DONATIONS

Multiple people have offered to help fund raise for Shannon's out-of-pocket medical expenses, but she and Jason previously declined such offers because they felt they had good insurance and the personal resources needed to get through an unplanned and unexpected situation like this one. They have always worked hard, lived within their means, and diligently saved for an emergency such as this. They both have steady incomes and are far more comfortable being the ones making donations, rather than accepting them.

But what has shocked us all in the past few weeks are the incredible costs associated with Shannon's brain cancer treatment. As Shannon has written about in previous posts, her insurance declined to cover the proton radiation therapy. What she didn't tell you is that she and Jason had to write a check this week for $87,675 to pay for this round of radiation treatments...and that price included a 35% discount because Shannon volunteered to participate in a clinical trial.

Thank goodness they had money set aside to even be able to write that check!!! But adding in the annual insurance deductible, coinsurance costs, the hospital stay in Lubbock, surgery expenses in Houston, prescription medications, chemotherapy, MRI's, and all of the other costs since this started on February 12th, they have now exhausted their entire savings and find themselves faced with the reality that if insurance continues to decline important procedures in the future, they could be facing possible bankruptcy. And regardless of the long-term outcome, their current financial insecurity is a huge added stressor during a time when neither Shannon nor Jason needs any extra stress.

Unfortunately, the recurrence rate for GBM is very high, so we know that future treatments are probably coming. We all hope that will be years down the road, but Shannon and Jason are understandably worried that they will not be able to save up enough funds again in time for the next round of treatment. (I don't know many people who would have had the funds for the first round!) And so, reluctantly, they have agreed to accept donations from people who are willing to help.

If you would like to help Shannon and her family, please visit THIS LINK to make a donation, or look for the green "Donate today" button on her main page.

Of course she wouldn't be Shannon without putting some 'rules' around this :-) so here is a little bit straight from her:

If we can get ERS and the State of Texas to change their policy on proton therapy, especially for brain cancers, we can eliminate the need for donations to help pay for additional treatment and/or living expenses. See my previous post on how you can help us get that policy change: http://goo.gl/nsWuwj . To me, asking for donations helps only us, while a policy change will help us and help others. So my primary goal is to change ERS policy - please consider copying and pasting those paragraphs and sending to any colleagues you have at your or other institutions to persuade them to contact their university administrators, ERS, and other state agencies they may find relevant. A policy change resolves our financial issues and helps more people than just me.

However, I see the point that others are making in that if the policy change does not happen, we are still faced with how to cover the next round of treatment. So we are willing to accept donations under the condition that donors identify themselves. If insurance policies are changed and they cover the costs, or if we end up not needing the funds for additional treatment, we will be returning all funds to the original donors. Therefore, I would like to request that there are no anonymous donations.

Thank you so much for your support and kindness during this crazy journey.