Support Albert Poole's Wish for Peaceful Final Days

My name is Christy Keene. I am trying to raise funds to help my dad Albert Poole live out his final days the way he would like. If you are from Owen, Monroe, or Morgan county, Indiana you may know him. He used to run a karaoke business.

Last year, we were told he had skin cancer on his cheek. They opted to do a Mohs procedure. We went in, and they started cutting away. Slowly, they tested to see if there were more cancer cells, and if there were, they cut some more. At one point, the doctor said she wasn't going to be able to go anymore if he wasn't clear yet because it was down to the bone. Another hour goes by, she returns and says he's clear. The hole was huge, but she did a great job stitching him up, and since he's getting up there in age, he had some extra skin. She recommended a round of radiation just as a precaution, which he did. I took him to his final radiation, and he got to ring the bell. Yay, no more cancer! Or so we thought.

Months go by, and the wound never heals despite the creams they have him put on it. It started to hurt pretty badly, so his wife made an appointment to see what was going on. After multiple doctor visits, consultations, etc., they said it was the same cancer. I thought it was odd he never went back to do any follow-ups, but I'm no oncologist, so I left it alone. I guess he should have had a follow-up PET scan. The tumor had grown considerably. The options were more limited now. He could not undergo any more radiation because apparently, there's a limit to what they will allow you to have. They presented the option of immunotherapy or surgery. The surgery would have left him with one less eye. He decided to go with immunotherapy and started that treatment.

After every treatment, he would feel pretty bad starting a day or two later. He felt so bad that he was barely leaving his bed despite our family encouraging him to get up and move around so as not to create more problems. He became weak and frail. All of that went on, and ultimately it failed. I sat in an oncologist's office with my dad and his wife and listened to the doctor tell him there are no more options. My dad also has kidney disease, which affects what drugs they can give him anyway. The goal is now just keeping him comfortable.

What he really wants is for his wife to be able to stay home with him in the last month-ish of his life. The problem with that is your basic bills do not care if your loved one is dying; they want their money. She needs to be able to maintain the basics in order to be off work.

I know it would mean so much to me to be able to make this happen for him.

If you've made it this far, thanks for hanging in there. If you can donate, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for helping make his final days easier.