Donate in memory of David Lee Schaefer

Hi, my name is Zacharias and I am fundraising on behalf of my mother Elizabeth in order to pay for my dad's (David) funeral expenses.

In my sister Corinne's words:

Labor day weekend 2022 my dad had his first biopsy, which revealed lung cancer. He then had another biopsy which revealed that the cancer had spread to some spots on his bones. By the end of September he was diagnosed with stage 4, non-small cell lung cancer, which is non curable. He then began immunotherapy every 3 weeks, the goal was the slow the cancer down. He tolerated his treatments pretty well, however he had 2 bouts of pneumonia and pancreatitis in the process, which were very painful. After five immunotherapy treatments the Dr wanted to do another PET scan to see if it was working to slow the cancer down. However we never had the opportunity to get the scan as my dad ended up in the hospital early February due to a pain crisis. While in the hospital my dad endured 4 different procedures to hopefully help slow the cancer and help with pain. Instead of getting stronger in the hospital, he began to get weaker as his cancer was progressing rapidly. After much suffering, my dad's pain was managed well around day 11 in the hospital. At which point the Dr let us know that my dad was now qualified for hospice. By the grace of God after 12 long days, we were able to bring him home on hospice, with his pain managed, on Feb 27th. We began working day and night as a family to care for him and keep him comfortable through the help of hospice nurses and Dr. On 12 March we celebrated his 64th birthday with a steak dinner and Texas sheet cake, all together, showering him with love and support.

Shortly thereafter the rate of his decline increased and on Wednesday March 15th, in the early morning hours, in the comfort of his earthly home, surrounded by loving family, David went peacefully to his heavenly home. As a dearly loved hymn "It is Well with my Soul" played softly beside him, he breathed his last breaths, and his struggle was over. He will be deeply missed but we are so grateful he is with Jesus our Lord, in glory and we look forward to seeing him again in heaven. Thank you for all of your prayers, love and support.