Help James with his fight against cancer

Hi everyone, we are setting up this GoFundMe in hopes that we can come together and help James and his family during this critical period in their lives. Their family(James, Rachael, and the kids) will be relocating to Alabama to live with family to further diminish the cost of attending the Mayo Clinic in Florida. They will commute from Alabama to Florida for James' treatment. As some may know, relocating can be a very trying time for the entire family. If we could help eliminate even a little of their stress, it would be an enormous blessing to James and his family.

If you don't have the pleasure of knowing James, I will give you a brief description of the awe-inspiring man he is. James is a kind, caring man that is devoted to his family. James is the kind of man who would give anyone the shirt off his back and show up to help, no matter the time or place. James met Rachael in 2018 while working at North Antelope Mine, where he soon fell in love with Rachael and her kids. From then on, James chose to make them his family and always worked hard to support them. A family that he didn't initially create but one he chose as his own, which is just one of the many qualities that depict James's significant character.

A little more detail on what James is up against.

James had immense pain and rapid weight loss a few weeks ago, so they went into the local ER, where they brushed him off and sent him home with a diagnosis of just having acid reflux. After a couple more weeks of agony, they found a doctor to examine his condition in more detail. Through more testing, the doctor discovered something that no family ever wants to hear. They found that James had cancer, but the doctors in Gillette could not further diagnose his condition's complexity due to how rare his condition is. They decided the best plan was to send samples to Mayo Clinic in Florida. The results that came back from Mayo were both disheartening and unclear. James' local Oncologist was unable to explain Mayo's findings. They determined that his condition was very complex and something they had never seen before. This is where the decision that James needed to get to Mayo in Florida immediately came in. The only thing they could determine with any accuracy was that James' cancer had metastasized, a tumor is wrapped around his aorta artery, fluid is behind his left lung, and multiple forms of cancer were presenting themselves. Still, none of the results were definitive of one form of cancer. The doctors at Mayo need to do more vigorous testing to determine what treatment path they need to take to help him. His condition is worsening rapidly, and the longer his wait is to get to Mayo, the worse his prognosis looks.

I know that money can be tight around the holidays, but any amount will help James travel to Florida sooner and get the testing he needs to determine a course of treatment. I try to think of myself in their shoes in these very unpleasant situations, which no one ever hopes to be in, but I pray that someone reading this would feel the compassion to help. I know James would be the first to show up to help someone else in his shoes, whether a friend or a stranger. During this season, please consider donating and blessing this family with a warmhearted gift. If you cannot donate, please pray for healing and comfort for James and his family during this challenging time. If anyone would like to contribute in a different way (cash, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc.), please feel free to contact myself-Katie Welch, Lacey Torres, and Laura Garth by private message, and we can create a plan to do so.

In closing, we will be working vigorously on other forms of fundraising. Please let us know if anyone has any ideas on fundraising tactics that would further help James!

In the meantime, please add James to your prayers and please share this GoFundMe account in hopes that it will reach everyone that god has intended it to! We will add more details about James' condition as they become available. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this and anyone who plans to donate!

God Bless You

"Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to each other, in the same way God forgave you in Christ." -Ephesians 4:32

"This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." -1 John 3:16-18