My cancer treatment fund

My name is Harry Pristovnik and I have been recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. I am self-employed, but at the present time my incoming work has dwindled down to almost nothing, due to the loss of two of my three regular clients (through no fault of my own). And my third regular client is having her own difficulties with business and personal matters, so the work I receive from her has almost completely evaporated.

Because I am self-employed, getting on disability will be tricky, if possible at all. At the moment I have no income and am living off of my limited savings, which will not last very long. Home mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, etc... they all need to be paid on an ongoing basis.

My medical insurance is very poor... but it is the only policy I found on the Obamacare site that I could afford, and not many medical providers accept it. I needed to have an MRI done, they denied to cover it and I had to pay for the MRI out of my own pocket. I needed to see a specialist, none of the names they provided me accepted their insurance, so once again I had to pay for the specialist out of my own pocket, even though I am also paying for insurance! Finding doctors who will accept my insurance is very difficult, and I am forced to spend most of my time between medical treatments fighting with my insurance company.

Currently I am receiving radiation treatment at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinos, and also am under the care of an oncologist there for my chemotherapy. The problem is that the radiologist who is caring for me accepts my insurance, but the oncologist does not. So I will either have to try to find an oncologist who will accept my insurance, or pay the oncologist treating me now out of my own pocket.

As I mentioned, that "pocket" is very limited and will run out soon, at which point I have no idea what to do. Even if I had incoming work, I could not do it due to the chronic fatigue my condition causes me, and I cannot keep a normal work schedule, as I am in the hospital for radiation treatment every weekday.

I have no realistic idea how much all of this specialized treatment will cost me, but I know that I cannot possibly afford it.

That is why I am appealing to you. My condition is severe and time is of the essence. Time spent trying to find an oncologist who accepts my insurance and is a reasonable distance away from me, getting the pre-approval my insurance company requires, setting up an appointment to see them and begin the oncology phase of my treatment all over again is time that I do not have to spare. Every day that I can't or don't receive treatment lessens my chances of beating this thing. I have not given up hope... I believe I CAN beat this, as severe as it is, but timely, ongoing treatment is essential if I am to have a realistic chance of beating this.

Any funding that I receive will go directly toward my medical expenses. And that funding could help save my life.

I thank anyone and everyone for reading my story, and if I beat this, I literally owe my life to those of you who helped. Thank you.