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Shawn's Future Funeral costs

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This journey really started at the end of 2017. In October that year Shawn's mom had her second stroke, and was told by doctors that she could not live alone anymore. So we set out and found a house that we could accommodate her and we brought her home with us in February 2018.  In April 2019 I quit my job so that I could be mom's full-time caregiver, and in March 2020 she passed away.  At that point Shawn and I were gearing up to get the house ready to sell as we didn't need so much room.  However, Shawn had been putting off taking care of his health issues, partly because we were concentrating on taking care of mom, but also because we had insurance issues that made it so we couldn't afford to. In November 2019 he started a new job as a semi driver, and then had some great insurance, so we went ahead and pursued the issue of his elevated liver enzymes.  He had been experiencing abdominal pain for a few months but, as with everything else, ignored it and kept working.  In April 2020 we finally got in to see the GI specialist who was very concerned about Shawn's labs, especially the CRP, which is the inflammation marker. It was very high and he threw the word cancer around.  So that same week he got an MRCP (MRI of liver) and was called the same day and was asked to get to the ER ASAP.  Dr. Rashid said that it looked like his gall bladder had burst or was going to.  Fast forward to April 25, and the general surgeon going in to remove his sickly gall bladder was confronted with a grapefruit sized tumor.  As he is not trained in Oncologic surgery, he retrieved some good biopsy samples and closed Shawn back up.  A few days later it was confirmed, invasive adenosquamous cell carcinoma, a very aggressive form of cancer.  Once that was confirmed they fast-tracked Shawn to consult with a surgical oncologist, and he finally had the mass, gall bladder, part of his liver, and 6-7 inches of his small intestine removed on May 18.  The EOBs from Anthem and medical bills are starting to come in.  During all of this, I do not have a job as mom died right at the start of the lockdown, so I figured I'd wait until it was over to deal with all that, and Shawn was making plenty at his job.  However, he has not worked since April 24 and he will be losing his insurance at the end of May if we don't pay the premium, which we can't afford since neither one of us are working.  I would go and get a job NOW, but he needs care and someone to take him to appointments and such as he cannot drive for quite some time.  We have received help, both financial and practical help, from friends and family which we truly appreciate.  However, we are looking at around $20k in medical, possibly more, and we have no income right now.  There is the possibility of disability, which we will pursue, but it takes a while.  We are hoping that if our friends, and friends of friends, can help us raise money for the medical bills, we should be able to get through this without too much mental trauma.  Anything will help, including sharing this with everyone so that it can go as far as possible!  Shawn and I would like to thank everyone in advance for any help they are able to provide, it will be unequivocally appreciated!

Organizer

Michelle Carter
Organizer
Elkhart, IN

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