Help Save Santa!

Fear has caused from minor inconveniences to great sorrows in many lives, including my own. There are only a few reasons I find myself indentifying as a contributing factor to what I fear, but the biggest one seems to be ‘fear of the unknown’.

Recently my dad was diagnosed with Cancer (www.noahswitzer.com) and we recognize it was not indentified until a very late stage, due to fear. For over a decade he has thought he was dealing with chronic kidney problems and dealt with them at home. His reasoning was that it never was bad enough to be worthy of a doctor visit, as I am the only child I know my dad pretty well and suspect he never admitted the truth regarding the pain levels and symptoms. By the time dad made it to the doctor for the 1st time, a growth half the size of his bladder was growing inside the bladder and had clogged one tube from a kidney causing it to fail. The growth is stage 3 bladder cancer, the doctor stated he thought had dad seeked help 10 years ago he would have more then the 50/50 chance he has today.

My dad has always been very proud man and the pain levels of a kidney dying, or the symptoms of having to empty his bladder every 2 hours, couldn’t compare to the fear of what’s causing it. He did not even know the problem, yet he feared it enough that he could never make a doctor appointment.

His background involving cancer and his brother over his lifetime has caused the fear. When my dad was a teenager, my Uncle Bob was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Uncle Bob was expected to live no more then another 3 years with treatments to help it extend that long; he would barely live to see adulthood. Dad used to sit in the hospital and help keep his brother hydrated and be there him while he underwent the rigorous chemo and radiation of the 70’s technology. Amazingly, Uncle Bob fought the odds and lived another 30 years, passing on but a short time ago. I think my dad suspected cancer from this and never admitted it, harboring this great fear caused him not to seek help until he couldn’t bare the pain anymore. I can only imagine seeing the pain and sickness it caused back in the ‘70’s and thinking that is something you may have to endure yourself soon would build into a terrible fear of my dads.

My dad is Santa at the local Wal-Mart he works at, but this past year might have been his last appearing as Santa. He says now, that last year he saw less kids because he had to keep going to the restroom, his bladders has very little capacity with the growth. This also caused pain with kids plopping down on his lap for ‘Santa Time’, even then he was too scared to go to the doctor, and it took another 9 months before he finally went!
Leading up to this he did not know it was Cancer and fear caused overriding thoughts causing him to avoid the doctor; fear of the unknown. Now he has been in to multiple treatments, once it was identified as Cancer we have all fought together to keep Santa around as long as possible! The fear of the unknown is overcome here, we know what it is, we know what we want, and we are now seeking help to achieve it.



Press Release

Our Wal-Mart Santa needs help!

A community Santa is diagnosed with cancer and asking for help through a popular fundraiser website.

Mesa, AZ, October, 2011: On September 7, 2011, 58 year-old John Switzer was diagnosed with bladder cancer. John has played Santa many years at Wal-Marts and 55+ parks across the valley. He has brought a smile to so many of our children across the valley and now his son is asking for your help. John’s home base Wal-Mart (Greenfield and US 60 freeway) and family have fund-raised over $800 to help John through this tragedy. There have been thousands of children from the Wal-Mart’s across East Mesa that John has delivered smiles and dreams to, can a smile be returned with a small donation to Santa?!

According to John Jr., John’s son, “John had started this very tough journey over the past 4 weeks at the Chandler Regional Medical Center located in the Chandler, AZ. The doctors tell us he has a very long road ahead of him. As all cancer victims, we were not ready and my dad is out of funds from my Moms medical issues of the years. We are reaching out to the Mesa Community now to see if any of the smiles my dad has put on the faces of across the valley are remembered.”

Despite John’s positive attitude, there is still concern about the mounting medical bills from the surgeries, the medical treatment and the years of recovery to follow. The medical expenses are expected to exceed 60 thousand dollars. That is why his community has come together to support John by donating to his recovery fund on GiveForward.

Since the fundraiser ( www.giveforward.com... ) started on September 28th, the site alone has raised over $300 (will be doubled at the end of the fundraiser). To learn more about John’s amazing story, and how the community is helping to support him while he recovers, please visit www.noahswitzer.com

Please Donate towww.giveforward.com...

Thanks, Ho-Ho-Ho and Have a Merry Christmas!

I know I will get flack for this one *puts flack jacket on*, but I consider it immoral to donate money to help hurt someone even worse than they are already hurting.

I preach against the current status quo of backwards thinking cancer treatment protocol. Chemo-therapy or radio-therapy are both very dangerous and often times lead to making the situation far worse than it started out as.

So I would never donate to help a bunch of 'doctors' hurt someone by pouring chemicals on them or exposing them to highly dangerous levels of radiation.

Now, if you wanted to try that blood electrification theory out, that is more reasonable. Also it's ultra-cheap so you really can't lose much by at least trying it.

considering how tough your uncle bob was, your dad has more than a good chance to beat it.

I have cancer and am having traditional treatments of chemo right now and doing very well. I will be praying for your Dad and praying for you both to have the courage and strength to see your way through.