Help the Shepard Family as Mom Battles Cancer
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Update 5-12-25 We are working on planning the viewing, memorial service and burial for our mom. She loved when we all together, and we are working to get all the members of our family that we can here to support each other and grieve our mom as we also celebrate her life. Thank you all so much for all of your continued support and love, your donations have made it possible for the safe accessible shower to be created, and it will now help keep the love of her life safe at home. We are very sad that Mom won’t get to use it. But we know that she would’ve wanted our dad to have it. Many of you have expressed a desire to help us at this shocking and difficult time. Any donations will go to helping to pay for plane tickets and for the funeral and burial costs. We love you!
Update 5-11-25 Our beloved mom, wife, grandma, sister, teacher and friend, Terri Lynne Hubbard Shepard completed her mortal journey on Saturday evening May 10, 2025. We are so grateful she was surrounded by her loved ones. We all gathered around her bedside as we said farewell. We prayed with her, we sang for her. She heard us and squeezed our hands today to help us know she loved us, and we’re going to be alright eventually. Right now we are full of sorrow.
Update 5-10-25
Dear friends and loved ones,
We feel the strength of your love and prayers. We are so grateful for your support, for your donations that are helping us travel quickly to our mom’s side,. Thank you for your words of love and peace and comfort and honor for our beloved mother. She truly is the best. This has such a difficult week. But we’re making it through together. All of us that are able to be here will be tonight to say goodbye. The one of us that couldn’t make it will be in a call with us.
Mom will most likely pass tonight or tomorrow, although we certainly can’t tell the future. The systems of her body are shutting down, and the life support is keeping her going. It was not her desire to continue on life support. So she will be taken off the machines sometime soon, in the next day or so.
Most of the time she is completely sedated, and they are keeping her comfortable with all of the pain medication she needs. There have been a few moments where she has been conscious enough to respond by squeezing our hands. And we know she has been listening to us tell her we’re here for her, and how much we love her, and how we will love and take care of each other, and she doesn’t need to worry. We have been singing her favorite songs to her and reminiscing about fun memories. We’re thankful to know she has been able to hear us.
We are all exhausted, shocked, devastated, and in the deepest mourning. We wish we had the strength to respond individually to every one of you. Just know we love you and we’re so grateful for you all. Mom loves us and you with all her heart because that is how she has lived her remarkable life. She has created a legacy that we will always honor and cherish and remember, and we are so thankful that we will be able to be with her again when we all graduate this life.
She has told us she is not afraid to die, she just wished she could have had more time with us. We agree with all our hearts. It’s too soon. But no amount of time with Terri Lynne Hubbard Shepard could have been enough, only eternity will suffice. She trusted in God’s plan for her, and is so looking forward to embracing her dear parents, Bonnie and Claude and being with Christ and her Heavenly Parents. She has fought the good fight and finished her course, and is now ready, although we are not. We will strive to go forward with the love and faith she has taught us.
With Love, Emily and the Shepard Family
*Any donations will allow children and grandchildren to travel here, and for funeral and burial expenses. Thank you.
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Hi, I’m Emily….“Emily Who?” you may wonder. There are so many Emily’s in the world, but I am the only Emily who is the daughter of Terri and John Shepard. I’m actually one of 7 children. My parents had Hannah, Emily, Claire, Martha and Jacob. Then, because my mom loved children so much, they decided to become foster parents. They subsequently fell in love with Trey and Ashley, and adopted them as their own to complete our family. Our mom has always had the biggest heart, full of love for children, for all people. She has filled our home with love, music, learning and faith. Mom has held our family together as our dad has struggled with severe health problems for over two decades. She has cared for him and for all of us with what seems now to me to be superhuman strength.
Mom hasn’t only shared her gifts with our family, but with countless others, as she has served in our community, and she has touched the lives of more than 3,000 students as a teacher of 22 years. Mom has reached out to those with special needs, with learning differences, those full of promise, and those who felt they had no hope. She has taught and loved those in need, the underprivileged, the privileged, minorities and majorities, and she’s done it all with the same passion, determination and love, regardless of status or identity. Terri Shepard has spent countless hours lifting and strengthening all those around her and helping everyone she could.
Now it is her turn to be strengthened by us. She needs our help! Our family needs your help. You see, Mom is battling Stage 4 of the most rare and aggressive form of Thyroid Cancer. Today she told me that her doctor looked at her incredulously as if she were too happy and hopeful. He asked her, “What is it that you’re expecting?” Her response, “I know what kind of cancer this is. I’m not naïve to the facts of what it will do. But I will fight for every day that I can, to be with the ones I love. And I am seeing small miracles every day in my life. I see divine blessings in the goodness of those that love and care for me.”
Our mom is a strong and brave soldier, and though this war may be deadly, we know that she will be with us as long as she can. We want to make that time as joyful, comfortable and safe as possible.
How you can help: DONATE and SHARE
—> Please consider donating so that we can help Terri and John Shepard stay safely in their home for as long as possible.
*Mom and Dad both have health challenges that make their current bathroom dangerous since they only have a tub with a very high threshold. They need a walk-in shower with safety grab bars, space for a shower chair and an adjustable handheld shower-head. This $7,500 bathroom remodel would enable them to stay in their home as long as possible (without needing to move) as they battle this cancer together.
* Additional modifications to John and Terri’s home may be needed in the future, such as a ramp to make their home wheelchair/walker accessible.
—> Any funds raised above $7.5K will go to paying for:
~IN-HOME CARE for Terri (which insurance won’t cover),
~TRAVEL COSTS for Terri and John’s children and grandchildren to get to Chicago to visit and help them.
*Mom’s greatest wish is to enjoy the time she has with her family, and that is a financial struggle because we live in 3 countries and 4 different states.
Donations of ANY size will help! On behalf of the Shepard family, thank you so very much!!! We appreciate your sacrifice and generosity. And even if you aren’t able to donate at this time, please SHARE on your social media! We are grateful for your consideration and help for such and incredible mom and teacher!
To read the details of Terri’s story and cancer journey, see BELOW.
Terri’s story:
Terri Shepard went back to school to finish her bachelor’s degree when her husband John had his first major heart event and surgery 22 years ago. As they raised their 7 children and battled more health challenges, Terri attained her Illinois teacher certification and then went on to achieve her Master’s Degree in Education. She has worked as a High School English teacher for 22 years and has positively influenced the lives of more than 3,000 students!
She has worked countless hours as a teacher, as well as a Student Activity Advisor. She led the National Honors Society for several years. Terri was a key founder of the club “Empowered Women of the Future,” at her high school and has labored for 7 years to empower girls to rise above difficult circumstances, learn from and connect with the community, and make a positive impact on the world. Terri applied for and received a $30k grant for the club, a grant that repeats yearly for 6 years even after she was to retire! That money is used for empowered career exploration with lunch'n'learns, activities, mentoring younger girls, summer camps and internship scholarships.
Through it all, Terri has served as a volunteer and active member of her faith community throughout her life (in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), captaining her local Women’s organization, the Children’s organization, as well as leading the Young Women’s group. She has been a Sunday School Teacher, long term Choir Director, Organist, Pianist and has most recently been working with the Children’s Sunday School. Terri has always shared her gift for teaching as she taught private flute and piano lessons for 20 years before teaching High School English.
Terri has cherished her role as a teacher and mentor, and has always fulfilled her most important roles as wife and mother. She has supported John every step of the way as he has battled severe heart disease, glaucoma and diabetes. Now, they are not only the proud parents of 7 children, but 5 children-in-law, and 11 grandchildren! They are John and Terri’s greatest joy.
Terri planned to continue on as a teacher and leader for Empowered Women until June 2026 when she would retire and move with her husband, John, to be closer to some of their children and grandchildren, and she would travel the world to visit the rest of their family. Those plans were interrupted when her persistent cough of six months actually turned out to be cancer.
Terri was diagnosed with stage 4 thyroid cancer in early fall 2024. She has the most aggressive and rare form called Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma (ATC). It has been quite an anomaly, even for her oncologist, who is one of the top most experts in this cancer. She is on palliative care, because her doctors know it is terminal, and they cannot cure the cancer, but they are doing what they can to slow the growth.
Terri isn’t going down without a fight. She has done many treatments. At first they could not do any surgery or radiation because of the size of the cancerous masses in her neck being intertwined with her facial nerves. So they started doing immunotherapy infusions and chemotherapy. The symptoms and side effects have been awful and terribly difficult. She has dealt with extreme exhaustion, pain, hives, digestive problems, nausea and vomiting, severe coughing, difficulty eating, shortness of breath, and a racing heart… to name a few.
Recently, Terri has been in the ICU in the hospital because her red blood cell count has been dropping all the way to (5) half the lowest normal range (10). She has required at least 7 blood transfusions so she can have enough red blood cells. They are now monitoring her every couple days to see if she needs another blood transfusion. And she’s on steroids to help her blood improve. The doctors have been doing testing on her bone marrow to find out what is attacking her red blood cells whether it is the chemo, or the immunotherapy. They want to do double immunotherapy next, but her oncologist says that it is kind of like playing whack’a’mole with her cancer. It’s hard to tell where to strike next. It is very challenging to figure out what will work or help. The cancer had been shrinking, but then between scans some of the cancerous masses had tripled in size, especially in her hilar lymph node, which has been causing a blockage to the airway to her right lung.
Terri just completed a round of 14 radiation treatments. Her radiation doctor was so confident he wouldn’t hit any facial nerves that he was willing to try doing radiation on Terri‘s neck as well as her lungs. After a 13 day hospitalization, she and John and John's sister Laura (who has helped SO much!) stayed downtown to help Terri finish the radiation treatments without having to do the 3 hours of driving per day to get to Northwestern Medical Hospital downtown. Terri got to ring a giant gong to celebrate her finishing radiation.
Terri and John’s wonderful landlord has approved the remodel to their bathroom to make it safer for both John and Terri and is even organizing the contractors to do the work! The estimated cost of the bathroom remodel is $7,500.
Extra funds raised will go to helping John and Terri’s children travel back-and-forth to visit and help their mom and dad in Chicago. One of us lives in Illinois, but the rest of us live abroad in England; Alberta, Canada; Seattle; Salt Lake City; Las Vegas; and Bentonville, Arkansas. We want to help as much as possible, but financially it is a challenge to frequently travel there. When family cannot be present, in-home care may need to be hired out as well (since insurance won’t pay for it).
We, as the Shepard family, are so grateful for all of the prayers, kind words and concern, love support and assistance already given! There has been so much love and support poured out for our sweet mother. Thank you all in advance for helping us keep Mom and Dad in their home where they are most comfortable!
If you’d like to follow along her journey, view Terri’s Caring Bridge Blog:
Organizer
Emily Shepard Wagner
Organizer
Batavia, IL