Jeff’s Battle with Cancer & His Treatment Journey

Jeff’s Battle with Cancer & His Treatment Journey

To know our Dad Jeff is one heck of a treat because he is such a one of a kind human being. With one of the biggest most giving and kind hearts. As well as the most amazing personality sprinkled with his Dad joke sense of humor. When we tell you that this man truly will do anything for anyone, even complete strangers, we mean it. He is a true servant at heart. And never wants nor expects anything in return when he helps others. We recently celebrated his 58th birthday on November 12th and like every year on his birthday we love to honor and spoil him. This year was more special and different than any other though.

On Wednesday, September 29th, 2021, our family was shocked with devastating news that changed our whole world in the blink of an eye. Our Dad let us know that he has been diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer that has metastasized to his liver. There are no words to explain the heart crushing feeling and emotions that come with hearing these words come out of anyone’s mouth, let alone one of your parents. A parent who is still young with so many years ahead to look forward to. Pancreatic Cancer is one of the scariest and most aggressive cancers because it goes undetected until it is too late in most cases. His Pancreatic Cancer is rare in that the tumor is on the tail of his pancreas rather than the head of the pancreas. In the USA alone it is the fourth leading cause of Cancer-related mortality for both men and women. With as many as 55% of patients being diagnosed at a metastatic stage. With a median survival of 3-6 months and a 5-year survival rate of 2%, statistically speaking. Which of course is a statistic our Dad is ready to prove wrong!

After further scans and meetings with his team of doctors we were informed that he was not eligible for surgery to remove the tumor from the tail of his pancreas. Dad’s treatment started with his first round of Chemo on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. Due to the condition of his liver he was only going to receive a 75% dosage of the Chemo during treatments. His Chemo treatment plan was a lot and by a lot we mean really intense even at the 75% dosage. The plan was expected to be a minimum of 8 weeks of Chemo rounds. With each round consisting of a 53 hour Chemo drip over a 72 hour period. Pretty darn intense, right?! Our Dad is healthy and in great shape aside from the Cancer of course, so his doctors said he should be able to withstand this intense Chemo treatment plan.

After the first round of Chemo was finished he was feeling ok…and then it hit him. And it hit him hard. He was so sick feeling and in his own words “I feel like my insides are rotting and dying”. He was on the mend from the first round of Chemo for almost two weeks when most people bounce back after 4 days or so. He really felt the side effects from the Chemo treatment. Which can be expected with Chemo treatments, but his lasted almost twice as long as they do in most patients. And talk about quality of life. If you’ve ever seen someone go through Chemo you know just how sick it can make them feel. Let alone the life expectancy even after Chemo is not long.

It was difficult to see him so weak, sick and fatigued. Because he has always been a go-go-go type of person who always stayed busy doing something. After much thought and a lot of praying. He decided that continuing with Chemo was just not the plan for him. He said he didn’t want his quality of life to be like that of what he endured for two weeks from the first round’s side effects. He said he just knows that if he continued with the Chemo treatments that would be what kills him. Yeah, it was that bad on his body. We support him in his decision to stop the Chemo and seek other methods and options that are available out there.

Our mom has since taken a leave from work so that she can fully focus on and dedicate each and every moment to being by Dad’s side through this. And to help with all that goes into seeking out all other non-Chemo related treatment plans for him. As of now, Dad is starting a few new, well researched integrative therapies such as European Mistletoe treatments along with other types of Intense IV therapies. We feel extremely positive with this new approach and plan for our Dad. And know in our hearts this is the treatment plan for him.

As you can imagine, dealing with an emergency medical illness and all that it brings with it is overwhelming on every level. It stresses you out mentally, emotionally, as well as financially. Our Dad is such a hardworking man and such a generous, loving person all the way around. He would never ask for help. So, here we are asking for him. Despite having health insurance the out of pocket expenses really start to pile up. These treatments and IV therapies are quite the expense and is all out of pocket as it isn’t covered by health insurance. The treatments are taking place in Georgia over the next several weeks. Which means a lot of back and forth traveling from North Carolina to Georgia for our dad and mom. It also means the added expenses for hotel stays, meals, gas for the road trips, all on top of the cost for these treatments, therapies and all the other supplements that our dad has to take every day now. There is no price tag you can put on what a life is worth. But boy are the expenses a lot to face.

God has always provided for our family which has allowed us to help others when they’ve been in need. And so now, we need to ask for help to get our dad through this financially. He has enough to worry about and the burden of bills and medical expenses shouldn’t have to be something he has to worry or even think about during a time like this. When he only needs to be focusing on all he can to heal and beat this Cancer.

We cannot tell you just how much it would mean to us if you can help us raise money for our dad through this journey. Just knowing he wouldn’t have to stress over how to pay for everything while he is battling Cancer while they (our parents) are down one household income at the moment. Would be a true blessing to say the least.

We pray that this is shared by many and pray this comes across to people that don’t know our Dad but have a desire to give and help as well. We want to do everything we as family and friends can to pursue every option to fight to see him survive. So that he can continue enjoying life for years to come with his family, wife, children, grandchildren, and friends.

Thank you for your thoughts, any contributions you are able to make, and of course we continue to ask for your prayers!