Finding the money for cancer treatments can be tough, and then finding the money for a family's regular bills on top of that is even harder. It's a struggle that one local family is faced with right now, one that's almost forced them from their home.
Channel 4 has been following the Szabados family for more than a year now, since their 7-year-old daughter, Ellie, was diagnosed with brain cancer.
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Ellie's journey has been full of ups and downs, surgeries and painful chemotherapy treatments. Recently, Ellie went back to school at Normandy Village Elementary, and while her health seems to be improving, the state of the Szabados finances are grim.
Since Ellie was diagnosed with brain cancer 20 months ago, thousands of dollars worth of medical bills have been piling up.
"She's on three different medications, two of them are through the port in her chest, and one of them is oral for five days," said Stephanie Szabados. "That's $1,365 out of pocket before they would deliver the chemo meds."
Ellie's mom, Stephanie, took on a much needed second job to keep the family afloat during this difficult time, but since then, her husband Victor lost his job, and it's made a bad situation even worse.
As medical bills continue to pill up in their home, the Szabados family is also three months behind on rent. Their landlord has contacted the family and told them he needs their money.
"He worked with us, all the way through, but there's occasions like right now where he's in a pickle, and even though I'm far behind, and he's working with me, there's time where he just can't," said Szabados.
The Szabados' friends have pitched in to help and started the family an account with Gofundme.com. The fund will allow people to make donations so the family can stay in their home and keep Ellie's road to recovery a successful one.
"I was quite surprised that people were willing to help us. Honestly. We're nobody special. We're just trying to get through today," said Szabados.