My name is John Wesley Lamb. I am 50 years old from rural South Arkansas. I say I am just an ordinary guy. I am married to my wonderful wife, Angelia, and have three children, Juliann (Married to Logan), Caleb (engaged to Rachael) & Joshua. We have two grandchildren, Elizabeth & Layton. I love being Poppi to my grandchildren.
I work full time (25 years) as an environmental inspector. I have also spent 20 years as a law enforcement office, mostly as a deputy with the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. I am blessed to be a member of our local church. I love most any outdoor activity, canoeing, fishing, hunting, camping, and the beach, just to name a few.
In April 2017, after a month of strange symptoms, it was discovered I have multiple tumors in my liver the biggest is almost the size of my fist. A few days later, I was seeing an oncologist at one of Arkansas’ leading cancer institutes. After another month of tests, I heard the words Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma (EHE). My oncologist said that it was so rare nobody there had ever heard of it and I needed to go someplace else.
I was scared, confused and felt alone. Where could I go? What is a sarcoma? What is EHE? How could this happen to me? How could I end up with EHE?
All my friends, family and church family have all been so supportive of me. Those who really know me can tell when I feel bad; they tell me they can see it in my eyes. Others (even health care workers) can’t believe how good I look or why I am not taking some chemotherapy agents. So they are confused is because I look so ordinary.
One of the most challenging things with EHE is that doctors don’t know what to do. What works on one patient may not work on another and ultimately there is no current cure. I found that in EHE research, the patients, families, friends and ordinary people provide most money for research out of our pockets. The EHE Foundation engages all of the patients comparing treatments from individuals. So not only am I a patient, I am a fundraiser and researcher all rolled into one. I also discovered more family through The EHE Foundation from all over of the globe and found “alone we are rare, but together we are strong
The EHE Foundation helps patients connect with doctors who have the most knowledge. The EHE Foundation provided me the information and contacts for the nanoknife liver procedures I had at Miami this year.
Past research funded by The EHE Foundation has found the underlying cause of most EHE. The EHE Foundation continues to fight for more research, pushing forward to find a cure. Please take a moment to consider giving to the EHE Foundation. It is donations from our family, friends and ordinary folks like you that add up. It is one dollar at a time that makes a world of difference to people like me.
