[Nfbofsc] Lanny Smith

Tue Jun 13 21:59:41 UTC 2017

Hi All, 

Please see the below message about Lanny Smith.  Lanny has assisted many blind people outside his job in many ways.  He has also worked at the Federation Center of the Blind with computers, the network, sound system and other items we requested his assistance for without requesting any payment.  Now it is time for us to assist him, please read over the below information and this will explain everything.  At the very bottom you will find a link to make a donation.  

Lanny's Alternative Treatment

Pam Keener  

on behalf of Jane Burton-Smith

 COLUMBIA, SC 

Lanny L. Smith, Sr.

Born:  May 29, 1942

Served 10 years in the Army

Served 3 tours in Vietnam

Received an Honorable Discharge from Army in 1974

Father of 6

Grandfather of 17

And a Great Grandfather 

A quick background history of Lanny:

After leaving the Army, Lanny’s career was in the construction field.  He had a wide variety of skills that ranged from residential to Commercial construction.  A few of his most memorable projects include:  Middlebury Art Center in Middlebury, Vermont, Town Square in Waterville, New Hampshire, and the renovation of the Jet Port in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  He has had the privilege to be involved in many unique  construction projects in his construction career.

His career in construction came to a halt in 1997.  Lanny severely hurt his back on one of his project sites.  From this same injury, he had 4 surgeries on his back and also had an implant nerve stimulator put in his back for the pain.  Unfortunately, these surgeries did not put him back together again to be able return back to his career in construction.  The implant never did work properly, due to the fact, it could not reach the source of the pain.  

Lanny was 55 years old when he got hurt, you can imagine what was going through his mind.  Lanny’s last back surgery was in 1998.  It took a few years for him to heal the best he could from these surgeries.  Unfortunately, his back never healed as we hoped for. 

Lanny has always been a young minded man, so at age 58 years old, he had the opportunity retrain for a different vocation.  In 2000, South Carolina Vocation Training School offered him to apply to be trained in the Technical Support field.  He was accepted and worked very hard.  He had his moments wondering if he would make it.  He did, and graduated in 2001.  When Lanny applied to the school, he didn’t even own a computer, much less knew anything about them.  Lanny’s whole life was working hard with his hands outside, whether it was very hot or very cold.  What he did at his age took self –discipline, needless to say.  

It wasn’t easy finding a full-time permeant job.  Lanny took every part-time job that was offered to him between the years of 2001 to February of 2004.   It finally happened, Lanny was offered a job from South Carolina Commission for the Blind.  He is still working there, well let’s say, he is doing his best to hold on until his retirement date rolls around.  What Lanny does at the Commission for the Blind consists of many skills.  Mainly, he prepares computers with Assistive Technology so the blind co-workers, and students. Lanny loves his job and the people he serves.

Lanny was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer. It had already spread to his liver and bones. He has already gone through Chemo and Radiation.  The PET Scan he had while taking Chemo, showed improvements.  The tumor on the lung was gone, and the tumor on the liver was gone.  It also showed that the bone marrow had improved, however, there was still cancer activity in the lymph nodes. His last PET Scan showed more activity in lymph nodes again, but the cancer had not spread to other areas. 

Our need for Lanny is to raise money for an Alternative treatment, that is expensive and insurance will not cover it.  He has lost around 34 to 35 pounds in about 7 to 8 weeks.  He has lost a lot of muscle due to not being able to eat.  He will be receiving a Peg feeding tube in the month of June.  This is only to boost his nutrition so he can have some quality of life. We are praying the feeding tube will only be needed for a short period of time.

Lanny has taken most of all his personal leave and will not be paid if he has to take more time off.  I guess you might be wondering why he is even working?  Well, I am 10 years younger and he is trying to hang on until I turn 65 years old that is when I can receive Medicare.  If Lanny can get back some kind of quality of life, he could work even part-time after he retires.  We are like most, we have had some hard knocks along the way in life. It is very humbling to even to ask for help, and we would not be asking if there wasn’t such great need.  We would appreciate any donations greatly. 

https://www.gofundme.com/lannys-alternative-treatment

Steve and Shannon Cook

Steve on Dice World: Steve6009

Steve on Twitter: @SteveCook67

Today I married my best friend.  

The one that I laugh with, live for, love.

October 11, 2003 

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