Help James Beat Cancer

“We regret to inform you that…“ is the dreaded precursor warning us that whatever words follow will be unwelcome ones. For our brother James, the phone call he received on August 5th confirmed his and his partner Aja’s worst fear: “The tumor in your sinus cavity is malignant, and you have cancer.”

The next couple of weeks were even less kind to James as the medical discoveries moved from “you have cancer, but we aren’t sure what type” to “you probably have lymphoma” to “you have an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer, and we recommend you refrain from Googling it.” As each interaction with his medical team uncovered more information, James and Aja grew less certain about what to do. His disease, called Plasmablastic Lymphoma (PBL), is so rare, and the data is so limited, that it’s nearly impossible to find those success stories you scour the internet for. We think it’s fair to say, James has been dealt the biggest challenge of his life, but we are CONFIDENT that this story will have a very happy ending! (With your help!)

The Treatment

Aja has done a great job of explaining the details of his disease and initial road to recovery using her Facebook and Instagram accounts, both of which are available for anyone to view, but here is a quick recap:

On September 1, James began his first of six rounds of chemotherapy at Emory Winship Cancer Institute. Each round consists of five days of impatient care where he receives a 96-hour EPOCH drip. He gets two “off weeks” between each round where he continues to work remotely while balancing multiple trips to Emory for lab visits. Despite the overwhelming treatment plan, James maintains a heroic attitude and optimistic mindset, and his treatment appears to be working so far! We want to reiterate that this isn’t your paint by numbers lymphoma treatment. Due to how rare the diagnosis is, there is no standard course of treatment for PBL and certainly no guarantees. However, James’ oncology teams made a recommendation that will be a big game changer, and this is where your help comes in!

After James finishes his last round of chemo on December 23rd, he will begin the new year with phase two of his treatment plan, stem cell transplantation (SCT). This treatment will be the most difficult part of his journey, both physically and mentally, but it is his best option to ensure his cancer is eliminated and will not return. The procedure will wipe out his existing immune system and then rebuild an entirely new immune system with his own, previously harvested stem cells. The doctors refer to this as a patient’s “new birthday” because it is like his physical body will not have experienced the standard sicknesses and germs one comes across throughout their lifetime (he will even need to be re-vaccinated with all of the typical childhood vaccines.)

Although James and Aja say this crucial step in the process is a “no brainer,” the procedure will be incredibly taxing. The SCT regimen used by MD Anderson is seeing a 20-25% improvement in lymphoma patients compared to the regimen used by most other renowned cancer centers (including Emory), thus they will have to relocate temporarily. The cost of the cutting edge procedure itself (almost $500k!) will be covered by James’ health insurance; however, none of the non-medical expenses like travel, housing, pet care, sperm banking, etc. are covered. Under normal circumstances, their “rainy day” fund would take care of these costs. Unfortunately all of their savings, including their “rainy day” fund, are tied up in a lawsuit over a home insurance claim, where they had to pay a six-figure number out of pocket up front. With nothing left to spare, they are not able to afford the non-medical expenses required to make James’ transplant possible, and they humbly have decided to ask for help.

Our hope in creating this fundraiser is to alleviate what burden we can from James and Aja’s shoulders. This treatment is isolating and stressful, but by offering financial support we can allow James to really focus on the fight of his life. All proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to James’ treatment and post recovery.

With love,

Caroline, Brooke & Michael