In a matter of hours, cancer surgery ravaged my husband's body and left him severely handicapped. In that short time...all of our lives changed forever. You're given worst case scenarios when speaking with your surgeon, but you never truly expect that they will actually occur and yet they did. Rusty will never walk again without the aide of a walker and/or wheelchair. At 51 years young, life as he knew it was taken away by a tumor. We are now faced with having to retrofit or home and vehicle so that he can eventually return to work, but it's going a long journey before we reach that ultimate goal.

My husband Rusty was diagnosed with stage 3-C colon cancer in April 2012. Unfortunately, the cancer cells got into his lymph system and started depositing tumors around his abdominal area. On Wednesday November 19, 2014 he underwent his 3rd operation to remove cancer from within his abdominal region. Two tumors reappeared that have now completely ravaged his body & changed his life. In January 2014, he had a small tumor removed from his Psoas muscle that serves the functioning and mobility of our legs. This tumor returned and grew to the size of a baseball that invaded the muscle and femoral nerve. In order to remove the cancer, the Psoas muscle was deeply disected and the nerve severed leaving his left leg severly handicapped. He cannot lift it what-so-ever without picking the leg up with his hands.

What many people may not know is that his left leg was his "good leg". Rusty suffered a fractured heal on his right foot in 2000 that left him slightly handicapped already. His truck was fitted with a left-foot gas peddle because he has no range of motion in his right foot. We will now have to get him a different vehicle and have hand controls installed as he will be unable to get in/out of his truck.

We now face a very, very long and very grueling rehabilitation period that we hope to gain independent mobility. He will require a walker/wheelchair that will require a wheelchair ramp installed into our household. 

Those are just two of the things that we know are going to be necessary, I'm certain there will be countless other issues that will present themselves over the upcoming months, in addition to the loss of his income.

If you know us, then you know that we don't ask for help. We are the people who give help to others; often and unconditionally. This is very hard for me to say, but I think we need some help.

I'm shedding tears as I write this because I feel so overhwelmed and helpless. This is a foreign place for me. So I will thank you all in advance for whatever you can do to help us and will promise to always return the favor whenever and if ever you find yourself in a place of need.

Much love-

Maureen Chambers Tyler