Help Ease Jessica and Eric's Financial Burden

I am Alison Pierce, and I am raising money for my BFF Jessica Cobb and her family. After months of expensive testing, her husband Eric was just diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and they were just told on Friday, March 14th that he only has about 6 months remaining. They have already spent thousands of dollars to get the diagnosis, and the medical bills are going to continue growing.

Jess and Eric are still pretty much “newlyweds.” They married in an intimate backyard ceremony in my backyard on May 20, 2023. Their story began much earlier though. They met as children and dated young, then life happened and they drifted apart, each living separate lives but thought of each other often. I remember one time, when Jess and I were in high school, we heard a rumor that he was living in Cooper, TX, which is about an hour away from where we lived. She and I got in my car and drove to Cooper on a mission to find him! We drove around for quite some time, going into the Dairy Queen and asking everyone if they knew who Eric was. We didn’t find him that day, and she didn’t find him for years after that, but through social media, they eventually reconnected many years later and had a fairy tale relationship where they finally got married almost 2 years ago. They had both found the love of their lives and were ready for their happily ever after.

Since reconnecting and their adult relationship started, he’s had some health issues that he overcame. But in January, things really took a turn. He started having some pain and sought medical care. At first, he was told it was nerve damage and pain from a previous surgery, and he got some medication to help. Shortly after, he started getting sick after eating and went back to the doctor, who thought he had a stomach ulcer and ran some tests, which determined that he did not have an ulcer. They then ordered an ultrasound, followed by a CT scan with contrast, and once those results came in is when the nightmare started. A liver biopsy was ordered, and the results came less than a week later. It’s a small cell cancer which is believed to have started in his colon but has spread to his stomach, spleen, pancreas, lung, pretty much everywhere. It’s not curable and treatment options would only possibly give him a few more months, but with a quality of life possibly worse than what he has without treatment. They have decided to not pursue treatment and to keep him comfortable so he can enjoy the time he has remaining with his family.

He will be staying at home and Jess will be taking care of him until the need arises to bring in home hospice for additional support. He cannot work and she will eventually have to take unpaid FMLA so that she can be with him around the clock. They need financial support to make sure that his medical is paid as well as normal household expenses since she will have to miss a lot of work. They also have physical custody of Eric’s 15-year-old son who is a freshman in high school and has school expenses and extras that teens need. His whole world came crashing down last night when he found out details of what is happening. Additionally, there will be financial needs for memorial and burial expenses that need to be planned for.

Thank you for reading. Every dollar helps, so please consider donating what you can to help.