Support Diane Doyle’s Journey of Healing

Our hearts are heavy, and our hands are full from a life altered by Hurricane Helene and cancer.

How does one get through major adversity? Community? Perseverance? For over 10 years, my wife Diane Doyle has been in a struggle with what began as Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Our life-altering news has spread quietly through word of mouth. We have avoided publicly communicating about her journey on any social media, until now. I am here reaching out to our “tribe” in the greater community for support.

It’s been a bumpy ride with fears, wins, scares, a pandemic, enduring multiple surgeries and therapies, and even more scares and wins. Right now, the situation is serious again. This summer, Diane was diagnosed with a second threat, triple-negative breast cancer, while still fighting ovarian cancer. It was detected early enough to have a lumpectomy surgery. After much deliberation, she chose to return to chemotherapy treatments just three weeks before this hurricane hit. Her treatments are now halted with Hope Cancer Center in Asheville closing from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

We nearly launched a GoFundMe campaign a few times before the hurricane. We both find it difficult to ask for assistance. Now it seems more imperative than ever that we reach out. She seriously needs funding to continue to heal, especially with alternative therapies.

Someone recently told me, “Cancer affects a lot of things, especially your wallet!” It couldn’t be truer. Diane has insurance today through the amazing grace of the Affordable Care Act with its lack of pre-existing conditions clauses. However, the deductible is over $7,500 (for each of us) annually, and we have spent tens of thousands of dollars for care and supplements not covered. Since her diagnosis, I have often worked upwards of 60-70 hours a week to keep this all afloat. More “salt in the wound”: Hurricane Helene has shut down western North Carolina’s economy for the foreseeable future; the region is broken, devastated and declared a federal disaster. As I write this we have no running water.

The first diagnosis came in 2014, just 40 days before our long planned wedding. Diane was given a 14-month survival rate. Today her doctors have no idea why she is still alive. She has stepped outside of the normal channels with multiple alternative therapies and embraced mainstream medical protocols when needed. These all had varying effects on her prognosis. The proof of her exhaustive, creative quest for answers is that she is still here, alive.

Again, Diane is needing funds for alternative treatments. She has endured multiple bouts with chemotherapy, past and present, and has suffered through most of the damaging side effects, like major neuropathy. The effects are cumulative, and some appear to be permanent. Stepping outside of the U.S. medical system is the best option now available and it is expensive. She is at a crossroads and must act soon.

Donations of any amount are welcome. No donation is too small, and every contribution will help reach our goal of $40,000 for this year’s projected additional health expenses. Please share this campaign on social media, or any way you reach people. Perhaps email this page https://gofund.me/dbfdb9df to your family and friends.

Diane’s long-standing personal mission is to inspire people to live their dreams. For many years, she personally interviewed hundreds of people asking, “If you were ten times bolder, what would you do to make a positive difference in the world?” Today I am humbly asking you, her community and extended family, to make a positive difference in her world.

Aloha, Ron