Recently retired, Jeanette was expecting to enjoy life with her grand-babies and husband Johnny of 45 years, instead she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.

After eating a spicy meal Jeanette felt terrible, including pain in her shoulder and back. A few days later Jeanette went to the doctor for what was assumed to be a urinary track infection. Shockingly, Jeanette was immediately sent to the ER due to high levels of bilirubin. At the ER in Abilene, they attempted to perform an endoscope procedure, but was unable to due to an unknown blockage.

The horror story continued. Jeanette was then sent on an express ambulance all the way to a hospital in the Dallas area to see a specialist. The specialist then attempted to perform the endoscope, but was still unable to. After multiple tests were performed, including CT Scan, Echogram and Ultrasound, the Gastroenterologist recommended the “Whipple” procedure due to the mass identified at the top of her pancreas, now diagnosed as Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer. The “Whipple” procedure involves the removal of the head of the pancreas, gallbladder, bile duct, part of the stomach and small intestine.

Scheduling the surgery was delayed 10 days due to Jeanette receiving a false positive COVID-19 test while in the hospital. Jeanette did not have any COVID symptoms (no fever, sense of taste worked). During the time delay Jeanette became more and more jaundice (yellow) and lethargic due to the blockage. As you can imagine, the unnecessary delay was very stressful on the family!

After a heart and other tests were performed, Jeanette was cleared for surgery and the “Whipple procedure” was performed on 8/25/2021. The surgery took over 5 hours.

Jeanette is currently in the hospital, with the original stay estimated at 5-7 days before being released. Jeanette has had a minor setback whereby an NG tube was installed in order to pump bile out of her stomach, but is generally doing well. Jeanette walked the day after surgery and has passed most tests with flying colors.

The long-term needs for Jeanette are not fully known, but we will share as we learn more. However, it is expected that Jeanette will need both radiation and chemotherapy to fully recover and be 100% cancer-free.

We are starting this GoFundMe to help offset the back-breaking expenses that Jeanette is incurring so she can focus her time on her family, and make sure those grand-babies are raised right.