Our dear friend Mike Bozenski, affectionately known to many as Boz, is fighting for his life and needs your help. He is the father to two amazing children and a dedicated wife that loves him in every way. Boz needs our help to make it home from the hospital and get care at home, but that is expensive. Insurance has helped, but it doesn’t cover everything. He has so many needs that could help him live a life at home if we can raise enough money for all the equipment needed. Please help in any way you can. The goal of this fundraiser is only going to help provide immediate help as his medical bills will be over 100K that isn’t covered by insurance. Boz is a fighter, and we could all learn a lot from how he has handled this disease with dignity, positivity, and grace under massive pressure.
Here is his story… Mike (Boz) was diagnosed in 2011 with what we now know to be an ultra-rare form of sarcoma cancer. Since his diagnosis, Mike has undergone many tumor resection/removal surgeries, radiation, therapies, and different types of chemo to keep the cancer at bay. After a hopeful fall and holiday season, Mike needed back-to-back surgeries in January to resect tumors compressing his cervical spine. Just as he was recovering from that, he noticed new and worsening symptoms affecting the use of his arms and legs. In April, Mike received the devastating news that he had an inoperable tumor compressing his spine in the area that controls his motor functions and breathing. Since this find, Mike has lost the functional movement of both arms and legs. Mike has always been an active and athletic person. But now this cancer has taken his ability to not only do the things he loves like mountain biking and snowboarding, it has also taken his ability to walk and care for himself. What should have been an exciting and happy time with Naomi graduating high school and going off to college and Owen completing his first year of crew and graduating middle school has turned into a time of heartbreak and uncertainty as Mike and his family navigate all the unknown territory this tumor has brought.
Mike is currently hospitalized at Memorial Sloan Kettering and has an amazing team doing all they can to give him the best quality of life for whatever time he has left with us. Mike, as always, is remaining positive and hopeful. He is making all the moments count with family and friends as best he can, even while being hospitalized. He is hoping to come home this week, but with that comes the financial burden as he needs around-the-clock care and requires a lot of medical supplies and equipment. Insurance doesn’t cover much, and securing Medicaid will still take several weeks if not months, which is precious time that Mike cannot go without to give him a quality of life with his wife, kids, family, and friends. Mike’s wish is to be in the comfort of his home, surrounded by the people he loves, hearing the laughter of his kids in the living room, smelling home-cooked meals, and sitting in his wheelchair on his porch while looking at the stars. To make his wish come true, we are asking for donations that will go to the care Mike needs and to cover any household bills so that Mike can enjoy every minute he has without worrying about money. All help is greatly appreciated and would mean the world to Mike and his family as he continues to be the warrior we all know and love!
Any and all funds raised will be used immediately for his needs and any leftover will go towards all the past medical bills.
