Joetta's Plan to Beat Pancreatic Cancer at age 58!

In 2013, my sister, Joetta (Callentine) McPherson, helped our Columbus PanCan Purplestride team (Oliver Law Office) raise over $10,000 for pancreatic cancer research. Joetta has consistently helped raise funds and awareness...not knowing that she would need these same friends and family to raise funds for her own treatment one day.

My name is Jami Oliver. I am an attorney, pancreatic cancer volunteer, and pancreatic cancer advocate in Columbus, Ohio. I am raising funds to help my sister, Joetta, who was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in March 2022. She is 58 years old. Our family's story is tragic, but your donation will change our story.

 

My sister is the fourth person in our family to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Our grandmother died at age 47 of pancreatic cancer. Because of that, our mother never smoked or drank and did everything to avoid "getting it." She never wanted us to see her suffer that way. But in 2009, when my mother was 64 years old, she was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We were shocked. There were no treatment options for her.  In the 40 years since her own mother succumbed to the disease, there had been no improvements in treatments, no new medications, and no improved survival rates. In 2009, our Mom's chances of surviving were about 6%. She died four months after her diagnosis.

 

Her older brother, our uncle, died of liver and pancreas cancer right before her own diagnosis. Her only surviving brother, a gentle soul whom we affectionately refer to as an angel on earth, died on Christmas Day - the same year our mother died - of a broken heart.

 

Joetta, the oldest of our four sisters, started expensive annual screening after our mother died. Despite screening, in March 2022, a scan found a tumor on her pancreas formed from a cyst. Due to the tumor's location, she is not eligible for a Whipple procedure (removing part of the pancreas). Instead, she must have chemotherapy and then complete removal of her pancreas, bile ducts, spleen, and part of her intestines.

 

Joetta is a fighter. She is a spitfire and a ball of fun. We believe that she will be the first person in our family to beat this monster. She is an avid naturalist, herbalist, and homeopath. She grows and harvests herbs and other fresh vegetables, and she is a healthy eater. She does not drink or smoke. She believes in God and the power of prayer, but she also knows that God asks that we first help ourselves.

 

Joetta has combined her knowledge of the body and nutrition with Western medicine...but she needs help to survive. The oncologists at The James Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio have already placed a port, and she has already started chemo, has undergone numerous expensive scans and tests, and has already been to the ER with some complications. She has changed her diet drastically enough to avoid taking any insulin even though her pancreas is not working. Instead, she gets Vitamin C infusions, acupuncture, and other natural treatments to boost her immune system and heal her body. All of those costs are out of pocket and not covered by insurance.

 

The costs of scans, bloodwork and chemotherapy, are extraordinary. We are still analyzing the copays and deductibles, but her husband expects to pay out of pocket $20,000 this year. Joetta and her husband, Rocky, run a small painting business, but because they are small and since the pandemic hit, they simply do not have enough funds to cover these huge expenses.

 

 

Please dig deep and open your heart to help Joetta. We are in this together. We will continue to change the story. One survivor at a time.

#beatpancreaticcancer #wagehope #PCsurvivor