Tony "Dago" Morelli cancer fund

In the past couple months my dad, Dago as most people call him, had developed a rather gnarly cough. After numerous doctor visits, a CT scan showed a mass in his throat. A biospy was scheduled for the following week. After the biopsy, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. The tumor is located on is epiglottis and is about 4 cm in size (rather large) and results show that it has spread to the lymph nodes as well. During the biopsy a Tracheotomy was performed alongside a feeding tube. These were done as safety measures in case of any complications that may arise in the future during treatment.

Dago was in the hospital for 6 days before he was allowed to come home. At that point he needed to get some dental work done before any treatment coud start.

At this stage we're awaiting some test results and are scheduling cancer treatment for the upcoming weeks/months. We hope to start treatment as soon as possible. Treatment will consist of radiation 5 days a week and chemo 1 day a week, for 6-8 weeks. Afterwards, surgery may be done to remove what is left of the tumor.

Since he was released from the hospital we have, as expected, begun to accumulate considerable bills and expenses for his procedures and medical supplies and he still has yet to begin radiation/chemo. He has rather basic health insurance that he originally had in order to keep monthly expenses low, but this resulted in a rather large deductible as well. On top of all the expenses and bills, my dad also had to stop work as a bus driver as it would be unsafe for him to operate a bus while going through the treatment process.

Any donation will be a massive help and will be greatly appreciated. Everyone in our household is currently working (some of us multiple jobs) and this diagnosis is going to shake up our family and finances because of the loss of income and quickly accumulating expenses.

Dago is still in relatively good health and quickly got used to having the trach and feeding tube, but he still has yet to beging treatment.

Dago is directly supported by his loving wife Karen, his children Heidi, Sarah, and Tony, and is greatly loved by countless other family and friends. In March of 2012 we lost a sibling and daughter, Christy, to cancer. We hope to win this fight.

We're in high hopes that he can be back to health by the end of the year so he can quickly get back to doing what he loves; hunting, fishing, and driving "his kids" to school.