Jim Epperlein's Incredible Cancer Journey!
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UPDATE: I'm sorry to inform you all that our Dad lost his 12-year battle with cancer on Thursday, February 25th at 11:32pm. Dad had an amazing last day (as did we) surrounded by his loving family, live and through FaceTime. He had a hospital-to-home transport with Mom, three of the most caring EMTs/nurses, and a playlist of his favorite songs. The house was filled with so much excitement, love, laughter, music, singing, smiling, crying, embracing, storytelling & compassionate care. He had his favorite foods, favorite tunes, & favorite people around him during his final conscious/unconscious moments. Our Dad started to fall into a peaceful sleep and was never conscious, again. What more could a loving family ask for for the final moments of their humble, sweet, caring, and proud Hun/Pops/Jimmy/Papi? We are absolutely devastated by his absence, but we can grieve a little differently because of the life & the final moments that he had. Rest in pain-free peace forever, Pops. You will be missed & loved forever.
Our Dad, Jim Epperlein, has always been a man of faith......and music! Over his many decades, he has also been a trusted friend & confidant to those in his life, always offering sound, loving advice with a little bit of scripture. Our Dad has had some pretty awesome jobs throughout his career, including "Traffic Time w/ Jim Epperlein" on WJZ-13 in Baltimore, MD; radio disc jockey on Key103 in Frederick, MD; music programmer for The Message SiriusXM channel in Washington, D.C.; and most recently a music programmer for PRAZOR Christian Music Streaming in Vero Beach, FL. Jim has inspired millions of people throughout his life of faith & music, providing hope, prayer, love, and peace to his listeners. But no one has been more inspired than us, his two daughters, who have learned so much through his teachings on both. Mostly, the importance of being a kind & loving person, but also how to create an epic playlist! We will always have beautiful memories of our day trips to Lake Catoctin with Whitney Houston, Gloria Estefan, & Chicago cassette tapes on full blast in his little Nissan Sentra. Dad's 12-year battle with cancer has proven to us time & time again that he is a fighter and a man of faith. And our Mom, Connie, has proven how incredibly dedicated she is, how much she's willing to sacrifice, and HOW MUCH she still loves the man that she's loved since she was fifteen. They both need our love & support more than ever.
Right now, he is in the best care possible, at the Johns Hopkins ICU. They are still trying to stabilize his low blood sugar levels, his low blood pressure, his low blood count, & the now active tumors/lesions in his liver. Dad had spent over 35 days at the hospital in Florida & this is looking like at least 30 days at Johns Hopkins. We have no idea when he'll be stable enough for release, but Dad is determined to live another day around his family outside of a hospital. I can only imagine the incredible financial stress that this has placed on our parents, even though they always make sure that we don't know about it.
We would absolutely love to surprise them with a little bit of help for their insane medical bills over the last couple of months (& years) of hospital stays. Our Mom had the foresight to collect all of their bills in a big tote bag before she left Florida, so that she could try to get caught-up on bills while dealing with possibly losing her husband forever. Any little or BIG amount that you can spare would be UNREAL. Whether it's $5, $10, or even $100, the fact that you cared enough to read our Dad's incredible story and want to send him love & help is such an amazing gift. We are so appreciative of the incredible support & love that we've felt from all of our family & friends (near and far), and we know that your collective thoughts, prayers, & energy is the only reason we were able to pull-off that unbelievable mission to Johns Hopkins. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
WE LOVE YOU,
Elicia [Frazier] & Jamie [Rhodes]
JIM & CONNIE'S INCREDIBLE CANCER JOURNEY:
Over 12 years ago, our Dad [Jim Epperlein] was awakened to his stomach expelling a sponge that a negligent doctor left in him during a hernia operation months earlier. Our Mom [Connie Epperlein] had to think & act fast to get him to a good hospital; Johns Hopkins the mission for something of this magnitude. The staff took him in right away & quickly found the sponge left in him with a simple X-ray & scan. However, the scan also showed them another big issue in our Dad's helpless body. A tennis-ball sized, slow-growing, fully-encased tumor in his pancreas. A usual 96% death sentence, our Dad's tumor was of the 1% where a Whipple surgery could be successful. The surgical team had to act fast but also needed to address both the sponge damage & the tumor within an 8-hour surgery. Could a human survive this? How do these medical professionals do this everyday?? The surgery was a complete success, and although his body had some major complications, including an 8-bag stint pulling-out huge amounts of infection and almost dying twice in the ICU, Dad made a full recovery! And to his doctors' hope & surprise, he remained in remission for over 5 years. Another 5 years.....5 more years of birthdays & holidays all together. Wow. How lucky are we?!?!
That family relief wore off a few years later when a series of back issues turned into a spread of cancerous cells & lesions in our Dad's lower spine. Johns Hopkins was there at every step with the radiation treatments & the spinal fusion surgery. But after months & months of recovery, Dad had so much debilitating back pain that he wondered if his previous surgery wasn't successful. Upon further scans, cancerous cells & lesions were found on his upper spine, a tumor on the base of his skull, & signs of an aneurysm on his brain. Though the road definitely looked long, Dad still had hope, a great medical & support team around him, and the will to see another day on a beach at some point. Oh, and inactive lesions were found in his liver at some point during all of these visits. The amazing Johns Hopkins' team knew they'd have to now keep a close eye on that, too. Our unreal Mom sprung into action, yet again, becoming his caregiver at every step & whatever fun new medical adventure that meant. OUR SHERO!
Lots of treatments & lots of different medications meant new reactions were happening in his body. After the pandemic lockdown & after going back to Florida, our Mom noticed some unconscious falls start to happen in late 2020. One morning in early/mid-December, Mom opened the bedroom door to find Dad's lifeless body. He was almost completely unresponsive, but squeezed Mom's hand when she asked him if he could hear her. This was the first of three emergency trips to a local Florida hospital within five days. They could not keep his blood sugar levels stable. But how did this blood sugar issue even start? The hospital couldn't figure it out, but also couldn't release him, again. Because our Dad had a 12-year history with Johns Hopkins, it made sense to involve them & maybe get some direction from them, maybe even have JHs send Dad's chart for the Florida hospital to review. Mom reached out to Dad's oncologist at Johns Hopkins & this amazing doctor responded & gave Mom actual information and instruction. "Have them run a blood panel on insulinoma." Mom made sure to tell Dad's hospital team about her e-mail from Dad's oncologist at Hopkins, but not much was done to connect the dots to the cancer. They had already determined that he was terminal, without proper testing, so they thought they had done all they could do for him.
Our Mom was so strong (along with our Dad) at every step advocating for the best care, for the staff to question what the tests & results were telling them, to review his cancer history from Johns Hopkins, to arrange for a hospital-to-hospital transfer to a cancer treatment center. This Florida hospital wouldn't send over the Johns Hopkins chart, only their diagnosis of hypoglycemia, so once again, our Dad was denied a transfer to the treatment he needed. Mom had decided that she would have to transfer him herself somehow.....possibly to Johns Hopkins, but could Dad survive the trip to the airport, as well as the flight? This was A LOT for a whole family, let alone one exhausted caregiver. My brother-in-law [Kevin Frazier] & I both reached out to Mom the very same morning, telling her that we volunteered to help with the transfer....WHATEVER THAT MEANT. Two days later, there we were with Mom in Florida, planning out how to get Dad released & on a plane to Baltimore, MD during COVID.
It's release day, Mom's at the hospital working with the staff on prescription lists & hospital paperwork, Kevin's closing-up the condo & packing-up the rental van for this ambitious trip to the airport, and I'm driving around Florida trying to get the last of the three, life-saving glucagon shots that we needed in case of emergency. I get back to the condo, Kevin & I leave for the hospital, Dad gets released, Kevin is navigating us to the airport while I'm in the back seat buying our plane tickets for a 4pm flight. When we arrive at the airport, I feel completely unprepared for this event, but I also feel energized by the impossible mission. We had early boarding & got Dad situated perfectly, and his blood sugar was completely stable until we landed at BWI. Through this transfer process, I could see how much work it was just to keep this man alive & comfortable and knew I had to stay at the hotel with our Mom to take care of him. From Friday night until Wednesday morning, Mom & I worked off and on to keep Dad's blood sugar levels stable, to keep him comfortable, & to drain some of the fluids building-up in his body. Wednesday morning was his appointment at Johns Hopkins with his long-time oncologist. We knew this doctor would do the best thing possible for Dad, if we could just get Dad in front of him. We had to use two of the three glucagon shots by Tuesday morning & almost had to use the third right before his appointment that next morning. When we wheeled him into the automatic hospital doors at Johns Hopkins, a complete sense of relief came over me. We did everything we could to get him to the best care, to a hospital that celebrates Dad's medical victories and rolls up their sleeves to figure out the next best thing for his care. It took every single one of us, Connie, Kevin, Elicia, LaRae, Jamie, Easton, and ESPECIALLY JIM.
He is fighting for his life with the best possible doctors & nurses watching over him in the Johns Hopkins ICU. Please send thoughts, prayers, good vibes, and please donate if you are able to. WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH & ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL TO YOU!
Our Dad, Jim Epperlein, has always been a man of faith......and music! Over his many decades, he has also been a trusted friend & confidant to those in his life, always offering sound, loving advice with a little bit of scripture. Our Dad has had some pretty awesome jobs throughout his career, including "Traffic Time w/ Jim Epperlein" on WJZ-13 in Baltimore, MD; radio disc jockey on Key103 in Frederick, MD; music programmer for The Message SiriusXM channel in Washington, D.C.; and most recently a music programmer for PRAZOR Christian Music Streaming in Vero Beach, FL. Jim has inspired millions of people throughout his life of faith & music, providing hope, prayer, love, and peace to his listeners. But no one has been more inspired than us, his two daughters, who have learned so much through his teachings on both. Mostly, the importance of being a kind & loving person, but also how to create an epic playlist! We will always have beautiful memories of our day trips to Lake Catoctin with Whitney Houston, Gloria Estefan, & Chicago cassette tapes on full blast in his little Nissan Sentra. Dad's 12-year battle with cancer has proven to us time & time again that he is a fighter and a man of faith. And our Mom, Connie, has proven how incredibly dedicated she is, how much she's willing to sacrifice, and HOW MUCH she still loves the man that she's loved since she was fifteen. They both need our love & support more than ever.
Right now, he is in the best care possible, at the Johns Hopkins ICU. They are still trying to stabilize his low blood sugar levels, his low blood pressure, his low blood count, & the now active tumors/lesions in his liver. Dad had spent over 35 days at the hospital in Florida & this is looking like at least 30 days at Johns Hopkins. We have no idea when he'll be stable enough for release, but Dad is determined to live another day around his family outside of a hospital. I can only imagine the incredible financial stress that this has placed on our parents, even though they always make sure that we don't know about it.
We would absolutely love to surprise them with a little bit of help for their insane medical bills over the last couple of months (& years) of hospital stays. Our Mom had the foresight to collect all of their bills in a big tote bag before she left Florida, so that she could try to get caught-up on bills while dealing with possibly losing her husband forever. Any little or BIG amount that you can spare would be UNREAL. Whether it's $5, $10, or even $100, the fact that you cared enough to read our Dad's incredible story and want to send him love & help is such an amazing gift. We are so appreciative of the incredible support & love that we've felt from all of our family & friends (near and far), and we know that your collective thoughts, prayers, & energy is the only reason we were able to pull-off that unbelievable mission to Johns Hopkins. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
WE LOVE YOU,
Elicia [Frazier] & Jamie [Rhodes]
JIM & CONNIE'S INCREDIBLE CANCER JOURNEY:
Over 12 years ago, our Dad [Jim Epperlein] was awakened to his stomach expelling a sponge that a negligent doctor left in him during a hernia operation months earlier. Our Mom [Connie Epperlein] had to think & act fast to get him to a good hospital; Johns Hopkins the mission for something of this magnitude. The staff took him in right away & quickly found the sponge left in him with a simple X-ray & scan. However, the scan also showed them another big issue in our Dad's helpless body. A tennis-ball sized, slow-growing, fully-encased tumor in his pancreas. A usual 96% death sentence, our Dad's tumor was of the 1% where a Whipple surgery could be successful. The surgical team had to act fast but also needed to address both the sponge damage & the tumor within an 8-hour surgery. Could a human survive this? How do these medical professionals do this everyday?? The surgery was a complete success, and although his body had some major complications, including an 8-bag stint pulling-out huge amounts of infection and almost dying twice in the ICU, Dad made a full recovery! And to his doctors' hope & surprise, he remained in remission for over 5 years. Another 5 years.....5 more years of birthdays & holidays all together. Wow. How lucky are we?!?!
That family relief wore off a few years later when a series of back issues turned into a spread of cancerous cells & lesions in our Dad's lower spine. Johns Hopkins was there at every step with the radiation treatments & the spinal fusion surgery. But after months & months of recovery, Dad had so much debilitating back pain that he wondered if his previous surgery wasn't successful. Upon further scans, cancerous cells & lesions were found on his upper spine, a tumor on the base of his skull, & signs of an aneurysm on his brain. Though the road definitely looked long, Dad still had hope, a great medical & support team around him, and the will to see another day on a beach at some point. Oh, and inactive lesions were found in his liver at some point during all of these visits. The amazing Johns Hopkins' team knew they'd have to now keep a close eye on that, too. Our unreal Mom sprung into action, yet again, becoming his caregiver at every step & whatever fun new medical adventure that meant. OUR SHERO!
Lots of treatments & lots of different medications meant new reactions were happening in his body. After the pandemic lockdown & after going back to Florida, our Mom noticed some unconscious falls start to happen in late 2020. One morning in early/mid-December, Mom opened the bedroom door to find Dad's lifeless body. He was almost completely unresponsive, but squeezed Mom's hand when she asked him if he could hear her. This was the first of three emergency trips to a local Florida hospital within five days. They could not keep his blood sugar levels stable. But how did this blood sugar issue even start? The hospital couldn't figure it out, but also couldn't release him, again. Because our Dad had a 12-year history with Johns Hopkins, it made sense to involve them & maybe get some direction from them, maybe even have JHs send Dad's chart for the Florida hospital to review. Mom reached out to Dad's oncologist at Johns Hopkins & this amazing doctor responded & gave Mom actual information and instruction. "Have them run a blood panel on insulinoma." Mom made sure to tell Dad's hospital team about her e-mail from Dad's oncologist at Hopkins, but not much was done to connect the dots to the cancer. They had already determined that he was terminal, without proper testing, so they thought they had done all they could do for him.
Our Mom was so strong (along with our Dad) at every step advocating for the best care, for the staff to question what the tests & results were telling them, to review his cancer history from Johns Hopkins, to arrange for a hospital-to-hospital transfer to a cancer treatment center. This Florida hospital wouldn't send over the Johns Hopkins chart, only their diagnosis of hypoglycemia, so once again, our Dad was denied a transfer to the treatment he needed. Mom had decided that she would have to transfer him herself somehow.....possibly to Johns Hopkins, but could Dad survive the trip to the airport, as well as the flight? This was A LOT for a whole family, let alone one exhausted caregiver. My brother-in-law [Kevin Frazier] & I both reached out to Mom the very same morning, telling her that we volunteered to help with the transfer....WHATEVER THAT MEANT. Two days later, there we were with Mom in Florida, planning out how to get Dad released & on a plane to Baltimore, MD during COVID.
It's release day, Mom's at the hospital working with the staff on prescription lists & hospital paperwork, Kevin's closing-up the condo & packing-up the rental van for this ambitious trip to the airport, and I'm driving around Florida trying to get the last of the three, life-saving glucagon shots that we needed in case of emergency. I get back to the condo, Kevin & I leave for the hospital, Dad gets released, Kevin is navigating us to the airport while I'm in the back seat buying our plane tickets for a 4pm flight. When we arrive at the airport, I feel completely unprepared for this event, but I also feel energized by the impossible mission. We had early boarding & got Dad situated perfectly, and his blood sugar was completely stable until we landed at BWI. Through this transfer process, I could see how much work it was just to keep this man alive & comfortable and knew I had to stay at the hotel with our Mom to take care of him. From Friday night until Wednesday morning, Mom & I worked off and on to keep Dad's blood sugar levels stable, to keep him comfortable, & to drain some of the fluids building-up in his body. Wednesday morning was his appointment at Johns Hopkins with his long-time oncologist. We knew this doctor would do the best thing possible for Dad, if we could just get Dad in front of him. We had to use two of the three glucagon shots by Tuesday morning & almost had to use the third right before his appointment that next morning. When we wheeled him into the automatic hospital doors at Johns Hopkins, a complete sense of relief came over me. We did everything we could to get him to the best care, to a hospital that celebrates Dad's medical victories and rolls up their sleeves to figure out the next best thing for his care. It took every single one of us, Connie, Kevin, Elicia, LaRae, Jamie, Easton, and ESPECIALLY JIM.
He is fighting for his life with the best possible doctors & nurses watching over him in the Johns Hopkins ICU. Please send thoughts, prayers, good vibes, and please donate if you are able to. WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH & ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL TO YOU!
Fundraising team (3)
Jamie Rhodes
Organizer
Ft. Pierce, FL
Connie Epperlein
Beneficiary
Elicia Frazier
Team member
LaRae Rhodes
Team member
