Jessie's Journey - Help Her "Strike Out" Cancer

Jessie's Journey began after having covid in October of 2021. She never felt necessarily "better", and we attributed it to the after effects of covid. On Thanksgiving day, Jessie and Anna went to Duluth for their annual Black Friday trip, and Jessie ended up in the hospital feeling like she was having a heart attack. After several tests, they released her with a diagnosis of possible pleurisy. She continued to have chest pains and other pains so severe she could no longer lay on her back. She attempted a few more visits to the doctor with no relief.

On February 26th, she went back to the doctor, and a CT scan was finally ordered. This scan revealed a 6.3 cm tumor located in front of her heart. She quickly was scheduled for further testing in Duluth. This confirmed that the tumor was indeed cancer. Additionally, fluid was building around her heart, making breathing very difficult.

On March 10th, she was admitted to St. Mary's hospital.

On March 11th, the cardiothoracic team did surgery to drain the fluid from around her heart.

On March 12th, she started her first chemotherapy treatment. She had a reaction that they were able to eventually stabilize and complete her first round. She spent eight days total in the hospital recovering.

Her diagnosis is stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma with probable lung cancer origin. She has a tumor in front of her heart attached to her left lung, one in her right adrenal gland, two in her abdominal wall, and one in her left glute muscle. Jessie and Anna decided to get a second opinion at Mayo.

On April 4th, Jessie was seen by the Mayo doctors, and they told her to resume treatment at Essentia in Duluth. A couple of days later, Jessie got a PET scan in Duluth that confirmed the findings from a Mayo CT.

On April 8th, she started her second round of chemo and had a much worse reaction than the first one despite the oncologist's preventative efforts. Chemo had to be stopped right away, so she could not receive her complete treatment. This reaction resulted in Jessie being taken from the infusion center by ambulance up the street to the ER and a long evening of monitoring. After another night in the hospital, she is home resting while the oncology team is working on a new treatment plan.

Jessie's current health condition has made it impossible for her to continue working and hard to do the things she loves. We remain hopeful that her oncology team will be able to find something that will get rid of this awful illness and allow Jessie to start feeling better again. We are so appreciative and blessed to have such amazing support from family and friends.

All monetary gifts will help us cover medical expenses, travel (to and from treatments), and other necessary incenditals to help Jessie's Journey.

Thank you, everyone, for all of the support, prayers, thoughts, and love.

Sincerely,

The Family of Jessie Anderson