Benefit to aid Malta resident diagnosed with cancer

If it weren't for rotten luck, Malta's Beth Casebolt might not have any. Not that she complains about it, but from one instance to another, it seems as if lately she takes one step forward and two steps back.

Take for instance the house that her and her husband, Garry, recently purchased. Garry and Beth – who will celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary in June -- bought the house knowing that it needed a lot of work, but were up for that challenge knowing that when the remodeling was done that the couple would be able to open a bakery and a quilt shop in the dwelling, Beth's dream.

Through thrift and frugality, Beth and Garry were able to purchase their home as well as replace the structure's roof, which was virtually non-existent. The price tag for the new roof was a hefty one, but one that the duo could afford. But good news quickly turned to bad as the contractors doing the work started to re-shingle the home discovered that the entire roof would have to be replaced, doubling the cost.

Beth's reaction? Minor setback, upward and onward.

In September Beth and Garry received good news. They learned that they were going to be able to adopt eight-year-old Emma, their granddaughter. Beth and Garry have been raising Emma for the majority of Emma's life and the couple counted their blessings when they were finally able to adopt the little girl.

With life back on a positive track, the family of three decided it was time to remodel the second floor of their family home. It was then that another setback was discovered.

"We found black mold behind all the drywall up there," Beth said. "It will cost almost $60,000 to get rid of, and there is no guarantee that it won't come back. It is very bad and can make you very sick. We thought that maybe that was what was making me sick."

She said that since there is no guarantee that the mold won't return, it would be cheaper and safer to simply demolish the home and start from scratch. It was around the same time Beth and Garry were in the middle of renovating the inside of the house that Beth fell from a stepstool, injuring her right leg. Beth, who admits to being a bit of a Tom Boy, said that she thought the leg was just badly bruised and shrugged it off. A few days later, when her leg was still extremely sore, she decided a trip to the doctor was in order.

"My regular doctor was tied up and I couldn't see him so I saw this other doctor," said Casebolt. "If I would have listened to her, I wouldn't be here right now, it was that poorly diagnosed. She told me that I had only sprained my leg and that my calcium level was a little high. If I would have listened to her I would have been dead within a week."

Casebolt said that she went to get a second opinion from her regular physician, Dr. Joe Nemes at the Sweet Medical Center in Chinook.

"He literally saved my life," Beth said. "He immediately X-rayed my leg and found a hole the size of a half-dollar and there was only five or six strands of bone connecting the top half of my leg to the bottom."

Her leg was being eaten from the inside out, but that was only the beginning of the bad news. Dr. Nemes went on to tell Beth that he suspected she had multiple myeloma, a deadly form of cancer. In multiple myeloma, a certain kind of white blood cell called a plasma cell begins to multiply abnormally within the bone marrow. Normally, plasma cells are responsible for producing antibodies that help fight infections. As multiple myeloma progresses, plasma cells begin to spill out of the bone marrow and deposit elsewhere in the body, causing further organ damage.

Beth had surgery on the leg in March and has been undergoing chemotherapy since being diagnosed with cancer. She will receive four more chemo shots over the next few weeks and when those are complete she will be going to Billings to receive stem cell therapy, tentatively around mid-June. She will stay in a fifth wheel there for six weeks while she undergoes the therapy.

With financial woes looming, Beth started a campaign site on Gofundme.com – the address is

http://www.gofundme.com/8nfpk8 -- from which she can receive donations to help cover the cost of the treatments she must endure and to hopefully cover other costs as she deals with the potentially deadly disease. In the 22 days since she launched her campaign site, 19 people have donated nearly $1,800.

One of the side effects of the chemotherapy is the decrease in Beth's eyesight. Since she can't see as well as she could before the therapy, and she gets winded on the shortest walks around town, Beth refuses to drive her huge pickup because she can't see as well as she would like. To remedy her limited mobility, Beth used a portion of the money that she has received from her funding campaign to purchase a Hoveround electric scooter.

"Now I can at least go to the grocery store and the post office," she said. "I can get nine miles on a single charge so that will help me get around town."

Beth and Garry have health coverage through his job -- he is a manager at Square Butte Grazing Association and has worked for the company for 32-years – which is good news. The insurance, however, only covers 80-precent of her hospital costs. After the insurance coverage, the family will need to come up with another $40,000 to cover the stem cell therapy.

"We did mention the house troubles on Gofundme," Beth said. "But we are going to put everything we receive toward the medical bills."

Beth receives two chemo shots per week on a Monday/ Thursday schedule before given 10 days to recuperate from the shots.

"This will be my last four shots and then they will do the stem cell therapy," she said. "That is going to be really tough."

She said that during the stem cell therapy that doctors will remove stem cells from her body every day for three weeks and if all goes according to plan, the actions will drop her white stem cell count. When that treatment is complete, she will receive a massive chemo dose. The following day, the stem cells which were extracted from her body and cleaned of cancer will be injected back into her body. From there the goal will be to get her white blood cell count back up. After that she will be given a chemo-capsule with a regiment of two-weeks on, 10 days off, for the rest of her life.

"There is no cure for multiple myeloma yet," Beth said. She said that the Mayo Clinic has been doing test trials on patients with multiple myeloma in which they are given a high dose of the measles vaccine – a dose so large that it could vaccinate 10 million people. She said that she is willing to try that treatment, but all other current treatments must first be exhausted before they will accept her as a patient. Beth said that she has read of a number of people who are stricken with multiple myeloma who have been given the treatment at the Mayo Clinic and that results have been promising.

"I wrote to them and asked them to please add me to the list," she said. "Without being on the list, they only give me six to eight years to live. The stem cell therapy is the last therapy before they will allow you on that list."

Beth said that the stem cell therapy won't cure the disease, but said that doctors have seen instances following the treatment in which there has been a 90-percent reduction in the cancer.

"It's a good one, and it will add some time, and they said I would have six to ten years to live," she said, "but there are people who have had the disease for 20 years. It all depends on how you react to the treatment."

Beth said that having Emma around the house to help out during these trying time has been a blessing.

"She's a very strong girl and she is such a help around here," she said. "She helps with the dishes and the laundry, she vacuums and she is just an amazing little girl. She has had to grow up so fast though, and I don't like that. I want her to be able to be a little kid. But she is amazing."

Emma said that she likes to help out around the house and declared laundry as her favorite chore and cleaning the litter box as her least favorite.

On Saturday, May 31, Vikki Truelove of the Villa Theater in Malta will be holding a benefit for Beth in which all proceeds will go to Beth to help offset the costs of her latest troubles. The movie shown that night will be Pay it Forward and there will be a freewill offering at the door.

"Beth helped us out so much when we were trying to save this movie theater," Truelove said. "She would donate money, which she didn't have much of, every time she came here. She is a generous person and is always giving to those in need. This is my small attempt to try and repay her kindness and help her and her family during this tough time in their lives."

Beth is unaccustomed to be on the receiving end of charity, but thanked everyone who has given their time and money during these haphazard days. She said that above all, she appreciates and feels the love, warmth and faith from the community which surrounds her.

"I have so many people praying for me," Beth said. "It's amazing. I believe Jesus is by my side. I have asked Him to make me healthy and I believe He is helping me. I've always had faith, but it has gotten stronger and I feel so much better, and I know it is because of that faith."