Justin's cancer medical fund

Hello all! So as a lot of you know, it has been a rough year for our family. I am not one to ask for help and I hate that it has come to this but it’s reached a breaking point and I finally just need to set aside my pride and ask for help. Let me share with you my story from the last 9 months.

This year started off with me being hospitalized for a week due to double lung pneumonia. I would spend the next few months going to medical appointment after medical appointment trying to figure out why I had fourteen different respiratory infections last year. In the end they decided that my lungs were damaged from covid and that my previously diagnosed inflammatory autoimmune condition was likely the culprit.

Fast forward a few months and I was in a car accident in Des Moines where I was t-boned, and my car was totaled. Having to purchase another vehicle was not in my plan after amassing a massive amount of hospital bills, so this hurt. But the worst was still to come.

In July I was awoken out of a dead sleep with an incredible stomach pain. We rushed to the ER and after many tests they still could not give me a diagnosis. They ordered more testing, but nothing came to be of it. Multiple more ER visits would follow in the next few weeks, they would determine that I have rectal cancer and stage 3 kidney cancer along with needing my gallbladder removed. As you can imagine, this news was devastating.

I then spent about 4 to 5 days a week in medical appointments figuring out a plan of attack with my care team. So far, I’ve had 3 procedures done in the last 6 weeks. All has gone well I’m happy to share! The tumor in my rectum was removed and follow up procedure biopsies showed it had not spread into my blood stream.

There were some complications with my gallbladder removal but that just meant more pain and longer recovery. I have kidney removal surgery scheduled for November 7th and then will most likely need some iv-immunotherapy treatments afterwards, which are between 30 and 40 thousand dollars, followed by lots of recheck procedures in the coming years as my rectal cancer is an aggressive type.

This has all been a lot to deal with emotionally and financially and it’s come to a breaking point. My oncologist told me that I was lucky and that if my gallbladder had not acted up, I would have been dead by 45. My kidney cancer they say is a little over a year from being uncurable. So that makes you pause and reflect on life.

Then last Friday, Toni’s mother passed away unexpectedly. We are trying to take care of those expenses as well and dealing with the loss of a great and loved woman. Of course, for the cherry on top our dog Rocco, needs a $1700 dollar surgery in October. Although that was planned, the rest of it was not and makes it another mountain to climb.

I’ve been trying to keep it together emotionally but its just so overwhelming right now. Ive always been a person that thought you could pull up your bootstraps and work hard and make a good life for yourself. I’ve worked 2 jobs for over 16 years straight. I’m a Direct Support Professional managing a group home. I help adults with intellectual disabilities thrive in our society. Then in my spare time I bartend on the side. I use some of the extra money from bartending for activities in the group home.

My autoimmune inflammatory condition makes every day very painful but I’ve just put on a smile and kept going. But today I need to ask for your help. Its gotten to the point financially that I don’t know how starting next month I’m going to be able to pay for my mortgage, pay for my bills, pay for my treatments. 16 years of working 2 jobs gone in a matter of months. Any amount you could give would really help. Any sharing of my story you could do would really help. My goal here is to get enough to keep the household going for a few months till I can get back to work. So that I can recover without the fear that I won’t have a place to live. It’s been really hard writing this and honestly sharing it with you all mortifies me. But it’s time. Much love and thank you for your time and consideration!!!

Justin, Toni, and Rocco