Help Forrest George Begin Urgent Cancer Treatment

Forrest's life has been radically changed in the last 8 months.

It started last November when he was concerned about the swollen glands in his neck. He had Anthem Insurance at the time and Providence medical group was his network. His primary care doctor advised that he should also get a smokers CT scan, and he ordered follow up referrals to in network specialists.

In January, Providence did not renew with Anthem and Forrest found himself unable to get approval for his medical needs. Anthem chose his Doctor Network to Prospect Medical Group, which is primarily in Orange County. There was no continuity of care, and the previously scheduled referrals were not in network.

Being an independent man he tried his best to get an appointment with an ENT and a Pulmonologist in his new network as his breathing became more difficult, but was told he needed a referral from his new primary care physician, who Forrest had just been assigned. In April he reached out to us, his family, for help. We immediately realized he needed to go to the Emergency at Los Robles hospital, where he spent 10 days. After many tests, Prospect finally approved a Chemotherapy Oncologist in Thousand Oaks. The approved doctor then prescribed Radiation treatment STAT to bring down the size of his lymph nodes; that was the proper treatment to begin with (though no actual diagnosis was given at the time).

In the interim, while waiting for Prospect to approve a radiation doctor, Forrest became so short of breath and had life threateningly low oxygen levels, that he was rushed to the ER just last week. After 6 liters of fluid, on 3 different occasions, was drained from around his lungs, the family spent many hours on phone calls and emails, and we finally received an actual diagnosis: Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma. To live, he needs to begin treatment immediately.

Time is of the essence for Forrest. Over the last week, with much effort, we have gotten some approvals from his insurance to begin treatment. We are hoping to be able to get better insurance, but that cannot happen until Open Enrollment in October. At the moment Forrest is unable to work . There will be much cost in treating him and sustaining his needs in the months ahead, and we are reaching out to this kind community for support. If helping Forrest get through this most difficult time moves you to help, please do. Even the smallest gift will have impacting ripples.

In deep gratitude,

The Real Forrest George Family