Thank you for taking the time to read my story! My name is Erin Hofler Pearce. I am a 49 year old wife of 26 years, mother of 3 adult daughters and “Gammah” of 4 of the most precious gifts from God ever given! I have been a registered nurse for 20 years as well.

I have been battling colon cancer in my body with God’s holy guidance since 2022. I had surgery in September ‘22 to remove what was thought to be stage I cancer only to find out it was stage IIIa.

The oncologist believed one round (5 treatments) of preventative chemo would be enough and I would no longer have any issues (Nov ‘22-Feb ‘23). Fast forward a few months to Sept/Oct ‘23. I convinced the oncologist’s office to perform a specific lab test since they refused to ever give me a PET scan. It showed the cancer was returning. I was sent an email stating, ”The test is positive. However, we do not know what exactly to do with the lab test information. When you have symptoms of cancer, please let us know.”

Of course, I went for another opinion at Duke. Between October and late November, they did a PET scan that showed numerous lesions in my liver. The cancer had now become stage IV metastatic colon adenocarcinoma. Ok! Let’s hit this head on! They placed the port-a-cath first. Then, the world renowned oncologist sent me to the hepatic surgeon. That doctor told me he would remove a large portion of my liver and we would “deal with” the cancer in the remaining portion. I asked what my chances were. He told me I had a 4% chance of living 5 years. I asked him if he had my address. He looked puzzled. He said he was sure he could get it and asked why. I told him to save it so he could invite me to his retirement party. Because my God is just that good. He kind of grunted like “good luck with that”.

Next, I was talking with my regional manager (at the time) and friend about my frustration with this. She and her family were out to dinner. Her mother happened to be with her. Her mother suggested City of Hope! When we hung up, I called them immediately. I was on the phone with them about 2 hours. My husband, Charlie, and I flew out about 8 days later which was Christmas day ‘23 to Atlanta. A driver for City of Hope picked us up and drove us to the center in Newnan, GA. Before I saw the care team the following day and in the days leading up to going to Atlanta, I had been praying so hard for the Lord to show me what I was supposed to do for treatment. I need to be here on this earth, in this life. Don’t get me wrong. I have NO FEAR of dying. But I need to be here for Sadie, for Charlie, for my daughters, for my grandbabies here and not yet born, for myself to see it all! But I knew He would let me know somehow. I asked the doctor and nurse practitioner how long I had. They told me they will hit this cancer with everything they have, the rest is up to God. I turned to Charlie with tears in my eyes and told him “this is where I am supposed to be”.

In April ‘24, my CT and MRI came back clear. No evidence of disease! I was so happy! I thanked God for this miracle! I decided at that time against my team’s advice to stop all treatment for 3 months to see what would happen. I went back in July knowing the scans would still be clear. I was wrong. The cancer had returned and worse than ever. There were more lesions and the ones there were larger than before - all in just 3 months. Well, I couldn’t do that again. That is when they told me I would have to be on treatments for life.

Fast forward to April ‘25, all is going well. My care team says I am one of the healthiest stage IV cancer patients they have! I take that as a great compliment! Anyway, Jason, my oncology NP, comes in and says “you need a liver transplant”. Mind you, this is right after my scans. I thought OH NO! This is horrible! But no! My scans were still clear! Because I am so healthy otherwise, I am one of the very few eligible to receive a liver transplant. Since the cancer has only spread to my liver, this is a chance a COMPLETE RECOVERY from cancer. I have a 60% chance at recovery. Whereas, right now, statistically I only have about 9% chance of even being here in 3 years. I am willing to take those chances!!

Charlie and I will go to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida in August for a week long evaluation. I have 34 appointments that week.

I am going to ask for a few things from you! First and foremost, PRAYER. That is the most important and greatest gift I could ever receive. Second, please follow me on TikTok. I am trying to monetize there. Like and share my cheesy, old gammah posts! Follow me on TikTok and follow me on my cancer fighting/ new liver/transplant journey! I know I said I would never ask for money, but a dear friend suggested gofundme. So, here we are.

Out of pocket expenses are going to be astronomical for this procedure. The procedure will cost anywhere from $500k - $1M before insurance. Not to mention travel, hotels, food costs, etc. 100% of your donations will go towards medical expenses!

I appreciate you! May God bless you all! Please, whether you choose to donate or not, just pray for me, my care team at City of Hope and at the Mayo Clinic, & my family. Thank you all so much!

God is so good, y’all!