Justin's Funds for F cancer

Setting up one of these things is strange. On the one hand it's so wonderful that it exists. On the other hand the hope is that it NEVER has to be utilized. But unfortunately here we are. I'm Justin's sister. His first best friend, his first enemy, his confidant and PITA! :) I'm doing this to lesson the financial burden cancer and treatment can cause.

My giant of a baby brother is and had been battling cancer. For those of you who don't know, Justin was diagnosed with melanoma in early 2019. Following many tests and scans Justin had surgery to remove what they thought was all the cancer. After a brief recovery Justin was *hopefully* on the mend. But it wasn't so.

Life has a funny way of kicking you when you're down. Summer 2019 brought the dissolution of Justin and Katie's marriage. Life happens, people grow apart, but it would be the catalyst for consecutive periods of tough times and honest to goodness bad luck for Justin. While navigating the challenges of being newly divorced and coparenting, he lost his job. I think everyone can understand, the upheaval of cancer and divorce can lead to several problems, most that were never a problem before. What happens with a loss of a job? Loss of insurance. And that's when it was brought to his attention that all of the cancer wasn't gone. Imagine getting that news and knowing you have no one to lean on, you're a single parent who has to be there for his children, and you have no insurance in a country where Tylenol at the hospital is $45. That would break anyone. It would be so disheartening and scary. But it didn't break my brother. It didn't scare him into stopping the fight. He continues on for his beloved children, Colin (13) and Sylvia (6). Those kids love their dad more than anything, and need him healthy and happy.

Justin fought his way to a new job, insurance, coparenting success and was taking control of his health. That is all amazing, but with taking care of his health comes more surgery, possible (likely) chemo and radiation. And that? That comes with hours lost, income lost, hours of physical therapy.. but hopefully not his spirit lost.

Why am I reaching out to everyone? Well... How many of you has Justin helped move? Have you ever seen Justin pick up a couch by himself? (I have- it's truly impressive). Has he fixed anything for you? Car? Appliance? I don't know how he knows what to do when things are broken but he does. Like on a Christmas Day when not only the furnace breaks but also the plumbing. (My house ha). He stayed on the phone with my husband for hours to help. lol. Has he ever picked you up when your car has broken down, (like he picked up the bride's best friend and makeup artist on my wedding day), has he stood up for you in an argument, been your designated driver, shared anything he has with anyone he knows, made you laugh, shook your hand, jumped in an oil tank with you, held your babies, hugged your parents, held YOU when you needed it? There are very few people on my friends list that haven't experienced at least one of these things. And now he needs our help.

My baby brother has cancer. An aggressive cancer that's spread to at least one lymph node. He will have a chunk taken out of his arm and shoulder that will look like "a shark bite" according to the doctor at Dana Farber. For someone who works with their arms and hands every day, that is a blow. But I know we can all help. Justin's surgery is Thursday in Boston. Pray for my brother, keep him in your thoughts if you don't pray, send good vibes, but please help him out.