TEAM BILLINGS STRONGER TOGETHER
For those that don’t know me, my name is Cody and the man in the photo is my superhero husband, Aaron. For the past year and a half, our lives have been turned upside down and inside out.
Last year, we lost my mom to glioblastoma, and shortly after, we learned that Aaron has severe cirrhosis, hepatic carcinoma, and is in need of a liver transplant. So we started the journey of the transplant evaluation process… a very long, drawn-out process to see if he can be healthy enough to receive a new-to-him liver. During this evaluation, which has required multiple trips to Boston, it was discovered that Aaron has several clogged arteries in his heart needing serious intervention ASAP. Maine hospitals have not dared to touch him, and Boston deemed him too high risk for the open-heart surgery that he actually needs. They did, however, agree to attempt to place several stents and do some blasting to try to open up his arteries and help get him healthy enough to receive a liver transplant down the road. This will be taking place down in Boston on July second, followed by many more appointments also in Boston for follow-up and to continue the transplant journey.
In the midst of all of this, my world was turned even more upside down when I went in for a colonoscopy and excision just to find out that I was diagnosed with cancer! Adding in even more appointments for me to manage. Currently, I am stage 1, which is excellent news! I do have a port that gets flushed monthly and am on every three-month surveillance to watch the cancer with the plan to treat aggressively should it start to spread or grow.
For the past year and a half, I have been the sole breadwinner as my husband has been unable to work and is awaiting a disability determination. In March of this year, I lost my job that I loved, but have been able to stay busy enough to keep our household going and cover all of our bills, needs, and to still be able to enjoy every second of life. What we weren’t prepared for was all of the extra expense incurred with these appointments for Aaron in Boston… every trip requires a 2-3 night stay in a hotel due to it being too much for him to do it all in a day and missed time from work and school for me. Sometimes we have taken the train as it’s easier for me, and other times we drive and have to pay for parking because it’s been the only option. Of course, these trips come with other expenses such as meals. We do our best to try and keep the cost down, but it all adds up quickly being so far from home.
I’ve batted around the idea of a fundraiser for months but have been worried about being judged as Aaron and I are not the people to ask for help… we are the ones that like to be the ones helping others. But here we are on the other side of things, reaching out to our friends and family asking for your help… whether it be saying a prayer for us, sharing our story, or donating to our journey… whatever it may be, we thank you and always remember… every little thing is gonna be alright!
