Help Thomas and his family navigate cancer.

7/17/2023

We just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for their kind words and donations. It's been truly humbling and heart warming to see how many people think so highly of Thomas and are willing to contribute to his fight. We love you all and encourage anyone who feels inclined to donate beyond our goal to please do so.

My name is Corey and I'm setting this up for my step-father, Thomas. Thomas is a family man, father of two, and bonus father of two more. He came into my life when I was around 8 years old. Thomas loves his family, his friends, classic cars, the Patriots, his menagerie of animals, God, camping, and all things breakfast. Recently due to an injury, Thomas was out of work on short-term disability. Due to some clerical confusion, his insurance premiums stopped being paid and he was dropped by his insurance company. A few weeks after that happened, he began having some intestinal issues that were misdiagnosed as Diverticulitis and he was sent on his way. The symptoms became more severe over the next month and he eventually ended up needing surgery due to an intestinal blockage.

After the surgery, a PET scan was done and they discovered cancerous growths on his liver. The morning after the scan, they discovered a growth in his neck which is also cancerous.

In the days following these procedures and after more tests were run, he was diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer which has spread to his stomach, intestines, and liver. He was also diagnosed with unrelated cancers of the colon and prostate. While chemotherapy is an option, remission or a cure for him is not possible.

Needless to say, his family and friends are all devastated. Thomas would give you the shirt on his back and the last dollar in his pocket if he thought you could use it. Thomas is involved with veteran programs that provide trained service dogs to veterans with PTSD through the kennel he has managed with his wife, Dawn, for the better part of the last 20 years. He has worked in the mental health system for the vast majority of his adult life, most recently with the state of Maine for the last 18 years or so. He grows his hair out to donate for wigs that are made for kids with cancer, and donates to charity regularly.

We're asking for help for his family to be able to cover costs of treatment while he is uninsured and help covering the cost of maintaining his day to day affairs as he was the primary source of income in his home and we all admittedly come from modest means.

Times are hard right now for everyone and we know that. Even if you have $5 to spare, it makes a difference. If you even just share this, it helps. We also know that help doesn't have to come in the form of money. We will need help with securing heating fuel for the winter, feeding the animals, shoveling, plowing, mowing the lawn, all the things the head of the household does that he will be increasingly unable to do. If you want to donate time or labor, please reach out to one of his family members.

We appreciate you taking the time to read this and hope you'll keep him in your thoughts.