Stand with Andy & Susan Through Tough Times

This is Elizabeth Chambers. I've been teaching for 26 years at Happy Valley Elementary in Carter County. For those 26 years, I have worked with the greatest instructional assistant who quickly became my best friend, Susan O'Neill.

Susan and her husband, Andy, have been married for 19 years now. If you work in Carter County Schools, I'm sure you know Andy. He is our GO-TO IT with the English accent who everyone loves. If you know Andy and Susan, I don't have to tell you that they are two of the most kind, good hearted, caring, and generous people that you will ever meet. This fundraiser is for our friends, Andy and Susan, as they fight through a difficult time in their lives.

Over Christmas Break this past year, Andy had a heart attack which required him to be in the hospital several days and have a stent put in. During this time, his stent placement was delayed due to his low kidney function but eventually was done. They incurred medical bills during this time that were going to be a challenge to overcome quickly. They were working on paying them down, but then this happened.

During our two days of Spring Break this year, Andy and Susan were doing yard work and getting ready for warmer weather as most of us were. Andy was in such terrible pain in his kidney area that he was unable to raise his leg. After seeing his doctor, he sent him straight to get a CT scan. Later that evening, his doctor called him back and said he needed to go to the hospital in the morning for another scan because the CT showed he had a tumor in his kidney.

When they arrived at Franklin Woods for his scan they were told that Andy's case was a lot more involved than a tumor in his kidney. He actually had a very large abdominal mass that was encasing one of his kidneys as well as his aorta and renal vessels. He was told that this tumor had probably caused his heart attack due to it encasing his aorta. Andy's recent biopsy showed that he has Non Hodgkin follicular cancer with a possibility of large B cells.

Andy was referred to UT for his type of cancer and met with the oncologist there yesterday, 4/15/25. Andy will be traveling back to Knoxville for an echocardiogram next Monday, and a larger biopsy on Thursday 4/24 along with a port being put in. The oncologist ordered a larger biopsy to be done since it is such a large mass to make sure there are no additional types of cancer cells present before starting his chemo treatment. He has been told that radiation and surgery are not options for him due to his mass being inseparable from certain nerves and organs. He will be having his full body PET scan on May 9th. They are rushing to start treatment because his bloodwork shows his kidneys are currently not functioning like they need to be. As of now, he is scheduled to start the chemo in mid May.

Andy and Susan need our prayers and our support at this time. They have incurred another large chunk of medical bills within the past month and have had to come up with money for extra things like food and gas while spending time in the hospital and traveling to appointments. I expect that they will have many more trips to Knoxville and possibly stays within the next few months as Andy goes through his treatments.

Let's help take some of the stress off our friends and gather some cash to lift the burden of the medical bills off of them and to give them some money to travel, eat, and lodge on while receiving treatments. Let's show them our love and generosity so that they can just focus on beating this cancer!!