Help Randall Coleman Battle Pancreatic Cancer

I am Dana Clark. I have been with my husband, Randall Coleman, for almost 19 years, married for 14 of those years. We have three great kiddos, the youngest being our six-year-old daughter, Georgia. We have worked hard to build our life together and have come a long way since day one. We both have good, hard-working jobs. He is a Machine Operator, and I am a supervisor in a major retail store.

In November, our lives got an abrupt change that was life-changing. My husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After trips to urgent care clinics for pain in his lower right abdomen, along with nausea that worsened after eating, which turned into not being able to eat without vomiting and extreme weight loss, we finally found a doctor who pursued our issues and did a CT scan instead of just an X-ray. That CT scan showed a mass on my husband’s pancreas. The doctors were surprised by this, especially since my husband was just turning 38 on November 11th. That result spiraled our life into chaos of scans and tests for just over two weeks. The last week was spent in Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where we got a biopsy performed and finally got some answers. He has pancreatic adenocarcinoma with a 4.3 cm tumor on the head of his pancreas. They also found spots in his lymph nodes, and there is a possibility it has spread to the blood vessel; however, they can’t be sure until they shrink it some and get a better view because the tumor is sitting on the vessel.

Silver lining is they found it early enough that it is considered operable, and it has not spread to any other organs. Those two factors are a blessing! We began chemotherapy; his first treatment was on November 26th. I honestly do not know how the elderly deal with the treatments because it hurt me to see how sick it made my husband. After two days of him vomiting every hour to two hours, even with anti-nausea medication, I took him to the Emergency Room, and they admitted him for two days. They gave him fluids along with pain and anti-nausea medication by IV. We got different anti-nausea medication that has been working well for the time being. His next treatment is on the 11th, and I’m praying it does not affect him as much as the first round did. We have at least 8 more treatments, and then hopefully the tumor will be small enough for surgery.

This news has thrown my family’s life into a whirlwind. Our daughter doesn’t understand why daddy is so sick, in and out of the hospital, and can’t work. Our teenage boys have had to really step up to help care for their sister and father while I try to juggle taking care of them, medications, appointments, hospital visits, and my job. I am not the type to ask for help; however, I am getting overwhelmed with everything, and it is just the beginning of this journey for us. We have a long battle ahead of us. If you can donate towards our medical expenses, even a small donation would be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to make a donation, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all for your support.