Josh's medical expenses

In January of 2013 I was diagnosed with a stage 2 Glioma Astrocytoma brain tumor. By March of 2013 I had brain surgery at Duke and they were able to remove about 80% of the tumor. After the surgery I was paralyzed on my left side and spent about a month at the Duke rehab center. At this point I was told that I would not work again and was offered disability. Determined to work again I refused disability and returned to work three months later.  I then started chemotherapy treatments that would last 12 months along with a series of follow up visits at Duke every six weeks. After the first year of chemotherapy I was able to take a break but within 1 year more tumors started to grow so I started a second round of a 12 month chemotherapy plan along with radiation treatments. I just completed that round of chemotherapy about 1 month ago and now I have 6 tumors growing on my brain that are stage 3. Today (8/22/16) I started a more aggressive chemotherapy that will last another year. Since I was diagnosed I've made 34 trips to Duke and had MRI's along with labs during each visit. I've had several visits to my local Gibbs center for the chemotherapy treatments and radiation. As you can imagine the expenses are piling up. I believe in providing for my family and as long as God gives me the strength I will continue to work when I can. My doctors do not want me to work for safety reasons (I'm in maintenance) but in either case my medical expenses are outpacing my income. Some things I would like to accomplish is to finish my house that is under construction and visit the Grand Canyon with my family. They have sacrificed allot for me over the past 3-4 years and I would like to share that experience with them. I am thankful for what God has brought me through thus far and enjoy the people I have met along the way. I would also like to thank you for reading my story. God bless.







Josh Brown