Our brave and courageous Superman and beloved Wunder’s Warrior, Jim Gainey, passed away on January 11, 2016, at the age of 34. He was at peace and surrounded by his beautiful and loving wife, Catherine, their adorably perfect sons, Shamus and Finn, his devoted sisters, Bridget and Meg, his loving parents, Maureen and Jim, and his immediate family.

Please help me support The Wunder Project by making a donation here and spreading the word to everyone you know in honor of Jim Gainey.  I truly appreciate any support you can provide. I believe in this cause with all of my heart, and I know that we can be successful if everyone pitches in...so please pitch in!

Becoming Wunder Warriors was an easy decison for us, you see, my husband Jim, is in the fight for his life. Jim was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer on March 18th, 2013, at the young age of 31. At the time our sons, Shamus and Finnegan, were 3 years old and 10 months old. We live near Madison, WI. Jim's cancer had metastasized to his liver and both lungs. The weekend after his diagnosis the tumor in his colon perforate the colon wall, making him septic and requiring emergency surgery. After recovering from this major surgery and overcoming a bout with c.difficle colitis, Jim was able to start Xeloda and Oxaliplatin for his first line of chemo therapy on May 1st, 2013. Jim completed 9 rounds with Oxaliplatin before the neuropathy in his hands and feet started to effect his livelihood. Jim was able to continue on Xeloda for three rounds and then started on FOLFIRI (Irinotecan and 5fu) at the beginning of 2014. He had three liver tumors destroyed with microwave ablation on May 20th, 2014. As of September 2014 Jim has completed 28 rounds of chemotherapy total.

I stand in awe of my husband as he tackles chemo every other week and then manages to go back to work two days after getting disconnected, as if nothing happened. Currently, his disease is stable and the plan for now is to continue of FOLFIRI and Avastin for as long as it is effective. The next options would be some liver directed therapies or clinical trials. Ideally, these things will work long enough to accomplish the goal of reaching the cure!

We have taken up the charge to raise as much awareness about this disease as possible through opprotunities such as local television interviews and coordinating a 5K in Madison. We continue to try to live life to the fullest and fill our "good days" with memories for our children, such as trips to the legendary Lambeau Field to see our beloved Packers and a trip to West Virginia to celebrate my grandmother's 100th birthday! We are beyond honored to be receiving a Cancer Warrior award from the WunderGlo Foundation this year! This has truly become a passion for us because we loathe the idea of other families having to deal with this dreaded diagnosis. We appreciate your support in helping us through donations and awareness, make this dream of a cure a reality.

 
After you make your donation, please help me reach my goal by sharing this page on Facebook and Twitter.
Or, even better, send an email to friends, family, and colleagues that you think might be interested in contributing to The Wunder Project. Just include my fundraising page link in the email.

Thanks so much for your generosity! Cancer, your time is up!!