My name is Jamie. I’m 47 and trying to enjoy life as much as possible whilst struggling to pay for and beat cancer. I am just now starting a number of pre op procedures to determine my official treatment plan.

The costs my partner and I face for this treatment are terrifying but when the only other option is giving up, I’m determined to find a way to keep myself alive and around for my family, friends, and fur babies. If you’d like to help, you can donate below and I’m so grateful for anything you can give. You can also help make a difference by reading and sharing my story, and helping to raise awareness about the difficulties I’m facing. Thank you so much for your time.

Just a few months ago, I noticed I was losing an excessive amount of weight and felt incredibly tired all the time. Fast approaching the Thanksgiving holiday, I assumed this was just due to the nature of my work and my only eating a full meal once a day late at night when I arrived home from work. I was busy with a job I enjoy, enjoying time with my partner and our two cats, Theseus and Phaedra.

But by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, I also developed the inability to eat without food getting stuck in my throat, forcing me to expel whatever it was I was eating. After a month of this, I decided to seek medical attention and that is when my life turned upside down.

Just in the last couple of weeks, I found myself being examined and having taken a endoscopy, where doctors discovered the cause for my weight loss and inability to eat solid food – a 1.1x0.2x0.2cm tumor in my lower esophagus.

While the prognosis so far is hopeful, the financial strain is concerning. My partner and I work hard but don’t have much in savings. However, I am deciding to be an optimist. I want to be here for a long time for my family and friends and to continue building on a life that I love with people that I love.

It appears that I have an amazing oncology team at Ochsner and they have given me hope that I can beat this awful disease. After the endoscopy, I now undergo pre op procedures such as blood work and a PET scan. Then onto a meeting with the surgeon.

So far, just to prepare for the surgery, we are at $6000. This startling figure is just the cost for the pre ops.

We are hoping to get on a payment plan to help with the stress of this cost, however it’s placing us all under an incredible amount of strain knowing full well how much we might need for the surgery as well as post operative treatments for as long as may be needed.

So this is where I am appealing for your help. If we can find enough people who are willing to donate the cost of what they’d spend on a beer or a coffee, we’d have enough to pay for the surgery and treatments.

Any and every donation here can make a real difference, helping me get the treatment I need so I can beat this cancer. Even if you can’t afford to spare anything, you can make a big difference just by sharing this page.

With your help to raise awareness, I’d like to think that when people in the future are diagnosed with cancer, they’ll find that the prognosis that pops up on Google is one that now offers a glimmer of hope.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, and offering any help that you can.

Jamie & Family

(In the event that we raise excess money, it will be split between The American Cancer Society and to help others with cancer cases that are struggling to afford the treatments they need.)