Help Tim Shellito Go Home

On Saturday September 18th, my dad Tim Shellito was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.

He had pneumonia a month ago and since leaving the hospital his breathing and mobility gradually worsened. On Thursday September 16th he was admitted into North Memorial ICU where his condition continued to decrease and he became unable to breathe on his own. On Saturday he was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell lung cancer. He is currently on oxygen and has a chest tube to drain the constant fluid that is building up in his chest and around his lung. He has several tumors with one large tumor sitting on his right lung causing it to be collapsed with no airway. His breathing was very labored and painful two days ago and has improved drastically since draining the fluid from his chest and lung. He has his 3rd round of chemo this afternoon and we are hopeful that it will start shrinking the tumor and give his lung some relief.

My mother and I have been with him at the hospital every day and she has been trying to balance visits before and after work. She does not receive any benefits, time off, or FMLA from her job. If you are able, please consider donating to help her stay home to care for my dad so he can come home. Anything we can raise will go towards living expenses needed for my dad to ensure he can be home with family and my mom be home with him.

He has been in good spirits and enjoying the texts he’s receiving from friends and family. Today his doctor asked him to set a goal and he said to kick Cancer’s butt and go fishing up north with his brother, Skip. We love our dad and we know that this is going to be a long hard road. This news has been very tough for my family and my dad is going through a lot right now. He is a tough man and I have faith that he will go home and continue to improve. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.