Amy's fight with Esophageal Cancer
Don protégé
Dear friends and family,
As some of you know, our dear long time friend Amy Dean Jamieson, at the age of 45, was diagnosed in October with esophageal cancer, a rare aggressive cancer and especially rare in women. She has just completed 6 weeks of chemo and radiation treatments, but that is just the beginning. She now waits for her upcoming surgery in February. Amy wants everyone to know how much she appreciates all the encouraging words, prayers and emotional support she’s received by so many during the beginning of this journey.
Amy is a self employed single mother supporting her daughter and due to the extensive testing prior to treatment and since chemo and radiation began on Dec 3rd, the pain, difficulty eating and drinking, nausea and fatigue have made it physically impossible to work at all for the past couple months. She remains unable to work and now awaits another PETscan on Monday, January 28th and the esophagectomy surgery in February.
Here’s the thing: our friend is a very proud person--Amy is the first person to give you the shirt off her back and her door is always open to others. She has been very strong throughout all of this. She has been that rock to comfort her daughter, son, family and friends as they cope with this heart wrenching diagnosis, but she struggles with asking for help for herself which she now desperately and urgently needs.
Her savings have been used up and she is worried about how she will continue to pay the bills. Battling cancer is emotional and stressful enough let alone the financial burden not having an income, you can imagine that feeling of helplessness and fear and the depression that follows.
PLEASE HELP
You may know Amy, or she may be a complete stranger, but please help us spread the word and share this on your Facebook page or by text or email with all your family and friends. Any help received will be used to help pay for bills such as heat, electric, food, maintaining her home and medical expenses. Every prayer, every dollar, every gesture of support is going to an incredible human being, a loving mother and best friend anyone could ask for and we will be forever thankful for any and all help received.
THE BACK STORY
This diagnosis came as a complete shock to everyone. Amy started having heartburn/indigestion and pain in her upper abdomen that would come and go starting in July. By the middle of September it was constant and severe enough that she made an appointment with her Doctor. Her doctor initially thought it was acid reflux and prescribed Prilosec. It continued to worsen over the next couple of weeks and Amy returned to her doctor. Her doctor was then thinking she had an ulcer possibly caused by the bacteria Helicobactor Pylori and ordered a Carbon Urea Breath test to confirm or rule that out, that test came back negative. Because of the severity of the pain she was in, and still believing it was an ulcer, an Endoscopy was also ordered to determine the severity of the ulcer. That did reveal a large ulcer in her lower esophagus as well as suspicious tissues that were sent for biopsy.
On October 25th she got the devastating diagnosis of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the lower esophagus and the whirlwind began... extensive testing both here and in Grand Rapids, meetings with her oncologist, radiation oncologist, thoracic surgeon, dietitian, palliative care, social workers, etc... and starting Chemo and radiation, all within 5 weeks after diagnosis.
THE NEXT PHASE
Surgery is tentatively scheduled for February 18th as long as the next PETscan shows that the cancer has not spread. During this surgery they go in through her abdomen and neck to remove all of her esophagus, pull her stomach up through the chest to form a “new esophagus” and attach it up in her neck. This is an extreme and risky surgery, not only is there a risk of infection, bleeding and other serious complications from the surgery itself, but the recovery period after surgery is long and difficult. All in all Amy will be out of work with no income for a minimum of 6 months.
Please, again, consider a donation to help Amy on the road to recovery, so she can focus on healing and winning her battle with cancer while not having the added financial stress of basic living expenses.
We will continue to update everybody as things progress. In the meantime thank you all for your generosity, prayers and support from the bottom of our hearts. God Bless.
As some of you know, our dear long time friend Amy Dean Jamieson, at the age of 45, was diagnosed in October with esophageal cancer, a rare aggressive cancer and especially rare in women. She has just completed 6 weeks of chemo and radiation treatments, but that is just the beginning. She now waits for her upcoming surgery in February. Amy wants everyone to know how much she appreciates all the encouraging words, prayers and emotional support she’s received by so many during the beginning of this journey.
Amy is a self employed single mother supporting her daughter and due to the extensive testing prior to treatment and since chemo and radiation began on Dec 3rd, the pain, difficulty eating and drinking, nausea and fatigue have made it physically impossible to work at all for the past couple months. She remains unable to work and now awaits another PETscan on Monday, January 28th and the esophagectomy surgery in February.
Here’s the thing: our friend is a very proud person--Amy is the first person to give you the shirt off her back and her door is always open to others. She has been very strong throughout all of this. She has been that rock to comfort her daughter, son, family and friends as they cope with this heart wrenching diagnosis, but she struggles with asking for help for herself which she now desperately and urgently needs.
Her savings have been used up and she is worried about how she will continue to pay the bills. Battling cancer is emotional and stressful enough let alone the financial burden not having an income, you can imagine that feeling of helplessness and fear and the depression that follows.
PLEASE HELP
You may know Amy, or she may be a complete stranger, but please help us spread the word and share this on your Facebook page or by text or email with all your family and friends. Any help received will be used to help pay for bills such as heat, electric, food, maintaining her home and medical expenses. Every prayer, every dollar, every gesture of support is going to an incredible human being, a loving mother and best friend anyone could ask for and we will be forever thankful for any and all help received.
THE BACK STORY
This diagnosis came as a complete shock to everyone. Amy started having heartburn/indigestion and pain in her upper abdomen that would come and go starting in July. By the middle of September it was constant and severe enough that she made an appointment with her Doctor. Her doctor initially thought it was acid reflux and prescribed Prilosec. It continued to worsen over the next couple of weeks and Amy returned to her doctor. Her doctor was then thinking she had an ulcer possibly caused by the bacteria Helicobactor Pylori and ordered a Carbon Urea Breath test to confirm or rule that out, that test came back negative. Because of the severity of the pain she was in, and still believing it was an ulcer, an Endoscopy was also ordered to determine the severity of the ulcer. That did reveal a large ulcer in her lower esophagus as well as suspicious tissues that were sent for biopsy.
On October 25th she got the devastating diagnosis of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the lower esophagus and the whirlwind began... extensive testing both here and in Grand Rapids, meetings with her oncologist, radiation oncologist, thoracic surgeon, dietitian, palliative care, social workers, etc... and starting Chemo and radiation, all within 5 weeks after diagnosis.
THE NEXT PHASE
Surgery is tentatively scheduled for February 18th as long as the next PETscan shows that the cancer has not spread. During this surgery they go in through her abdomen and neck to remove all of her esophagus, pull her stomach up through the chest to form a “new esophagus” and attach it up in her neck. This is an extreme and risky surgery, not only is there a risk of infection, bleeding and other serious complications from the surgery itself, but the recovery period after surgery is long and difficult. All in all Amy will be out of work with no income for a minimum of 6 months.
Please, again, consider a donation to help Amy on the road to recovery, so she can focus on healing and winning her battle with cancer while not having the added financial stress of basic living expenses.
We will continue to update everybody as things progress. In the meantime thank you all for your generosity, prayers and support from the bottom of our hearts. God Bless.
Équipe de collecte de fonds : Aimee Werve, Tammi Calley and Sharon Busuttil (2)
Amy Dean Jamieson
Organisateur
Traverse City, MI
Amy Dohm-Jamieson
Bénéficiaire
Tammi Elzinga
Team member
