Jacob's Cancer Treatment

Hi, my name is Lianna Procida and Jacob is my fiancé. He just turned 24 this January and we also recently got engaged. We met rock climbing about a year ago and instantly hit it off; we've been glued together ever since. He is my best friend, climbing partner, travel buddy and much more. He's the most ambitious, hardworking, creative, and intelligent person I know and the love of my life.

He had the initial colonoscopy done Jan 2nd. And we found out the results on January 10th, 2024. On Jan 10th, he was diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma of the colon, staged as T3 tumor and stage 2 cancer.

Starting in 2016 at age 16, he'd been having symptoms (blood in stool/fatigue). However, his PCP (primary care physician) took a stool sample and all they told him was that there was blood in the stool (basically stating the obvious). However, no follow-up was ever conducted. Then in 2019 he went to the hospital for bleeding and was diagnosed with internal hemorrhoids. However, no one ever examined him, and they just slapped an easy diagnosis on him. After this hospital visit, he was supposed to have a colonoscopy, however the doctors cancelled it saying he was "too young". If this had been caught, then the tumor would have been benign. (tumors in the colon typically take 10 years to become cancerous).

We both work full time jobs (I am an occupational therapist at a nursing home, and he is a computer programmer) but we both have bills, loans, and other expenses to pay for. Jacob and I both have medical insurance; however, insurance doesn't cover a lot of the medical bills we are facing. There are many tests, doctors' visits, and procedures that are not covered or still have incredibly high co-pays. We are struggling financially, and I would not be asking/posting about this unless necessary. I am trying my best to financially support him. If I had the funds available, I would be putting all that towards this.

If you donated your money would be going towards his doctor visits, medical procedures (colonoscopies /biopsies/genetic testing/surgery) , the cost of driving back and forth to CT (his insurance is through CT and his primary care physician is from CT, which is why he’s been going back and forth), Folfox (chemo) and much more. We are also trying to get him treatment here in Long Island, but this includes switching all his doctors over.

The current plan of care is to get genetic testing on Feb 8th and CT scan on Feb 15th. After this we have 3 follow up appointments with different colon surgeons to determine if /what surgery (total colectomy or hemi meaning half). We have had two doctors recommend surgery as the best course of action. We also have a third opinion scheduled for March 14th. We are also currently trying to get another appointment for a 4th opinion at Sloans Medical Center.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our story. Any donation is a great help. Thank you again for helping us during this difficult time.

If you have any questions about this fundraiser, contact me via social media or my cell.

-Lianna Procida