PLEASE FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO CONTRIBUTE TO JOSH'S JOURNEY OF HOPE.
FROM OUR EXTENDED FAMILY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT.

Your generous donation will be used to cover the months Josh and his family must spend away from home while recovering from a complicated cancer surgery and liver transplant. A transplant gives Josh a fighting chance to survive a rare and aggressive cancer called Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma. If left untreated, the survival rate is zero. With a liver transplant and major reconstructive surgery, Josh may become cancer-free.

Since the age of four, Josh has been fighting for his life. After his fourth pneumonia, Josh was diagnosed with Primary Immunodeficiency Disorder (PID), a rare cluster of illnesses where the body's immune system fails to produce the antibodies needed to protect us from pathogens and attacks otherwise healthy tissue. 

At nine years old, doctors at the Mayo Clinic removed Josh's entire colon, which had been severely damaged by Ulcerative Colitis (UC), another autoimmune disease.

At sixteen, the doctors removed Josh's gall bladder and diagnosed him with a condition called Primary-Sclerosing-Cholangitis (PSC). This autoimmune disease scars the bile ducts that drain the liver through the pancreas and into the duodenum. Josh has had more than ten procedures to reopen his bile ducts.

At his last hospitalization, his doctor noted suspicious changes in his liver and bile ducts and performed a biopsy to gather pathological information about his biliary tree. Within a day, the doctors reported the worst news possible: Josh has an aggressive and incurable type of cancer called Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma, a type of cancer found in the bile ducts outside the liver. The most common cause of this cancer is PSC. It is usually found in patients over fifty, although it can be seen in younger people like Josh.

Josh was referred to the Liver Transplant Team at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic is one of only three United States cancer centers specializing in this rare form of adenocarcinoma. They determined that Josh is a candidate for a Deceased-Donor Liver Transplant. A partial liver transplant is not an option in Josh's case. The doctors at Mayo Clinic will also perform a difficult surgery called a Whipple Procedure, where the bile ducts outside the liver are removed as well as the head of the pancreas and the duodenum. These surgeries will take ten to twelve hours. Josh will be monitored for one to two days in the Transplant ICU and will spend about ten days in the hospital. Following his discharge, Josh must remain in Rochester for another four weeks or more to ensure there are no complications to his recovery.

Josh was placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list for liver transplantation. As he completes his cancer treatments and because the cancer is so aggressive, Josh will be moved up near the top of the list  His Journey of Hope starts on May 5th, 2025, when he begins a three-week intensive course of IV Chemotherapy, Positron Radiation Therapy and Brachytherapy, where chemo drugs are delivered directly to the tumor sites. The goal is to destroy all cancer cells before his transplant. He will continue oral chemotherapy until the transplant, which is expected to be in October or November. The delay gives Josh time to heal after his radiation therapy. After the transplant, Josh will be placed on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life.

Resource Links:

Deceased Donor Liver Transplant 
Hilar Carcinoma
Primary Immunodeficiency Disorder
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC
Ulcerative Colitis (UC)
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
Whipple Procedure