Jeff Shults Cancer Recovery Fund

On September 19th of this year our family was spun into a whirlwind of horrible news. We received the dreaded news that my husband, Jeffrey, has cancer. Jeffrey has had sickness most of this year 2016. It started out as simple stomach issues but progressively grew worse. In June a specialist did endoscopy with belief it was his gallbladder causing all the problems. Once inside the Doctor said he knew something wasn't right & he took 18 biopsies. Yes... 18. The Doctor went ahead and took the gallbladder out but come to find out it was fine. It wasn't the problem. We went on about our daily lives after the surgery all the while Jeff still wasn't feeling quite right. He started to experience horrible stomach pains. Then we get the phone call that we needed to come in to speak with the Doctor. Jeffs pathology report had came back. It wasn't good. There was a small place just sitting right inside the duodenum that caused red flags. Jeff was told by the Doctor that it would have to be monitored as he wasn't sure what it was at this time. The syptoms would come & go. For a couple of months Jeff at times would be ok. Then there would come a week where he just couldn't keep food down. Again ... More rapid weight loss. I told my husband something isn't right. A grown adult male that loves his food and isn't on any type of diet does not just start shrinking away! So back to the Doctor we went. The doctor took one look at Jeff and said 'you are still losing weight aren't you?!' Yes. Total at that time was then 45+ pounds lost. The doctor sends Jeff for a catscan that Friday. Jeff gets the usual .... Oh, you will be hearing from your doctor in about a week or so for results. Well, it didn't take a week or so. Monday morning they were calling. The doctor telling us we need to come in a.s.a.p. so the doctor can go over the catscan results. Jeff and I go to the doctors office. He comes in and explains to us the tiny little white thing that was found .... Its a tumor. Tucked away hiding just inside the duodenum. It's name ... Duodenal Adenocarcinoma. As I sat in the chair inside that exam room I felt as if my entire body turned to cement and just sunk to the floor. I'm looking at my husband sitting on the exam table and he has just the most blank stare. We were told that Jeff would be needing an operation as soon as possible to get this tumor out. Resection. We were also told there were no doctors in our area that can perform this operation because of how dangerous it is. That if we did find a doctor here it would take them nearly 15 hours to perform the surgery. So Jeff was sent to Dallas. UT-Southwestern Comprehensive Cancer Center. When we left we left with the intentions that it was to be my husbands first initial consult to meet the Specialist and see what may be done. The night we arrived in Dallas it was if God had put us in the right place at the exact needed time. My husband was sick. He had now been throwing up for 6 straight days and that night it went all downhill. I told Jeff we weren't waiting on any appt. we were going to the doctor now. So we did. Doctor Mansour came in and greeted us. He had already reviewed Jeffs medical reports before we had gotten there. They were sent ahead of us by Jeffs doctor here. I brought along with us the catscan disc. The Doctor took one look at Jeff and asked him if he was ready for an operation in the morning? Jeff & I just looked at one another. The tumor was now at such an aggressive place it had completely blocked everything off. Dr. Mansour checked the operating room schedule and there were no openings until Friday. My husband was sent straight to the hospital from Doctor Mansours office to be admitted. There they began resuscitation by fluids. They could not even find a vein for an IV he was so bad. They brought in an ultrasound machine to go deeper under to find a vein. An N-G tube was put into my husbands stomach to start pulling off the poisons. I have never In my life seen bright lime green fluids come out of anyone but they did! This .... This is what cancer looks like. For 2 days he was like this. On resuscitation fluids and bad fluids being sucked out of the stomach along with many other meds to strengthen Jeffs body up for what was to come. A life altering surgery that Friday morning called a Whipple Procedure. My husband was in that operating room for 6 hours with Dr. Mansour and his team of doctors. The tumor was so bad it had grown out one end of the duodenum into the stomach where over 1/2 of the stomach was removed. Out the other end of the duodenum the tumor had gotten ahold of the pancreas. Over 1/3 of Jeffs pancreas was removed along with duodenum and 38 lymph nodes. Sitting in that waiting room area for 6 hours that day seemed like forever to me. I do not think I have ever felt that afraid. When they took me back finally to see him all I wanted to do was cry. My husband now had staples across his entire stomach. He had 2 drains coming out of him one on each side of his stomach plus a feeding port tube put in. All I knew to do was pray. Here we were so far from home. Alone at that. We lived in that hospital room for nearly 1/2 month while Jeffs body relearned everything but you know what.... God made it happen! We finally got to go home. Knowing we were to return for follow up visit of course. Well.... We didn't get to have that wait time allowed for the follow up appt. you see the pathology report had came back. So back to Dallas we go. Out of the entire mass that was taken out including the 38 lymph nodes, serval had tested positive for cancer. The cancer although the tumor had been removed has now spread to Jeffs lymphatic system. Stage 3 cancer. Stage 3 cancer. Here we were again so far from home sitting in the doctors office being told all this information and it just seemed so wrong to me. Here my big ole' teddy bear husband that once weighed 264lbs now barely tips the scale at 180lbs. How can this be happening? Jeffs Tells his Dr. He wants to fight it. The Dr. Explains to Jeff that chemo is an option although radiation just isn't. That his body after such a major operation simply isn't strong enough for radiation. We go back home. Jeff has his port put in for chemo and begins his new journey to fight. Jeff has had every complication that could have come from the Whipple procedure. Somehow he has not let it stop him. He has kept going. He is taking 2 very aggressive forms of chemotherapy at one time. Gemzar & Cisplatin. He is into his 4th treatment already but so far it hasn't helped. He still has 4 months to go with the chemo. We have already been told that even with the chemo there is only a 40% chance it could help. We believe differently. We are praying SO hard for Gods miracle for Jeff. A miracle made just for him. God has provided for us. He always has. I believe he always will. We have came to a place now where this disease has exhausted us physically, mentally, and finacially. It is the hardest journey we have ever had to face. I have tried my hardest to figure out how to work around Jeff being sick. So I can go to work. Jeff cannot be left alone. He needs someone here with him at all times. If I went to work we would have to have home health care and that would just place me where I am working to pay for home health care it is so expensive. It is like being backed into a corner and no way out of it.
I have been with Jeff going on 2 decades now. This man has always worked & provided well for his family and then some. We both have always had the hardest time accepting help from anyone. Stubborn I suppose? I have had a lifelong friend try so hard to help us and I told her no thank you. That is was so embarrassing to me. She got on to me and told me it's not a hand out its a love gift. I still wouldn't take the help but I have talked to myself over the past few days ..... (Yes, I talked to myself ha) and I told myself that does sound like a beautiful thing. A Love Gift. It makes it look differently to me for some reason. I have prayed & prayed & prayed some more. I pray so hard. I know God is listening and it brings comfort to me. Especially on the nights where my mind rather think about so many things than let me go to sleep. I cry out to God. He knows our needs. The first of the year is coming up so fast. It has me so worried. New deductibles to be met for my husbands health insurance. Property taxes coming up due on our property. All the medical. The medications my husbands needs. My mind just seems to be in constant oh my gosh what about that mode. We still have one small child at home who is only 9 years old. She knows her dad had cancer. If you could only hear the prayers coming from this child.
I'm not sure what our future holds. I do know my husband is fighting for his life. If anything at all please pray for Jeff. I cling to my faith so tightly. I know God has it all planned out already even if we don't understand. Prayer is a very powerful tool and it is so greatly needed & appreciated. If you have it in your heart to share a Love Gift I can promise you it will be greatly appreciated as well.
Thank you so much for your time as I know this is a lengthy writing. Just wanted to share also that duodenal adenocarcinoma is a very rare form of cancer. Please everyone.... Do not take you health for granted. It is a gift in itself from God.

God Bless!
Lisa