Support Tiffany After John's Brave Battle

My husband and I have known John and Tiffany for 12 years. John always had a smile on his face and a mischievous gleam in his eye. He loved to have fun and he had a wonderful sense of humor. He and my husband would joke with each other every time they were around each other. More importantly, he loved Tiffany, his family, and his friends hard. Tiffany loved everything about John. She was more down to earth and straight forward. They balanced each other perfectly.

In 2022, he had his first fight with colon/rectal cancer at the young age of 49. They had caught it early, and the doctors thought they had removed all of it. Everyone was so relieved that he had beaten it and had a healthy life ahead of him. In July of 2024, he had some symptoms that scared them, but they did some scans and everything came back normal. But sadly, cancer wasn't done with John. In early January of this year, they found out it was back with a vengeance. He side started hurting so, he went in for another scan. Unfortunately, this time it had spread to many places, including his liver. It was stage 4. They thought he had approximately 2 years to live with treatment. And John wanted to live as long as possible. He and Tiffany were having their first grandbaby. He wanted to see as much of her life as possible. This was posted by John in February holding his sweet granddaughter.

At this point, his world was Tiffany, his kids, his grandbaby, and his dogs. He fought so hard for them enduring treatments and always working, no matter what. He even worked on building a doll house for his granddaughter to have when she was older while he was going through chemo.

And he still had his sense of humor. Even in the hospital.

On Sunday, June 1, we received word from Tiffany that he had gone severely downhill within the last week. We were out of state and traveling back home that Monday, so we stopped by the hospital to see them. John looked shockingly frail, but was so happy to see us. Tiffany looked so worried. We talked with John and Tiffany for a little over an hour. They shared with us the good news of a second grandbaby on the way! We talked about old memories and how much we all cared for each other. We joked and hugged and we cried. He still had his sense of humor and that gleam in his eye. He even mustered up the strength to get out of bed to take some pictures with us. He couldn't wait for us to send them to him. But he also expressed how worried he was about Tiffany and what would happen to her when he was gone. He wasn't worried about himself or the pain he was going though, he was worried about her. As we were leaving, he grabbed my hand and hugged me one last time. He asked us to please make sure we helped take care of her after he was gone. I told him we definitely would. I knew he was so worried because going through cancer twice, especially these last few months, had taken a financial toll on them. This picture was John earlier that day compared to the picture he had posted with his granddaughter. In just 4 months, the toll was obvious. That day, they thought he had two more months or so to live.

This was our last picture with John at the hospital on Monday, June 2nd. By Thursday, June 5th, hospice took over because he had lost all motor functions. On Friday, June 6th, Tiffany said that he wasn't responsive, but he would pucker his lips and kiss her anytime she kissed him. That night, at 8:50, she texted and told us he had passed.

It is a very sad story, but we want to help Tiffany as much as possible. Her rent is paid through two more weeks. She has used all of her PTO up at work to be with John in his last days. Her income by itself is not enough to sustain her in the Dallas area, so she wants to move to Lubbock to be with her daughter and grandchildren. Her grandchildren give her a reason to keep going. John had some life insurance that can help pay for the funeral, but they will charge a 5% fee. Please help her to be able to pay her bills, pay funeral costs without the fee, and to be able to move without a severe financial struggle that makes her grief even more unbearable.