Cancer Can't Keep Shane Down

For those of you who don't know my brother, Shane Hoffman, I can say that he is a passionate, kind-hearted guy, whose love of music, his dog, the arts, camping, gaming, his two nieces, family and his friends across the country, is unmatched.

Last week, Shane spent the entire week in the hospital, battling chronic pain that he has been suffering silently from for years. The news of Stage II  colon cancer was disheartening to Shane and our family, to say the least, but we are ready to fight this illness along Shane's side with everything we've got.

The large mass in Shane's large intestine, colon and rectal area had to be treated immediately with a multitude of antibiotics, and surgery to aid in his comfort and also digestion, before treatment of the cancer can even begin. The cancer has only spread locally, doctors said, and with quick treatment, they can hopefully avoid it metastasizing to his lymph nodes, liver and lungs, which are all currently and thankfully clear. 

Shane will need to go through months of treatment, beginning with more weeks of antibiotics that are being administered at home. He will then go through four months of chemotherapy, and finally two months of radiation. The location of Shane's mass is surgically hard to get to so doctors are hoping to shrink the mass prior to removing.



For those who know my brother, he is a workhorse and also very humble. As the head chef at Todd's Townley Tavern in Monroeville, a small tavern and grille,  for almost two decades, he will most assuredly be missed. He may not be able to work through most of these treatments, and will be wholly responsible for all of his own medical bills as well as loss of wages during his time recuperating. The financial burden will be heavy.

Any assistance you can provide to help ease the financial burden for Shane so that he can focus on healing is appreciated. Every little bit helps.