Jessica Sargent Cancer Treatment Fund

Hi, my name is Jesse and I was recently given a dismal prognosis for my terminal stage 3 pancreatic cancer. During my journey, I reconnected with a childhood friend who has been dealing with much more on her plate for several years. Words can't describe how tough this women is. She has been a source of info and positivity for myself and my family. As Jessica and her family seek treatment options i would like to try to raise some money to help get her the treatment she deserves to survive. I asked her to tell me about her journey and here it is:

I have stage 4 colorectal cancer. I was originally diagnosed in 2019 when they found a 10cm mass in my colon. I have had metastatic spread in my lung and liver as well as a reoccurrence at my original sight in my colon. I had 3 surgeries in 2019 one because I had a complete blockage in my colon diverted my colon and gave me a temporary colostomy, I had a cardiac window placed to drain fluid from around my heart (I had a severe pericardiaI effusion they were concerned was cancer) I also had my port placed. I then had 25 rounds of radiation and oral chemotherapy that had no effect on my tumor. They gave me a chemo break and then I began a different type of chemo that was every 2 weeks. I would get 2 types of chemo one at the clinic and one at home over 48 hours. After a few rounds we learned that this was also not having any affect on my tumor. All treatment were discontinued. They did a Hail Mary surgery in July 2020 to remove the tumor from my colon. It was a 10 hour surgery and I had significant complications and my recovery was over 6 months, a spot that has been seen on my lung started to grow in imaging in the beginning of 2021 so I ended up having a wedge resection to remove it in the spring of 2021. (It was confirmed metastatic colon cancer) We thought I was cancer free finally…I enjoyed my summer but was always “unwell” I went to Boston in the fall to consult about reconnecting by bowels and was given the green light until I had a colonoscopy in December of 2021…they found 2 masses in my colon. Locally I was told my only option was chemo to prolong life…I went to Boston and found a surgeon who told me that I had a less than 5% chance of long term survival but that it wasn’t zero and he would be willing to do my surgery. I underwent and extensive 10+ hour surgery again and they removed a lot of my colon, my rectum, and removed my gracillis muscle in my leg in order to do plastic surgery and give me a “Barbie butt” (their words ‍♀️) I was given a permanent colostomy at this time. My recovery from this surgery was extremely extensive and I was laid up for months unable to even sit. We thought I was cancer free but I wasn’t. They were continuing to watch spots in my liver that they didn’t think were cancer but also didn’t know what they were. This went on for the entirety of 2023. During this time I had regular imaging and an attempted liver biopsy but they weren’t able to access the lesion. Months later they tried again and had success. It was confirmed that I had metastatic colon cancer in my liver. One confirmed in my left lobe and three possible in the right. (We will continue to watch the ones in the right) I had another pet scan at this time but unfortunately my cancer historically hasn’t shown on pet scans. We likely won’t have any more of them. They did however see a “spot” in my pelvis and after I pushed for further evaluation lesions were found on my ovary one was 1.4 cm and one was 2.1 these are still being investigated and not confirmed cancer at this time. We discussed my treatment options for my confirmed liver lesion. Boston had agreed to do surgery but it would have been extensive. (My most complicated yet) I have a significant peristomal hernia that would need to be repaired before they could access my abdomen to do the liver resection. In order to do that they would have to move my colostomy and do a complete abdominal reconstruction. The team decided it would be best to try Y90 treatment instead. It’s called a radioembolization, they use a run a catheter into the arteries around the tumor and inject radioactive glass beads in an attempt to shrink/kill the tumor. I completed this course of treatment in 2/12/24. Full recovery can take up to 6 weeks. In a couple months I will have imaging to see if it had any effect. I will also be having imaging to look closer at the two areas on my ovary to try to definitively determine if they are cancer or not.