Support Kathy Strong's Cancer Battle

Paul and Kathy Strong spend every winter in Florida escaping the chilly Kentucky temperatures. This January through April was no different. However, by February Kathy received unexpected and devastating news: Cancer. A tumor had overtaken more than half her kidney and was growing into her inferior vena cava vein and heart. Doctors in Florida deemed Kathy too sick to travel and in need of immediate surgery. On March 30th, Kathy underwent extensive surgery to remove her right kidney and open her heart to remove the tumor. This surgery had a 1 in 3 chance of survival with an estimated 2 month recovery. Almost 2 months to the day, on May 30th, Kathy was readmitted to the hospital after the discovery of two new cancer spots on her spine. Kathy began radiation treatment in hopes that she would soon be strong enough for another surgery. Within two weeks, the cancer had spread from her spine to her heart and the tumors on her spine caused some of vertebrae to break. Once she finishes her radiation treatment and her heart and body are strong enough, Kathy will begin immunotheraphy. This form of treatment is still new and while showing great results for other patients, is unfortunately not covered entirely under the Strong's health insurance.  

Throughout this entire process, Kathy's husband Paul has been faithfully by her side.  Since Kathy is still too sick to leave Florida and travel back to Kentucky, Paul has been unable to work running his company, Strong's Stump Removal. With no income, continually mounting medical costs, and insurance not covering the immunotherapy treatment Kathy needs to survive, the Strong's are under incredible financial pressure right now. The out of pocket cost for Kathy's immunotherapy treatment is $20,000 each year so we are setting a goal to raise at least $20,000 for the Strong's! 

Paul and Kathy have spent their lives in service to their community. Paul was a volunteer firefighter for 25 years and an advanced EMT for 16 years and Kathy was in the ladies auxiliary to support the fire fighters. Since 2005, Paul and Kathy have served with the Red Cross as disaster volunteers. Together, they traveled to New Orleans to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and New York to help after Hurricane Sandy. Over the years the Strong's have welcomed 14 foreign exchange students into their home, countless runaways in need of a safe, stable homes, and 2 families escaping unsafe home situations. The Strong's were instrumental in bringing the Community Against Substance Abuse and the first Say No club to Lockport, New York in the 1980's. These programs are still reaching hundreds of kids to this day. Both are currently active in the Lion's Club of Bowling Green. And now, the Strong's need their community to serve them! Let's giveback to this amazing couple and help Kathy beat cancer!