Supporting the Scutari Family

Goal:

 USD $200,000

Raised:

 USD $65,320

Campaign created by Jennifer Scutari

Campaign funds will be received by Jennifer Scutari

Supporting the Scutari Family

Matthew 21:22 – “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Jen’s Story:

Jen is a wife, mother of two and nurse who lives to serve others. Jen has been married to her husband, Mike for 30 years. They have two grown sons Jarrod and Lucas.

In fall of 2022, Jen started to experience digestive issues that she thought were from just having recovered from a COVID infection. Unfortunately, the symptoms continued to get worse and in March of 2023 she sought treatment and answers from a gastroenterologist. Most tests came back normal until she had a CT scan performed that showed a mass on her pancreas. A biopsy confirmed the worst – that it was malignant adenocarcinoma. She began aggressive chemotherapy, and then had surgery to remove the tumor. Following recovery, Jen had more chemotherapy to hopefully rid her body of any lingering cancer cells. She did have a clean CT scan and bloodwork in January 2024, but it only lasted until April when bloodwork indicated that cancer had returned. A CT scan confirmed that she had metastasis to liver, lymph nodes and lungs. Her only option for treatment in the United States is continued chemotherapy for palliative care to try to keep the cancer at bay but will not be curative.

Jen and her family in researching other options, have found cutting edge treatment is being performed by the Williams Cancer Institute (WCI). WCI is performing intra-tumoral immunotherapy and ablation procedures that are showing real promise in helping cancer patients go into remission. Unfortunately, these treatments are not allowed to be performed in the US, due to the FDA approved drugs still being in clinical trials and the method of delivery not considered a standard of care treatment. Jen plans to travel to Mexico to receive this potentially lifesaving treatment as her only option for remission or cure. Because the treatment is not standard of care and not able to be done in the United States, there is NO insurance help or coverage.

We are humbly asking for any donations and prayers that will help Jen in this fight against pancreatic cancer. She hopes to have many more wedding anniversaries and be around to watch her children’s and grandchildren’s milestones. We have faith that God will answer our prayers and provide the funding and treatment to save her life. Please donate if you are able, and please share our link and story so that we can reach our goal to get Jen the treatment she needs.

Thank you for your consideration,

China Miller and Cathy Morgan (Jen's neighbors)

Recent Donations
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Anonymous Giver
$ 100.00 USD
6 hours ago

Prayers for peace

Kat and Howie Baker
$ 100.00 USD
1 day ago

Sending love to all the Proteaus

Anonymous Giver
$ 4500.00 USD
6 days ago

You are not forgotten or forsaken. You are loved and accepted. Romans 8:35-39.

Uncle Larry
$ 500.00 USD
9 days ago

Dawn Buannic
$ 100.00 USD
9 days ago

Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers

Sloma family
$ 250.00 USD
25 days ago

Our thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Theresa Maputol
$ 50.00 USD
28 days ago

Anonymous Giver
$ 50.00 USD
29 days ago

Keeping you all in thought and prayer!

Uncle Larry
$ 500.00 USD
1 month ago

Anonymous Giver
$ 500.00 USD
1 month ago

Anonymous Giver
$ 25.00 USD
1 month ago

Sending you and your family big hugs and prayers for healing and comfort.

The Sarver Family
$ 50.00 USD
1 month ago

All our prayers are with you!

Danielle Spinella
$ 50.00 USD
2 months ago

Our hearts are praying for you!

Anonymous Giver
$ 100.00 USD
2 months ago

Melissa Baron
$ 20.00 USD
2 months ago

Anonymous Giver
$ 20.00 USD
2 months ago

I am praying you get the treatment you need! I know this is a small amount but every little bit adds up. Praying for you

Deanna Reina
$ 20.00 USD
2 months ago

Sandra Slappey Brown
$ 50.00 USD
2 months ago

Mitzi Stump
$ 100.00 USD
2 months ago

Kathleen Cooper
$ 100.00 USD
2 months ago

Updates

Last Update

February 14th, 2025

I’ve given it my all, but it seems God has other plans for me.  I’m at Johns Hopkins.  My liver is failing and I am getting sicker since I cannot tolerate chemo. 

I want to thank everyone for their support and prayers.  I would not have gotten this far without you and your support.

I am saying goodbye to all of you my wonderful friends and family.  Due to this hospitalization there will be significant funds to pay but I expect our balance here to help cover it.

Please continue to pray for Mike, Jarrod and Lucas and the rest of my family.  They will need that in the next few weeks as I decline.

Treatment #2- step back

February 4th, 2025

We returned from Mexico on 1/1/2025 after treatment number 2.  We thought we were getting a good response but it seems it’s been an overactive response which has caused a lot of nausea and pain.  So much so that I met with palliative care team for pain management which helped but not enough.

Last week when was having too much pain, I went to the ER.  The radiologist reading the report stated no blockage noted in the bile ducts but it did show alot of new tumor growth.  We opted to restart chemo.  I was able to get in one session, but became jaundiced.  After the oncologist read the scan he said there was a blockage that needs to be cleared. I was sent directly to the ER at Beebe Hospital.  Here is where I still am. It’s been 5 days.

The surgeons here at Beebe have not done the stent procedure in a patient that has had a whipple, so the plain is for me to get Transported/transferred to Johns Hopkins where I had my whipple procedure.  We are just waiting on a bed to open up. 

So our prayer ask right now is that a bed will open up today and that this stent procedure will be possible. Other conversations will be had if it cannot.

Sorry for such a long delay in the update and I may be off on my days, but it’s been a bit of a crazy few weeks.

Thank you all for the prayers and support you’ve been providing.  It means the world to us that we have so many who love and care for us. 

First Treatment Complete

December 8th, 2024

Jeremiah 29:12 "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you."

We have returned from our second trip to Mexico.  This time all was good with my bloodwork, so I was able to complete my first treatment.  We arrived about 9:00am to the hospital and then were sent into the preop area.  They drew some blood, and I got prepped for the procedure while we waited for my bloodwork results to come back.  I went into the procedure room about 12:00pm. I was given light anesthesia so the remaining information I report is all secondhand information since I don't recall any of it!

They did a CT scan to determine where to inject the immunotherapy drugs and then proceeded to place the needle and perform the injection into a lymph node.  The entire procedure took about an hour.  They wheeled me back to a recovery area and after an hour or so (felt like 3 hours to me), we were ready to go back to the hotel.  The doctors did come in and explain where they targeted and what to expect.  They suggested I refrain from re-starting chemo so that we could give the treatment a chance to work.  The main side effect from the treatment is fatigue and fevers.  I have been experiencing the fatigue since the procedure, though it has improved some since the day after.  Luckily, I have NOT had any fevers.

Now comes the hard part....the waiting.  We won't know how this is working until we return in 3 weeks for the second treatment.  Now is when all those prayers are needed to ask The Lord to bless this treatment and let it work.  We still have a way to go.  Our prayer net is wide and we are SO very thankful for all the prayers and donations we have collected.  We have two more treatments to go, and we are still short on funds to get through them both.  Between the cost of the treatment and the separate hospital fees, we are going to need to raise another $50,000 at least.  If you would be so kind as to share my givesendgo link with friends and family, we would be so grateful.  Of course, all the continued prayers you can send are appreciated!

P.S.  The weather was PERFECT this trip. It was in the high 70's/low 80's and breezy during the day and about 60 at night.  If you need to escape the cold weather, I highly recommend vacationing in San Jose del Cabo.  It is a beautiful little town and very nice people!

Bad News, Good News?

October 27th, 2024

Romans 8:25   "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

We have returned from Mexico. It was an uneventful trip which is good. But there is some bad news along with what we interpret as good news. I'll lay the bad news on first.

We arrived at the hospital Monday morning and had all the pre-op work done including blood work. The expectation was we would decide on where to target for the treatment injection, and that would take place on Tuesday. However, my body had other plans. The bloodwork showed that my platelets were extremely low. Normal levels are approximately 150,000-400,000. Mine on Monday were 33,000. That often happens when I have chemo, and usually I recover after 2 weeks, however, this was not the case this time. Platelets are important for blood clotting and prevention of bleeding. Since my levels were so low, there was a very high risk that I would have internal bleeding if we proceeded with the treatment and we therefore made the decision not to treat during this trip. I could and probably should have tested before going, however, the trip was already booked and paid for with no option for refund so either way we were going to Mexico, and it gave us the chance to meet all the doctors in person which was helpful. I was also given oral immunotherapy drugs to take which were compounded there at the hospital pharmacy and something I could NOT have gotten here in the US, so I would have had to travel there to pick up this medication anyway.

So, here's the good news (or so we think). The PET scan I had the week before going showed NO signs of metastasis or active tumors! So, when we arrived, we did do a CT scan so that we could determine the best course of action. My blood work indicates that there are still cancer cells active in my body, but for now they are not in a tumor form. This is similar to where we were in April when bloodwork was indicating the cancer had returned but had not grown into a tumor.

Because of this, Williams Cancer Institute does not plan to do the ablation part of the procedure since they don't want to ablate any healthy tissue. What we will do, is the intratumoral immunotherapy injection. We can still see spots on the liver that indicate where active tumors were, and we will target those areas for the next time we go. This may change the number of treatments needed, but we won't know this until we get a first treatment and see what kind of response I have.

So, the new plan is this....I will be having one more chemo session next week (assuming my platelet count gets back up to a level that allows chemo). Then I will put a hold on chemo for 5 weeks and return to Mexico week 6. At that time, my platelet levels should all return to normal, and I should be good to go. We will make a decision on restarting chemo once I return from Mexico, however, if I do restart chemo, I will be requesting a reduced dosage since I have been having a much harder time recovering after. There is always the risk that something is going to grow during that 5-week break. If that is the case, we know what to target when I return to Mexico for the treatment, so it won't necessarily be that bad if it does happen.

Thank you everyone for your support! The prayers are helping more than you know!

PS. It was about 100 degrees in Mexico. They were having a heat wave. I had to buy a hat to protect my head so I didn't burn :-) It should be more tolerable in the high 70's when we go back, but I will pack that hat every time from now on.

First Treatment

October 8th, 2024

Psalm 121:7-8 The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

We have been able to schedule the first treatment for the PEF ablation/intratumoral therapy.  We are set to head to Mexico on October 20th, and the first treatment will take place on Monday October 21st.  Barring any setbacks we are looking forward to getting started and finding out how effective the treatment is.

Thank you to all the donors and prayer warriors who have helped us to get here.  Your support is incredible and so appreciated!

The Scutari Family


Treatment Plan

September 22nd, 2024

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

We are overwhelmed with the generosity of prayers, shares and donations already.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We are attaching the Treatment Plan shared with us so that there is some understanding of what is planned for us.  I encourage anyone who has a loved one or friend dealing with cancer to share The Williams Cancer Institute website.

 

Update Treatment Plan Image

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