Laura James Team Laura!

Friends and family:  As many of you already know, Laura is facing one of the toughest challenges of her life right now.  She went in for a surgery this past Halloween to remove what we were all hoping to be benign cysts from her ovaries.  What they discovered was cancer.  During the surgery, they realized the source was not her ovaries, but rather her appendix.  Appendix cancer is very rare by itself, and Laura's specific type of appendix cancer is among the rarest of the rare.  There's not a lot of research on her specific type, but the best I can find is there are less than 100 cases identified each year.  To get technical, the full name is Appendiceal Mixed Adenoneuroendoctrine Carcinoma (MANEC) Ex-Goblet Cell Carcinoid, Signet Ring Cell Type.


After the ~ 8-hour surgery, Laura spent about 6 weeks recovering and wrapping her mind around this new battle.  On 14 Dec 2016, she started the next journey... 12 rounds of intense chemotherapy.  Her treatments start every other Wednesday where she goes in for treatment for ~ 6 hours and then goes home with a fanny-pack like device for the next day and a half where chemo continues to be pushed to her.  On Friday afternoon, she returns to the clinic to be disconnected and then is free from chemo for the next 10 days.  It is a grueling regiment, but she's handling it with incredible strength and determination to not let this get the best of her.  She sleeps through most of the treatment (Wednesday-Friday), and then energy starts to return on Saturday.  While she never gets to 100%, she keeps pressing forward, and if you didn't know any better, you'd think she was as healthy as an ox on most days.


Following 12 rounds of chemo, Laura will get a month or so break, and then the plan is to undergo another grueling surgery.  This next surgery will include a rare procedure called HIPEC.  This procedure is unique in that it uses heated chemo to treat her abdominal cavity, often referred to as a "chemo bath".  There's a limited number of surgeons who perform this procedure, and the community seems small enough that it appears they all know each other by name.  We're lucky to have a surgeon local, but we continue to pursue all possible options.


This has been an incredible journey that none of us could have ever imagined, and we are incredibly grateful for the love and support of our friends and family, both far and near.  While we may not always properly acknowledge all of the wonderful support offered, please know it means the world to us.  Your continued prayers, words of encouragement, visits, and kind gestures are more appreciated than we could ever express.  Thank you.


I (her husband, Jason) do my best to keep this site updated with the latest news and will continue to do so throughout this journey.  Thank you again for all of your love and support.