For Dewayne Henry

I got a Facebook message from an old friend tonight. She said that a friend of hers has cancer and needs money so that the doctors will treat him. I called Mary, my friend to see what was up. There are so many stories about people walking around ill because they (we) don't have money of insurance to be treated. I've told you some of my hospital waiting room drama stories and the bills that came with them. And that was just for fibroids. Imagine cancer.

Mary: Anyone that knows me knows that I am the last person to ask for anything but I want to spread the word about this and you have 5,000 people on your Facebook page and I thought you could help get the word out.

Me: Sure.

Mary: I knew him maybe four years ago and I haven't spoken to him in a long time. Well, I just got a friend request from him and I accepted. Then I went to his page and I realized that he has cancer. He's been going through this for over a year. He was in this small town where you have to see whatever doctor comes on clinic day.

Me: Where is that?

Mary: Kaufman, Texas. But now he's in Houston hoping to be treated. They are waiting for money. This is unbelievable to me as a nurse. I was really upset. I just cried. He's been going through this for a year.

Me: How do you donate?

Mary: Let me see if I can pull it up. There is a way, oh here, www.giveforward.com/dewaynehenry. I'll send it to you. He has an account. I'm gonna go ahead and send something and that way he can see that money is going in to his account.

Our people are dying. Those are classic symptoms of cancer.

Me: What are the symptoms?

Mary: Losing weight, pelic pain, blood in his stool. Pain is a late symptom of cancer. He was told that he was fine back in February 2011 and that he just needed to get control of his blood pressure.

His wife insisted that he go to another doctor and so he went to a new doctor in Terrell, Texas which is a bigger town and there he finally had a CT scan. The other doctor just blew it off and said he was fine.

They said that twelve months of treatment could be $250,000. And that's just twelve months. Now he's waiting for an answer to see if they will start treating him without insurance.

Me: Wow. I'm on his page now and I see the notes he's been leaving about his journey. I'll do what I can to get the word out.

Mary: Thank you. Also I just wanted to say that he's a new Christian and he wasn't even a Christian four years ago. And now this. And, I mean, his daughters...Man.

Me: I know.

Please send prayers. Please send money. This world. This country. This life. And it doesn't have to be this way.

Later Facebook message from Mary:

Jaha, here is a little more detail about his story. I got this off the fundraiser site when I donated.

The Henry family is uniting to raise funds for Dwayne's treatment and surgery for Colon Rectal Cancer.

Dwayne was diagnosed with cancer in December 2011, after enduring the symptoms for almost a year, but that was not the worse news! His insurance was only a limited policy so it would only cover $1000 and that was used up in the test to determine what was wrong.

The cancer is to a point that his rectum is only as wide as a number 2 pencil. The doctor instructed him not to eat anything that was greater than the consistency of baby food so his wife has to puree anything he eats.

In January he had to take medical leave because of the pain medication and other symptoms will not let him stay on his feet for long periods of time and with Rectal Cancer he can't sit for long periods of time.

He applied to Kaufman County for help with his treatments but was denied because they dont have a cancer treatment program, He also applied to the world's best for cancer MD Anderson but they are not a charity hospital.

Dwayne has a stay at home wife and a set of twins that he need to take care of so he wants to get back to work as soon as he can. He does not qualify for disability now.

Dwayne loves his family and friends and would love to hear from you. Please send any get well wishes to Dwayne and Shevawn's home address.

If you want to send a check by mail please send checks to attention:

Shevawn Fletcher
15449 S 1st St
Scurry, TX 75158

All your generous contributions, thoughts and prayers are deeply appreciated!!

Thank you all SO Much!! - Dwayne and Shevawn, Henry and Fletcher Families.