Support the Deal Family

Many individuals have reached out to me and and have asked how they can support Jeff and his family so I decided to create a GoFundme site as a means for those individuals as well as others to offer support. Here is some information about Jeff and what he and his family have experienced this week. Jeff Deal is 37 years old and married to Trisha. They have three boys: Logan age 10, Owen age 2 and Max is 7 weeks old. On Monday, March 14th Jeff was scheduled for a MRI because he was experiencing recurring severe headaches. Later that afternoon, Jeff and his wife Trisha found out that Jeff had a tumor growing on his pituitary gland. The tumor was 6.5cm long and 3cm wide. The neurologist in Toledo immediately referred Jeff to the Cleveland Clinic. By 600pm that evening they were scheduled to see a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic the next day. On Tuesday, March 15th Jeff, Trisha and their 7 week old baby spent 7 hours at the Cleveland Clinic. Numerous tests were conducted on Jeff and he met with a neurologist and endocrinologist. By the end of the day, Jeff was scheduled for brain surgery to remove the tumor on April 11. Jeff and Trisha were exhausted and decided to stay in Cleveland one more night before driving back to Toledo. At 330am on Wednesday, March 16, Trisha found Jeff unresponsive. He was taken to Parma hospital via ambulance and within an hour they had him life flighted to the Cleveland Clinic. He was admitted to the neuro ICU. The tumor was putting pressure on his brain and was blocking fluid which caused his brain to swell. They had to sedate him, put him on a ventilator and drill a hole in his skull to place a catheter in order to drain the blocked fluid. He was stable but in a very delicate state. By 600pm that night he showed signs of improvement so they took him off the ventilator. He woke up from the sedation very well. He remembered his name and knew Trisha. The neurologist immediately scheduled Jeffs surgery for the following morning. The plan was to access the tumor laparoscopically through Jeff's nose and remove small pieces at a time until the entire tumor was removed. As well as perform a nasoseptal flap reconstruction. This flap was destroyed by the tumor which is why it needed to be reconstructed. The neurologist stated he would use some fatty tissue from Jeff's stomach and tissue from the inside of his nose in order to complete the reconstruction. The reconstruction was necessary as the flap ensures the proper and necessary flow of cerebrospinal fluid. At 910am on March 17, the surgery began. After nine long hours the surgery was over. The neurologist and the ENT surgeon met with Jeff's family. They advised that the surgery went very well. The entire tumor was removed and they were successful with the flap reconstruction as well. By 9 PM that night Jeff was taken off of the ventilator and he was breathing on his own. He woke up and recognized Trisha right away. He was very sore as to be expected but was in very good spirits. Jeff did well through the night and the next day by noon he was moved to step down ICU. He has a very long road to full recovery. It's unknown at this time how long he will be in the hospital. But the neurologist has advised that once Jeff is released he will be unable to work for at least eight weeks. He will also have many restrictions during that eight week period such as, no coughing, he must sneeze with his mouth open, he cannot blow his nose and he cannot lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. Right now, the family is taking one day at a time and thanking God for helping all of us, especially Jeff through this experience. He's an amazingly strong individual and we're beyond thankful that he's still here with us today. Should anyone want to offer support or a donation please do so through this site. All monetary donations will go to Trisha and Jeff and will help with medical bills and expenses. Thank you for your support. Our family is and will be forever grateful.