I don’t know how to do this…

I’ve prided myself on keeping a lot of personal stuff off social media over the last few years, avoiding drama…

As many of you know, my eldest son Jacob and I moved into a new place in January 2024. This was a good thing in many ways and has served us well. We were able to move away from a horrible neighborhood and ease a lot of stress. Now comes the bad news…

In April of this year, Jacob was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma. What was supposed to be a productive morning of working together quickly went from suspected REALLY bad cold to a cancer diagnosis and 12 days in the ICU. The tumor in Jacob’s body was impacting his windpipe, reducing its size by approximately 85%, requiring intubation and ICU for monitoring just to keep his airway open so he could breathe on his own.

Needless to say, this has been a huge adjustment for us, and the financial burden is getting to the point where it is unmanageable. This is particularly difficult for Jacob to deal with, as he has always been a hard-working person, confident in his own ability to cover his own ass. Currently, his ability to contribute to the house is reduced to zero, as he is unable to work. We had no insurance, no coverage of any kind. We worked to get what emergency coverage we could, and were quite successful, for the most part. We have since acquired some coverage for medications moving forward, but we have incurred significant debt getting to this point.

Jacob is doing quite well, and chemo has been quite successful, with only 2 treatments to go as of this writing. The primary tumor of concern has already been labelled by the doctors as immeasurable – this news was the single biggest point of relief for both of us – like a huge weight has been lifted… Jacob has been at home, continuing his outpatient therapy and treatment and ploughing through this like the Weber he is.

Here's where I get to the hard-to-do-this-part…

We are hoping that there are people out there that can help us weather the final 6-12 months of this storm. Recovery is a long road, and Jacob’s ability to get back to closer to 100% is going to take a while, meaning the finances for the house are shrouded in uncertainty – making rent every month is not the usual confident yes it has been for the last 30 years of my life, and we have incurred significant debt over the last 5 months. I am hoping to achieve a couple of specific goals here;

1. Set Jacob up for a successful and speedy, (as possible), recovery;

2. Ease the burden of those that have already contributed SO MUCH!;

3. Plan ahead for the upcoming year and recovery period from a financial standpoint.

So, as I started, I don’t know how to do this.

I have been a single father for a long time. My story is long and complicated, however my friends and family repeatedly remind me I’m heading in the right direction. A lot of my confidence as a parent is because of that. That confidence is shaken, as I am unable to guarantee the same stability I am used to providing, to a son that needs my help, and to his siblings, who have counted on me their entire lives.

So here we are… Your support, in whatever form it comes, is GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thank you.