Three of my family members have had the misfortune of being plagued by cancer in the recent years.
Me: Eddie Glave
First me, Eddie Glave diagnosed with Esophageal Adenocarcinoma on November 5th 2019. I underwent radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy for this but unfortunately on March 26th, 2021 it was discovered it had spread to my liver and was now stage 4. This is a terminal diagnosis for which was given a 16–20-month estimation on remaining life span. Obviously, I have beaten the odds slightly and hope to keep doing so, but it is an expensive proposition. I personally have racked up over $12,000 dollars at the Cancer Center alone and this does not factor in multiple procedures and surgeries I have needed as well. It is a significant expense, but it beats the alternative. I credit my beliefs, my sense of humor, my attitude, my ability to keep working, grace from my place of employment, above all help from generous people like you for still being here. We were getting by financially until we got more devastating news.
My Awesome Wife: Lisa Glave
The next bad news we received was in July 2023. After months of chronic backpain, we had a scan done on Lisa’s back and subsequently discovered she had lymphoma in her spine. After seeing a neurosurgeon, it was determined her T11 spinal cord was halfway disintegrated, and part of her rib had detached. This resulted in her immediate inability to work. This loss of income has significantly added to our financial burden. We of course had finical irons in the fire that can’t be removed only paid off, but at a much slower rate than we had planned. We have applied for disability but a year in it has not come through yet and honestly Iam not positive that the government won’t continue to jerk us around until it doesn’t matter anymore. I am not holding my breath. Lisa has undergone radiation, chemotherapy (we have the same oncologist), and surgeries to try and get her issues healed and has an upcoming appointment with a neurosurgeon to deal with her spinal cord likely resulting in more surgery. Her Cancer Center bill alone is over $6000. This does not take into account other doctors, imaging, and surgeries. I only post the dollar amounts to give somewhat of an idea of how seriously behind we are. The good news for her is people with diagnosis that have undergone the same treatment plan have a 70% rate of total remission, so we have high hopes for her. The next bit of bad news came just this week.
My Mother-in-law:
Wanda Hettesheimer, on Sunday July 7th, after a few days of not feeling well my wife drove my retired mother-in-law , who lives with us to the emergency room. She was subsequently admitted into the ICU and after many tests and imaging it was determined that she has a spot in her brain. It has not been biopsied yet so I cannot give details or diagnosis yet but still another blow to the family. She will be seining the same neurosurgeon as my wife. It is unfortunate some of these places do not give family or bulk discounts! We are very hopeful for her as well.
The Rest of the Family:
Our Oldest daughter Taylor is currently 30, married to her husband Erick and they have a lovely daughter Mabel who just turned one in June. They have their own place and are financially stable.
Our son Caleb will be 21 this month (July) and has a good job and contributes financially to the family, He lives with us along with his fiancée Sierra who is 20. He is a calm good-natured kid who is handling this pretty well.
Our Youngest daughter Katelynn is a sweetheart at 18. She is dealing with this the best she can but has needed some help in doing so.
That is our situation and our family. Rest assured we are being as financially responsible as possible, no extras like streaming services, video game subscriptions or things like that and we have had to recently start making use of local food banks to supplement our groceries. ANY donations made are greatly appreciated and will medical and household expenses. Thank you so much for the time and consideration.
Please do not not continue to donate to this campaign.
Thanks to the generosity of my family, my friends, my work family, and the company I work for, I have reached my funding goal and am able to pay off both mine and my wife’s Cancer Center bills and a few other medical expenses. I am very bless d to be surrounded by such generous and caring people. Thank you all. I will post some status updates this weekend and leave them up for a week or so at which time I will officially close the campaign.
Thank you all. We are blessed to have such people in our lives.