Supporting Josh through Stage 4 Cancer

Dear Friends and Family,

We are reaching out to seek your support for our dear friend, Josh, who is courageously battling cancer. Despite the challenges, Josh remains positive and determined to fight this illness.

Unfortunately, the medical expenses are overwhelming, and insurance only covers so much. We are organizing a fundraiser to help Josh with the costs of treatment and care.

Any donation, no matter the size, will make a significant difference in Josh’s journey. We are grateful for your kindness and generosity during this difficult time.

Please send your contributions to the dedicated fund we’ve set up for Josh. Your support means the world to us and, most importantly, to Josh and his family.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Jason and Jenny

“My cancer journey started like most do; with a weird symptom that just wouldn't go away.

I’d swallow food, but it wouldn’t go all the way down. It would sit uncomfortably somewhere in the middle of my chest before it made its way down to my stomach.

I dealt with this discomfort & heartburn and went on with life for a few weeks, until one day I actually threw up my food right after swallowing it.

It was scary, but I still didn’t want to believe it was anything that serious.

Fortunately, I have a loving partner who was far more concerned (that’s putting it lightly) and she pushed me to set the appropriate doctors’ appointments to figure out this now escalating problem.

Fast forward 6 weeks through the chaos of dealing with health insurance and medical scheduling, and I was finally having the endoscopic procedure to try and figure out what was going on with my body.

I woke up with the Dr. by my bedside. Compassionately, but clearly, he gave me the news that there was a tumor at the junction of my esophagus and stomach. He emphasized that these are typically cancerous and I was immediately referred to an oncologist for next steps.

Cancer. I had Cancer.

Diagnosed on Friday, June 16th, 2023. Father’s Day Weekend.

That was especially difficult timing, because I am a father to four amazing kids.

Two awesome boys of my own and two beautiful step girls I’ve been helping raise in California with my perfect partner Lisa for the past 7 years.

10, 11, 14, 19.

Crew. Sadie. Trace. Kayla.

They are our world. They are the reason for hope. They are the strength behind the courage.

Two weeks later after more tests & biopsies, the final diagnosis came: Stage 4 Esophageal Cancer with metastasis in my lung & distant hip bone.

Lisa & I knew getting my body back to health wouldn’t be easy.

The treatment protocol called for chemotherapy + immunotherapy every 3 weeks starting in July.

On top of that, I chose to massively change my diet (goodbye alcohol, sugar, dairy, and meat), started taking supplements to minimize side effects, and focused my energy and mind on healing through meditation and visualizations.

Until treatment 12, all signs and scans were headed in the right direction.

The metastasized nodules in my lung and hip had completely resolved.

The main tumor in my esophagus had decreased 66% by December showing only small signs of cancerous activity.

There were only two small lymph nodes in the area of the main tumor not showing a significant response.

It felt like we were close to having “disease control.”

Then we got the 4th PET scan results in early March.

Disease progression. Not what anyone expected nor wanted to hear.

The main tumor had grown back to almost 50% of the original size with increasing cancerous activity.

And there were new cancerous lymph nodes in my abdominal region.

We knew the inevitability of cancer becoming chemo-resistant—we just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

So here we are.

My body needs all the help it can get.

So, Lisa & I are prepared to approach my healing from all angles now. And the last thing we want is for finances to hold us back from getting the best possible treatments. Managing a health crisis between two states, two households and for our four children is no easy feat.

It’s going to take all the emotional, financial, and physical strength we can muster to slow the growth and ultimately stop whatever is causing the cancer from growing in the first place.

Last week, I started second line chemo treatment which will be more intensive and require more frequent travel between Arizona and California.

This week, I will also be starting alternative therapies that are specifically targeted to help knock out esophageal cancer & come at this from a whole body healing approach. Unfortunately, none of the extensive tests or therapies are covered by insurance.

It isn’t easy to ask for help, but cancer has a way of doing just that. Knowing what it will take to get rid of this once and for all, Lisa & I are humbling asking for your support.

Onward we go—if it were easy to beat—it wouldn’t be cancer.”

“To Believe in the Life of Love: To win in the fresh morning of our youth the loyal love of faithful friends, that will go with us unmoved into the darkening shadows of life’s closing days: and so to seek and to find, to have an d to hold, those friendships that will abide.” - Walter J Sears, Sigma Nu

Grateful for you all,

Josh & Lisa