Mike Swafford's Blog
Like A Champ
Where The Donation Money Went
I was embarrassed and humbled of the GoFundMe and silent auction and benefit for me in 2019. I worried that there are people that are more deserving. I worried that people would think I didn’t need it or was going to spend money on things that weren’t related to my health. So I thought I would give an accounting of where all the donations and silent auction money was spent.
2019 was the year of Cancer Boy vs his prostate. I took 4 trips to Rochester to the Mayo Clinic for a total of 22 days and nights there. I cashed out my 401k and all my savings but knew the bills were only just beginning. Then I was humbled by the support of friends, family, co-workers, and probably some people that just felt guilted into either donating to a go fund me that was setup or the benefit that was held for me.
Here’s my accounting of the money raised over the past year. The silent auction brought in a little over $3,000 and the Go Fund Me nearly $4,300 for a total of around $7,300.
Here’s my accounting of the money spent over the past year in Rapid City. I paid $850 for the first biopsy to Labcorp, $580 to Dr 1 in Rapid City for specialist visits, the original crappy Urologists in Rapid City Dr 2 (that has long since left for Oklahoma) $853 to do the first biopsy and misdiagnose me, my co-pays and Dr visits to my regular Rapid City doctor Dr 3 $720 for an overall total of $3,003 paid in full.
Here’s an accounting of the rest of the expenses that have been paid from donations that are all about Mayo with $487 in gas over the 4 trips. My co-pays at Mayo $360, 22 nights of Hotels and food in Rochester was around $2, 690 which was a bargain because I got a special rate for the hotel through family. $1,746 to a specialist at Mayo that was billed separate for the biopsy or MRI (I can’t remember which. Probably because the MRI killed some brain cells) for an overall total of $5,283 that I have paid out in full for the Mayo visits.
That’s my accounting for the money raised and what it was spent on. I’ve very thankful for all the help and support I’ve received. I still owe about another $5,900 in Mayo bills that weren’t paid by insurance that I pay on monthly now but as you can see it would have been much more without the help. I gave up all my vacation and PTO time and have gone deep in the hole so I look forward to the day that I can take a trip and it’s not for cancer. It’s now been 2 years since I had a vacation that wasn’t related to my health.
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Mike Swafford's Blog 
I know you feel like you have to say where your money went, but you don’t have to justify it. You are one awesome human. Get well❤️ thinking of you and your lovely Mrs!
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