Friends Of Drac: February 2008

At the very young age of 45 our dear friend Drac has been diagnosed with Stage 3 prostate cancer. Please know that he is actively seeking opinions by specialists in all areas to determine the best way to handle this. With his knowledge so far he has elected to do surgery with City of Hope on March 14th. They offer a robotic surgery with the highest success rate for complete elimination of the cancer. Of course there are so many individual variables involved, and his risks for needing chemo and/or radiation are still undetermined. He also runs risk of significant side effects that can impair his lifestyle for an undetermined amount of time. Until surgery is performed, we will not know whether or not he will need chemo and/or radiation and what, if any, side effects he will need to endure.

As you can imagine, this is a very costly endeavor. And we are in America, so you’re on your own for managing costs and weighing your options against your income. (Don’t get me started, just rent Sicko.)

This presents a devastating problem for Drac and his 12-year-old son, Jett. In case you are not aware, Drac has been a single father to Jett for 12 years (NO, God love him, I’m not his wife!). He has been a professional and struggling musician for 26 years and is also an independent contractor with his own business. An incredibly prideful and strong man who, even while fraught with anxiety to make ends meet for his family, has managed to spend the past 30 years giving up his couch to friends who are also struggling. To say the least, his compassion for others has always exceeded his needs. To me, he’s been a best friend for 26 years, my roommate, my handyman, my moving company (ummm, at least 10 times in 26 years), my mechanic, my BIG brother, and my counselor. I’m sure so many of you have similar experiences with him. That’s why he’s always on the phone!

Although Drac has medical insurance, the surgery alone is the only thing that is covered so far. His deductible and the Doctor’s fee (which is not covered) are quite high, and we still do not know about the after surgery expenses. He will need to take a minimum of 3 months off of work to recover. His business is a self owned operation which means that he cannot draw disability either. This work, being second only to his love of playing music, has been his most reliable income.

With all of this said, we are reaching out to all of you, in hopes that together we may be able to help ease Dracs anguish regarding the financial burden so he can focus his energy on building his strength to get through surgery and bide a long healing process.

It appears so far that Drac will need approximately $40,000 to get through this period. This will pay for the surgery costs and keep a roof over his and Jett’s head. If you can help with a donation of any kind we would be eternally grateful.

Please go to www.helpdrac.com
for details on how to donate.

We will keep you updated on his progress on all levels, including an accounting of how the fund raising is going, through the website and this blog. http://friendsofdrac.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to send your thoughts to Drac through the blog throughout this experience. He knows how blessed he is to have so many friends who care, and looks forward to your support through this period.

You can also reach out to me directly at 310-569-5003 or nancysefton@gsmgmt.net

Peace and friendship,

Nancy

I'm so grateful to my friends for helping me put up this site and blog and helping me through this incredibly difficult and challenging situation. I'm very embarrassed by this and if there was more time I would never ask any of my friends for money, but I was diagnosed on Jan 23 through a routine blood test and have been told that I need to have this procedure as soon as possible. Because of my family history I've been getting tested every 6 months since the age of 40 - it has gone from 0-60 incredibly quickly. So guys, words to the wise, go get checked. I'm looking at March 14th for surgery given my diagnosis. If I had time to wait, I'd find the money on my own, because I'm not done on this planet yet!

I truly value all the support of my friends and hope that you'll post with me on this blog. I'll check back regularly to let you know how I'm doing.

Love you all,
Drac