Jolene’s story and how you can help

Jolene is a single mom of 2 boys, she was diagnosed with stage 4 Ewing Sarcoma, a rare cancer, on July 9th, 2013. Ewing Sarcoma is a form of cancer found mostly in children, making the cancer even more rare for a 31 year old.

Jolene with her sons Rylan (11) and Nate (4)

*Update 11/25/13: The new chemo treatment is planned to begin Dec 30th. Jolene will receive chemo every other week, each treatment being 5 days long (all outpatient). Her visit last week with the radiologist went well. She most likely won’t start radiation on the 30th (due to the timing of the CT scans he’ll need to do for measuring radiation placement). Still waiting for insurance to approve the scans. Dr. DeLo has also ordered a MRI for Jolene’s left thigh (above the knee) because something is there (he’d like to think it’s nothing, but wants to be safe).

*Update 11/13/13: The appointments with the sarcoma specialists (3 total) were very informative. They gave many suggestions and will discuss Jolene’s case together on Monday. They did mention her hip is broke due to the cancer. It is in the upper part of her hip so there really isn’t anything they can do. They suggested intensifying her treatment, oh boy! By that they mean having chemo every 2 weeks rather than 3. Adding ANOTHER chemo drug because of the bone lesions. On top of that, also receiving 6 weeks of radiation. Jolene spoke with Dr. DeLo today about this and he seemed very receptive to these ideas. Since Jolene is scheduled for chemo Monday morning, they have decided that she will do another cycle (which is 2 treatments, 1 outpatient and the other in the hospital) so we can wait for the sarcoma doctors’ official report.

*Update 10/17/13: Jolene has received the results from her CT and Muga that she had done last week.
The Good news: The largest mass, which is located on the inside of her left hip, has shrunk about 50%. Many of the ones in her lungs are gone, a few remain and only one seems to be of any decent size. Her heart is doing well and still in good shape (that’s what the Muga was for).
The Not So Good: There is deterioration of her hip bone (left) which is where the cancer originated from. There is something funny in the bones of her back, in the thoracic area. At one point Dr. DeLo (her oncologist) called them holes and another time lesions. Not sure what it means. Jolene will be getting a bone scan done sometime next week further look into this.

*Update: Since posting Jolene has had to quit her job, which was her only source of income for the family. As updates come in  I will add them to the top of the page. Thank you everyone for your prayers, donations and support, all of it adds up and is very much appreciated!

Jolene’s Story

In March of 2013 for a week Jolene, a single mom with two young boys, was in terrible pain. Having had back/nerve problems for years she dismissed it as that. As the months went on, the pain got worse and more intense. On May 29th, Jolene had her Physician feel her stomach thinking it was a strained muscle. Well, it wasn’t, it was a mass. After 2 biopsies and 3 Pathologists  Jolene was diagnosed with stage 4 Ewing Sarcoma on July 9th.  Ewing Sarcoma is a rare form of cancer found mostly in children, making the cancer even more rare for a 31 year old. Through LOTS of determination, prayers, support, and love she can beat this!

The treatment plan will be in 3 week increments. Day 1: will consist of 2 hours of treatment at the facility through the port in Jolene’s chest, she will then be sent home with another medication that will be administered through a pump. Day 2: She will go in to have the pump removed and receive a shot to boost her white blood cell count. At the end of the 3 weeks: Jolene will be admitted into the hospital for 5 days and receive more meds. This will be done in 17 rounds, which is close to a year. Jolene doesn’t know what the next step will be, not sure if her Dr. even knows. He’s having a hard time getting advice from other Doctors due to the rarity of the cancer.

Jolene’s insurance is Medicaid.  She is limited to having 6 prescriptions filled a month and she has already met her limit this month, she could only get 12 of 20 of one prescription and couldn’t get the other one filled. So money is already becoming an issue.

How you can help

If you would like to help Jolene, there are a few ways you can do just that. If you are living in the Tulsa area, this next year is a good time to offer to bring Jolene meals, help with her 2 sons, Rylan (11)& Nate (4) or even be there to help with house work if needed.

If you aren’t in the area and would like to help this page is where you can find information to send her a donation for Jolene’s:

• medication
• rent
• childcare
• food
• cleaning service to help keep her home clean during her chemo treatments
• and any other unforeseen occurrence should one come up.

Anything you can do will help. There is also a food donation page set up for her that you can do if you’d like: http://mealbaby.com/viewregistry/16413150 There is also 742 Dine: https://www.rotr.com/742dine where you can send her a meal. (You will need her address for this, so please contact me for more info if you are interested in doing 742 Dine.)

I know Jolene is always taking as many prayers as she can right now too, so if you aren’t able to help in any other way she would be very grateful for your prayers and positive thoughts.

Thank you for supporting Jolene in her time of need, she is lucky to have a great support system and have many family and friends that love her very much and want to see her get better.

You may also send a check or money order to:
Inn at Expo Square, c/o: Jolene Potter,
4531 E 21st St Tulsa, OK 74114
(make checks out to Jolene Potter)

*All donations go to Jolene