80 year old show business veteran is crowdfunding Non-FDA approved COPD treatment in France.
View campaign: http://www.gofundme.com/BreatheMel
Mel Lawrence has just turned 80 years old … He’s spent most of his life in Show Business, first directing and producing concerts and festivals (Woodstock, Miami Pop Festival, Jamboree in the Hills), then making documentaries (The Qatsi Trilogy, The Amazon Warrior, Biker Women)and most recently on Reality TV (Deadliest Catch, Shark U)… Most people knew him as an active, relatively healthy guy always ready to start on a new project or adventure … But over 13 years ago he was diagnosed with COPD (Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis)… It could have been because he was a smoker for years (although he quit over 22 years ago) or maybe it was being exposed to the smoke from the fires of 9/11 (he was living and working 6 blocks from Ground Zero) … In any event, he did manage to keep working and live a pretty normal life until the middle of 2013 …
And then things changed … The disease got worse and the symptoms more severe, he couldn’t walk very far without getting breathless, any exertion made him lose his breath, he lost his energy and stopped working … And now it’s gotten worse, now he can’t exercise nor hardly shower without exhaustion, even simple chores like walking the dog are difficult … All this because of this incurable disease …
Doctors would prescribe meds like Albuterol Inhalers and steroids like Prednisone, but with limited relief and some pretty bad side effects … Then news of a minimally invasive procedure called Lung Volume Reduction Coil Treatment came to his attention … It seemed a really effective way to treat the illness short of a lung surgery or a transplant … There was a study on the treatment going on at Cedars Sinai here in Los Angeles … He applied, but was too late to get into the study (the procedure has not yet been okayed by the FDA) … He started to look for answers and continued researching … He found that the procedure had been practiced for years in several countries in Europe (France, Germany and The Netherlands) … He found an experienced Doctor in Nice, France who was performing the procedure on patients with COPD … After looking at the various tests and CTscans Mel had on his lungs, the Doctor advised him that he was qualified for the procedure and outlined the costs involved for the surgeries ,the hospital and other aspects involved … The surgeries are really expensive and it would take over a month’s stay in Nice close to the Doctor’s office in case of complications and to avoid the long trips home and back…
AFTER HEARING OF THE SITUATION, SEVERAL DEAR FRIENDS SHOWED UP TO COVER THE COSTS OF THE SURGERIES… AND OTHERS SUGGESTED SMALLER CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MANY OTHER FRIENDS OF MEL TO COVER THE TRAVEL AND HOUSING FOR GETTING TO AND STAYING IN NICE …
AT THE SUGGESTION OF JOSEF HOLM OF KROWDSTER AND THE SPONSORSHIP OF MEL’S OLD FRIEND JOHNIE FLOATER , GOFUNDME.COM WAS CHOSEN AS THE WAY TO MAKE MEL’S JOURNEY TO BETTER HEALTH HAPPEN …GETTING THE WORD OUT THROUGH THIS GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN MADE IT EASY TO CONTRIBUTE … AND BETTER YET TO SHARE WITH OTHERS THAT HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY MEL …
AS OF THIS DATE, THE $20,000 GOAL HAS BEEN REACHED IN 10 DAYS AND MORE DONATIONS ARE EXPECTED AS PEOPLE BEGIN TO POST THE PLEA ON VARIOUS MEDIUMS INCLUDING FACEBOOK.
CONTACT: emellawrence at gmail.com