Tom's Medical Fund-Cancer (Sarcoma of the Lung)

HI, my name is Michelle Mendofik and I am the wife of Tom Edwards, who is currently undergoing aggressive cancer treatment. We are starting this page because so many people asked to be able to help us monetarily and, short of sending a check, would like an easier way to do so. We will use any gifts for medical bills.

Prior to this illness, Tom has not been in the hospital since he was 3 years old. He rarely has a cold or flu... mostly aches and pains like all of us getting a little older and doing too much. In November Tom started to get a cough. This was attributed to a cold, it didn't get better so he went to see the Dr. and went home with a script for steroids and some meds. The cough didn't go away and sounded a bit "gurgling". He decided to make another appointment.

The day before he felt fine and thought about canceling but I said, you should go, maybe they can give you some cough medicine or something.

05 Dec 2022, was the turning point. This cough was identified as a mass in his right lung. After many tests, it was confirmed to be a synovial sarcoma, about the size of a small cantaloupe in his right lung. A synovial sarcoma should be on a joint outside of the body. It is not lung cancer, but a rare form of cancer that only 1 to 2 people in 1 million would have.

We were blessed to know that there was a team of 17 doctors that were evaluating his case from hospitals inside and outside of Geisinger including the well-known Memorial Sloan Kettering.

The course of treatment was determined and chemotherapy began in January following an emergency room visit.

Currently, Tom is undergoing multiple courses of chemotherapy and, as he says, "we are kicking its butt".

It's difficult to see someone so strong that you love so much go through this. Unfortunately, there are too many people of all ages going through this as evidenced by full waiting rooms each time we go for bloodwork.

When Tom gets his treatment he is hospitalized for 5 days of 24/7 Chemo. It's very aggressive, on a scale of 1 to 10, about a 7. It completely wipes him out.

The plan of action is another round of chemo starting next week (that would be #4), followed by a CT Scan and possibly surgery to remove the tumor and likely most of his lung.

We keep the faith and put all of this in God's hands!

The message I want to convey is that you are never prepared for something like this but you become stronger for it. If you have something unusual - get it checked asap. It is likely nothing, but it could be something. We had angels watching over Tom and caught this at a time when it was treatable!

We continually have an outpouring of support and prayers from so many inside and outside of family and friends. We are so grateful for everyone!

We will see this through. As a middle class working family, we do not qualify for much. We are continually blessed by resources and thank everyone who supported us, not just financially but emotionally, helping run errands, pick up groceries, bring us meals and so much more!

Thank you for your support and continued prayers!