank you so much in advance for any help you are able to give, no matter the amount❤️