Jocelyn's "Big Scary Prayer" fund

It’s hard to believe that it has been five years since I first heard the words “papillary thyroid cancer.”  I’ll never forget that day: we were on our first vacation as a family of three.  My son was just eight months old.  Those words, and the journey that has unfolded since that day, have changed our lives.

                If I’m honest, it’s been a roller coaster ride.  There have been extreme highs and devastating lows.  We have had doctors tell us that this will shorten my life.  I have endured two separate surgeries to remove my thyroid completely; then news that the cancer metastasized into my lungs, resulting in a myriad of tumors in my chest; two rounds of oral chemotherapy that kept the disease “stable” for a little while before failing (meaning the tumors grew); two failed radioactive iodine treatments; a medical trial in 2014 that came with painful side-effects and failed; and most recently, the news that I had three lesions on my brain, resulting in a Gamma Knife surgery three days before Christmas 2015, followed by a fight against pneumonia that landed me in the ICU over Valentine’s Day of 2016.  The treatment of the pneumonia led to the discovery of a large tumor in my lower back, which had eaten away my bone and required a seven hour surgery to remove it and rebuild my spine, using a titanium plate.  Because of the placement of the tumor, doctors had to cut through many of the muscles in my hip and back.  I was hospitalized for three weeks, and after release began a round of radiation to ensure that there are no cancerous cells left in my back.  I just finished those treatments in mid-April, and I am now focused on my physical therapy.  The combination of the severed muscles and atrophy from such an extended period of bed rest, have left me with very limited use of my right leg.  I also began a new oral chemotherapy treatment in March, one week after I was released from the hospital.  I have been extremely blessed to have my mother here with me through it all, schooling my son (we homeschool) and caring for me each day, thus allowing my husband to continue working and fulfill his prior commitments and honor his company that has provided our medical insurance.

                Through it all, God has been ever faithful and true.  If I were to begin to list the blessings that have descended in the midst of, and even as a result of, this journey, you would be up all night reading.  They far outweigh ANY of the burdens and pain, and have changed our family, for the better, in ways that cannot be measured in earthly terms.  You, our friends and family in both Pennsylvania and Texas, leave me without words.  Your love, your support, prayers, the meals, the gifts, the rides, the play dates for my little man, the help with household chores… thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

                Many of you have asked if we have a gofundme account.  I am blessed that you want to support us financially, but until now, the answer has always been “no.”  However, our family does undergo financial strain as a result of this battle, despite the blessing of incredible health insurance.  After the last few months, we’ve had a fresh understanding of the fact that, in a season of life like this, you just never know what major event may hit and suddenly impose financial strain. There have been times in the past where we have struggled; the medical trial that I underwent in December 2014 required flights and hotels in NYC for two weeks within walking distance of the hospital, because with the side-effects I was enduring, I couldn’t stay any further away. Three blocks were all I could manage; my parents and siblings helped pay for my hotel rooms and meals for those weeks because we couldn’t afford it all on our own.   Over the last two years, we have had close to $30,000 in expenses that resulted from things like co-pays, lodging for overnight treatments and trips to MDAnderson in Houston (appointments almost always span at least a two day period), meals during said trips, taxis, tolls and airfare in and out of New York for treatments at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (because they weren’t available anywhere else).  Now, it is extending to my family; my mom has been here for two months, which has caused great financial strain because she has had to go without pay for a portion of the time.  There is also the unexpected cost of last-minute airfare for my mom, and my dad, as he flew in to help care for our son at the beginning of my hospitalization, to allow my husband to fulfill his work commitments and to be able to save his time-off for when my mom leaves and he will be the sole caregiver here at home. 

                We feel that the time has come for a gofundme, to help with medical expenses for me, and to help our family in times where they suffer financial strain as a result of helping care for me.  This fund is being set up and managed by trusted family friends, and will be available for current as well as future expenses incurred during this battle.  Even now, my doctor in New York is hoping to enter me in a medical trial (when it becomes available) that would require flights to New York, as well as overnight stays, twice a month.

We continue to believe for my complete and miraculous healing, and to pray big, scary prayers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I46QiR4w5Hc)!  When this fund is no longer needed, any unused portion will be made available to someone else in need.  This is your opportunity to contribute financially, which will be greatly appreciated, but above all else, your prayers and love are beyond compare.