Our Costly Battle with Cancer
Donation protected
In January of 2018, our mom, Wendy, was diagnosed with Stage-4 Small Cell Neuroendocrine Cervical Cancer, which affects only 1 out of every 1.7 million women. This is a very rare and aggressive form of cervical cancer with a very poor prognosis. There has been little research or clinical trials done on this cancer due to there being so few patients and their short lifespan after diagnosis. After almost 40 chemotherapy treatments, many radiation treatments, and over a year of being stuck in bed from exhaustion and side effects, traditional medicine threw in the towel and referred our mom to palliative care. Both chemo and radiation had terrible consequences on her internal organs, not to mention she had received the maximum amount of radiation a human can have in their lifetime.
Conventional medicine had given up on her, but she was determined to find a solution. She turned to alternative therapies that have worked miraculously for many other cancer patients. Some of these therapies are used routinely in Europe and elsewhere but are not yet approved by the FDA for use in the US. Consequently, they are not covered by any health insurance.
For example, one such therapy costs upwards of $12,000 for a single treatment cycle. With the cost of deductibles, co-pays, related expenses and trips to the ER accumulated in the last 18 months, these promising alternatives are financially devastating.
In 2016, our dad, Rob, left his career in Toronto so that we were able to move back to Cleveland to be close to our mom’s family. Here, he worked as a consultant and went on monthly business trips for his jobs. Now he has become a full-time caregiver for our mom, barely leaving enough time to work from home. Since January 2018, he has taken her to every chemotherapy, radiation, and doctor appointment. Today, he is willing to travel anywhere, in the state or out-of-country, to take her to a doctor with a promising solution. Day and night he keeps track of medications and monitors her vital signs. While he is making her a meal or helping her into bed, tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and alternative therapies are in the back of his mind.
He doesn’t need to be worrying about debt when he has his wife of 26 years is fighting for her life.
In fact, she isn’t just fighting - she is the strongest of us all. Her positive attitude has changed how we all look at life. When she is in the hospital we fear she may not come home, but she sends a smiley-face emoji promising she will be home in no time. Pursuing these treatments is not only benefitting our mom’s health, it is keeping our sense of hope alive. Unfortunately, we are running out of the financial means to fuel that hope.
Thank you for helping our dad.
Chloe (20) & Leo (16)
Conventional medicine had given up on her, but she was determined to find a solution. She turned to alternative therapies that have worked miraculously for many other cancer patients. Some of these therapies are used routinely in Europe and elsewhere but are not yet approved by the FDA for use in the US. Consequently, they are not covered by any health insurance.
For example, one such therapy costs upwards of $12,000 for a single treatment cycle. With the cost of deductibles, co-pays, related expenses and trips to the ER accumulated in the last 18 months, these promising alternatives are financially devastating.
In 2016, our dad, Rob, left his career in Toronto so that we were able to move back to Cleveland to be close to our mom’s family. Here, he worked as a consultant and went on monthly business trips for his jobs. Now he has become a full-time caregiver for our mom, barely leaving enough time to work from home. Since January 2018, he has taken her to every chemotherapy, radiation, and doctor appointment. Today, he is willing to travel anywhere, in the state or out-of-country, to take her to a doctor with a promising solution. Day and night he keeps track of medications and monitors her vital signs. While he is making her a meal or helping her into bed, tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and alternative therapies are in the back of his mind.
He doesn’t need to be worrying about debt when he has his wife of 26 years is fighting for her life.
In fact, she isn’t just fighting - she is the strongest of us all. Her positive attitude has changed how we all look at life. When she is in the hospital we fear she may not come home, but she sends a smiley-face emoji promising she will be home in no time. Pursuing these treatments is not only benefitting our mom’s health, it is keeping our sense of hope alive. Unfortunately, we are running out of the financial means to fuel that hope.
Thank you for helping our dad.
Chloe (20) & Leo (16)
Organizer and beneficiary
Chloe Burton
Organizer
Olmsted Falls, OH
ROBERT BURTON
Beneficiary
