Give: The Bender Family

Who?

The Benders are a unique family. Paul and his wife Mona, have been married for 39 years. They have two children, Josh and Jenni. Josh is currently a tour manager and photographer. Jenni is a member of Circle of Hope. They are a very tight-knit group who actually still enjoy being together.

Paul Bender has terminal cancer.

More about the Benders:

• www.myspace.com/joshbender
• www.myspace.com/joshbenderphoto
• www.myspace.com/jenibender

The Story.

Due to a very rare lung disease (Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency), and after many years living on oxygen, he underwent a double lung transplant on August 31st, 1997. After 7 years of fairly good health, in comparison, he was told that his kidneys had broken down, and would need to receive dialysis while waiting on a transplant list. He was on dialysis for a year and received a kidney transplant on November 2nd, 2006.

Unfortunately, within 9 months he was diagnosed with Squamous Skin Cancer that traveled into his lymph nodes, which created a mass on his jaw/neck that needed to be surgically removed. Within 6 weeks, the mass had returned. At that point radiation and chemotherapy were arranged. Due to complications, he developed pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital. He eventually started radiation therapy while being treated for the pneumonia. After several treatments, the mass had grown and caused problems in administering the treatments, upon which they were discontinued.

The doctors discharged him in hopes that comfort at home may improve his spirits with the intention of attempting outpatient weekly, modified chemo treatments, which will begin in a few days.

What Dollars Do.

As everyone can imagine in a situation like this, even with proper health care, a massive amount of the financial burden falls upon the family. It is our hope that the money raised here can help to lift the financial strain and allow the family to take care of their father/husband and each other during such a difficult time.