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Cancer patient gains strength to heal, enjoy life again

Editor's note: The Time is Now to Help was founded by a local businessman who knew extreme poverty as a child. With the help of donations from the community, The Time is Now is able to help local residents in need.

Dear W.C., I am writing to request help for my daughter. She has been fighting cancer for the past year and is having a very hard time financially. She took a leave of absence from her job but has found herself physically only able to return part time.

I am unable to help her due to living in a small assisted-living facility and being in a wheelchair. She has a friend who checks in on her, but I know she needs help financially. She will not talk to me about how she is doing financially because she does not want me to worry.

I worry anyway because I know she can’t be paying all her bills only working part time and paying for her medical expenses as well. She divorced years ago and my grandson is grown and in the military overseas. I feel so helpless.

Could you please check in on her? She may tell you the truth about her financial well-being.

— A worried senior mother

Dear readers,

I called the phone number provided by the worried mother. It was answered by a woman speaking very softly. She sounded tired and weak. When I told her who I was, she immediately asked me who requested assistance on her behalf. When I told her that her mother was very concerned about her, she wondered how her mother knew she was having such a difficult time. I told her it was her mother’s intuition.

I explained how her keeping the truth from her mother was not sparing her any worry. She was worrying about her despite the false well-being she was sharing with her mother over the phone. She promised to be honest with her mother from then on, allowing her mother to offer her some advice or assistance over the phone. It would make her mother feel she was helping in some way.

She told me about her life before she began her battle with cancer. She had a good job and was very independent. Her son had grown up and joined the military several years ago. She had been divorced for about five years. She had one girlfriend to help her with the more personal tasks while she was so weak.

She said once she completed her chemotherapy, she returned to work part time but was unable physically to return full time yet. Her boss was being very understanding, but she really needed her full-time income to get by. She had already sold her car and bought an old car that needed tires and repairs. She could not afford the car payments any longer.

She had not been able to pay her last eight monthly payments on her small condominium. She had health insurance but it had a large deductible and co-pays that were more than she could afford with a major illness. Her utilities were behind and her cell phone was about to be shut off.

We really found her in the nick of time or she would have become another of our nation’s working, sick and homeless. Her food situation was better than some, due to her friend dropping off meals.

We went over her budget, talked about some options and decided the best course for her to take. She had already decided to let her condominium go and move into a small apartment when they foreclosed. I agreed to assist her with a security deposit when she moved after her foreclosure. She had applied for food stamps and paid a visit to the food pantry, but she admitted most days she was too tired to even cook a meal for herself. I called some of our volunteers and set up several more meals to be delivered each week. She was so grateful for this, she was moved to tears. She was very thin and needed some extra nutrition to keep her strong while battling her illness.

The Time Is Now to Help paid her overdue utilities and cell phone bill. Her cell phone was her only communication with her mother, her doctors and any other help she may need.

I took a look at her car, which she needed for doctor visits, therapy and her part-time job. It was a very old car, but seemed to be in good shape. The tires were nearly bald and I could not imagine trying to drive anywhere in the winter with them. I told her we would have the tires replaced and have the car looked over for mechanical repairs. It actually only needed a few minor repairs to make it a safe vehicle for her commutes to the hospital and work.

When I visited her several weeks later, she proudly showed me her hair growing in and bragged she had even gained a few pounds. I could see she was feeling much better and stronger.

She said, “I am so grateful for The Time Is Now to Help. You have relieved so much stress and worry from my life. I can now focus on my healing and well-being.”

She told me how much better her relationship was with her mother now that she was honest and not hiding things from her. She said it felt good to share what she was going through and not just try to be brave all the time. Her mother called me to thank The Time Is Now to Help for assisting her daughter and for the advice I had given her daughter about being honest. It had truly improved their relationship.

Thank you to all of you for your caring and sharing. We truly made a huge improvement in this woman’s life.

We have many families, senior citizens, children and handicapped still in desperate need of our assistance. We will be able to provide many of them the helping hand they need due to your continued support. Together, during this recession, we will ease the pain and suffering of many of our fellow creations.

Health and happiness, God bless everyone, W.C.

Please help. Make checks payable to: The Time Is Now to Help, P.O. Box 70, Pell Lake, WI 53157. The Time Is Now to Help is a federally recognized 501(c)3 charitable organization licensed in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois. You will receive a tax-deductible, itemized thank you receipt showing exactly what every penny of your donation provided for the poverty stricken. A very special thank you: Susan and Michael Borden, Summertime Foundation, Bill and Lois McEssy, MLH, Marshall and Abbe Bauer, Dick and Jean Honeyager, Jim Bozich and Lake Geneva GM Super Center, Gregg Kunes and Kunes Country Ford, Springfield Auto Sales, Mark McClellan and Larry’s Towing, Lakes Area Senior Club, Paul Ziegler, Paper Dolls, Snug Harbor, Martin O’Brien, Charles and Lucille Coates, Tim Greene, Fred Zeller and Bette Popik, Catherine Swift, Bryce Knorr, Richard and Jane Roman, Susan Russella, Blanche Schultz, Richard McCue, Joseph Fusinato, Landon Petrie Jr., St. James United Methodist Church Women, Jon Reavis, Thomas and Joyce Roche, Fred Lawton, James and Karen Goodrick, Ruby Gobel, W.C. Family Resource Center/Food Pantry volunteers, all of you who support The Time Is Now to Help donation boxes, and the businesses that allow our donation boxes. Anyone who would like a Time Is Now donation box in your business, please call (262) 249-7000.