By Darcie Jarrett
Jennifer Erwin of Seffner, a wife, mother of three and co-owner of a CPA firm, is nothing short of a miracle fighting cancer multiple times.
Finding an abnormal looking mole she got it checked out only to find stage two skin cancer. Three years later she felt a lump that just didn’t feel right and was found to have stage three breast cancer. Less than a month after diagnosis was her first surgery. They proceeded with the surgery and afterwards, Erwin just didn’t feel right. Her lung had collapsed and an emergency procedure was done to re-inflate her lung.
A month after her initial surgery, she started six rounds of three types of chemo. After the six weeks, she immediately started radiation. Because she had three types of cancer, she had to have a “boost” which radiated deeper into her skin. Erwin said, “I had chunks of skin falling off of me.”
“They [doctors] all think,” said Erwin, “that I actually carry a genetic anomaly that has not yet been discovered.”
Less than three years later, she was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer. After surgery, due to the intensity of this cancer, she was on four different kinds of chemo, but could not finish her treatment because she was so sick. A scan to see how the chemo was working proved devastating results. The cancer had metastasized into her stomach resulting in stage four stomach cancer. At this point, she was told there were no surgical options for her, but her mother-in-law found Shands Cancer Center in Gainesville.
She underwent more surgery this past September at Shands and her scan in December showed her cancer free, but in early March at her three month scan she found that her cancer reappeared and metastasized into two spots in her lung and one in her liver.
“I am an anomaly,” Erwin said. “There is no documented case of my cancer on Earth.”
With tears falling down her face, she expressed her biggest fear is not being around for her kids.
On Saturday, June 28 a fundraiser will be held for the Erwin Family at the Boys and Girls Club of Brandon at 213 N. Knights Ave. The event will start at 3 p.m. There will be an 18-hole miniature golf tournament donated by Portable Golf Solutions, bounce houses, silent auction, vendor tables, BBQ, pizza and more. For more information, or to donate, visit www.youcaring.com and search for ‘Defy All Odds’. For information on sponsoring a hole for the miniature golf tournament, e-mail defyallodds.je@gmail.com.
