In Memory of
Jason Charles Wilcox
This fundraiser is personal to me and to everyone closest to me in this life.
My dad, Jason Charles Wilcox, passed away from Terminal Goblet Cell Adenocarcinoma on March 11, 2026. Most people have never heard of this type of appendix cancer, and that is because it is extremely rare. It is a very aggressive form of cancer that starts in the lining of the appendix and does not grow the way most people imagine when they think of cancer. It is extremely hard to track via scans and blood tests and is one of the worst diagnoses you could receive in terms of available treatment options.
My dad was diagnosed in October of 2022 through his first preventative colonoscopy. He was the healthiest he had been since childhood — or so we thought. By the time we caught it, he was already at stage 4, which meant incurable. That is never a word you want associated with cancer, but my dad had to come to terms with the cards he was dealt. He began an intense regimen of multiple chemotherapy drugs, almost constantly, for the next three years. Along with several major surgeries, the doctors threw everything they had at my young and otherwise healthy dad.
This aggressive treatment gave us three extra years we would not have had otherwise, but it also began to take pieces of him bit by bit. In the end, the treatments were too much, and a human body can only withstand so much. My dad decided he was done and chose to enjoy the time he had left. We laughed, we talked about all the important things he would miss, and we loved each other until his last breath. His death has been and will be the hardest thing I will ever go through in this life. My person will not be here to see the big moments because this villain in the shadows took him from me.
I will not let cancer take my light or my laughs, because it has already taken far more than is fair. That is why I am setting up this fundraiser for the Appendix Cancer PMP Research Foundation. Their mission is dedicated to funding and supporting research to discover new treatments for appendiceal cancer and PMP, with the hope of one day finding a cure, as well as funding education for healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, and families to stay current with the evolving science and to increase awareness about this rare disease.
- Ryleigh Wilcox
About the Appendix Cancer PMP Research Foundation
The Appendix Cancer PMP Research Foundation is a volunteer-led IRS-designated 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Foundation was created in 2008 by a community of individuals affected by Appendix Cancer and Pseudomyxoma Peritonei.
Our core mission is to:
- Fund and support research to discover new treatments for appendix cancer with the hope of one day finding a cure.
-Fund and support educational programs for health care professionals and patients/caregivers & families to keep pace with the evolving science.
-Increase awareness about this rare cancer.
All of our funding comes from fundraisers like this one created by patients, family, friends, and family foundations in honor or memory of loved ones.