Help Jason Giddings Kick Cancer's Ass

2/26/24 Update: Jason had surgery on Tuesday 2/20 his right tonsil, dozens of lymph nodes, and a cancerous tumor were removed. Jason responded well to the surgery and was released from the hospital and is now back home recovering with his family. He sent me a message to share with everyone.

Hello, I just wanted to thank everyone who has donated and has given me their support and encouragement over the past few weeks. This has been a very physically, emotionally, and financially challenging life altering event in our lives that was completely unexpected. So many people; including family, friends, and complete strangers have reached out to me to give me support in a variety of ways. So I’m forever thankful and grateful to those people and I know many good things will come from having lived through this experience. Thanks again, Jason.

With the help of generous donations and Financial Assistance Jason received from the hospital, the majority of his medical expenses incurred are paid and covered. He now can concentrate on his recovery which will be 3-4 weeks if all goes to plan and he doesn’t require radiation or any other medical treatments.

February 11, 2024:

Jason is one of my husband’s best friends and like family to us. On January 12th he was diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, just 3 months after he and his fiancée Tammy welcomed their first daughter, Christine.

Aside from the shock & devastation of the prognosis; the financial stress has been quite overwhelming.

Jason has been the sole financial provider in the household since July, as Tammy stopped working due to a high-risk pregnancy. With rent alone accounting for $3100 per month their savings have been drastically depleted. Tammy had spent thousands of dollars of her savings during her pregnancy trying to gain asylum for her mother to come to the U.S. to help care for baby Christine. So, she could return to work. Unfortunately, her case was refused. The final blow came on February 5, 2024 when Jason was finally given the self-pay estimate of the two surgeries which was $67,740... for JUST the hospital portion of the bill not including the doctor bill.

If you know Jason you know that he is independent and determined, he’s not one to ask for help. He needs to save his strength for the battle and recovery ahead.

If you’re looking for a way to help, here it is. All funds will go directly to Jason for his care and recovery.

The details:

On December 28th of 2023 Jason noticed swelling in his throat so he went to Florida Keys Urgent Care and they informed him that he had a swollen lymph node and lesion on his tonsil and he would need more tests.

January 3rd 2024, he went to Miami to see an ENT doctor who performed a biopsy of the lesion and on January 12th Jason was diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer.

Jason's health insurance is a limited policy so the bills for all the appointments and various tests have cost thousands of dollars out of pocket during the month of January alone (the estimate for the PET scan that was done on January 20th is $8000-$12,000 alone!)

It has been a constant battle with his health insurance to get things covered and through the process he discovered that his health insurance is basically useless; they don’t cover most of the services he needs and after countless hours on the phone with the insurance company and the agent who sold him this misleading policy, he contacted the Better Business Bureau and discovered that this insurance company has received 919 formal complaints over the past 12 months.

Jason thought he was buying insurance from a reputable company and was told it was good coverage that included the very hospital and surgeon who is performing the surgeries. Their website showed that his doctor and the hospital are covered but they in fact don’t accept his insurance. He was scammed.

The most recent appointment on Monday January 29, 2024 with his surgeon in the Miami determined that he needs a transoral robotic surgery of the right tonsil and a right selective neck dissection that will not be covered by his current insurance.