Silent Auction Fundraiser for Lynsey

This silent auction is for our friend Lynsey Hodgson who is battling a cancerous brain tumour. She will be undergoing a year long chemo treatment that is in pill form and is NOT covered by OHIP. As well as supplementary medication and complementary therapies. Through our fundraising efforts (this event included) we hope to help with the $62000 chemotherapy costs as well as the supplementary medication and complementary therapies. We are hoping that some of the $62000 will be covered by her private insurance company.

check out lynsey's blog at http://lynsthefirecracker.wordpress.com/ to learn more about lynsey's journey and medical expenses. thank you all again for the support!

Our friend Lynsey Hodgson is battling a cancerous brain tumour. She will be undergoing a year long chemo treatment that is in pill form and is NOT covered by OHIP, supplementary medications (ie. anti nausea and seizure meds) and complementary treatment. Through our fundraising efforts (this event included) we hope to help with the $62000 that is needed to cover the yearly costs
Her friends would like to help. Please Help Lynsey and find something you really like!

the following is by lynsthefirecracker

First of all thank you for the overwhelming support of the many fundraising initiatives that are underway! I am so blessed to have a wonderful support team around me. As more people are learning about my situation I am getting many messages asking why I am paying for chemo at all. The following post will not be new information to those I am close with, but I thought I would explain further to hopefully help those supporters new to my blog or situation.

The chemo I took last year, and will be starting again shortly, is called Temozolamide. It is ONLY available in pill format and therefore is taken at home as an outpatient of a cancer center. This is a prescription that I must get filled at a pharmacy, and like all prescriptions in Ontario is not covered by OHIP. I did not choose to take it at home, this is the only option available for my type of cancer. The actual chemo pills are not the only prescriptions I must take. I am on anti-seizure medication, anti-nausea medications and others to help with chemo digestion. Additionally, last year I went for naturopathic care and acupuncture to help ease the side effects of the chemo, help me sleep and ease my headaches. I found both of these complementary therapies EXTREMELY beneficial, however they are also extremely expensive. I would not have been able to go for any treatments if it was not for the money that was fundraised for me to help cover medical expenses. So once again thank you for all who helped make this possible.

Last year I had to fight twice with my insurance company to obtain partial coverage for my chemo medication (they took away insurance part-way through the year). Even WITH private insurance my medical expenses for the year were just under $15,000. This was for being on chemo 5 days out of the month. I have a separate bank account that is used ONLY for medical related expenses to keep track of all of these costs.

The money that was fundraised for me last year was almost all gone when I got the news of the tumor growth. Immediately my amazing support system sprung into action to help me out again and I thank them immensely for that. My new treatment plan is being on chemo daily for 365 days. The cost of this is $180 a day for chemo ONLY. This does not take into account the other medications I require and treatments that I found so beneficial last year. I need to re-apply for partial coverage through insurance once again, but this cannot happen until I actually begin treatment. So, at this point I do not know if my insurance will cover any of the cost. Last year they covered 65% or 70% of the chemo costs and my total medical expenses for the year were still almost $15,000.

Thankfully over the past couple weeks I have been informed of a few more organizations that might help cover the chemo cost. Once I begin treatment I will certainly apply for those as well. Hopefully they will be able to assist. I was never informed of these through the financial aid department of my hospital last year.

I really hope that this helps explain the financial situation I am currently in. I can assure you that all money donated is ONLY being used for cancer related medical costs. I would be happy to go into further detail or answer any questions.

As always thank you very much for all your love and support! I would not have made it through the past year without all of you.