Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Elmer's Brother (Ray) has an important message


I don't ask many favors here at GeeeZ, but my very good friend and blog partner Ray (Elmer's Brother is how you know him) has a sister in trouble and I'd like you all to help them, as part of our wonderful blog family....I think you'll want to when you read the story below!  Here is Ray's message:
My sister Erin Goodwin was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2010. She is the mother of two teenage children, Zach and Rebecca and wife to Andrew. To save her life, a double mastectomy was performed a month later in March of 2010 and doctors also removed some of her lymph nodes. As a result, Erin underwent a year of chemotherapy and 30 radiation treatments. Two years ago her type of breast cancer was a death sentence. There was little they could do but, fortunately, when she was diagnosed, the doctors told her that it's now one of the most survivable types. Unfortunately, Erin developed secondary lymphedema, a debilitating condition of fluid      retention caused by a compromised lymphatic system. The condition occurs in 25-30% of surgery breast cancer patients with lymph modal removal and radiation therapy. To alleviate this problem, Erin’s doctor recommended a combination of physical therapy and the use of a Flexi Touch, a mechanical device manufactured by Tactile Systems (http://www.tactilesystems.com/flexitouch/index.html.) Unfortunately Erin’s insurance carrier has decided not to pay for the expense of the Flexi Touch machine based on their conclusion that the device is still “experimental”. This ruling differs from previous decisions applied to similar medical cases where the machine was requested and paid for by the same insurance carrier. My wife's cousin was diagnosed within a month of Erin. Her husband and my brother in law both work for the same company and have the exact same insurance. Contrary to what's being done for Erin, my wife's cousin was able to get the machine.

No one in our family is blaming anyone, we’ve just sought ways to get Erin her machine and it costs $12,000. We had a fundraiser for her on May 7th in which we raised $3600 and we are holding a rummage sale on June 4th.

Here is a link to our church's Paypal account so that anyone can give online. Make SURE to include FOR ERIN GOODWIN or TEAM ERIN with your donation....

(the church where you send the donation to can provide a tax letter if you wish.)
Here is the Facebook page for TEAM ERIN so you can see pictures of the weekend's fund raising event and keep up with what's happening! (note: must have Facebook page to see)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/group.php?gid=340178615683


Z: Here's the story behind the scenes which I was enamored with and wanted you all to know;  Her dear, beloved brother Ray nicknamed her ELMER'S BROTHER because she keeps that family together like glue (Elmer's Glue).  This machine will help Erin keep alive.... Let's help keep her together with some of our glue!$$$
Thanks, everybody.........please try to help with any amount you can, even $10 helps! Please help Erin get the machine that could even save her very life!  THANK YOU from the bottom of this blogger's heart......
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in the truth"  1 John 3:18

Z

22 comments:

Always On Watch said...

My cousin-in-law had the same problem that Erin does. Nothing was done to help my cousin-in-law!

Anyway, let me check around to see if any of the blogs I have posting access to will allow a post about Erin.

elmers brother said...

That's Elmer cuz she's like the glue in our family. Thanks everyone.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing Erin's story!

elmers brother said...

And thank you Z!

Z said...

May I add that this blogger will NEVER know if anyone gave or didn't, or how much.
And I know Erin and Ray would thank all of us just for praying all goes well. That's a marvelous gift as well.

elmers brother said...

Indeed!

Jan said...

Thank the good Lord that your sister got through the cancer, and the treatments, Elbro...my prayer will certainly be that everything else will be resolved, as well.

God's richest blessings to you all.

And thank you, Z, for letting us know.
xoxo

Trekkie4Ever said...

I cannot afford to send money, Z, I am so sorry. But I will definitely keep this family and Erin in my prayers. Count on it.

I will also pass this along to my prayer group.

Z said...

Jan...I'm so happy to have been able to do something.

Leticia...the prayers are better than gold :-) And thanks SO much for taking this to your prayer groupxx

Always On Watch said...

Reliapundit, the webmaster of THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS (a site that gets lots of hits every day) and one whom I consider a good friend, has given me permission to post about Erin's situation. Typically, TAB doesn't put out calls for donations or prayers, but Reliapundit has graciously consented for the site to spread the word about Erin.

I can post multiple times (i.e., repeat postings)!

I shall compose a posting this weekend for TAB.

Z said...

marvelous, AOW....thanks SO much.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

I don't do Facebook (I prefer to keep in touch with people and out of touch with people the old fashioned way) but I'll see what I can do to help out and drum up some support for my extended electronic family.

Z said...

Beamish, I don't, either....Facebook's not needed here at all.
Thanks SO much for sending this on to family! REALLY appreciate it..xx

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Not from my family, FOR my family (electronic family, that is).

I remember when Elbro's blog was only a few kilobytes tall... my how they grow :P

elmers brother said...

Lol @ Beamish! I only started to use Facebook when my sister got sick and it was a quick way to keep all informed.

elmers brother said...

Thanks aow !

Anonymous said...

" don't do Facebook"


A total waste of time...except for those that can't do anything else.

Z said...

Imp, I'm kind of beginning to think the same about blogging, to tell you the truth.
I don't know how I do this with everything else.....glad I'll have two mornings free up during the Summer :-)

elmers brother said...

thank you everyone for your prayers, gifts and encouragement. Thanks Z and AoW for helping me get the word out.

Z said...

it was a pleasure, Elbro..
Am very happy AOW will continue getting the information out on a much more widely read place than this blog. Great!
I hope this will help Erin..xx

Bob said...

Done with prayers.

Z said...

thanks SO much, Bob....as I said above, that's 'gold'...