Rainer Gentsch

 Rainer, 62, was diagnosed with liposarcoma- a rare type of cancer that develops in your fatty tissue, in 2023. This was an incredible blow to their family as his wife of 33 years, Suzanne, had just finished her treatment for Stage IV Endometrial cancer.

Originally from Germany, Rainer and his wife came to Florida in 2014.  Rainer battles fibromyalgia and can’t work. Suzanne has worked in retail since they moved to Florida. COVID hit the family hard as her hours were significantly reduced. Just as she was starting to get back to work, she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer.  She then had to cut her hours due to her treatment, which included surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. They had to sell their house because of the decrease in pay and his wife’s cancer battle.

Rainer began to feel pain in November of 2022. He was originally diagnosed with a hernia, however his pain increased so he went back to the doctor in early 2023. The doctors  ordered a PETSCAN for further evaluation.  The PETSCAN showed a suspicious mass that and ordered a MRI. It took months of fighting with his insurance company to get his MRI approved. Once approved, the MRI proved there was a suspicious mass and he needed a biopsy. The biopsy confirmed that he had liposarcoma. Rainer completed 25 rounds of radiation and a surgery was performed to remove the cancerous mass.  Susanne can’t work enough hours to pay their medical bills, as they are now paying for two cancer treatments. The family is relying on their faith which has brought them through so many battles!  They are fighters and are determined to beat cancer!  

Charles Cobb

Charles Cobb was diagnosed with CML (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia) in 2022. He lost both his mother and grandmother to cancer, so he knows the devastation cancer causes families. Charles has a fiancé and five daughters, ages 8 months to 16 years old. He wants to keep his family whole as they battle this new obstacle together.

Charles is the main provider for his family and his cancer diagnosis was a punch in the gut. The cost of the appointments, treatments, and travel expenses have made it difficult for them to operate the home to a level of normalcy.  He has struggled to work over the past year due to his health and treatment plan. He was able to pay his bills for about a year, but money is tight. Charles lost his job once his FMLA ran out. He has been applying for any job he can, but no one will hire him because of his health. He is used to working and providing for his family and the inability to work has been devastating to him. We love to help hardworking people like Charles, battling this awful disease.

Zeke Newbery

How long have you been fighting?

I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor at age 3

What do you do for Fun?

Zeke enjoys playing baseball

Zeke is such an uplifting and inspirational person, you’d never know he was battling anything, let alone cancer.  He always has a smile on his face and simply enjoys each and every day of life.  Children are amazing cancer  fighters and Zeke is no different – always an inspiration for every person he encounters.

Zeke was diagnosed when he was 3 with a brain tumor. He had surgery which was thought to have removed the tumor but it grew back when he was 5. He underwent a second surgery and is now undergoing chemotherapy to hopefully keep the tumor from ever growing beyond its present size. He has three little sisters and loves to read and learn.

Zeke is doing well overall. He loves kindergarten which has been an answer to prayer and his chemo is going fairly well. He has had one allergic reaction so they are monitoring him to make sure that doesn’t happen again and has had one stretch where his counts were too low to take the chemo. He has 7 rounds of 4 doses left which will take him until early next July if there are no more delays. Definitely appreciate your prayers.

Shannon Ness-Jackson

How long have you been fighting?

I was diagnosed with cancer on September 11th, 2015.

Heart and Love

Mother of Two: I have two beautiful daughters who keep me quite busy between soccer, volleyball, and track.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer on 9/11/2015 after a negative mammogram just 3 weeks prior.  I discovered the lump with a self exam.  At the time of my diagnoses, my life completely changed.  I turned to a raw, vegan, organic diet and started on  many holistic vitamins and supplements.  I had a lumpectomy on 11/13/15 then took a trip to Mexico to visit a clinic there to start my holistic treatment.  In late December I started feeling some back pain.  In January I became more concerned and asked several doctors to run tests.  From January to May I had many scans and xrays done to try to figure out where the pain was coming from.  Finally in May an MRI showed the lesions on my spine and a petscan 3 days later confirmed that I indeed had bone mets in my spine.  My stage 1 breast cancer had turned into stage four metastatic breast cancer in less than a year.  Doctors now believe my cancer probably had metastasized prior to the original diagnosis.  Currently I am undergoing radiation therapy.