Family Money Advice Needed

[danthegeek]

I know we are not supposed to wright about unhappy things but I am going to anyways.

So, back ground info for everyone:

My grandfather was diagnosed with Cancer a few weeks ago. Unfortunately he most likely has had the disease for over 2 years. It has spread from his pankreas to his liver, lungs and lymph nodes in this time period. Because of the areas he has been infected, his condition is most certainly terminal. He has been out of work for over a month and has no health insurance and my Grandmother is retired. As of now, they have spent their savings on medical bills, sold my grandfathers tractor trailer (he was a truck driver), given away my grandmothers dog as they can no longer afford its medical bills, sold most of their belongings, and are trying to sell their house. I and many others of my family have been sending as much money as we can but it is not enough.

I am not asking for, nor will I except any money from anyone here. I am asking for suggestions on how I or other members of my family may be able to raise money. I am 20 years old, a full time student, and have a crappy job but, I am to tired and unwilling to stand by and do nothing. I just can't think of anything more I can do.

thank you for any help or prayers.

-danthegeek

[slytherock]

Be sure that I'm with you on that, been there and know how painfull it can be.
How many childrens do they have?
My grandfather lived with some of my oncles, aunts during the last years of his life. It's like giving back to them what they gave there children during their youth (and for some, alot more)
Good uck

[D1337]

Both my dad and my fathers dad (my granddad) had cancer. Although both were diagnosed early and had chemotherapy, my dad is alive and luckily cancer free, but my granddad passed away roughly 2 years ago.

You could always buy a domain and set up a website telling your granddads story and hope that people can spare some money and make a donation and use Youtube to express your feelings, which would by all means give the site more traffic and potential donations.

Other then that I would just go visit them (assuming they live close) as much as possible, it will bring them more joy then any amount of money you raise.

I know this may seem sad, but you have to accept the fact he's going to die, the money will only buy him a short amount of time, so anyone who visits him will make him happy inside. I know it did for my granddad. I would suggest you not put him on chemotherapy, if you havent already. At his age it will only do more harm and make things more depressing.


I respect the fact you dont want donations from the members here.

[Ironcat]

How about a reverse mortgage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_mortgage)?
it certainly won't pay a lump sum of hosital bills, but it will make sure they have a place to live for as long as they live and a steady money suply coming in every month...

[jdbnsn]

I'm terribly sorry to hear about this awful situation, it sounds dire. To be perfectly honest it is amazing to me that he has survived 2 years with pancreatic cancer due to it's extremely high mortality rate. The financial side of medicine is very screwed up right now, can't say that I have any ideas at the moment except perhaps compose a letter of plea and send it to as many teaching hospitals as you can. Especially the more exclusive academic ones, they are far more likely to accept difficult cases. But keep in mind convincing them won't be a cakewalk as they stand to absorb an enormous cost by taking the case. I am going to visit one of my old employer tomorrow who is an administrator at a major hospital system in Washington D.C., perhaps he has some ideas. If I come up with anything I'll let you know.

Jon

[danthegeek]

Thank you all for your suggestions and thoughts. I can not see him as much as I would like because they live in Florida and I live in Maryland. I just cant afford to travel there, which pisses me off even more. I will check and see whether a reverse morgage is possible at this point. Things are very bad down there and i know they will only get worse as time goes forward. Thank you for the support.

-danthegeek

[nil8]

Let me start off by saying that it takes a strong, mature 20 year old to deal with this and try to help.

If your grandparents didn't make much money, they could try using a social healthcare system such as medicare or medicaid and that will help. It won't be a complete method, but it will help, specifically in a case like this.

I think Jon hit the nail on the head. Write letters to as many academic hospitals as you can, see if they will help you out in this time of need.

Good luck.

[Luke122]

Thoughts and prayers go out for you and your family.

[Airbozo]

If they are church goer's contact the church for help. Also I know the Florida hospice are very helpful in these situations and can give you some local contacts to help out.
http://www.stateofflorida.com/Portal/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=116

Contact any associations your grand parents may belong to (or did), since they often have outreach organizations to help in these exact circumstances.

Try the Cancer Society as well for suggestions;
http://www.cancer.org

I feel for you. I have lost both my mother and grandmother to cancer and it is not easy. Use the phone to let them hear your voice. It will help more than you can know.

Good thoughts and positive energy to your family.

[danthegeek]

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. He has been excepted through medicade and that should cover most of his medical expences. However, they still have no source of income and must sell their home if possible. I am doing raffles and may host a dinner to help raise money as well. I might sell my 69 camaro send them the money. I should get atleast 10-12k for that and that would be enough for a few months. Thanks again everyone.

EDIT- on a side note the Cancer Society wouldnt do a thing to help them. Apparently they spend some of the donations on research and they are also the largest land owners in the US. That little fact pissed me off. Anyway, Thanks for listening to me blab.