My name is Brynn, I am 18 years old, and my father was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in May of 2025. It started as a toothache, and once this tooth was pulled, it revealed a cancerous tumor which had spread throughout his jaw and mouth. He had an 18-hour surgery on May 6th to remove the cancer. He had his jawbone taken out and replaced with his fibula, his gums replaced with tissue from his leg, and he has no bottom teeth. The surgeons believe they got the cancer out, but he still needs to do chemo and radiation. His recovery process has been rough; he spent many weeks in the hospital and is unable to talk. Communication is very difficult with him, and he has no feeling in his mouth or jaw and won’t for a long time.
This has been very hard for our family, especially because he had to miss his oldest daughter’s wedding. He wasn’t able to walk her down the aisle, much less walk up two steps. He got released home and his tracheotomy taken out, only to be put back in, and his feeding tube moved to his stomach. By now, he should’ve started chemo, but if we did start this, the nurses believe it would kill him. He projectile vomits often and has lost 30 pounds. He coughs a lot and can’t swallow food or water. My mom is a bookkeeper, and my dad was an accountant. He is 66 years old, and money isn’t great for us right now. We live in my grandparents’ house, and my sister’s wedding cost around 100k, which is more money than we were hoping to spend on a wedding. The preliminary hospital bill we received yesterday was a little over half a million dollars. My mom is taking care of him 24/7, and it’s been very hard on her, cleaning up his messes and taking care of him. It’s been hard on him, unable to communicate with his family and do basic tasks.
It’s hard for me to see my father in this state and know that he may never be the same, that this will be our lives for years. He starts chemo in 10 days and any money that can help us cover some medical expenses would be greatly appreciated. I miss my father. Even though he’s here, it feels like he’s not.
