Help fight Mike’s Cancer

I write this with a heavy heavy heart. Mike Hartsell, my husband and the love of my life is very sick with Stage 4a Cancer of the Tongue. It has metastasized to his lymph nodes. During our 35 years of marriage, we have had our ups and downs, but through it all, he has always been my “person” and my “soul mate”.

We have 4 adult children, 12 (soon to be 13) grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. Mike has not felt well for quite some time. True to form, he put off seeing a doctor himself to make sure my health issues were addressed, all the while, reconfiguring our modest home to make room for my 93 year old parents to come live with us. While my mother has since passed, I am still the caregiver for my father. Any of you having been a care giver for someone with dementia/ Alzheimer's, as well as medical issues, this is a full time job, 365/24/7.

After finally making an appointment to see the doctor, we were given the devastating test results which have turned our world upside down. Stage 4a Cancer of the Tongue and lymph nodes.

We live in Ocala, Florida. Mike has been assessed by several doctors in Ocala, which is 5 miles from home. Because this is Mikes second time with Head and Neck Cancer, we have had appointments with specialists in Gainesville at the University of Florida Shands Hospital, which is 83 miles away, and Orlando Health in Orlando, which is 150 miles from home. Each of the assessments has resulted in the creation of different treatment plans to see what could be done to help Mike. Between the University of Florida, Orlando Health, and the Oncologist Doctors here in Ocala, all agree that none of the options are good.

The options are severely limited as radiation can only be administered to a particular area of the body only once in a person’s lifetime. In 2005, Mike had received full chemo and radiation treatment for head and neck cancer (tonsil cancer) and as such, he cannot receive traditional radiation on those parts of his body again.

Mike has been given a 30% chance of survival with treatment, this is the unanimous opinion of all of the doctors; and if Mike receives no treatment, chance of survival is 0% and death is 100% assured.

Undergoing surgery is not an option as it would entail removing his entire tongue, vocal cords, tonsils, part of his jaw, and much more. Such surgery would result in having to have a breathing tube and feeding tube for the remainder of his life.

The option which we are left with is modified chemo and proton therapy at Orlando Health. The chemo would be 2/3 cycles (doses/treatment) which are 2-3 weeks apart. Each cycle(doses/treatment) will take approximately 5 hours. The side effects of the Chemo could be fatigue, vomiting, low grade fever, thyroid issues, lung inflammation, throat inflammation, and loose stools. The proton therapy would be daily for 6/7 weeks. Proton therapy is a very precise targeted treatment, unlike radiation, which has a wide band of what area is touched. The side effects of this will be very bad for Mike and could include being paralyzed; nerve damage to neck, arms, and hands; weakness; right arm being paralyzed; spinal cord damage and damage to the carotid artery which would result in death.

Even with the targeted proton therapy, cancer cells tend to “hide” and the protons are only targeting one specific area. Because cancer cells can be hiding, resulting in their not being hit by the protons, they can be missed. This accounts for the low survival rate of only 30%.

Before treatment even begins, all of Mike’s teeth must be pulled, he has to have a medical port (for medications and blood draws) inserted, and a feeding tube.

We are both on a limited income. The bills are already piling up. In just one month, the medical expenses alone are over $1,327.00 out of pocket after health insurance. We will have to drive daily back and forth to Orlando for the proton therapy and back and forth as scheduled for chemo, Dr Appointments and other tests. The tolls alone for our trip for a week are approximately $326. Our financial portion for tests, surgeries, pulling of the teeth and the aftermath, hospital admissions, doctor visit copays, gasoline, food and drinks during this travel, someone to watch my dad while we are away, and Lord knows what else is coming our way is going to be devastating for us financially. So I am humbly asking for any kind of donation to help us during this time.

Thank you Mike and Beth