Devourment guitarist Chris Andrews battles brain tumor, launches fundraiser

Texas-based slam band Devourment recently explained why guitarist Chris Andrews has not joined them on their current Slam Tour of the Year with Ingested. According to the band, Andrews has been experiencing severe anxiety issues, specifically a fear of having a seizure or physical breakdown while on stage. It was only uncovered a month ago that this was due to a rapidly developing brain tumor.

Andrews' mother sought out the best care possible and found MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. On May 9, Andrews underwent a frontal craniotomy and tumor resection surgery and has been recovering well. He will receive radiation treatment with chemotherapy through June and the first half of July, followed by chemotherapy alone for a year.

However, the expensive medical bills, expected insurance denials, and the fact that Andrews cannot work while going through treatment have made this battle tough for him financially. To help alleviate the costs, Andrews has started a GoFundMe campaign called the Chris Andrews Brain Cancer Fight Fund and is asking for any donations his supporters can provide.

While Andrews admits that putting himself out there as someone in need makes him anxious, he recognizes that this is a serious battle that comes with a hefty price tag. He hopes that the generosity of his community can help ease the economic situation he's facing.

Devourment said:

"We haven't really gotten into why Chris Andrews is not playing guitar with us currently on the Slam Tour of the Year, because we didn't truly know what was going on with him until about a month ago.  When we were putting this tour together, he was having severe anxiety issues, including but not limited to a strong fear of having a seizure or some sort of physical breakdown on stage in the middle of a show.  It turns out, at the center of all of this, Chris had a rapidly developing brain tumor.  It was discovered via magnetic resonance imaging on 4/20/23 – 6cm long, 6cm wide, and 6cm tall – a 2 inch cube of cancer cells was literally living rent-free in his head.  His mother sought out the best care available, and found MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX,  just a couple hours from Chris's home in Austin. 
On 5/9, Chris underwent a frontal craniotomy and tumor resection surgery.  He is already recovering from brain surgery miraculously well.  He is going to receive radiation treatment with chemotherapy through June and the first half of July, and then chemotherapy by itself for 12 months.  Please consider donating if you have anything to spare.  Every little bit counts towards the massive amount of costs that will be incurred through this war on cancer.  These costs include medical bills insurance may possibly decline to pay, and extraordinary living expenses that will pile on top of the fact that he is unable to work and receive the regular income of his full salary."

Chris Andrews elaborated further:

"I'm not desperate (yet), but this battle is going to be full of unknowns. My "health insurance" is already being buttheaded about some things. I'm doing all my treatment in Houston, a couple of hours away from home, so every week for the next 6 weeks i will be paying for hotels on top of my normal rent, while not working. More costs + stopping the regular flow of income is not a good combination for one's economic situation, of course.
It really makes me anxious to put myself out there like this as a beggar, but A) i have personally donated to a lot of GoFundMes over the years, and B) I AM going through something pretty serious that is not going to be cheap, so I'd be shooting myself in the foot if i didn't open up the option to pool together disposable funds from the large number of fantastic people i am connected to online.

So, without further ado, I present the Chris Andrews Brain Cancer Fight Fund..."

Supporters can donate to the fund at the following link: https://gofund.me/8c77fc11