Medical, and Expenses Due to Cancer Treatments

This is a message from Phillip\'s friends on his behalf....

You may or may not know Phillip Moore, but he has been my friend for 36 years. Phillip is a graduate of Lexington High School, Class of 83, but his friendships spanned many, many more classes than his own. His story, like so many others touched by cancer, is fraught with pain, sadness, and hope.

Three years ago Phillip had everything going for him; a wonderful wife, great career and a beautiful home in Concord, NC. All was where it needed to be, so at 42 years of age he and his wife, Niki, decided to start a family. In December 2008 their first son, JR, was born. It was during that time Phillip had begun to have some lymph node issues that were being treated as an infection by his doctor. Another year and four months would pass, and the lymph node issues would increase and fatigue would set in but the doctors would continue to treat this as an infection.

During this time Phillip's wife was pregnant with their second child, Brody. He was born in March of 2010. Just two hours after Brody's birth, while he was in the recovery room with his wife, Phillip received a call from his physician informing him that the infection they had been treating was actually cancer. The extreme joy of his second son's birth was quickly replaced by the horror that is the diagnosis of cancer. Phillip chose not to share the diagnosis with his wife for several days so as not to overshadow the birth of his second child.

The original diagnosis was Stage 4 MALT Lymphoma, a very treatable form of cancer, that with any luck meant Phillip would be able to see his infant sons graduate someday. A less invasive form of chemotherapy was undertaken to attack his cancer and the initial results were promising. 

Three months after his first treatment a CT scan revealed some tumors were shrinking, some stayed the same, but there was little or no growth which was the desired result. A second round of chemo was administered and it would be three months until another CT, and another treatment was required.

After a brief leave of absence for the initial chemotherapy treatment Phillip had gone back to work full-time. It was after the second treatment that his fatigue had started to increase and it became more and more difficult to travel as much as his position demanded. In October of 2010 Phillip fell ill and was hospitalized with pneumonia. This was a result of the disease coupled a diminished immune system due to the cancer treatments, and something the doctors informed him could be a regular occurrence.

A few weeks after leaving the hospital Phillip's fatigue had increased exponentially, and a constant low grade fever and sweats had set in. Toward the end of December, 2010 Phillip's fever had elevated to between 101° and 102° and remained at that level 24 hours a day. Another CT revealed the same results as the previous, and another treatment provided a very little relief to the symptoms that had been ever increasing since October.

All this had finally taken its toll and Phillip had to take a leave of absence from work which carried over into 2011 burning up his short-term disability and weeks of vacation he had accumulated.

When Phillip's fever began to trend even higher edging into the 103° range he was admitted to the hospital for an extended stay. His oncologist discounted the symptoms had anything to do with his cancer since the form of cancer he had been diagnosed with was not supposed to exhibit these sort of symptoms. So every imaginable test was run to rule out every other possible cause.

After eight days the doctors could find no explanation for Phillip's constant fever, but it was being managed with the use of Naproxen, a prescription form of Aleve, and he was sent home. Several weeks would pass and the medicines effect would start to wane requiring increasing dosages to control the fever. On top of the fever and sweats body aches and internal pain began to set in.

Having had enough Phillip admitted himself once again to the hospital and demanded his oncologist perform a PET scan, a much more accurate scan, than the CT's the doctors had been performing.

The results of this scan revealed Phillip did not have the MALT Lymphoma as he was previously diagnosed with, but that he was stricken with two forms of cancer affecting many more areas and systems than the previous scans had revealed.

Now, having been diagnosed with Stage 4 Non Hodgkin's and Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Phillip is receiving a much more aggressive form of chemotherapy. This treatment has just begun and will continue through August.

Although these forms of cancer are more aggressive than the MALT Lymphoma Phillip was originally thought to have he remains in great spirits and still hopes to watch his boys become young men and graduate.

As you can imagine this process has taken a financial toll on the family. Having exhausted his short-term disability, and vacation, Phillip was forced to apply under the Family Medical Leave Act for extended leave without pay while he is awaiting approval of long-term disability. He was replaced at his work, had to transition to COBRA insurance, and now has passed the point where his company would even have to offer him work if he recovers enough to where he can work full-time again.

Phillip's wife has transitioned to part-time at her work so she can balance taking care of him, and their two small children. And just recently the family has had to put their house up for sale in preparation to move closer to family.

The purpose of putting this endeavor together with the help of another good friend and classmate of Phillip's and mine, Dena Barton Howard, is to try and get some help for Phillip and his family. The co pay for his medical bills alone will be thousands of dollars, and the cost to continue COBRA insurance premiums is expensive as well. If this effort can just raise enough money to fill in the gaps created by the family's loss of income then it is our hope the family can continue to focus on Phillip's treatments and recovery, and not the growing debt.

 Please give if you can. It will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Richard D. Laudenslager