Help Save A Life

For the past three years, Saddle Brook native (and my beautiful aunt), Michelle Rosen-Levy has been battling a recurrent cancer. She’s been stoic since her diagnosis, doing anything and everything her terrific doctors at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital have recommended to keep this disease from returning after initial treatments. It’s been a rollercoaster with successes and disappointments. Recoveries and setbacks. Highs and lows.

This past Spring, Michelle’s doctors saw troubling markers which again showed sign of disease and strongly recommended a surgery called HIPEC, sooner rather than later.

HIPEC is a procedure that includes the delivery of heated chemotherapy directly into the abdomen with the goal of killing even microscopic cancer cells. It has been a successful (and standard) treatment for abdominal cancers for over 20 years. It is, however, a major surgery. So after deliberation with her doctors and family, Michelle agreed to move ahead with a surgeon at Rutgers Cancer Center, recommended by her doctors at Sloan Kettering. He’s performed this surgery thousands of times in his career and has published 250 peer reviewed articles specifically focused on abdominal cancers. He’s the guy.

One week before the surgery and after all the pre-operative tests and mental preparation, Michelle received notification that the insurance provided through her husband’s job, (a New Jersey government employee with a Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy) had denied coverage for her surgery…stating the procedure was “not medically necessary”. Her doctors went through the appropriate appeals but Horizon Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of New Jersey would not agree to cover the surgery.

Some of the top doctors on the planet, who’ve dedicated their lives to studying and treating Michelle’s specific cancer were over-ruled by a hired-by-the-insurance-company “doctor” on wether this surgery was “necessary” or “not necessary”.

With no time to waste, Michelle was forced to borrow the money for the cost of the procedure because, of course, the surgery would not be scheduled without payment up-front.

Michelle is a beloved mother, daughter, sister, aunt, wife, teacher and so much more. She’s dedicated most of her life as a pre-school director and to helping parents advocate for their children with special needs. She now works directly with special-needs children helping teach them to navigate in the world around them while finding and nurturing their special gifts.

Thankfully, Michelle’s surgery was a success according to her doctors but there are more follow-up procedures ahead and no-doubt a rough road to managing the significant debt now incurred.

If you can manage and find it in your heart to help with even a small donation, it would mean the world to us. The last thing someone who is fighting for their life should be worrying about is wether or not they can afford to live. To spend days and nights worrying about what Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey will and won’t cover and how it will affect her family perhaps for generations. Just getting the cost of this surgery to a more manageable level would be a tremendous help.

Continuous prayers are much appreciated as is sharing this fundraiser.

All our love to you and yours.