Opportunity to serve 12/21

A young family we know has been rocked by news of a Skull-based Chordoma (a cancerous tumor) that has been discovered on their 5 year old’s skull. This is the rarest form of Chordoma and is very aggressive given that it has presented itself at this young age. At this moment Coy’s tumor is 1/3 of the size of his head. Although, thankfully, the effects of the tumor are largely suppressed at this moment, his diagnosis is terminal.

He will be undergoing a minimum of 3 surgeries to remove as much of the tumor as possible and then, will begin radiation. Best-case scenario is that he will do well with all surgeries + radiation and see a minimum impact on his brain function. This will give him a little more time for some very promising new cancer therapy’s to make their presence known, and, hopefully, be the cure for his type of tumor. We are all praying for this miracle!

In the meantime his young parents are facing an uphill journey with several out-of-town trips and stays for the surgeries and treatments. They will be back and forth to the hospital and home for some time to come. All of which will accumulate large sums of doctor bills and stress.

Since this diagnosis 2 weeks ago, Coy’s dogs, Shay and Aliyah (both rescues) have been missing their walks around the neighborhood. Coy’s Dad is trying to forge ahead with working given what their future has and his Mom is really struggling with this new reality—both totally understandable.

People are asking, “How can I help?”  So, this is where my request comes in.

Quite simply, they need a fence. They live in a modest home of 1600 square feet on a .34 acre lot in Monroe, NC. Did you see the weather report for Saturday? 70 degrees—perfect fence installation weather!  We have the cost of the fence covered, but, we need about 24 volunteers with skills, tools and big hearts to come and help install a 5ft tall, non-privacy, wooden picket fence.

I’ve created a Sign-up Genius for slots from 9am-11am and from 2pm-5pm for 12 helpers. Can you help?

We all know that this time of year can be busy. But, really, what better way could you spend 2-3 hours this Saturday—the Saturday before Christmas— helping to relieve just a little bit of the stress this family is feeling?

Coy’s Mom is not quite at a place of being able to handle this type of love and outpouring, so it will all be done while she is gone from the house on Saturday. She’ll return home to see that their family pets, and Coy with his brother along side him, can safely play outside in their new fenced-in yard. Regardless of Coy’s physical state as he endures this cancer, having a safe place to play with his dogs at home will be a simple, but, impactful gift.

If you cannot help volunteer, please forward this on to someone whom you think might be able to do so—even donating tools to use would be helpful.  A final option for those of you who are going out of town might be contributing towards the cost of the fence—anything that is extra will be donated to a fund that is being set up for their medical bills.  They got the first one today—$17,000 MRI.

Please email me at tj.zitney@gmail.com or send me a DM on twitter (@Stagecoach_F3) if you have any questions at all.

Stagecoach