UPDATE (2/8/2018): The Anders' family insurance company has reached an agreement with Cincinnati Children's Hospital regarding payment for Jake's surgery. They are now in Cincinnati for the procedure
PLAINFIELD, Ind. -- A Plainfield teen is fighting for his life and his family is fighting to afford the medical treatment he needs to combat a brain tumor.
Jake Anders’ family says Proton Therapy, which is offered at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, may be the only way to target the tumor that was found in his brain last December.
“It’s around his carotid artery in the brain so it’s in a place they can’t operate,” said Jake’s mother, Amy.
Jake was successfully treated for another tumor back in 2013, but Proton Therapy is more expensive than traditional radiation and less dangerous for repeat treatments.
“With the traditional radiation – which is photon – they radiate almost the whole brain,” said Jake. “That will hit the back of my brain to where I had treatments before and will cause brain necrosis which kills off the brain. If I get proton they can target it and I will get minimal damage.”
The family’s insurance provider is still determining how much – if any – of the therapy it will cover.
If the plan denies coverage, the family says they won’t be able to afford the $180,000 upfront cost for the treatment.
“We will just have to do the therapy here and hope there might be some type of chemo they can do afterwards,” said Amy.
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