Help Justin Beat Cancer!

Hello everyone. My name is DD, and I’m creating this fundraiser on behalf of my cousin Justin, whom I love beyond belief and who has been battling a rare and aggressive cancer called peritoneal mesothelioma for over a year now. After an extremely brutal nine-hour operation on March 11, 2022, known as the “Mother of All Surgeries,” Justin went through chemotherapy and the cancer appeared to be gone. However, scans in November 2022 show that Justin’s cancer has recurred, bringing with it severe symptoms that have caused him to be hospitalized twice in December 2022 and once already this year. He is receiving chemo again and will undergo another surgery in 2023. He is also hoping to participate in a clinical trial that is showing promise for mesothelioma, but the financial burden of last year and the year to come is beyond belief.

Justin is husband to Katie and is the father of three beautiful children, Jolie, Ben, and Ava. He is the most hardworking person I’ve ever known, every day going into work a few hours early and staying late, excelling to a level where his expertise is sought out by critical manufacturing and industrial plants across the Gulf Coast. In 2022, he bore the weight and pain of cancer, major surgery, and chemo, and yet still managed to work six months at his physically demanding job.

With a very reduced income in 2022, Justin was looking forward to working full time in 2023 to pay off last year’s general bills and hotel/flight expenses. Because of his recent symptoms and hospitalizations, he has not been able to work since December 1st. It is not likely that he will be able to return to work any time soon, what with restarting chemo, potentially returning to the hospital as he deals with the symptoms from this aggressive comeback of the cancer, and out-of-town treatments with a 2nd surgery looming on the horizon. So on top of remaining 2022 payments, Justin has a 3k deductible to meet once again (already having met it last year), as well as travel costs for his surgery and clinical trial, each requiring a lengthy out-of-town stay.

It is my hope that we can come together to raise the funds to help alleviate the financial burden of the past year and hopefully cover the forthcoming treatment that will allow Justin to beat this cancer, once and for all.

*********

A little more about Justin: his journey started in September 2021 as mere abdominal swelling and discomfort, but led to a diagnosis of cancer in January 2022. It defied reason – he was 32 and perfectly healthy, and this cancer is so rare (only 300-450 cases are diagnosed in the US every year). So this came as a complete shock to Justin and his family, yet it is not in Justin to give up, and those who love him were just as determined to fight. After traveling around the country to find an oncologist ready to treat this with the same fight that Justin was ready to give, Justin decided to seek surgical treatment in Pittsburgh. After a scope surgery in February 2022, Justin underwent cytoreductive surgery in March, an operation so intense that it is referred to as having 10 abdominal surgeries simultaneously, during which Justin’s abdomen was opened up and multiple organs were removed. Afterward, the surgical team pumped his abdomen full of heated chemo, rocking him in all directions on the table so that the chemo spread entirely throughout the abdomen. The day that he went through this surgery was 15 days before Justin and Katie’s wedding had been set to occur, which after a year of waiting and planning had to be postponed to September.

To describe Justin…words honestly fall short when trying to convey how rare and incredible an individual he is, how dear he is to so many, how he is a shining light in so many lives. Justin always has a smile on his face, always managing to make whoever he’s talking to feel loved. He is a husband, he is a father, he is a son, he is beloved by all who are lucky to call him family and friend.

Justin has handled this journey with strength and hope, yet it must be recognized that the past year and a half have presented more challenges than one person should ever have to shoulder, and the financial burden of fighting this cancer has been enormous. Justin has a long road ahead of him, but I know, we all know, that he has the fortitude to face it. To beat this. Please show your belief in him by donating however much you can afford and/or by sharing this with others who are able to help. Any little bit counts and will be so appreciated. All proceeds will go directly to Justin to help him and his family make sure money is not a concern when making sure he gets the best possible care and can focus on healing. Thank you all so much for reading and caring!

Much love,

DD