WAILUKU » On good days she's able to work as a crime laboratory analyst for the Maui Police Department, despite losing her gallbladder and a large portion of her intestines to surgery.

On bad days, Julie Wood is in the hospital wondering whether she'll survive her latest battle with cancer.

Wood, 52, who lives in a rural section of Maui with her husband, Greg, hopes to raise money for medical treatment in Sweden, the only place offering a potential cure for her rare form of cancer. Friends plan a fundraiser in Lahaina tomorrow. Cost of the treatment, including room and board for her and a caregiver, is estimated at $200,000.

“;Of course, I'm playing against time. ... For us, unfortunately, time is factor,”; Wood said. “;So our goal is to get over there as soon as possible and get the treatment.”;

Wood said she was sick for about eight months before her diagnosis in February 2006. She has cancer of the appendix, which occurs in one out of 10 million people. She underwent surgery and had her appendix along with her gallbladder and parts of her intestines removed, but the cancer had spread to other parts of her body.

She said she lost 44 pounds but was able to regain some weight through eating often and in small portions.

“;I have to be careful to eat things that are very nutritionally sound,”; she said. “;I eat a variety of things in moderation.”;

Wood said that after surgery she had no appetite.

But she found that eating fish, especially ahi poke, helped her out of her digestive slump.

“;I guess it was high in protein,”; she said. “;I also eat dairy—cheese, cream and whole milk.”;

She said while clinical trials of cancer patients are occurring in the United States, treatment for her rare form of the disease is happening only in Sweden. It involves lab cultivation of her own cells capable of fighting the cancer and reintroducing millions of them into her body.

“;The beauty of the treatment is it uses your tissue, so you don't have side effects,”; she said, noting that the introduced cells identify and fight only the cancer cells.

Wood said she has undergone several rounds of chemotherapy, which attacks normal cells as well as the cancerous ones, leaving her body weak with loss of hair and intestinal problems.

At times she has felt strong enough to return to work. Then suddenly, she is sick again and in the hospital requiring further treatment.

“;It's this kind of crap shoot. You never really know,”; she said. “;Right now I'm doing fine. I'm working full time. I'm stable.”;

She said the chemotherapy has not been effective.

Wood said her medical provider has refused to pay for the treatment in Sweden because it regards the procedure as experimental, although the process of introducing cancer-fighting cells is an established medical alternative for lymph and skin cancer.

Wood said support has come from relatives and friends, including colleagues at the Maui Police Department, where she has worked for 14 years, and also the Lahaina boating community, where she formerly worked as a captain of the catamaran Manutea.

“;I'm eternally grateful to those people,”; she said. “;The support has come from so many different avenues. People just don't realize just how good and giving people are until they are in crisis. You would be surprised how many will come to your aid.”;