Clayton Smiths Medical Journey

Welcome to Clayton's Journey. We have a long hard road full of pot holes and boulders ahead of us. We know and have the faith that our Lord can heal him in a mighty way. We reach out daily to touch the hem of his garment in faith for healing. Please feel free to share your words of encouragement here for him.

This year on December 4 we will be celebrating 28 years of marriage and we have been so completely blessed in every way in our lives together. We have 3 amazing kiddos Hannah(Kris), Bradley (Kelli) and Preston and the most wonderful 3 grandbabies ever and we are completely smitten with CL, Iva and Bentley….these blessings have been the best medicine for Clayton.

Claytons journey down this path started around March of 2021. He had been having some pain in his upper back in between his shoulder blades, being a diesel mechanic for 30 years he has had many pulled muscles and issues with his back so we just chalked it up to something to do with that. If you know Clayton well you know that he is an aggressive sneezer…. He sneezed one day and heard a loud pop, he started going to the dr for treatment they did lots of test and xrays. He has been working with Liberty Oilfield Services since 2018 and would work 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off and he seemed to progressively get worse and every time he was home he was pretty much going to the dr. Clayton transferred to the company yard in Shreveport from Odessa he worked his first hitch out there in severe pain the whole time, he came home and went back to the dr and he started ordering more test. We had to wait over 4 weeks for a MRI because they were so backed up……. On July 13,2021 the MRI was done and we received the phone call that no one ever wants to receive….. It was his primary dr telling us that they had gathered a team of drs already and they were working on getting him a room ready at the hospital….don't even go home….go straight to the hospital we are admitting you for additional testing according to the MRI there is evidence of CANCER. WE WERE IN COMPLETE SHOCK along with our dr…. We could hear it in his voice the seriousness of the situation…we are all expecting like a bulging disc or herniated disc.

Fast forward through a month full of fear, uncertainty, confusion, brain fog from information overload, and the inability of our brains to process the massive amount of information that we were receiving daily. We have an amazing team of drs and are very invested in treating Clayton and treating this monster called cancer. Clayton has a large mass in his liver the size of an apple, lymph node near his stomach, adrenal gland lymph node, a collapsed T5 vertebra due to the cancer . There are also about 5 other places in his bones that show cancer T4 vertebrae, T8,L1, in his hip and his number 10 rib. Clayton has never shown any signs of cancer other than this back pain, he is in the process of getting a total of 13 radiation treatments to get him some relief in his back and to stop the cancer from entering the spinal cord which it is pressing against. On July 24th we went to see Dr Hrom his oncologist for more test results and to start chemo treatment…..we are very nervous about this next step in his treatment because there are so many unknowns. They did additional testing and discovered that the cancer is Stage 4 Cholangiocarcinoma which is Stage 4 Bile Duct Cancer that has spread throught his body.

Clayton's treatment is 21 day cycles, he is now on his 3rd cycle of chemo and he will be getting new scans done in November to see what kind of progress he is making with the chemo and radiation treatments he has had. Our prayer is that all of the masses have decreased in size considerably and that the bones in his back and rib has started regrowth. Clayton is in pain 24/7 and with the aggressive chemo he is taking has completely wiped all of his energy out. He like anyone else that is fighting cancer has good days and bad days regularly.

His oncologist told us in the beginning of this journey for Clayton to sit down and make a list of things that he wants to do in life....bucket list...there are very few things on his list as of now. We do not know what the Lord has instore for Clayton and our family but we do know that he is in the miracle business and we have the faith that the Lord can heal Clayton if it is his will. We are trying to accomplish as many things that he wants to do as we can which is getting harder and harder as his strength decreases what seems like daily.

We have had many many people that have reached out wanting to help in any way, several have asked if we had set up a go fund me yet and we had not but I am getting it going now.....Prayers are our main need right now as a family because cancer is a family disease and even today after having this diagnosis since July it is still hard to wrap our minds around what all is happening. We love you all and anything is much appreciated especially your prayers.

Much Love and Appreciation,

Clayton and Stephanie Smith

Philippians 4:13

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.