Jacob's Cancer Journey

Update (08/31/23):

We wanted to extend our sincerest thanks to everyone who reached out and supported Jacob through his journey. Every action, regardless of size, has been appreciated by our entire family. We cannot thank everyone enough for the outpouring of love and support sent our way. We appreciate everything, big and small and want to say thank you for your prayers, kind words and gestures. They all go such a long way.

As was intended for this Gofundme, we wanted to give a general update of the situation at hand.

Unfortunately, Jacob’s journey isn’t yet over. We as a family had the summer off to spend time together while Jacob recovered from his first chemotherapy regimen. The initial treatment was successful in reducing the size of the tumour but did not get rid of all the cancer. Jacob will be undergoing more intense chemotherapy treatments to try to get the cancer under control, then we are told the treatment plan will include a stem cell transplant. Because of the nature of this type of chemo and the need for constant monitoring he’ll be admitted to in hospital for his treatments and potentially during recovery.

Thank you all again, we love you and we're so grateful to have you gathering around us during this difficult and uncertain time.

Hello and thank you for taking the time to drop by and get involved in Jacob's Cancer Journey. Your love and support is greatly appreciated.

Original Post:

Jacob is a husband to Eryka. Father of two awesome tiny humans, Monica (8) and John (4). Oldest sibling of fifteen and friend to many. Jacob and Eryka met and began dating in high school. At 15, these two found the person they wanted to build their life with.

They grew up together and decided to celebrate their 10th dating anniversary by getting married. This year they will be celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary and their 17th overall anniversary together. As a unit, they both work to provide for their family, which is quite an undertaking in the Greater Toronto Area. Not only do they take care of their little family, but they also provide and take care of those around them as often as they can. Providing a safe space, a meal or a person to talk to, all depending on the need and never expecting anything in return. Now they could use our help.

Early this year, it was confirmed by Jacob’s doctors that the cancer he beat at 19 has come back. An inoperable tumour in his abdomen means several rounds of intense chemotherapy. The first round took a lot out of him, leaving him unable to eat, and being so exhausted, he couldn't do much more than sleep. The treatment has left him weak, with a compromised immune system and difficulty completing even simple tasks for his full-time job.

Even with great benefits and medical insurance, the medications prescribed after each round of chemo are only partially covered, which leaves them with unexpected and high out-of-pocket expenses.

Chemo treatments are reoccurring on a tight schedule, as an outpatient, which requires spending multiple days in hospital but also enduring long wait times, and parking expenses, and results in both Jacob and Eryka missing work. This in turn eats into their family leave, vacation, and sick days.

There are a lot of unknowns ahead for this family but this GoFundMe was created with the intention of reducing some of the financial stressors that will be upon them over the next several months. If you can please share their story and together let's wrap our love and support around this family so that they can focus on helping Jacob get through the appointments, blood tests, therapy treatments, injections, side effects and unknowns to come.