Ginny's Medical Fight
Donation protected
Hi! As the family of Ginny Vondy -- we would like you to meet her -- our 37-year-old Sister, Daughter, Cousin, Wife and Mother-of-Four -- who is in the medical and financial fight of her life against Stage III Breastcancer.
If you have already met Ginny and her husband, Steve, you know they are the kind of hard-working, never-ask-for-a-dime, kind of family. Steve has worked for years as a Large Equipment Operator and Foreman -- around the clock and around the week and weekends -- to support their bustling, family of 6. And Ginny has literally drove the wheels off her family car -- being the uber-mom to her 4 teenage athletes, everything she had to do to keep their busy lives afloat. Their hearts and plans are big, but their budget to make everything happen has been tight -- trying to balance a life of long work hours, and all the directions 4 teenagers will take you after school! That being said -- medical expenditures have always been hard, but doable.
Until July 3, of this year.
That is when Ginny and her young family's life -- as they knew it -- came screeching to a halt.
Ginny had detected a benign lump in her breast in the past, but realized earlier this Spring that it had started growing. She had decided to wait until things slowed down with Spring Baseball and all -- to take time out to get it looked at. After seeing a very concerned, local Doctor, Ginny was instructed to have it biopsied.
July 3, 2015, Ginny was driving in the car with her four kids, and got the call no one ever wants to hear -- that her lump was indeed, Breast Cancer. Choking back tears as she clarified the information over the phone -- her kids in the car put the information together and their worst fear left the carload sobbing out of control -- especially her youngest, age 11 at the time.
The bad news continued. July 6 the phone started ringing and the swell of tests and diagnostic appointments that needed to be done started pouring in.
By July 14, Ginny found out that the painful biopsy on her lymph nodes yeilded genetic testing that placed her as having Stage 3 Breast Cancer that had spread into her lymph nodes, and found her to be HER2 positive -- which is the fastest growing and most aggressive form of Breast Cancer. Her Doctors wanted to start Chemo immediately, with a barrage of PET scans, MRIs, Eco grams, blood work -- and then a plan for 6 mega Chemo treatments, then Surgery, then Radiation and then long-term chemo treatment.
How does one prepare for this news? I guess the answer Ginny would tell you is that... you... can't.
There aren't ways to prepare for how to control emotional breakdowns in talking to your kids about how Mom is going to lose her hair. Mom is going to be very sick. Mom isn't going to be able to be at every game. Mom isn't going to be able to leave the house a lot.
Once the news sank in -- Steve and Ginny resolved to do whatever it took to fight this. They were given a family photo session to show their determination and love for each other -- strategically before Ginny's first chemo that would cause her to lose all her long, beautiful brown hair.
Thankfully, their family was covered by insurance through Steve's job. But on an already over-stretched budget -- the realization that they would owe copays, co-insurance, and a $6000 annual family member deductible, started to also sink in. How would they pay for these huge bills and the extra gas and food to get to daily and even weekly treatments in Denver -- 70 miles and an hour and a half away from their home in Eaton?
No matter the cost -- Ginny started her chemo treatments July 21, 2015 and recently had her 6th and final big Chemo treatment at the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center. Even though she has battled nearly EVERY bad side effect of Chemo (losing her hair, allergic reactions, leg and face swelling, nose and mouth sores, bloody noses, severe GI distress, etc...) Ginny celebrated with nurses this past Tuesday, Nov. 17 after her final big chemo before surgery -- was completed!!
Today, Ginny is recovering from this final round of chemo side effects -- and is ready to start the Surgery and Radiation phases of her treatment!
In light of the fact that Steve and Ginny have always scrimped and saved to give their children the small-town good life and all the school and sports opportunities they could with their extra income -- would you join us, her family, in easing the huge financial burden that their annual deductible will cause to their family this year?
And the sad reality of annual copays (and the scope of Ginny's on-going treatment) means that they will owe their annual co-pays and co-insurance and per person deductible ALL OVER AGAIN starting January 1 -- just weeks away!
At a time when we are giving Praise and Thanksgiving for our many Blessings -- would you join us in helping Ginny and Steve, Jacob, Nathan, Mikayla and Abby feel some financial relief from these tremendous medical bills that are literally piling up on their dinner table these days?
Specifically -- they owe $6,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for Ginny this calendar year for 2015 (It's $6,000 per family member.) And they will owe another $6,000 for next year's treatment -- starting just weeks from now. That's a shocking total of $12,000 they need to come up with over the course of just a few months treatment. Additionally, this annual, out-of-pocket max does NOT include their prescription co pays, travel expenses or account for loss of work. This is why we have started this campaign -- to give them hope that they aren't alone in this financial, physical and emotional battle!
They will have a hard time accepting this help -- and they'd NEVER ask -- but we can't wait to see the look of relief on their faces when they see the love and support from all of us start coming their way!!!
And we know that they WILL pay this forward some day -- and we hope Ginny's story will be used to bless and encourage others in the future who will face this and similar battles and she'll be able to guide them from her own experience!
We cannot thank you enough for the comfort and joy this brings all of us who know and love the Vondy Family!!!!
May God Bless you for your generosity!!
If you have already met Ginny and her husband, Steve, you know they are the kind of hard-working, never-ask-for-a-dime, kind of family. Steve has worked for years as a Large Equipment Operator and Foreman -- around the clock and around the week and weekends -- to support their bustling, family of 6. And Ginny has literally drove the wheels off her family car -- being the uber-mom to her 4 teenage athletes, everything she had to do to keep their busy lives afloat. Their hearts and plans are big, but their budget to make everything happen has been tight -- trying to balance a life of long work hours, and all the directions 4 teenagers will take you after school! That being said -- medical expenditures have always been hard, but doable.
Until July 3, of this year.
That is when Ginny and her young family's life -- as they knew it -- came screeching to a halt.
Ginny had detected a benign lump in her breast in the past, but realized earlier this Spring that it had started growing. She had decided to wait until things slowed down with Spring Baseball and all -- to take time out to get it looked at. After seeing a very concerned, local Doctor, Ginny was instructed to have it biopsied.
July 3, 2015, Ginny was driving in the car with her four kids, and got the call no one ever wants to hear -- that her lump was indeed, Breast Cancer. Choking back tears as she clarified the information over the phone -- her kids in the car put the information together and their worst fear left the carload sobbing out of control -- especially her youngest, age 11 at the time.
The bad news continued. July 6 the phone started ringing and the swell of tests and diagnostic appointments that needed to be done started pouring in.
By July 14, Ginny found out that the painful biopsy on her lymph nodes yeilded genetic testing that placed her as having Stage 3 Breast Cancer that had spread into her lymph nodes, and found her to be HER2 positive -- which is the fastest growing and most aggressive form of Breast Cancer. Her Doctors wanted to start Chemo immediately, with a barrage of PET scans, MRIs, Eco grams, blood work -- and then a plan for 6 mega Chemo treatments, then Surgery, then Radiation and then long-term chemo treatment.
How does one prepare for this news? I guess the answer Ginny would tell you is that... you... can't.
There aren't ways to prepare for how to control emotional breakdowns in talking to your kids about how Mom is going to lose her hair. Mom is going to be very sick. Mom isn't going to be able to be at every game. Mom isn't going to be able to leave the house a lot.
Once the news sank in -- Steve and Ginny resolved to do whatever it took to fight this. They were given a family photo session to show their determination and love for each other -- strategically before Ginny's first chemo that would cause her to lose all her long, beautiful brown hair.
Thankfully, their family was covered by insurance through Steve's job. But on an already over-stretched budget -- the realization that they would owe copays, co-insurance, and a $6000 annual family member deductible, started to also sink in. How would they pay for these huge bills and the extra gas and food to get to daily and even weekly treatments in Denver -- 70 miles and an hour and a half away from their home in Eaton?
No matter the cost -- Ginny started her chemo treatments July 21, 2015 and recently had her 6th and final big Chemo treatment at the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center. Even though she has battled nearly EVERY bad side effect of Chemo (losing her hair, allergic reactions, leg and face swelling, nose and mouth sores, bloody noses, severe GI distress, etc...) Ginny celebrated with nurses this past Tuesday, Nov. 17 after her final big chemo before surgery -- was completed!!
Today, Ginny is recovering from this final round of chemo side effects -- and is ready to start the Surgery and Radiation phases of her treatment!
In light of the fact that Steve and Ginny have always scrimped and saved to give their children the small-town good life and all the school and sports opportunities they could with their extra income -- would you join us, her family, in easing the huge financial burden that their annual deductible will cause to their family this year?
And the sad reality of annual copays (and the scope of Ginny's on-going treatment) means that they will owe their annual co-pays and co-insurance and per person deductible ALL OVER AGAIN starting January 1 -- just weeks away!
At a time when we are giving Praise and Thanksgiving for our many Blessings -- would you join us in helping Ginny and Steve, Jacob, Nathan, Mikayla and Abby feel some financial relief from these tremendous medical bills that are literally piling up on their dinner table these days?
Specifically -- they owe $6,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for Ginny this calendar year for 2015 (It's $6,000 per family member.) And they will owe another $6,000 for next year's treatment -- starting just weeks from now. That's a shocking total of $12,000 they need to come up with over the course of just a few months treatment. Additionally, this annual, out-of-pocket max does NOT include their prescription co pays, travel expenses or account for loss of work. This is why we have started this campaign -- to give them hope that they aren't alone in this financial, physical and emotional battle!
They will have a hard time accepting this help -- and they'd NEVER ask -- but we can't wait to see the look of relief on their faces when they see the love and support from all of us start coming their way!!!
And we know that they WILL pay this forward some day -- and we hope Ginny's story will be used to bless and encourage others in the future who will face this and similar battles and she'll be able to guide them from her own experience!
We cannot thank you enough for the comfort and joy this brings all of us who know and love the Vondy Family!!!!
May God Bless you for your generosity!!
Organizer and beneficiary
Robin Waldo Phillips
Organizer
Eaton, CO
Steve Vondy
Beneficiary
