A benefit concert is slated for Saturday, February 4, 2012 at Allentown’s Fairview Fire Co. The proceeds from this fundraiser will go toward assisting Deborah Naugle, sister of local music photographer John Bedics.
Deb has been battling stage four cancer which started in her kidneys and has since spread to various parts of her body. Several well known area bands have donated their time to this cause. The bands that are currently slated to perform are:
Beyond Eden
Social Call
Charlie Brown & The Notorious Groove
The Birds Of Prey
In addition to live music there will also be food, raffles and a 50/50 drawing. A donation of $5 is requested at the door (that’s only $1 a band). To learn more about Deb’s story please read the following which was written by her brother John:
Deb Naugle’s Story
Debbie is a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother. She is a beautiful person with a beautiful soul who has been fighting her battle with cancer and this is some of what she has been through since she was diagnosed with cancer.
Deb’s story started in March of 2009 with a cold and abdominal pain. She went to the hospital and after several tests that is when they found a mass on her right kidney.
April of that same year surgeons performed a nephrectomy (kidney removal) and Deb was told that they had gotten everything and she would need no further treatments.
Two weeks later Deb developed a pulmonary embolism and had to be placed on anticoagulant therapy.
August 2010 she developed a cold and pain in her remaining kidney. Doctors performed a series of tests and discovered she had a shadow on her lung.
They recommended she have a biopsy and she discovered she had cancer in her lymphoids.
She received different courses of treatment; the first of which was Interleukin 2 (IL-2) therapy. It is an aggressive form of chemo that requires you to be in the hospital for five days. This treatment is administered every eight hours through a picc line which is inserted through the arm.
Side Effects of this treatment are; weight gain and Reiter’s Syndrome (chills, shakes, nausea dry skin). Treatment was originally supposed to continue for four weeks, but after two weeks Deb was told it was having no effect. The doctors discussed other options.
Deb began taking the chemotherapy drugs Sutent for a year followed by Afinitor which caused severe mouth sores. She later developed a swollen eye and doctors then decided to perform a brain scan. The results of the brain scan showed that the cancer had now metastasized to the brain. The Oncologist described it as akin to seeds spreading from dandelions.
Deb is currently receiving radiation treatments that run from Monday to Friday, this course of action will run for three weeks and will conclude on February 6. Then the doctors will evaluate her condition and make a decision on how to proceed.
Several bands are on board for the February 4th benefit as well as many caring individuals who plan on making donations of gift baskets, gift certificates, food and more.
A donation of any kind from your organization will do a world of good for someone who has suffered so greatly for so long. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for anything you can give. Thank you and God bless.
–John Bedics
Donations can be made to Deborah Naugle
PO BOX 4246
Bethlehem, PA 18018
The Fairview Fire Co. is located at 927 S. Seventh St, Allentown, PA18103
John Bedics – Showgun Photography
