Faith's Fight for Life

My wife, Faith, is struggling to beat a very rare and aggressive form of colon cancer that has quickly spread from her liver to her diaphragm and lung. Over the past 3 years, we’ve tried a number of treatments and have gotten different opinions from multiple well-known medical and cancer organizations. Unfortunately, we've run out of options and time. The third recurrence has grown faster than anything we've seen yet and is spreading quickly, with the focus being on palliative care. The best hope she has left is dendritic cell immunotherapy – a treatment that has seen promising results for her cancer in Germany.

The costs we face for this treatment are challenging ($80k+) as it is all out of pocket. But we are determined to find a way to help Faith live. We have been advised to do this treatment in August if at all possible. If you’d like to help, you can donate here, and we are incredibly grateful for anything you can give. A generous donor has committed to match (up to $30k) each dollar raised, so every dollar you give will be worth two. Please keep us in your prayers, and pass this story along to support Faith in her fight for life. Thank you.

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"Faith, this cancer will kill you within the year."

Nothing could prepare us for those words, even though we suspected they were coming. That moment is frozen in memory. The room suddenly felt cold, time slowed, and my heart even seemed to stop. For that moment, my wife and I were confronted with the reality that we have precious few moments left together in this life.

To my wife, Faith, those words carry a deeper and more painful weight. She will not be there for our 6 year old (Ezra) as he grows up. She will never get to see our 17 year old daughter (Evie) or 15 year old son (Ethan) graduate or get married. She will never meet her grandchildren. She feels like she is abandoning her family.

Faith is the most caring, compassionate person I have ever known. It is her God-given gift. I've been married to her for 22 years and I have never known her ever put herself above anyone else. She is an incredible example of someone who not only follows Jesus but lives out her Faith in her daily life. Even over the past 3 years since her diagnosis, she has come alongside others who are battling cancer. She teamed with others to form the only faith-based cancer support group I know of in our area. She has continued to serve classical education organizations in multiple facets. She has been to the Dominican Republic twice so she can help minister to the poor there. These are but a few of the ways she continues to give. The world needs more 'Faith'.

Yet there is little reason to doubt the words of our oncologist who has more than 25 years of experience dealing with various forms of cancer. This aggressive reoccurrence is the third return and has grown and spread far more rapidly than anything we've seen.

Her journey began in September of 2021 when we discovered she had a cancerous mass in her colon. At the time, we believed we had caught it early and that it was isolated to the colon, making it stage 3 cancer. We also learned that she had a more aggressive form of colon cancer called micropapillary carcinoma, which only appears in less than 1% of colon cancer cases. Still, we remained hopeful. The surgery in October to remove it was successful and, after recovery, she began 6 months of chemo.

Chemo is the traditional answer in our health system for cancer treatment. We've become somewhat accustomed to it. I can tell you I have never seen anything more awful in my life. Chemo is poison that is put into your body in an effort to kill as many cancer cells as possible without killing you. You are literally dying, but not completely. It not only wrecks your body, but it affects your brain, your emotions, your hormones, and your willpower. It makes you want to die. I watched as the very thing that was intended to heal her also nearly destroyed her. It was an overwhelmingly difficult, dark time. Yet, by God's grace, through the prayer and support of many, Faith persevered and got to ring that bell in May 2022. She is a fighter.

By January 2023, we discover the cancer had spread to her liver and an ovary. She underwent major abdominal surgery to remove the tumors. While successful, this confirmed our fears that her cancer is stage 4. It also raised a significant question - how did these tumors survive the chemo? We knew chemo wasn't going to be an effective option for the future if the cancer was able to live through it, so we began to research and look into complimentary treatment options.

By October 2023, Faith's cancer marker began to rise again even though the CT scans were clear. Our research brought us to Capstone Medical Wellness Center in Harrisburg, PA where we began learning about other successful treatment options from other parts of the world, including Germany, Sweden and Mexico. At this time, the standard medical advice was to "wait and see". How many stories have we heard where the cancer advanced quickly and suddenly it was 'too late'? We didn't want that to happen if we could help it. Faith started high-dose Vitamin C and Mistletoe infusions to help combat the unknown going on in her body. This required hours of driving and hours of treatment (all out of pocket) multiple times per week.

Over the next few months, we discovered that the cancer was finally showing itself back on Faith's liver. However, it was quite small, likely due to the infusions she had been receiving at Capstone. In this case, it made sense to do a much less intense procedure called an ablation, where the surgeon essentially goes in with a small probe and burns the tumor off. This occurred in January 2024, and while successful, this somehow resulted in a blockage in her liver bile duct a few weeks later in February that landed her in the ER. On top of everything else, she now has to have a stent put in her liver every few months.

Still, an annoying stent and occasional ablation seems to be a good place to be compared to where we were. However, this was not to be the case. By April 2024, a mere two months later, Faith's cancer marker had skyrocketed to levels twice that of what they were with her first tumor. We had regrettably paused treatments at Capstone with everything going on, but did not anticipate such an aggressive recurrence. The May CT scan revealed a large mass growing out of the liver ablation area and into her diaphragm and lung area.

We wept together. Many times. We cried out to God. Many people began earnestly praying. The standard medical approach at this point is palliative care - they are not discussing cure but how long they think they can keep Faith alive with chemo. The best chemo they can offer shows a 16% survival rate. We already know the chemo is ineffective. From their perspective, this cancer is going to kill her, and quickly.

However, through our research and complimentary medical network, we discovered more options available to us outside the US - options that boast much higher survival rates. Faith immediately started Salicinium through Capstone, which has been trialed with great success in Sweden. This treatment is meant to slow the rapid growth to buy us a little time without the toxicity of chemo. It also makes the cancer cells more vulnerable to the Mistletoe infusions. Since insurance doesn't' cover any of this, it is all out of pocket ($3k-$7k per month). We've started working with a company that brokers a relationship with German private medical care for patients looking advanced cancer therapy. The treatment recommended specifically for Faith is Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy, which, unfortunately, can only be administered in Germany for cases like ours.

The therapy will need at least 2 treatments about 6 months apart. The first treatment will cost approximately $40k, not including travel costs, and we will need to stay in Germany for about 10 days. Followup treatments will cost ~$30k each. The recommendation is to act as quickly as possible. They are ready to treat her as soon as August 13 if we can pull together the resources. $80k will cover the initial treatment plus a followup treatment as well as travel costs. Any extra funds raised will be applied to additional treatments.

Under the encouragement of friends and family, I am appealing to you for help. After months of research by multiple people, we have hope. Patients with advanced colon cancer who receive dendritic cell therapy have a survival rate up to 58%. The Salicinium and Mistletoe treatments further increase the overall effectiveness. Faith would never ask this for herself, but if we can find enough people who are willing to donate the cost of a coffee, a meal out, something - we can give Faith a chance with the best treatment available to her. Evie, Ethan and Ezra can have her care, support and guidance for much longer. Even just sharing this page with others can have an impact. Our hope is to continue to raise awareness that there are treatment options our there that work to cure cancer or at least significantly increase survival rates. When people hear about these options and use them, we pave the way to making them more available to others. Together we can make a difference, save a life, and give the world just a little more 'Faith'.

Chris, Faith, and Family

Edit: Already, a donor has committed to matching every dollar donated for the first $30k in the fight to save Faith's life. That means that every dollar you contribute will be worth two dollars! This is an incredibly generous offer and I am amazed at how God is already working to make this possible! Thank you!