Corey J. Goodman Memorial Fund

At the age of 24, Corey began complaining of pain in his lower colon, telling doctors it felt like a balloon was in there. Multiple visits to primary and/or urgent care, all concurred that he suffered from constipation.

As his mother, I wasn’t convinced and pushed to get him to a gastroenterologist. On October 21, 2021, this specialist, upon hearing his symptoms, immediately sent us to the ER. After a long wait, we got the news that shattered our world: Corey was diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer, having already spread to his liver, lungs and lymph nodes. A follow up colonoscopy showed that Corey likely had Familial Adenomatous Polyposis(FAP), which is a rare genetic condition caused by a defect in the APC gene. Genetic testing later confirmed this diagnosis.

Corey was now a patient at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute satellite location in Londonderry NH, where we were told this would be palliative care, to extend his life, as his cancer couldn’t be cured. After 21 months of treatment, the chemo was no longer working. It was decided that a new regimen would be tried, but this never came to fruition.

Corey’s liver enzymes skyrocketed in late September, which prevented him from having more chemo. Stents were placed in the bile ducts to no avail in late October. Spending time in and out of the hospital, the focus became pain management as we waited for the liver enzymes to drop. They never did. During this time Corey became septic and after a couple weeks in the hospital it was decided to bring him home on hospice. One week later, on Nov 21, 2023, Corey passed peacefully in his sleep.

His family, having witnessed the enormity of the impact that Corey had on his multitude of friends, decided to react. Because FAP is a rare condition, funding is hard to come by. Those diagnosed early endure a lifetime of treatments, surgeries and procedures in an effort to keep cancer from developing. Those without an early diagnosis, like Corey, will get cancer. There is no cure.
Dana Farber has begun research, but funding is needed, so we are here, in Corey’s memory, to raise awareness and to raise funds to support their efforts in hopes of finding a way for those affected to better navigate the devastating, life changing, effects of FAP.