Michelle Tellez's Chance for Life!
Donation protected
Michelle Tellez is 41 years old and fighting for her life. 9 months ago Michelle was a vibrant employee at Rio Salado College, wife and mother of four (ages 24, 23, and 19).
Her troubles began suddenly with stomach pain and not being able to keep food down. It took two months for doctors to find out what was wrong and she was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. In July 2016, Michelle had surgery and doctors removed as much cancer as possible, but once in they saw that it was a rare form that had spread to the tissue of the stomach as well. After the surgery, she went through 6 rounds of intravenous chemo and although the cancer has shrunk some, she needs another surgery to try to remove more cancer and at the same time try to kill the cancer in the tissues by placing hot chemo in the stomach while performing the surgery. There is a specialized surgeon at MD Anderson who is able to perform the Hipec surgery. Without this new procedure, there is no way for the doctors to save her life.
Insurance has denied her authorization for any of the surgery if the surgeon performs the Hipec treatment while in surgery. They will cover for doctors to go in and try to remove more cancer, so the family decided they would try to pay for the Hipec treatment, but insurance won't even allow the family to pay for the hot chemo portion of the surgery. Insurance says it’s an ‘all-or-nothing’ proposition (they have to cover it all or nothing). In order for Michelle to have the chance at the life that she deserves, her family, friends and coworkers who all love and care for this amazing woman are going to join in her battle by trying to raise the amount needed to do the entire surgery that insurance refuses to allow. Doctors have informed her that this cost will be $150,000 and that the hospital will require the funds up front since it will be self-pay. They recommend to have the surgery in 3 - 4 weeks, to remove the positive lymph nodes and the cancer in the stomach lining before it spreads. We don’t want to let the insurance company decide Michelle’s fate! Please join us in this battle if you can, to save her life and to give Michelle Tellez a chance to be with her family and friends for many more years. God bless you! And from Michelle, “Thank you again for everything. The support and prayer throughout this whole journey has really helped me.”
Her troubles began suddenly with stomach pain and not being able to keep food down. It took two months for doctors to find out what was wrong and she was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. In July 2016, Michelle had surgery and doctors removed as much cancer as possible, but once in they saw that it was a rare form that had spread to the tissue of the stomach as well. After the surgery, she went through 6 rounds of intravenous chemo and although the cancer has shrunk some, she needs another surgery to try to remove more cancer and at the same time try to kill the cancer in the tissues by placing hot chemo in the stomach while performing the surgery. There is a specialized surgeon at MD Anderson who is able to perform the Hipec surgery. Without this new procedure, there is no way for the doctors to save her life.
Insurance has denied her authorization for any of the surgery if the surgeon performs the Hipec treatment while in surgery. They will cover for doctors to go in and try to remove more cancer, so the family decided they would try to pay for the Hipec treatment, but insurance won't even allow the family to pay for the hot chemo portion of the surgery. Insurance says it’s an ‘all-or-nothing’ proposition (they have to cover it all or nothing). In order for Michelle to have the chance at the life that she deserves, her family, friends and coworkers who all love and care for this amazing woman are going to join in her battle by trying to raise the amount needed to do the entire surgery that insurance refuses to allow. Doctors have informed her that this cost will be $150,000 and that the hospital will require the funds up front since it will be self-pay. They recommend to have the surgery in 3 - 4 weeks, to remove the positive lymph nodes and the cancer in the stomach lining before it spreads. We don’t want to let the insurance company decide Michelle’s fate! Please join us in this battle if you can, to save her life and to give Michelle Tellez a chance to be with her family and friends for many more years. God bless you! And from Michelle, “Thank you again for everything. The support and prayer throughout this whole journey has really helped me.”
Organizer and beneficiary
Jennie Swenson Sumrall
Organizer
Scottsdale, AZ
Michelle Tellez
Beneficiary
