Many of you may know my friend, Lucie Wheeler. I’ve known Lucie since high school, and she is a kind woman with a loving and giving heart. She has raised her two incredible children, mostly on her own, and has worked hard tending to her elderly mother more recently.
In late Fall of 2023, Lucie found out that a tumor she had was Bile Duct Cancer that had already progressed a good bit. She had surgery to take out the tumor and had chemotherapy treatments. By June of 2024, she was feeling like she was almost “out of the woods.” However, in July, her doctor told her that the pain she was having was a result of the cancer having spread to her bones. Lucie told her doctor she was not ready for him just to “manage the cancer” and wanted more help. He referred her to MD Anderson. This looked like real hope. Lucie made two different trips to Texas to see doctors at MD Anderson. Her doctor in Atlanta tried an even stronger chemo treatment which her immune system couldn’t handle, and she had to go to the hospital with C. difficile bacterium. Lucie had many hospital trips, too, for a paracentesis to allow fluid to be drained from her stomach so she could eat. In the end, doctors felt that Lucie’s body just wasn’t strong enough for her to go through with the experimental trials in Texas, which was a big disappointment for her. Lucie has been in hospice care, now at home, since June 20th. As of August, Lucie started to decline greatly, and more recently is just being kept comfortable and out of pain as much as possible. Her son Justin and daughter Ginny have been taking care of her, taking turns staying overnight.
As you can well imagine, these two young people have a lot on their shoulders right now, and there have been a great deal of medical expenses throughout this whole journey. First of all, Lucie, Ginny, and Justin need our prayers as the Lord carries them through this difficult time. Secondly, if you feel to help this family with any of the expenses involved with Lucie’s cancer journey, I know they would greatly appreciate it.
