By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

After many years of contributing to fundraisers and coordinating fundraising events, it is Bob Cole’s turn to be the recipient rather than the participant.

Cole, 67, of Kennebunk, was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago. At the time, he was self-employed as a real estate appraiser and did not have health insurance.

After speaking with three doctors along the east coast, Cole said he was referred to doctors at the government funded research hospital run by the National Institute of Health in Maryland.

Nearly a year, 15 surgeries and a 50-pound weight loss later, Cole was finally feeling better, but said he was still too weak to work.

Along with his wife, he moved to Maine in May 2007, to be closer to their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Cole said he found a new doctor in the area and had check-ups every three months to monitor his cholesterol, diabetes and prostate.

Earlier this year after nearly one year of normal test results, Cole’s doctor noticed a high white-cell count in his lab work and referred him to an oncologist and hematologist at the Cancer Center in Sanford. At his appointment the next morning, his white-cell count had increased from 80 to 85 and the doctor tested his bone marrow for further diagnosis. 

“She called me the next morning and told me she had good and bad news. The bad news was that I had chronic myeloid leukemia. The good news that it was treatable with a pill,” Cole said. 

He was relieved to find out treatment was so easy in comparison to his battle with prostate cancer, but when he went to Wal-Mart to fill the prescription he was not relieved to discover the cost of the medication.

“It was $763 for seven pills,” Cole said. “They had filled the prescription for a month, but I told them I couldn’t afford it.”

A week later, Cole’s white-cell count had decreased by 50 percent and a week after that the count was down to a normal level, but Cole still has to take the medication, and his doctor wants him to remain on the medication indefinitely. 

After his doctor called the drug company twice to see if they could help him, Cole said he received an application for one month of the prescription. He said he waited six weeks without a response and when he called the application had not been processed. A month later, Cole said he called again only to learn he had been denied aid. 

“The woman at the company told me I had been denied because I had $250,000 in assets,” Cole said. “I explained to her that asset was my house and that I had a large mortgage payment and was retired.”

The company sent him a month of prescriptions after hearing his situation, and Cole was told to file an appeal, which resulted in approval for aid.

In the meantime, Cole said he has racked up credit card debt of approximately $22,000 that he is struggling to pay off in addition to his mortgage. 

As a member of Christ Church in Kennebunk, Cole’s fellow parishioners learned of his financial hardships and have jumped in to help. The supplemental fundraising committee donated some funds to help Cole and once word got out, the junior and senior youth groups wanted to pitch in too.

Rev. Janet Leighninger said when the children ranging in ages from 12 to 18 years old, heard about Cole’s financial difficulties they wanted to make a difference. Their first effort was hosting a spaghetti dinner, which raised nearly $600 to help Cole with his debt from prescription costs, but they felt it was not enough and wanted to continue to help. 

“They heard of a need and it touched their hearts. They just want to do as much as they can to make a difference,” Leighninger said. 

As a result, the youth groups have organized Bob’s Walk at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 in conjunction with the church’s annual Pine Cone Holiday Fair. Chairman of the supplemental fundraising committee Susan Upham said the course of the walk is about 2.2 miles starting at Christ Church on Dane Street through downtown Kennebunk. Interested participants can register by visiting the church’s Web site at www.christchurchkennebunk.org and clicking on the link for “Bob’s Walk” at the bottom of the page or sign up the day of the walk. Registration is $10 per person or $5 for one person with four sponsors. 

Cole plans to attend the walk because he said he is humbled to know how many people care about him and want to help.

He also said his pride makes all the help a little humiliating and he feels overwhelmed.

“I’m just so grateful to life in the country I live in, in the community I live in and the church that I go to. It restores the faith in humanity when people get together to help out,” Cole said.