Give Lance a Chance
Donation protected
This is my husband, Lance. He is a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and man in general. In August of 2020 he was diagnosed with Stage 4b Melanoma skin cancer on his chest and collar bone. It was a shock to us. We had always known someone with cancer and now we were the ones with cancer. After an endless series of appointments and questions about everything, it was decided that surgery was the next course of action. A PET scan was needed to prepare for surgery to make sure the Melanoma had not spread. After arguing with the insurance company on the necessity of the scan, and paying out of pocket ourselves, we finally were able to have the scan completed. The good news is the Melanoma had not spread. The bad news is that the scan also revealed the presence of colon cancer (completely unrelated to the Melanoma and growing quietly). If we had not insisted on that “unnecessary” scan, we never would have found it.
On September 15th, the Melanoma surgery was performed and was a great success. The surgeon was able to remove the mass and several lymph nodes under his left arm for testing. Six days later, Lance was back in the hospital for a colonoscopy in which several of the PET scan-identified tumors were able to be biopsied. The initial diagnosis was that at least one of the tumors was cancerous, and that most likely it had spread. I am pretty sure I blacked out for just a moment. This was so much happening so fast.
During this time, Lance was not able to work but was approved for a short-term disability payment (about 25% of his weekly pay). We were burning through savings and credit cards quickly at this point trying to get enough insurance deductible paid to have insurance start helping. On October 13th Lance had a colon resection surgery during which the surgeon removed fifteen inches of the large intestine along with the tumor and dozens of lymph nodes. So now with stiches still in his body from the Melanoma surgery he has dozens of staples and stiches in his abdomen from the colon surgery. He looked like a Viking Frankenstein’s monster.
After three days in the hospital we were going home hoping to be cancer free. Lance’s employer had been encouraging and supportive to this point and Lance was planning to return to work within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the follow-up with the Colon surgeon brought the news that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, about which the Oncologist informed us that administering chemotherapy for six months is our best option for five years survival.
As if this news was not stressful enough already, Lance’s employer decided to terminate his employment, meaning we lost health insurance and disability coverage, not to mention employment. Everything came to a screeching halt. Thankfully, the good news is that I was able to add Lance to my insurance. The bad news is that this means meeting another deductible resulting in even more payments to be made out of pocket. While we are continuing to figure out why he has been deemed ineligible for any assistance from unemployment or Social Security, we have already accumulated more than $10,000 in both deductibles and out of pocket expenses to this point. And given the timing of the diagnoses, we are being forced to wait until after the first of the year to start chemo which is a stretch of time the oncologist is not happy with but understands the situation. Our amazing daughter Harleigh has two jobs and is fast tracking her senior year to graduate early so she can work full time and contribute to the household. We are asking for help because we have exhausted all other resources. This is not a place anyone ever imagines themselves being in, yet here we are. Anything you can contribute will be appreciated more than we can express. Thank you very much for your help.
On September 15th, the Melanoma surgery was performed and was a great success. The surgeon was able to remove the mass and several lymph nodes under his left arm for testing. Six days later, Lance was back in the hospital for a colonoscopy in which several of the PET scan-identified tumors were able to be biopsied. The initial diagnosis was that at least one of the tumors was cancerous, and that most likely it had spread. I am pretty sure I blacked out for just a moment. This was so much happening so fast.
During this time, Lance was not able to work but was approved for a short-term disability payment (about 25% of his weekly pay). We were burning through savings and credit cards quickly at this point trying to get enough insurance deductible paid to have insurance start helping. On October 13th Lance had a colon resection surgery during which the surgeon removed fifteen inches of the large intestine along with the tumor and dozens of lymph nodes. So now with stiches still in his body from the Melanoma surgery he has dozens of staples and stiches in his abdomen from the colon surgery. He looked like a Viking Frankenstein’s monster.
After three days in the hospital we were going home hoping to be cancer free. Lance’s employer had been encouraging and supportive to this point and Lance was planning to return to work within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, the follow-up with the Colon surgeon brought the news that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, about which the Oncologist informed us that administering chemotherapy for six months is our best option for five years survival.
As if this news was not stressful enough already, Lance’s employer decided to terminate his employment, meaning we lost health insurance and disability coverage, not to mention employment. Everything came to a screeching halt. Thankfully, the good news is that I was able to add Lance to my insurance. The bad news is that this means meeting another deductible resulting in even more payments to be made out of pocket. While we are continuing to figure out why he has been deemed ineligible for any assistance from unemployment or Social Security, we have already accumulated more than $10,000 in both deductibles and out of pocket expenses to this point. And given the timing of the diagnoses, we are being forced to wait until after the first of the year to start chemo which is a stretch of time the oncologist is not happy with but understands the situation. Our amazing daughter Harleigh has two jobs and is fast tracking her senior year to graduate early so she can work full time and contribute to the household. We are asking for help because we have exhausted all other resources. This is not a place anyone ever imagines themselves being in, yet here we are. Anything you can contribute will be appreciated more than we can express. Thank you very much for your help.
Organiser
Catherine Faulkner
Organiser
Weatherford, TX