Are there any places to get financial help for those with EC?

harris776
harris776 Member Posts: 1
edited November 2014 in Esophageal Cancer #1

My husband was intially diagnosed with stage 1 EC in mid April. By the time he had the esophagectomy at the end of May, it was stage 3. He was T3N1M0. He had a round of chemo then 27 radiation treatments and then another round of chemo. He's done very well through all of it and everyone (including medical staff and doctors) are surprised he has been through what he has the past 6 months. His CT scan a couple of weeks ago was all clear and his endoscopy today showed a large ulcer, but the doc said he didn't see anything he didn't expect to see due to the damage from the radiation and he wants him to double up on his protonix. He took biopsies just to be safe. We've had a hell of a year and have been living on donations since April when he was let go due to his diagnosis.

We finally were able to move back to Texas and were supposed to start working, but there have been delays in getting the project going and I just can't bring myself to keep posting our fundraiser on Facebook anymore so I've been trying to find charities that can help, especially with Christmas for the kids, but I haven't had any luck. They're all not taking applications anymore or the kids are too old or any number of things. Our electricity was almost turned off on the coldest day of the year and I just have no idea how we're going to make ends meet until this project gets going or we can find something else. We lost almost everything to fight this and are so close to being back on our feet, it's even more frustrating to be so close to the end, but stuck in quicksand that keeps dragging you down under.

I was actually googling the ulcer trying to find out if I should be worried when I found these boards and thought I'd ask here. We're on the ECAN Facebook group as well, but thought there might be some here that aren't on there. Any suggestions or leads would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • luv2dance
    luv2dance Member Posts: 7
    So very sorry to hear. Has he

    So very sorry to hear. Has he applied for Social Security Disability? EC is one of the recognized  Compasionate Conditions where benefits are expiedited, and often retroactive. Once he qualifies for SSD, other avenues of assistance will be available to him. Blessed wishes to both of you.