Woman raises money for father’s cancer treatment
Published 7:00 am Thursday, February 19, 2015
RAISING HOPE: Ray Edmonds pictured here with his two granddaughters, Annie and Sophia. Edmonds’ has stage 4 prostate cancer and his daughter Jennifer is raising money for his treatment on GoFundMe. Submitted Photo.
Local author Ray Edmonds was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013.
“I was healthy before and never had cancer, so it was a surprise,” Edmonds said.
In 2013, doctors advised the 62-year-old man to opt for surgery and have his prostate removed.
“So I got it removed, but when that didn’t work, I went on to receive radiation, which actually made it worse,” he said.
Currently, Edmonds has stage four prostate cancer. Given his age, doctors told him to consider hormone replacement therapy, which has a 99 percent success rate.
“I might have to do it for a couple of years they said. But I’m looking forward to the treatment, it’s supposed to be painless, the side effects are the only thing that concern me, but as long as I’m alive who cares?” Edmonds said.
The only thing standing in the way of the treatment is money. After years of cancer treatments, he said he and his family have exhausted their finances. While his health insurance will cover 20 percent of the therapy, it’s not enough, he said.
That fact prompted his daughter, Jennifer Edmonds, to start a GoFundMe online account to raise money for her father’s therapy.
“Now we’re down to the wire, his cancer has spread and the doctors don’t know where it is,” Jennifer said.
Currently, they’re trying to raise $4,400 for the treatment, of which Jennifer said they have raised $1,100 through the GoFundMe account.
“We’re getting closer but we still need help,” she said.
After his diagnosis, Edmonds said he’s tried to keep a positive attitude.
“You’ve got to have a positive outlook. Nowadays they say that a positive attitude is healthy,” he said.
Edmonds is a retired science fiction writer who wrote a series called “The Guardian Projects” under the pen name James Herbert Edwards.
He currently lives in Picayune with his wife of 43 years, Joan Edmonds, his daughter Jennifer and her two daughters, Sophia and Annie.
Jennifer said they plan on starting Edmonds’ therapy on March 6, and would appreciate any donation to her father’s GoFundMe account at Ray Edmonds Cancer Treatment Help.
