Help Jenn Fight Vlad (Her Cancer)

Team fundraiser

Jennifer Sherman and Alicia Smith are organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Note: The below story was written before my surgery, and I had Vlad removed on January 3. After reading my story below, please see the updates section for the most recent info. Thank you!

Help Me Beat Cancer

My name is Jennifer Sherman, I am 31 years old, and I have stage 2 cancer (about 10 cm. in diameter) on my kidney. My kidney has to be removed, and I need to raise funds to cover the costs that my insurance won't cover. I will also need CT scans at least once a year for at least a few years. Depending on what type of cancer this is, I might need chemotherapy.

My cancer’s name is Vlad. They say naming your disease helps to separate your own identity from it and improve your relationship with the situation. Why not? “Vlad” seemed fitting because this cancer is kind of a vampire trying to suck the life out of my kidney.

About Me

I graduated from Oberlin College in 2011. Then, I moved to Mihama, Mie on the JET Program in 2012 and stayed until 2016. Teaching elementary and junior high students English as the only native speaker in my town was a huge responsibility. It was also the most rewarding and meaningful experience I’ve had in my life so far. I still think of my students and friends on JET daily and hope I can meet everyone I know around the world again someday.

I now have a full-time job writing and translating, plus a part-time job on the weekends. I also volunteer as the Ohio Vice President for the Great Lakes JET Program Alumni Association (JETAA).

Since coming back from Japan, I’ve had snowballing financial problems despite hours of number crunching and budgeting. Recently, I’ve had to borrow money just to buy groceries.

While my work has been very supportive of my situation, the bills and financial burden I'm facing in my life mean I've had to take on additional work. Despite working more than full-time, I haven’t been able to make ends meet. Now, I’m in the process of starting a third job to teach kids English online a few hours a week. With the backing of my doctors and employers, I will start work again as soon as my recovery allows. I hope that with everyone's support, I'll be able to get my financial situation under control in 2019.

Outside of work, I mostly fill my days spending time with my dog Java, making sure she has plenty of walks and fun in what time she has left. She was also diagnosed with cancer in September, which was devastating to me. Java had her spleen removed, but her cancer isn't curable. We’ve been on many adventures over the last 14 years, and I hope we can fit in a few more in her last months.

My Cancer Story

I’d been having strange chest pains in early November, which is still a mystery. After about five days, I forced myself to go to the emergency room. I’d avoided going until then because I knew I couldn’t really afford to pay for the visit. When I was at the ER, the pain mysteriously vanished. It’s almost like my body was saying, “Mission accomplished. She’s at the ER now. They’ll find it.”

At first they didn’t find anything wrong with me. The EKG was fine. Nothing really looked out of the ordinary. Maybe I strained a muscle? Just to be safe before sending me home, they decided to do a CT scan of my chest. After being alone at the ER for about 8 hours, they came to tell me what they’d found.

There were two hospital staff members, and the serious way they sat down alerted me that something was up. They said they found a large mass on my left kidney. I knew the “c” word was coming because the man talking was struggling to find his words. Cancer. It was on my kidney and had possibly spread to my spleen.

They sent me to the Cleveland Clinic that night, November 11. So I took the first ambulance ride of my life, followed by my first hospital stay.

A second CT scan and many, many other tests later, and the staff at the Cleveland Clinic confirmed that I had cancer. It is stage 2, about 10 centimeters in diameter. They said it’s strange for someone only 31 to have something this large, and normally this is seen in someone a few decades older. It’s probably been there for a couple of years. There’s no real cause for cancer like this, and there’s no way to prevent it. Cancer just happens.

Thank the stars that I finally listened to my body and ended up at the ER on that sunny November day.

The Surgery

Because the cancer has taken over most of my kidney, there’s no point in trying to save what’s left. I’m going to have a laparoscopic radical nephrectomy on January 3. Bye bye, Vlad. Fortunately, the Cleveland Clinic saw nothing on my spleen, so all of my other organs should be fine for now.

There’s no way to prove the cancer or know what type of cancer this is yet because the tissue needs to be tested. Still, there’s about as much chance of there being a penguin in there as there is it not being cancer. If things go as planned, this may effectively cure my cancer, but I will need CT scans once a year or so for at least five years to make sure Vlad doesn’t move back in. If things go less well than planned, I may need chemotherapy.

The Costs

I’ve only gotten a few small bills for my hospital adventures so far, but I’ve done a lot of calculating and research to know what I’m in for. The kidney removal and hospitalization alone will easily cost over $20,000 before insurance.

My work does not offer insurance, so I have to buy it on my own through Healthcare.gov (a.k.a. Obamacare, Health Insurance Marketplace). After insurance, I will have to pay about $10,000 (including deductible, co-pays, premiums, other out-of-pocket and unexpected expenses) for my initial surgery and hospitalization in January.

However, that number does not include my emergency room run, CT scans, ambulance ride, hospitalization, and other testing from November 11-12. My insurance will likely not cover much of those expenses because the first half was not at an affiliated hospital. When all is said and done, I would not be surprised if I have to pay closer to $15,000, but I’ve set the goal for this GoFundMe at $12,000 because I have not received my bills yet, and I don’t want to ask for any more than absolutely necessary.

My Finances

All of my bills account for more than 50% of my income each month. Living alone, it’s not easy to figure out how to buy all the necessities needed in a given month. I had problems finding adequate and affordable housing and also dealing with a few smaller health scares over the past two years. I also have dental and orthopedic bills that are coming due. Any money I once saved has evaporated. I now have absolutely no savings, and I truly don’t know what I’m going to do next year.

A couple of months ago, I got a letter from a collection agency that informed me I have more than $30,000 of students loans in addition to what I thought I had. Payments were already being made on my private loans that I was aware of, and I believed these loans were combined with that. Unfortunately, with my lack of understanding of student debt as I graduated from college, I learned I was wrong. I have not yet been able to make payments on the newly discovered student loan debt.

As you can see, I owe much, much more than just the new medical bills I’m faced with. Without this GoFundMe, I have nowhere to turn.

A Few Words of Gratitude

I feel more than a little guilt asking for help because I inherently feel I don’t deserve it. So many people are in need, and so few have good solutions. I feel lucky that I found the cancer when I did, and I’m fortunate to have a plan to treat it. But I need your help. Basic words of appreciation could never be enough, but as a writer, I only know how to express myself in written form. So here is my message of thanks for you: