2024 Help Regina Jupp Fight Ovarian Cancer

We do not serve a God of statistics.

6 years ago, I became violently ill. Indescribable pain migrated through my entire body for months and months. I visited endless doctors through Northwestern to get answers. We even travelled to Mayo Clinic. Finally, after months of incredible suffering, I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. My body was reacting to it in a rare and painful way.

Since then, I have had more treatment plans than I can count and more surgeries than I can remember. We have exhausted all the traditional treatments, and now I am working through experimental treatments. Each one that works buys me a few more months and each one comes with its own set of side effects. ER visits and adapting around different types of pain are a norm now.

On christmas eve I had an emergency surgery that saved my life. It was the first of 4 surgeries in 6 months. I will need surgery every 3-4 months from now on. It has been a rollercoaster for certain. I am deeply thankful for the diligence and loyalty of my husband Joel. He is endlessly loving and daily sacrifices for me. I am so thankful for his faith.

Because of God’s mercy and provision, I have recently surpassed the longest lifespan Northwestern and Mayo Clinic thought possible! I am officially a statistical outlier! Praise the Lord!! Joel once reminded me that we do not serve a God of statistics and I have held tight to that.

The downside right now is that cancer and all the side effects are very expensive. Besides medicines that are not covered, I need a lot of everyday things that are not covered by our insurance. I need about $300 a month in self-paid medical supplies, we spend $1000 a year just on routine hospital parking, I need special self-care products that are costly. Sometimes I can’t eat for long periods of time and require expensive smoothies. Different treatments cause different problems that need various equipment to solve. So the list goes on.

Joel and I each dedicated our lives to ministry before marrying—19 years ago. Since then we have worked in non-profit and church work. This means many financial limitations. Health costs, and my inability to work, makes these challenges even greater. To help support the family, Joel teaches college classes in addition to ministry work, but much has been reduced as enrollment has decreased post-pandemic.

Five years ago, we were supported by overwhelming generosity that kept us afloat. We used those funds to support our family, amazed by other’s compassion and God’s provision. To be honest, since I was at stage 3c, we never imagined that God would keep me alive this long. We are blessed by God’s incredible care for my body, but we again faced with growing costs with time and, of course, inflation. So with my survival, we continue to face skyrocketing costs and resulting debts. 

I have negotiated prices down with hospitals and done everything I could to stretch that money as far as it could go. That has battled for us for 5 years. But it has run out and we are now at risk of taking on HUGE amounts of medical debt. If we know anything at this point, we know that GOD IS FAITHFUL. So we are reaching out in faith once again.

We thank God for all of the ways you have encouraged and supported us over the years. Would you be willing to come alongside us once again?