Tony Nguyen's Cancer & Fire Damage Recovery

Many of you are aware of the recent events that our family has been going through. You've been asking how you can help so it’s only fair that you know the whole story.

On December 4, 2018 our family received news that our father, Tony, was diagnosed with stage 4-A squamous cell carcinoma. The six centimeter tumor was positioned underneath his tongue, resting against his jawbone, inhibiting his ability to speak and eat. Thankfully, the team at the University of Kansas Health System was able to get him scheduled for surgery on December 28. Dr. Andres Bur and his team worked flawlessly for eight hours, removing two-thirds of his tongue (glossectomy), nearly all of his jaw (mandiblectomy), and 61 lymph nodes from his neck. Dad’s reconstructive surgery is called a free flap where they take a piece of his fibula, calf muscle, and skin from his left leg to rebuild a new jaw and floor of his mouth. Dad had top dentures before surgery and with the removal of his jaw, he was left with no teeth. Dad now has to re-learn how to breathe, swallow, and talk with a trach tube which will take months of speech therapy. Effective communication has been one of the biggest challenges.

Shortly after surgery, we met with a kidney specialist and found out that Dad has a second, separate type of cancer that is not related to the cancer in his mouth. The renal cell carcinoma is slow growing but is currently the size of a golf ball. It is large enough that he will need to have his entire left kidney removed. Thankfully, he has another kidney that is functioning properly. Dad will start radiation and chemotherapy in the next week or so to kill off the remaining microscopic cancer cells in his head and neck that the doctors were unable to remove with surgery. Radiation will be Monday through Friday. Chemotherapy will be once a week. Both treatments are expected to go for six to seven weeks. The type of chemotherapy Dad has been prescribed can cause significant damage to the kidneys so all of the oncologists have agreed to wait until after Dad is done with radiation and chemo to proceed with the kidney removal.

As if that wasn’t enough to endure, on Saturday, February 2, 2019, our family received a phone call that Dad’s place of business had caught fire. Dad has worked as an upholsterer and a private business owner of Veteran’s Upholstery for more than 30 years. We were very fortunate that no one was injured but everything inside is a total loss, including current customers’ furniture that was waiting to get re-upholstered. The building itself is covered by insurance, however, the contents within are not. Thousands of dollars’ worth of materials and equipment are unsalvageable. With Dad’s recent cancer diagnosis, he has been unable to work since his surgery date, leaving Mom to be the sole income earner, working countless hours of overtime to make up the difference.

The start of the year brought on a new annual healthcare deductible and billing cycle. Medical costs continue to grow well beyond initial estimates. Daily expenses include formula tube feedings, wound care, and home health visits. Monthly expenses include mortgage payment, utilities, car payments, rent and utilities for the shop, etc. Future expenses will include several sets of new dentures as his jaw continues to heal, shop restoration, and reimbursing clients for value of items lost.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed and continue to do so. Thank you for any and all future contributions. We’ll keep you all posted on this ongoing journey as Dad focuses on getting healthier and we start to rebuild his livelihood.  

--The Nguyen Family