Support Cyndy and Jon's Fight Against Cancer
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When you get married and utter the words “for better and for worse,” it’s hard to fathom that “the worse” will be so incredibly hard.
At just 54 years old and after 22 years of wedded bliss, we are both facing unimaginable health challenges. To be blunt, we are fighting for our very lives.
Cancer runs in both our families, and we’ve both lost family members to the very same cancers we are facing now. We’ve tried hard to reduce our risk by paying attention to diet and exercise and living a happy, healthy lifestyle. But unfortunately cancer found a way in.
The news was delivered first to me, Jon, in March 2023. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which killed both my Dad and more recently my brother at just 59 years old. I was determined not to let my diagnosis be a death sentence, but I was scared as hell for me and my beloved wife, Cyndy.
Then the unthinkable happened. Cyndy was having tremendous back pain and in an effort to get comfortable lying on her back one night, her hand came to rest on her breast. And there it was — a very large tumor that wasn’t there just a few weeks before.
Cyndy was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive form of breast cancer called “triple negative” breast cancer in December 2023. It grows much faster, is much harder to treat and recurs much more frequently than other types of breast cancer. Cyndy’s mother had breast cancer recurrences several times — even after having a double mastectomy and all the other traditional cancer treatments.
Almost everyone reading this knows someone who has or had cancer. Traditional treatments like systemic chemotherapy and radiation do not always work and can challenge a person’s desire to carry on, as well as permanently weaken their immune system, potentially making them more susceptible to cancer in the future.
Knowing this, we set out to find alternative treatments that would work better and allow both of us to maintain our quality of life. After extensive and painstaking research, we found treatments that are much more effective and much safer than traditional cancer treatments at private cancer clinics in Germany.
I was treated at a German clinic this summer with a process called electro-chemotherapy. This clinic has one hundred percent success in eradicating prostate cancer with this treatment. In a few weeks, I’ll undergo more testing to determine if their success rate remains one hundred percent. I am hopeful.
Cyndy was successfully treated at another cancer clinic in Germany in early 2024. Through a process called regional chemotherapy, an extraordinarily high dose of chemo was delivered to the region of her cancer and then filtered out of the body to avoid side effects. It took four trips to the clinic for regional chemotherapy and an eventual lumpectomy, but in just a few short months, she had a “pathological complete response” and had “no evidence of disease.” We were ecstatic to get such great news!
But our return to normal life was short lived. An MRI in early October showed the cancer had recurred in her same breast and had spread (metastasized) to many lymph nodes, which is very dangerous. She is currently being treated at two clinics in Germany, one of which is delivering a cutting edge customized vaccine using her blood and DNA. It gives us hope to know someday this may be standard treatment available worldwide. But for now, we’re praying it works for Cyndy because we both have so much more living to do…together.
This would all be bad enough, but dealing with the enormous financial consequences of the treatments has added a lot of additional stress to our lives. Incredibly, our health insurance company originally pre-approved our treatments in Germany, but then changed its mind and rescinded coverage, so we have had to pay for everything out of pocket.
No matter how prepared you think you are financially, nothing can prepare you for the cost of cancer treatment times two. We have spent over $200,000 so far on treatments. Cyndy’s current treatments will cost at least another $100,000. In addition, we will both need ongoing treatments and maintenance in the coming year and for the rest of our lives.
One thing remains certain. We love and support each other and are truly best friends. We are fully committed to doing whatever it takes to rid ourselves of cancer. If you know us, you know that we love life, laughter, good food, 80s music and time spent with good friends. And Cyndy needs to stay alive at least until the Milwaukee Brewers win the World Series, which may take a while!
We’ve kept our diagnoses mostly quiet because every day has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions and we didn’t want to burden our friends. But the financial strain has become too difficult after Cyndy’s cancer recurrence.
Based on our research of cancer treatment alternatives and clinics, we have helped many other cancer patients find better treatments for their cancer.
But now we need your help in fighting our cancer. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Those we’ve told often ask us how they can help. In all honesty, in addition to your love and emotional support, what we need most right now is your financial support so that we can continue to pursue the best and most appropriate medical treatments.
It’s incredibly humbling to have to ask for financial help. But we have always surrounded ourselves with good people from every walk of life. Whether you can afford to give $5, $500 or $5,000, we greatly appreciate your help.
If you prefer (and to avoid fees we will have to pay to GoFundMe), you can also send any contributions via PayPal here:
And via Venmo here:
Please share this GoFundMe campaign with anyone you think might be willing and able to help. We wish you and yours safe, happy and healthy holidays!
Love and gratitude, Jon and Cyndy
Co-organizers (2)
Jon Wolfenbarger
Organizer
Lockhart, TX
Cynthia Wolfenbarger
Co-organizer
Lynn Schoenemann
Co-organizer