Stand with the Baers in Chris's cancer battle

Hello my name is Kattie Priebe, Kerry and Christian Baer are my sister and brother in law. I am setting up this fundraiser because recently they have come to a difficult situation - a cancer diagnosis.

They are already faced with several thousand dollars of debt from procedures not covered by their insurance, along with whatever additional medical bills they are responsible for. Chris will need significant time off work - he is a substance abuse therapist and it's hard to hold a counseling session when you're healing from having part of your tongue removed. He is considered self-employed, so there is no sick time or disability pay. Donations will be used to help cover these expenses and replace his income temporarily.

Here's their story:

On March 11th, Chris had an excisional biopsy of a sore on his tongue that wasn't healing. The oral surgeon removed the entire visible sore/lesion, and felt 99% sure that it wasn't cancer. We were apprehensive, but felt good about the biopsy since Chris didn't have any other symptoms and was at such a low risk for oral cancer.

On March 19th, only 8 days later, the doctor called to have Chris come to the office for his results. Luckily, I was off that day and able to attend the appointment with him. The lesion was cancerous - squamous cell carcinoma. We were completely shocked. We agreed that whatever was next, we'd tackle it together, like we always do.

On May 13th, Chris had an extensive surgery of several procedures removing a larger section of his tongue - nearly half - removed, a neck dissection to remove all the lymph nodes from one side of his neck, a tracheostomy for a temporary airway until his tongue and throat swelling decreases, and a feeding tube placed for nutrition. We still have a long road ahead for recovery, and he will start radiation and chemotherapy in a month or so, but he is strong and otherwise healthy, so we know he will overcome it all.

We are trying to keep positive about it and take it one step at a time, but the whole thing is still concerning and scary. We are letting go of control and holding on to hope.

The help and support we are receiving is invaluable and already providing the relief need for Kerry to both care for Chris and manage the lives of two busy teenagers. Thank you, thank you, thank you - we are immensely grateful for each and every bit of support ❤️