Mike Peters - Hospice Care

(Original story Aug 9, 2017) Mike Peters is a career journalist, and is the food writer and a regular features contributor for China Daily in Beijing, China.   Originally from Houston, Texas, he came to China  eight years ago after working in Dallas, Texas, and in Anchorage, Alaska.  A few months ago, he started losing weight uncontrollably, but seemingly had no other symptoms.  A short while later, a physical revealed very late stage pancreatic cancer that has also spread to his liver and abdomen, beyond the scope of chemotherapy.  Our expat community is a tight-knit group. We take care of each other. And Mikey is a core member of our expat family. 
(These two pictures are from past food outings with Mike. These are among our favorites and show his spirit.)

Because he will not have any insurance of any kind if he returns to the US (and thus no way to pay for hospice care), he has decided to stay here in Beijing. However, hospice care is not readily available in China. This is not a service provided by established medical outlets such as hospitals or clinics.  Individual caregivers must be hired, and hospital services must be paid for out of pocket -- this isn't something covered by insurance.  His insurance coverage through his employer will run out in approximately 7 days.  And even if it didn't run out, it will not cover hospice care. 

The situation is quite urgent.  Thankfully, the cost of quality care of this sort in China is a fraction of the cost it would be in the US.  The cost of the 24-hour caregiver is surprisingly affordable.  However, this *does not* include any pain medication or other medical support requirements.  So, our goal of $10,000 is quite realistic. (Aug 10 update: $10,000 *was* realistic. We have since updated our goal to $20,000. Please read on.)  This will allow us to cover the cost of the 24-hour caregiver, and help cover the cost of pain management and other medical needs.  He is currently a patient at China-Japan Friendship Hospital  http://english.zryhyy.com.cn/  and will be for as long as we can continue to raise money for his ongoing care. 

At the end of Mike's hospice care and in the event that there are any funds remaining, he has requested that they be donated to StepUp!, a charity to benefit Tibetan nomadic tribes started by another American  China Daily staffer .  More here: 
https://www.cmich.edu/colleges/CCFA/CCFANewsandEvents/Pages/China-Friendship-Award.aspx

Thank you for any contribution. 

(Update Aug 10)  Thank you all so much for such a generous outpouring of support. After evaluating multiple factors (present and upcoming needs, and variables that are hard to nail down to exact figures), we -- the group of Mike's friends who are trying to keep all of this organized and care for him -  decided to round the goal up to the next 10, making the new target $20,000.   

In the interest of transparency, we will have facts, figures, and documentation available for any donors who wish to see them. Please message me for info.  

Mike keeps positive. He continues to smile, and does his best to be cheerful through the pain.  We all love him and want to make sure he doesn't have to worry about the cost of his care in this difficult time.