December 17, 2003
Concert benefits Porter family
Teri Lynn Porter needs bone marrow transplant to combate lymphoma
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
With blood counts zooming around and the ongoing uncertainty of a two-year battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Teri Lynn Porter knows one thing: people care about her.
Scheduled for a bone marrow transplant in January if her blood counts are good, Porter has a brother who has stepped up to be a donor (and other relatives who were waiting in line to be tested if he had not matched). With four children ages 3-13, she and her husband, Michael, can also count on family and friends to help during her extended stay downstate. For three months, she has to remain within 100 miles of the medical center in Ann Arbor that will perform the transplant.
Facing mounting bills and the prospect of no income as her husband takes a leave of absence to care for her, family is stepping in again. Her aunt, Nancy Street, is hosting a benefit for the family this Friday at Streeters.
Featuring the band Rumors, the benefit will raise money to help the family with mortgage payments as well as living expenses both here and downstate after her transplant. In addition, as co-pays and other medical costs not covered by insurance mount, the funds raised will help defray those expenses.
"Every time she sees a specialist it is a $40 co-pay and sometimes she is seeing one five days a week," Street said. "That all adds up."
Porter is currently undergoing a round of chemotherapy to clear the way for the bone marrow transplant, said Street. This chemo is battling an unexpected cancer that was recently discovered. Already Porter's medical costs have accumulated so fast that she is not getting all the medications prescribed.
"I just found out Sunday night they didn't have the money to buy some of the drugs she needed," Street said. "My brother and sister-in-law started putting out money to buy them. Everything is so much more expensive than the insurance covers, she is not on all the drugs she needs."
The benefit for Teri Lynn Porter will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday. A silent auction will run from 6 to 9 p.m. and hors d'oeuvres and a carving table will be available from 7 to 9 p.m. Rumors will play beginning at 9:30 p.m. in Ground Zero. Admission is $10 and families are welcome until 9:30; after that, 18 or older. For more information, call 932-1300.