Zach Butler Cancer - Gorlin Fund
Donation protected
5-11-17 Some amazingly great news! After so many months of trying to get healthcare - filling out forms, talking to people, some nice, some terribly confusing - Zach finally got approved for healthcare through the state based on his low income! Zach will still need our help financially. The treatments he needs to have done will take a long time, maybe up to 2 years. He won't be able to work even as much as before so he can keep all of his appointments and he'll need time to recuperate after the various procedures. Please help Zach financially if you can. It would be sincerely appreciated! Our original Goal of $42,500 has been reduced to $15,000 to help Zach when he has be be off work recovering from the various procedures. It may not be enough but it would sure be a really helpful start so he won't have to worry so much about how he will pay his rent and utilities while he is trying so hard to get well.
Thank you so much for your kindness, thoughts and prayers,
Cheryl Bowman, Zach's Grandma
Below is Zach's story posted in November 2016 resulting in friends and family raising enough money so he could get the surgery for the mass in his jawbone. That procedure is still not over. Please see latest update for more info.
Please help my grandson, Zach Butler, who has Gorlin-Goltz. It has caused a tumor in his jawbone and numerous basal cell carcinomas on his head, face and neck.
My grandson Zach is in in pain and in dire need of help right now. Zach has been diagnosed with multiple basal cell carcinomas on his face, head and neck. He also has a mass that is eating away at his jawbone. Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome runs in his paternal family. Several months ago he did have one very large spot surgically removed from his ear but presently has 15 more spots in need of removal as well as the tumor that is deteriorating his jawbone. If the spots and tumor are not removed quickly, the cells can spread to other areas or move into his bloodstream, then he may be in need of radiation and/or other cancer treatment. The most urgent need is for Zach to get the maxillofacial surgery. This is because of the tumor that is eating away at his jawbone. It is not known yet if this is cancerous. He is in pain and desperately needs your help.
Prior to turning 26 last year, Zach had insurance through his father but had to get his own coverage. He went out on the internet and signed up. He was so excited when he got approved. Later in 2015 was when the doctor found 10 cancer spots on his head. Zach scheduled the procedure for the first one, the one on his ear which was the worst at that time. He had a large deductible but got started with this first procedure with money he had saved and with some help from family members. This particular spot was more involved than first thought. It had tendrils that went deep so it was a bigger procedure than expected and a very painful recovery time for Zach. A while later when Zach was trying to schedule the next treatment he found he was no longer covered by insurance. Maybe that company backed out of Obamacare, we don’t know, but he got dropped and has been trying to get insurance ever since. So many loopholes and refusals and all the while he has been applying for coverage, the carcinomas are spreading with no treatment.
Zach has been working hard all this time, trying to pay the doctors what he can, but he is overwhelmed. This maxillofacial surgery will cost approximately $5,000 and the surgery for basal cell carcinomas are approximately $2,500 each. The total for surgery on each of these 15 individual spots will cost approximately $37,500. So in total, the surgeries he needs as soon as possible will cost approximately $42,500.
The $42,500 estimate will hopefully cover the urgent medical procedures but will not help him when he has to take time off of work where he will still need to pay his rent and living expenses. Nor will this amount cover any of the costs if he has to go through even further cancer treatments down the road.
Zach is a great young man. He is kind-hearted, a bit shy, very loving and never wants to impose on anyone. That is why this grandma and his aunt have set up this go fund me page. Please understand, this is the little boy I used to rock to sleep and sing lullabies to. I’ve watched him grow into a wonderful, compassionate human being and I am so proud of him. We hear about people dying while they are waiting for health care. I beg you, please don't let that happen to my grandson.
Thank you so much for any amount you can give to help Zach get these treatments started. It is sincerely appreciated by him and all of his family.
Cheryl L. Bowman
Organizer and beneficiary
Doug N Cherie Bowman
Organizer
Escondido, CA
Zach Butler
Beneficiary