‘Jamie’s Warriors’ Donates $4,000 to WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital Oncology Patient Fund

Shelley Hanson

Abdominal cramping or pain, a change in bowel habits, weakness and fatigue are just some symptoms of colon cancer and should not be ignored. And don't be afraid to talk about it with a friend, loved one and, of course, a doctor. Doing so might just save your life.

This is the message that Jamie's Warriors, a nonprofit that raises money for and educates people about colon cancer awareness, wants to get across to Ohio Valley residents.

The group continued its mission on Monday by donating $4,000 to WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital's Medical Park Fund and earmarked for its medical oncology patient fund.

Jamie's Warriors is named after the late Jamie Orth, a Wheeling resident who battled colon cancer for four years before she died in 2018 at age 31. She is the daughter of Thomas Orth and Jody Usenick of Wheeling.

Thomas Orth said his daughter started having what was believed to be irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. However, she was also having pain, but did not tell her doctors or loved ones, he said. It was not until a year later that she received a colonoscopy and the correct diagnosis - colon cancer. By that time it was at Stage 4 and had spread beyond the colon.

Jamie Orth had to have two surgeries to remove portions of her bowel, plus chemotherapy treatments.

Orth said there is a stigma attached to colon cancer because of its location in the body, so many try to ignore their symptoms, or not discuss it at all. Younger people like Jamie may believe they are too young to get this colon cancer. However, incidents in younger people are increasing. According to the Colon Cancer Coalition, people who were born in the 1990s have twice the risk of developing colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer than those born in 1950.

Orth believes if his daughter had received the correct diagnosis sooner, she might still be alive today. He hopes his daughter's story will encourage others not to ignore symptoms they are having no matter what their age.

"It's really prevalent in young people. It's going to be No. 1 if the trend continues," he said. "We want to raise awareness because so many young people are dying from it."

Orth noted most health insurance companies do not cover colon cancer screening tests until a person is 45 years old, but people must still pay attention to potential symptoms and be an advocate for themselves if they believe testing is warranted.

Regarding colonoscopy screening tests, Orth said it is not as bad as some people think.

"Everybody thinks it's a big deal," he said. "You're in, you're out. Drinking the liquid is the worst part of it."

Orth said his daughter was "everybody's best friend and always had a smile on her face."

"She had a big heart and she was my best friend," he said.

Orth said while Jamie was going through treatments she didn't tell people how bad she was feeling; instead, she remained a caring person who listened and counseled her friends on their own problems.

"You would have never even known it. She would never let anyone know," he added.

In addition to her parents, also present for the check presentation were Jamie's Warriors board member Kristen Cooper, WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital President and CEO Douglass Harrison, Dr. Tina Bhatnagar, director of Medical Oncology at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, and Jessica Rine, associate vice president of Foundations and Community Relations for WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital and Reynolds Memorial Hospital.

Harrison said the donation would help the hospital continue its work of providing local cancer care to those who need it. The hospital's medical oncology patient fund is used to help patients in need of assistance with costs related to transportation, prescription co-pay assistance, nutritional support, grocery cards and more during treatment.