Friends and loved ones,
Our dear friend, Jessica Jones, was recently diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. At the end of January this year, she started experiencing abdominal pain she thought was related to her Kidney Disease. Her pain became intolerable, so she went to ER. She ended up having to stay at the hospital for four days to do testing and a biopsy, which on 2/2/26 revealed a diagnosis of Pancreatic adenocarcinoma - stage 1 with complication of 3.6 cm mass pressing against an artery. She is currently on the three strongest types of chemo there is for six months in order to shrink the mass so it can be surgically removed via Whipple surgery. This surgery is a 5-7 hour, complex surgery used to remove cancerous tumors that are located on the head of the pancreas. This entire journey will be 8 months minimum. The public school system won’t renew her annual contract since she can’t work half of next year. The amount of leave (65% of income) she qualifies for is limited to 90 days (& possibly the summer pay she’s earned working this school year at 65%). The treatment is a minimum of 6 months maximum chemotherapy (3-5), followed by a whipple surgery requiring a week in the hospital & a month of bed rest minimum. This is if there are no more adverse reactions, hospital stays, etc, and she’s able to tolerate the therapies. Current weight loss is 20 pounds within the first 6 weeks.
She has two children, Marcus, 25; and Christian 17. They lost their father in 2023. Marcus is moving back from New Orleans to help during this time. Christian is currently a student at North Shore Community college, and Marcus will join this summer.
Jessica has a heart of gold, an empath to her core. Her service to community includes helping with animal rescue/foster and adoption, working as a special education teacher for severe and profoundly disabled children. She has helped those in need in any way possible, without judging.
She has always been a fighter and survivor, spending the first 5 years of her life surviving renal failure in the hospital. They called her “the miracle child” the day she was released.
Now, Jessica is no longer able to work as a teacher and needs your help.
Her bills include:
Specialized: $1057
Entergy: $208
City of DS: $95
Cox: $30
ATT: $225
Progressive: $374.40
Humana: $202
Texas Life: $270
Gas: $120
Food: $400
infusion (chemo) copays $391 bi-weekly
Please consider giving anything you can to help Jessica manage this difficult time. Every little bit counts right now and will make a difference for her. Thank you for your consideration, love, and support.