Support Jake’s Cancer Battle

I write this with a heavy heart and a plea for help.

On Friday 15th March 2024, Jake Holloway (30) of Scunthorpe, was sadly diagnosed with Cancer.

After experiencing two consecutive weeks of persistent, intense pain in his arm and shoulder, Jake was initially told ‘tendonitis’, assuming he may have unknowingly dislocated his shoulder at work, until a precautionary shoulder x-ray detected an excess of fluid on his chest prompting further investigation. A chest x-ray revealed a significant amount of fluid on his lungs, and a large shadow. A CT scan uncovered a substantial mass measuring 16cm x 12cm in his chest and was unexpectedly given a primary diagnosis of lymphoma.

Since his A&E visit on March 15th, Jake was put on a 2 week pathway, which would ensure he would see every consultant, doctor or specialist necessary, including receiving a PET scan, and a chest biopsy which was very quickly reviewed by a team of specialists in Scunthorpe and Hull, where a large presence of lymphocytes were found, confirming Primary Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma. His biopsy samples were then forwarded to a specialist in Leeds, where it was revealed that the 16cm x 12cm mass which had cocooned around his lung, had taken only a matter of several weeks to form and identified as extremely aggressive and growing rapidly. Jake has now begun urgent treatment, starting his first cycle of R-CHOP intensive chemotherapy as of April 4, 2024.

Jake's PET Scan results revealed in the space of 12 days, the aggressive mass in his chest had rapidly grown from 16cm to 20.5cm and spread just below his diaphragm into his abdomen.

We have also been made aware that surgery is not an option.

Jake has been thrown into a fast-moving, devastating and completely unexpected journey that is filled with uncertainty and challenges. In addition to already facing several financial struggles as a result of the current cost of living crisis, along with being forced to take time out of work for the foreseeable, with expenses rising due to being home more regular, such as; food costs, hygiene products, cleaning supplies, water/electric/gas bills, (especially with keeping warm during chemo), to the extra help needed with childcare and school expenses, alongside the fuel costs travelling back and forth regularly on a 45 minute journey each way for his treatment and other medical related appointments. Being unable to focus solely on his health and fighting this with everything he has, he’s instead worrying about finances and being unable to help is breaking our hearts. I have made this page as a plea for help to try and alleviate some of the financial burdens weighing heavily on his shoulders so he can focus entirely on himself and getting better.

Taking in factors such as Jake’s age, the amount of time under treatment and the intensity of chemotherapy that will be required, along with steroids and various other drugs, Jake is at an extremely high risk of infertility. The shared heartache between he and his fiancé, with cancer snatching away the ability to be able to provide their 9 year old son; Riley-Jay with a sibling after struggling for so long to conceive, to then being given the go-ahead to begin trying again weeks prior to his diagnosis, is now mentally taking its toll. He was urgently sent to the fertility bank to freeze his sperm before beginning treatment, still offering them a chance through IVF. And, if the worst was to happen, a life could still be created in his memory, as he wished. However, the financial barriers to accessing IVF treatment are also significant with just one round costing £5000, making the idea of ever being able to conceive again, seem impossible due to a result of ill health, which they both now suffer. Treatment of course is not always guaranteed success first time and is just another added worry for the future during an already difficult time.

We understand the rise in financial difficulties for a lot of families now, and we understand fully the impact of how a donation could burden your finances. If this isn’t something you feel comfortable with, we ask instead if you could please share the page wherever possible, or maybe know of somebody else who is able to donate or able to help in any way and would kindly consider forwarding our information to them.

We are kindly asking for donations no matter how small they may be, to contribute towards expenses such as:

If any local businesses in the Scunthorpe area that know Jake, or would simply just like to do something to help, have an idea or could selflessy contribute by dedicating a fundraising night/event or would like to come collect a free fundraising bucket or poster which they wouldn’t mind displaying to help raise funds, please message.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read Jake's story,

Please understand that time is extremely precious to us all right now and Jake and his family don’t currently have much time to spend organising events, or update friends and family individually on a regular basis, but your support and understanding mean the world to them during this challenging time and any assistance you can offer are deeply appreciated.