Dave & Doreen's Cancer Support Fund

This picture is a nice picture of my brother David & his wife Doreen. It seems as though this is how we always see them...smiling and happy together. The purpose of this campaign is to help them focus on these types of moments while Dave goes through cancer treatment for a particularly aggressive throat cancer. Good news is the treatment regime of chemo & radiation has excellent results, the bad news is, this is the second time Dave has had radiation treatments for cancer (1st time 20+ years ago for Hodgkins Lymphoma). This means that his local oncologist and radiation specialist are not able to treat him effectively and have referred him to the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa. Great hospital, they just live200 miles away in Port St Lucie. During his 10 weeks of treatments, he will need to be in Tampa 24/7 and so does Doreen. While her employer will hold her job for her, they can't pay her while she is out. Dave is on medical leave, while he is out of work  he is receiving a portion of his salary and his insurance isn't as bad as most policies. The fund raising campaign isn't to cover medical cost, it’s to cover the loss of Doreen's income and living expenses in Tampa during the treatment so they (she) can have the peace of mind that they can meet all their other financial obligations while she is out of work.

Five years ago my wife Sheree went through similar cancer treatment, she was out of work for nearly six months and hospitalized 4 times. We were fortunate that she could rest at home with a great support system of family and friends. Even with this great support system, as her primary care giver I was physically & emotionally exhausted. I can't imagine how Doreen is going to do this 'out of town' by herself 24/7. If we can take the burden of her lost income while Doreen is careing for Dave during his treatment, this way we can show love and support that will last throughout the treatment cycle, long after hitting the donation button.

No body should have to make these kinds of choices, but it happens. I would be grateful if you would join me in donating for a truly worthy cause. If you are in Tampa, stop by and gave Dave & Doreen a big hug!

Thank you,
John DeCouto