Ease Kevin's Pain - Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer
Donation protected
In mid-September of 2019, my mom, Sonnet Jackson, and my step dad, Kevin Jackson, went to South Padre for a much needed getaway. Soon after returning home, Kevin began vomiting multiple times per day, daily, leaving him unable to hold in food and sleep through the night. After countless hospital trips resulting in no help, he was finally diagnosed the week of December 13th, update post reading:
"Kevin has been ill since we got back from vacation in September. He has lost 43 lbs. We finally got a diagnosis this week of acute pancreatitis with a side of pancreatic cancer. The cancer was found very early. Kevin had an IV placed today for IV nutrients. The idea is to bypass his GI system to give his pancreas time to heal. He is home but not working. They will deal with the cancer when they can. Information changes frequently."
Home health began visiting to teach us how to work with PICC lines, and helped us adjust to the feeding tubes. Eliminating eating did lower the frequency of Kevin's vomiting, however he continued losing weight, eventually losing a large amount of his strength and over 50 lbs total. Kevin saw an oncologist, and on December 20th had photos taken of his pancreas. This revealed to us more cancer, Stage 4 rather than the initial stage 1 diagnosis just days prior. He had a port put in that will be utilized once he begins Chemo this upcoming week. After this surgery, he had begun to get jaundice, leading to a surgery where a Bile Duct Stent was put in. He was at the hospital for 3 days recovering. The night he returned, he had to go back to the hospital around 11pm, on January 1st, finding out at 1am he had a blood clot. They will begin blood thinners, as this is all they presume his body can handle. He will soon begin chemo. This post will be updated, as plans change almost daily.
We do have insurance, however there is a yearly $5,000 out of pocket fee, and we have just carried on to the 2nd year, and there are inevitable co-pays each visit. Our business, which Kevin himself built from the ground up, is in a slow season and his long term disability does not cover our part of his insurance premiums.
"Kevin has been ill since we got back from vacation in September. He has lost 43 lbs. We finally got a diagnosis this week of acute pancreatitis with a side of pancreatic cancer. The cancer was found very early. Kevin had an IV placed today for IV nutrients. The idea is to bypass his GI system to give his pancreas time to heal. He is home but not working. They will deal with the cancer when they can. Information changes frequently."
Home health began visiting to teach us how to work with PICC lines, and helped us adjust to the feeding tubes. Eliminating eating did lower the frequency of Kevin's vomiting, however he continued losing weight, eventually losing a large amount of his strength and over 50 lbs total. Kevin saw an oncologist, and on December 20th had photos taken of his pancreas. This revealed to us more cancer, Stage 4 rather than the initial stage 1 diagnosis just days prior. He had a port put in that will be utilized once he begins Chemo this upcoming week. After this surgery, he had begun to get jaundice, leading to a surgery where a Bile Duct Stent was put in. He was at the hospital for 3 days recovering. The night he returned, he had to go back to the hospital around 11pm, on January 1st, finding out at 1am he had a blood clot. They will begin blood thinners, as this is all they presume his body can handle. He will soon begin chemo. This post will be updated, as plans change almost daily.
We do have insurance, however there is a yearly $5,000 out of pocket fee, and we have just carried on to the 2nd year, and there are inevitable co-pays each visit. Our business, which Kevin himself built from the ground up, is in a slow season and his long term disability does not cover our part of his insurance premiums.
Organizer and beneficiary
Samantha Weiss
Organizer
Weatherford, TX
Sonnet Jackson
Beneficiary
