Rest in the sweetest peace PaPa Don

Hi, my name is Sara Barbar. I am creating this go fund me on behalf of my very best friend Erica and her sister Lauren to help their dad...the loving "Papa Don".

Over the past 6 weeks, Donald has been living with extreme back pain. When he couldn't take the pain anymore, he went to the hospital, had x-rays done, and was sent home to follow up with an othropedist. Donald was diagnosed with a generic disc disorder and was sent home with two weeks' worth of medication to "relieve pain" and was told to follow up. Donald was bedridden for two weeks, lost an extreme amount of weight, and we knew something had to happen fast to fix his back. Erica called her sister Lauren to come help, and she was on a one-way flight the very next day from Florida. Donald was taken for an MRI and the results were devestating.

Donald has stage 4 small-cell lung cancer that has spread to his bones and liver. There is no cure...but it can be managed with chemotherapy. He completed a 9 day hospital stay where he completed his first cycle of chemotherapy. The goal of the chemotherapy now is to reduce the pain the cancer is causing and to try and shrink the tumor near his spine to alleviate that pain across his back. The main goal now is to keep Donald comfortable.

Erica and Lauren were able to get him home but the amount of care he needs is quite profound and with no medical insurance the cost is becoming quite astronomical. They needed to rent a hospital bed, wheelchair, oxygen machine. Everything is out of their pockets right now... doctors visits, medicine, chemo, amongst everything they need to meet his daily needs. Lauren left her job to be her dads caregiver, and Erica has been taking off as much as she possibly can but still has two kids to support. These girls can use all the help and prayers they can get right now.

Right now Donald is bedridden and in an excruciating amount of pain.

To know Donald is to love him. He is the best father and an even better grandfather. Donald has been by Erica's side since the first day she came home from the hospital with GinaMarie and has never left. Donald was a daily presence in GinaMarie and Milania's life. He has never missed the first day of school, sports practice or a game; he has carpooled the girls to birthday parties, had sleep overs on the weekends. He's the man who came to take apart a bathroom sink to recover a lost tooth so his granddaughter could put it under the pillow.

Please consider donating any amount, and please, if you can't, continue to pray for peace and comfort.