Dear Johnny,

My name is Amanda, my husband is Jed and we have four beautiful kids. Chase 13,

Jaxon 11, and twin girls Paige and Piper 8. Jed is a sheet metal worker with Local 2 and

I’m a loan processor. We both have worked hard to get where we are in life, but I never

thought I’d have to write this letter.

About a month ago Jed started to have some weird symptoms of numbness in his left

arm and hand, and headaches. He thought it was a pinched nerve. A couple of weeks

later he had a migraine that increased in severity and it became debilitating. He went to

the emergency room on Saturday 11/16. After a cat scan, they discovered a baseball

size tumor in the right side of his brain. He was immediately transferred to the University

of Kansas Medical Center. They did a tumor resection on Monday 11/18, just two days

later. The tumor was sent off so they could find out what we were dealing with. Brain

tumors are graded 1-4. A grade 1 tumor is a slow growing tumor that is usually treated

with good outcomes. The higher the grade the more aggressive the cancer and the

worse the prognosis is.

On Monday of this week we had the follow up appointment and pathology results for the

tumor. The tumor is unfortunately a grade 4 glioblastoma. The most aggressive type of

primary brain tumor. Statistically it’s not good. Long term survival is not in our favor.

He starts 6 weeks of radiation right after Christmas, followed by chemotherapy. He’ll

also have to have physical and occupational therapy to regain and work on fine motor

skills.

Jed has been off work for just over a month now and on one income we’re starting to fall

behind. It’s all been just so much in a short amount of time. Jed knows he’s in the fight

of his life and we just want to be here for him. We’ll see as treatment progresses where

this takes us, but I just want to take some pressure off of him and the family while we

fight this battle.

Thank you for reading my letter and keep us in your thoughts.

Amanda

Who helped: Bobby, Mike, Jeremy, Candy, Chris & Pipefitters 533, Cosentino’s

How you helped: Mortgage payment, electric bill, Christmas for the kids, groceries

Dear Johnny,

My name is Terri and I have been a daycare provider for over 30 years in the Blue

Springs community. I have watched over mostly children from area teachers and I love

every minute of it. I’ve helped with kids from most major school districts on the Missouri

side including Blue Springs, Independence, Lee’s Summit, Grain Valley, Raytown, and

the list goes on and on. I genuinely love these kids and try not to be the “typical

daycare provider.” I fix homemade meals for the kids every day for breakfast and lunch,

customize a preschool curriculum, go to the kids’ birthday parties and help them

celebrate birthdays and holidays to make them feel special. I really try to spare no

expense for the kids I care for and look after every day.

Over the last couple of years, my family and I have suffered some hardships.

My husband, Larry, of nearly 30 years had to quit his job as a local mechanic due to the

effects of his progressing Parkinson’s Disease. In the Spring we suffered a small

kitchen fire and insurance covered most of the repairs, but we did have some out of

pocket expense to make sure we were running things safely and efficiently. Recently,

the strong winds that came through town a couple of weeks ago and caused a branch to

fall from a nearby tree and puncture a hole in the back porch roof. It also blew over a

portion of our fence in the backyard. Insurance will cover the repairs, but I just can’t

afford the large deductible.

Going to a single income family has already put financial strain us, but adding the fire,

the roof and fence repair, and my husband’s medical expenses makes it hard to stay

afloat. I have started doing “DoorDash” after all the kids have been picked up just to try

and make ends meet.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and any help would be greatly

appreciated. Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Terri

Who helped: Gary, Jason, Shane, Tony, Sue, Gene, Allison, Jason, Consentino’s

How you helped: 3 months of mortgage payments, insurance deductible for roof repair, groceries

April Balascio had a rough childhood to say the least...but she always felt like there was something more sinister lurking...and in 2009, she found out what that was...the fact that her father Edward Wayne Edwards was a serial killer..and she herself turned him in!

She tells her story in her new book, Raised by a Serial Killer and we talked to her all about it.

Dear Johnny,

My husband, Josh, had an accident at work in 2015. He works for a small drywall

company and the scaffolding he was on tipped over and he fell 15 feet. He broke his

wrist, cracked one heel and shattered the other. After 19 surgeries and a few years later

he is a below the knee (left leg) amputee. We did not have health insurance, but were

covered by workers comp for upkeep on his prosthesis until about 2 years ago. He went

back to work as soon as possible for the same drywall company. He needed a new

mechanical foot for the prosthesis last year and our prosthetic people are awesome,

and got us set up with a payment plan which we finished about 2 months ago. Now from

wear and tear and his leg slightly shrinking, he needs a new socket, which is more

expensive than the cost of the foot we just paid off! We both work full time. I work in

nursing and he works in construction, but it still leaves us paycheck to paycheck.

Without a new socket he won't be able to work, and without both our paychecks I’m

afraid we will lose everything. The socket for his prosthesis now doesn't fit his stump

properly anymore, and due to the day after day he is getting sores on his leg and

working while in constant pain. I just want him to be able to work comfortably and not

risk another infection that could get even worse. Merry Christmas and thank you for

reading my letter. Any help at all would be more than appreciated.

Thank you,

Catie

Who helped: Billy Brimblecom & Steps of Faith, Cosentinos

How you helped: New prosthetic socket, groceries

Former Chiefs QB and Friend of the Show Trent Green is no stranger to the limelight...from his stellar NFL career and his work with CBS as a sportscaster...but now he's added actor to his resume with his cameo in the new Hallmark movie, "Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story" and we talked to him all about it this moring!

Actor Danny Trejo is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood...not to mention he's become a food icon with his Trejo's Tacos and Donuts restaurants...and now he's hosting the new History Channel series, Mysteries Unearthed, and he stopped by today to tell us about that and more!

Dear Johnny,

This year has been incredibly hard on our family. After battling health issues it feels like

we’re just sinking and can't stay afloat.

My husband is working, but I had to step away from job due to health issues and I am

waiting for disability/social security.

In 2021 I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In 2022 I had Radioactive iodine ablation

for Thyroid cancer. This year I have been dealing with a lot of symptoms that we

thought were caused by a tumor on my kidney, turns out on Nov 14th I found out I have

a brain tumor (Parafalcine meningioma). I am having trouble bathing myself, my body

shakes constantly, weak, vision trouble, I walk with a cane and worry about falling

down. I have my neurosurgeon appointment on Dec 16th to figure out my treatment

process.

My family is really struggling because of all of it. Our lights are behind, gas is behind

and Internet has not been paid (we use for our son’s school). I’m worried about rent for

December. We have had to sell pretty much everything we own. We are out of body

wash, Laundry soap, etc.

My son, Levi, who is 9 and has autism. We are desperate for him to not know we are

struggling so hard.

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to read this letter and we hope next year is a

little brighter for us.

Justin, Teresa and Levi

Who helped: Pinball Jeff, Jeremy Dixon, Misty, Brian, Derek, Cosentino’s

How you helped: Rent, electric, gas, internet, Christmas for Levi, groceries

As Heard on the Morning Show…Dr. Sadie Allison is offering a whole bunch of Black Friday Deals!!

Save 25% PLUS use code "JOHNNYDARE" for a Bonus Discount!

Tickle Kitty Sextoy Boutique (Link to http://www.ticklekitty.com)

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In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami was one of the most devastating natural disasters in history. In the blink of an eye. a quarter of a million people in 19 countries we gone.

And the stories of those who survived are explored in the new Nat Geo mini-series, Tsunami: Race Against Time...and we talked to survivor Chris Xaver this morning.

We love us some Sevendust 'round these parts, in particular frontman and Friend of the Show, Lajon Witherspoon...and yesterday the band announced their "In Dust We Trust" headlining tour and we caught up with LJ this morning to find out more!