Cathy Elkins Medical Fund (cancer)
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Richard Hiott, I am trying to raise money for my sister Cathy Elkins. My sister Cathy has been fighting cancer for 3 years now. It first started out as a spot under her tongue. She put her own needs aside at the time to have it checked out because she was helping take care of our mother whom was in the final stages of alzheimer's disease. There were five of us siblings, with Catherine (Cathy) being the oldest, Virgina next, then Vicky and then my twin sister Rita and myself. Rita had just past away in 2009, so there were four of us left to take care of our mother when she got so bad that she couldn't stay by herself.
In 2009 we had to stay with mom constantly because of the terrible disease alzheimer's. Like I said earlier, there were four of us children left to help Mom. We were fortunate to have a sweet neice, Robin, her sister Tammy and Cathy's sister-in-law Dot help us take care of Mom. In 2011, I was staying with Mom one night and I got a call that my grandson had gotten in a car wreck and he was at the hospital. I called my sister Cathy and she said, "of course I'll come sit with Mom while you go to the hospital", and for me to go ahead because she was on her way. Mom was sleeping sound, so she would be alright for a short period of time until Cathy got there to stay with her. As soon as I got to the hospital I saw the ambulance workers bringing my sister Cathy into the hospital on a stretcher. On the way to Mom's house, Cathy got into a wreck, caused by a tire coming off of the other persons car, causing her to run into a bridge. The wreck broke her arm and her leg. My grandson was battered up, but he would be ok. Cathy being hurt, having to deal with healing from the wreck and then physical therapy, she was unable to help with Mom at that time. It was more than she could handle along with trying to take care of a sick husband at home.
(After a long hard battle with alzheimer's our Angel of a Mom, Frances Brownlee Hiott Bailey, passed away in March of 2013.)
The last fifteen years of Cathy and her husband Dean's life, has been having to deal with a great deal of sickness. They both had developed diabetes, then in 2001 at age 59, Dean had a stroke and found out he had heart disease. He had to have open heart surgery and since then had several stints put in. Dean's stroke left him a different person, he stays confused and can't remember things most of the time. Cathy has to be with him most of the time to give him his meds and take care of his basic needs. Since his stroke, Cathy was only able to work part time jobs with no benefits. Their financial situation had gotten severe after Deans illness, and depleted all of their funds. She was able to go on Medicare when she turned 65, but was unable to afford supplemental insurance
After Mom passed away, Cathy started to focus on her own needs more, so she had the spot under her tongue checked out and it turned out to be the dreaded C name, "CANCER"!!. She had surgery to have it removed and had to have repair work done to the area. Because so much tissue had to be removed and reconstruction done, it affected her speech, so then she needed speech therapy. Keep in mind, she was still dealing with the affects of the wreck she was in.
Then things got worse, the doctors told her that she had lymph node cancer and they decided to do chemo and radiation. She lives 50 miles away from MUSC in Charleston SC, where she needed to go for the treatments, but she was fortunate enough to secure a room at the hope lodge near the hospital where her and her husband could stay while she was having the treatments done. The treatments burned her esophagus so bad that she was unable to eat, and then they needed to put a feeding tube in so she could get nourishment. It also burned the soft tissues on the inside of her mouth so bad that bone was pultruding, and she had to have oral surgery. The treatments left her violently sick. Then while going in one day to have her chemo treatment done, she got out of the transport cart and her foot slipped on some gravel left there where some construction work had been done. She fell on a nearby iron post and broke her shoulder. Her life has turned into a nightmare, but she has someone in her life that keeps her from giving up and determined to win this battle and his name is Jesus Christ.
She made it through the radiation and chemo treatments. She was 60 pounds lighter and very weak, but she made it through it. Now the most recent update, the cancer has shown up again as skin cancer, in areas around her neck and on her chest and I mean a lot of places. The doctors say it is too many to do surgery and the doctors gave her more bad new, that she is one of the few patients that the chemo did not work on. They tell her that she only has one other option for them to try and it is an experimental drug.
For those of you that read this, Please first and most important pray for my sister Cathy Elkins. Then let me answer a few questions that I think most of you would ask. Does she have anyone to turn to financially? The answer is no. I myself am disabled and living on a fixed income. My other two sisters have reached retirement age and living on a fixed income. Basically we receive enough to pay our bills. Does she have any children? Yes she has two, a son the younger whom married late and he and his wife have two small children to take care of. He has helped his parents a great deal through the years and continues to show them love and give them support, but unable to help his Mom take care of all her medical bills. Then there is her daughter who loves her parents but has had problems for years and is not doing good now. Please keep in mind though, there have been family and friends who have given as much help and support as they could to help, and her church Family also, but it has not been enough.
Her medical bills, not paid by her insurance, have accumulated to over 10,000 dollars, and she still has to make frequent trips for treatment to MUSC. My sister Cathy is a good person that has always lived a good clean life. She has never drank, smoked or done drugs. She has always had a good free giving heart and always willing to help someone in need. I love my sister Cathy very much she is such a good person. She is passionate about her faith in Jesus Christ and I also share that faith with her. If any of you are able, Please give what you can, to help her with the medical expenses. It would be appreciated very much.
Sincerely, Thank You,
Richard Hiott
In 2009 we had to stay with mom constantly because of the terrible disease alzheimer's. Like I said earlier, there were four of us children left to help Mom. We were fortunate to have a sweet neice, Robin, her sister Tammy and Cathy's sister-in-law Dot help us take care of Mom. In 2011, I was staying with Mom one night and I got a call that my grandson had gotten in a car wreck and he was at the hospital. I called my sister Cathy and she said, "of course I'll come sit with Mom while you go to the hospital", and for me to go ahead because she was on her way. Mom was sleeping sound, so she would be alright for a short period of time until Cathy got there to stay with her. As soon as I got to the hospital I saw the ambulance workers bringing my sister Cathy into the hospital on a stretcher. On the way to Mom's house, Cathy got into a wreck, caused by a tire coming off of the other persons car, causing her to run into a bridge. The wreck broke her arm and her leg. My grandson was battered up, but he would be ok. Cathy being hurt, having to deal with healing from the wreck and then physical therapy, she was unable to help with Mom at that time. It was more than she could handle along with trying to take care of a sick husband at home.
(After a long hard battle with alzheimer's our Angel of a Mom, Frances Brownlee Hiott Bailey, passed away in March of 2013.)
The last fifteen years of Cathy and her husband Dean's life, has been having to deal with a great deal of sickness. They both had developed diabetes, then in 2001 at age 59, Dean had a stroke and found out he had heart disease. He had to have open heart surgery and since then had several stints put in. Dean's stroke left him a different person, he stays confused and can't remember things most of the time. Cathy has to be with him most of the time to give him his meds and take care of his basic needs. Since his stroke, Cathy was only able to work part time jobs with no benefits. Their financial situation had gotten severe after Deans illness, and depleted all of their funds. She was able to go on Medicare when she turned 65, but was unable to afford supplemental insurance
After Mom passed away, Cathy started to focus on her own needs more, so she had the spot under her tongue checked out and it turned out to be the dreaded C name, "CANCER"!!. She had surgery to have it removed and had to have repair work done to the area. Because so much tissue had to be removed and reconstruction done, it affected her speech, so then she needed speech therapy. Keep in mind, she was still dealing with the affects of the wreck she was in.
Then things got worse, the doctors told her that she had lymph node cancer and they decided to do chemo and radiation. She lives 50 miles away from MUSC in Charleston SC, where she needed to go for the treatments, but she was fortunate enough to secure a room at the hope lodge near the hospital where her and her husband could stay while she was having the treatments done. The treatments burned her esophagus so bad that she was unable to eat, and then they needed to put a feeding tube in so she could get nourishment. It also burned the soft tissues on the inside of her mouth so bad that bone was pultruding, and she had to have oral surgery. The treatments left her violently sick. Then while going in one day to have her chemo treatment done, she got out of the transport cart and her foot slipped on some gravel left there where some construction work had been done. She fell on a nearby iron post and broke her shoulder. Her life has turned into a nightmare, but she has someone in her life that keeps her from giving up and determined to win this battle and his name is Jesus Christ.
She made it through the radiation and chemo treatments. She was 60 pounds lighter and very weak, but she made it through it. Now the most recent update, the cancer has shown up again as skin cancer, in areas around her neck and on her chest and I mean a lot of places. The doctors say it is too many to do surgery and the doctors gave her more bad new, that she is one of the few patients that the chemo did not work on. They tell her that she only has one other option for them to try and it is an experimental drug.
For those of you that read this, Please first and most important pray for my sister Cathy Elkins. Then let me answer a few questions that I think most of you would ask. Does she have anyone to turn to financially? The answer is no. I myself am disabled and living on a fixed income. My other two sisters have reached retirement age and living on a fixed income. Basically we receive enough to pay our bills. Does she have any children? Yes she has two, a son the younger whom married late and he and his wife have two small children to take care of. He has helped his parents a great deal through the years and continues to show them love and give them support, but unable to help his Mom take care of all her medical bills. Then there is her daughter who loves her parents but has had problems for years and is not doing good now. Please keep in mind though, there have been family and friends who have given as much help and support as they could to help, and her church Family also, but it has not been enough.
Her medical bills, not paid by her insurance, have accumulated to over 10,000 dollars, and she still has to make frequent trips for treatment to MUSC. My sister Cathy is a good person that has always lived a good clean life. She has never drank, smoked or done drugs. She has always had a good free giving heart and always willing to help someone in need. I love my sister Cathy very much she is such a good person. She is passionate about her faith in Jesus Christ and I also share that faith with her. If any of you are able, Please give what you can, to help her with the medical expenses. It would be appreciated very much.
Sincerely, Thank You,
Richard Hiott
Organizer and beneficiary
Ricky Hiott
Organizer
Burr Hill, SC
Cathy Elkins
Beneficiary
