Shelia Yates Familial Support Fund

Updating the main story to report that my mother passed away at 2:25am April 15th, 2025.

We are seeking support to unite under one household and to replace my mother's repossessed vehicle. My family urgently needs to be under one roof and secure our resources. Thank you for all the support so far.

My mother, Shelia, has been hospitalized since February 20th, 2025.

As the saga of her severe, life-threatening health emergency has unfolded, we discovered something that is majorly life-altering for me and our family.

My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 small cell carcinoma, commonly known as lung cancer. They found it in her liver and intestines as a surprise complication to the bowel obstruction emergency which hospitalized her initially. She had known nodules in her lungs that were due for biopsy the week she was hospitalized. SCLC is a fast growing cancer. Her illness is terminal, and the prognosis is typically 3-6 months for this stage.

On Thursday, February 20th, she took an ambulance to the emergency room in Quitman. She had been violently ill for more than a day, throwing up and cramping in her entire body, extreme pains in her kidneys, and other severe symptoms of illness. There, she received a CT scan, and they discovered she had a major small bowel obstruction. They fitted her with a nasogastric tube and helped to stabilize her condition. However, they could not perform the surgery she was going to need at this hospital; they were not equipped to do so.

On Feb 21st, more than 24 hours after her admittance, she was finally transfered to UT Health in Tyler. There, she spent the next week receiving antibiotics and fluids and other care while the doctors debated surgery. They gave her body as much time as they could to clear the blockage on her own, but it was ultimately determined that the blockage was so severe that it would require operation. There were concerns regarding her infection, and the debate continued until February 27th, when she finally had her first procedure.

They performed an operation to clear the blockage and it was determined it had been caused by a previously-placed hernia mesh, which had twisted her bowels "like a bow". They could remove all but 10% of the hernia mesh, but due to the severity of my mother's present infection and the softness of her tissues, they could not close her surgical openings. The wound was left open and she was transfered to ICU care with a wound vac.

On the 29th, she had a second procedure. They removed the remaining mesh and messy tissues, performed an exploratory laproscopy, and detected cloudy fluid indicating persistent infection. Cultures and biopsies were taken of some concerning areas, she was cleaned, and her wound was left open once again, due to the risks of closure.

On March 1st, my mother began to struggle with breathing. She was in severe pain and struggling, so in order to assist her and lower her stress levels, as well as to treat her with different pain medication, they opted to put her on a ventilator.

She had her third procedure on March 3rd, but they still could not close the wound from her surgery. She continued to be on support and antibiotics.

That evening, around 5:30pm, her surgeon called me to report that her pathology report had come back from the lab. The spots he had concerns about on her liver and intestinal tissues came back as small cell carcinoma. She has extensive lung cancer. This was shocking news and complicated matters quite a bit.

On March 5th, mom had her fourth and final surgery to close up her surgical wounds. A PEG tube was placed in her abdomen for nutrition.

Shelia struggled in recovery, due to her infection, chronic COPD complications, her autoimmune condition, and lack of fortitudinal physical reserves. She failed many breathing trials, and her anxiety and unrest complicated matters for many days. She did better when a visitor or family member was there with her for support, but she consistently showed unfavorable improvement.

On March 19th, mom received a tracheostomy so that she could continue to receive ventilator support in a safe manner and avoid further damage to her organs. Now, she has the ability to be safely extubated, but also safely intubated again should she experience complication.

Since then, she has been in convalescence, recovering from her surgical wounds and septic infection and receiving medication and pain management support. She had been on ICU status for 24 days. She was finally moved to another room last night.

We are waiting for insurance approval of the referral, but in a few days mom should be transferred to Christus which is basically next door to UT Health. They dissolved their Long Term Acute Care department a year ago, so Christus is the only place she can go for continued care. Once there, she has a 3-4 week window to try and get totally off the ventilator and she'll receive wound care as well. After that, assuming she is successful, she can come home. She has decided not to undergo chemotherapy treatment at this time.

I hope to find a way to get everyone moved by then so she doesn't have to make the move from hospital to home to a new home with us. I'm going to ask questions about how we can safely move her and see if the care team has advice to help me brainstorm that. The goal is to secure a 3 bedroom apartment in Tyler, TX so that me, her spouse Steven, my 16 year old sister Kimmie, and hopefully mom can stay together. I have found many suitable options to apply for, so as soon as I receive funds for deposits, administrative fees, first months rent, and uhaul/moving costs, I can take action.

Mom herself is still getting her voice back and gaining her strength. At this time due to her condition, it will be a while before she can be online and answer personal messages and such, but hopefully soon y'all will be able to hear from her personally regarding this incredible journey she is now on.

This is unexpected, and much more severe than any of us could have imagined. It spells big changes for our family, and soon, in ways we were not prepared for. We will need continued support in a myriad of ways. We need community at this time of uncertainty.

Thank you for reading this far. I will continue to post updates as I know more along the way. Please consider donating to help me move my family out of their rural home in Mineola and to Tyler, together, so that we can celebrate the remainder of my mother's life and support each other.