Help Keith fight his battle with Cancer
Donation protected
Keith's sister Darla, helped us set up this GoFundMe.
My name is Colleen Shew.
It is with a very heavy heart that I reach out and ask you for help for my husband, Keith Shew.
Keith and I are the proud parents of 3 beautiful children, Jeff, Brian & Samantha.
Keith just turned 60 last year.
13 years ago, Keith developed throat cancer. Our children were only 14, 10 and 4. It was really hard on our poor kids to see their dad suffer so much.
Keith underwent huge doses of radiation, along with chemotherapy. The fight took a lot out of him. He was in really rough shape. He later described laying in bed and thinking he was not going to make it.
Fortunately, he slowly began to improve. The cancer finally went into remission after a long fight.
In early November of 2018, Keith was diagnosed with his current, second bout of cancer. This time it was Stage 4 Tongue Cancer.
Keith learned that this cancer was likely from the radiation he had previously received. This is a known, but uncommon side effect of radiation.
On November 19, 2018, Keith had his first major surgery. This surgery removed the entire left side of his tongue and replaced it with a section of his arm that would enable critical blood flow. A section of skin & tissue from his left thigh was used to replace the portion of his arm that was used. 10 lymph nodes were also removed. 2 of them were stage 2 cancer.......
At this time, the doctors said they had gotten all of the cancer in his tongue.
Due to how hard it was to swallow, Keith had to have surgery to have a feeding tube placed in his stomach. This is how Keith gets all of his nutrition and fluid into his system. He is unable to eat or drink the way you and I do.
Two months later, the cancer was back. It was now found in the right side of his tongue. The entire right side of it is now cancerous from the base to the tip.
Within a few weeks, Keith developed a second and extremely aggressive new cancer, in his larynx (voice box). It quickly became harder and harder to speak at all.
Keith has had to continue to utilize a feeding tube since November of 2018 and will have to use it exclusively, for the rest of his life. Keith cannot swallow or speak at all now and will never be able to swallow or speak again. He has to use a suction machine every couple of minutes to clear his mouth of saliva. He can't even have a single sip of water no matter how thirsty he gets.
He is in constant pain from his tongue. The pain from his larynx radiates up the entire side of his head. He has to take pain medication every 3 hours around the clock just to TRY to deal with the pain. The meds barely help.
A few weeks ago, Keith had to have emergency Traceostomy surgery. He was having trouble breathing due to the mass on his larynx. This cancer is so aggressive that the tumor grew extremely quickly. His surgeon said in a couple more days he wouldn't have been able to breathe at all. The mass was literally closing off his airway. Keith now breathes through the Tracheostomy tube in the front of his throat.
Now when Keith has to cough, he has to use a mirror, a washcloth and the suction machine because anything he coughs up comes out through the tracheostomy tube in the front of his throat.
He has had additional procedures and biopsies throughout.
Initially, surgeons had planned to completely remove Keith's tongue and larynx. After the Tracheostomy, they did an internal scope to get a better look at the affected areas. Doctors then decided that removal was not the route to go.
Keith's next step is Immunotherapy and possibly Chemotherapy along with more radiation. Doctors hope that this will help lessen some of the extreme pain that Keith has to suffer with constantly and to hopefully help fight the cancer.
Keith worked 80 hours a week helping to support his family up until a couple days before his surgery in November 2018. He will now, never work again. It's really hard to get by without his income.
This leaves our family struggling! We're struggling to pay our portion of medical bills (which are over $200,000) struggling to pay for supplies Keith needs for his tube feedings (including the food itself) and Tracheostomy maintenance supplies (in order to breathe). This doesn't even begin to cover other household bills and expenses related and not related to Keith's cancer.
It seems ridiculous that insurance won't cover more of the cost of his Feeding Tube and Tracheostomy supplies. The bags his food has to be emptied into are nearly $400 for 6 of them! He has to have a special high calorie, high fiber food. The cheapest we've been able to find it is nearly $100 for a one week supply. We have to pay for the inner replacement tubes inside his Tracheostomy tube. These are nearly $50 for just a few of them. These have to be changed frequently because if one of them clogs, he cannot breathe until it is replaced. It's terrifying for him and for the rest of our family when this happens! It turns the single breath he's trying to take into an emergency situation.
We need help urgently and we need it as soon as possible. Donations of ANY size will go a long way and will mean so much to us. Anything you can spare will be greatly, greatly appreciated.
My family and I would like to thank each and every one of you for simply taking the time to read our story.
Your prayers and positive thoughts are more welcome than you could know.
The Shew Family~ ( Set up by Darla Langdon, Keith's Sister)
My name is Colleen Shew.
It is with a very heavy heart that I reach out and ask you for help for my husband, Keith Shew.
Keith and I are the proud parents of 3 beautiful children, Jeff, Brian & Samantha.
Keith just turned 60 last year.
13 years ago, Keith developed throat cancer. Our children were only 14, 10 and 4. It was really hard on our poor kids to see their dad suffer so much.
Keith underwent huge doses of radiation, along with chemotherapy. The fight took a lot out of him. He was in really rough shape. He later described laying in bed and thinking he was not going to make it.
Fortunately, he slowly began to improve. The cancer finally went into remission after a long fight.
In early November of 2018, Keith was diagnosed with his current, second bout of cancer. This time it was Stage 4 Tongue Cancer.
Keith learned that this cancer was likely from the radiation he had previously received. This is a known, but uncommon side effect of radiation.
On November 19, 2018, Keith had his first major surgery. This surgery removed the entire left side of his tongue and replaced it with a section of his arm that would enable critical blood flow. A section of skin & tissue from his left thigh was used to replace the portion of his arm that was used. 10 lymph nodes were also removed. 2 of them were stage 2 cancer.......
At this time, the doctors said they had gotten all of the cancer in his tongue.
Due to how hard it was to swallow, Keith had to have surgery to have a feeding tube placed in his stomach. This is how Keith gets all of his nutrition and fluid into his system. He is unable to eat or drink the way you and I do.
Two months later, the cancer was back. It was now found in the right side of his tongue. The entire right side of it is now cancerous from the base to the tip.
Within a few weeks, Keith developed a second and extremely aggressive new cancer, in his larynx (voice box). It quickly became harder and harder to speak at all.
Keith has had to continue to utilize a feeding tube since November of 2018 and will have to use it exclusively, for the rest of his life. Keith cannot swallow or speak at all now and will never be able to swallow or speak again. He has to use a suction machine every couple of minutes to clear his mouth of saliva. He can't even have a single sip of water no matter how thirsty he gets.
He is in constant pain from his tongue. The pain from his larynx radiates up the entire side of his head. He has to take pain medication every 3 hours around the clock just to TRY to deal with the pain. The meds barely help.
A few weeks ago, Keith had to have emergency Traceostomy surgery. He was having trouble breathing due to the mass on his larynx. This cancer is so aggressive that the tumor grew extremely quickly. His surgeon said in a couple more days he wouldn't have been able to breathe at all. The mass was literally closing off his airway. Keith now breathes through the Tracheostomy tube in the front of his throat.
Now when Keith has to cough, he has to use a mirror, a washcloth and the suction machine because anything he coughs up comes out through the tracheostomy tube in the front of his throat.
He has had additional procedures and biopsies throughout.
Initially, surgeons had planned to completely remove Keith's tongue and larynx. After the Tracheostomy, they did an internal scope to get a better look at the affected areas. Doctors then decided that removal was not the route to go.
Keith's next step is Immunotherapy and possibly Chemotherapy along with more radiation. Doctors hope that this will help lessen some of the extreme pain that Keith has to suffer with constantly and to hopefully help fight the cancer.
Keith worked 80 hours a week helping to support his family up until a couple days before his surgery in November 2018. He will now, never work again. It's really hard to get by without his income.
This leaves our family struggling! We're struggling to pay our portion of medical bills (which are over $200,000) struggling to pay for supplies Keith needs for his tube feedings (including the food itself) and Tracheostomy maintenance supplies (in order to breathe). This doesn't even begin to cover other household bills and expenses related and not related to Keith's cancer.
It seems ridiculous that insurance won't cover more of the cost of his Feeding Tube and Tracheostomy supplies. The bags his food has to be emptied into are nearly $400 for 6 of them! He has to have a special high calorie, high fiber food. The cheapest we've been able to find it is nearly $100 for a one week supply. We have to pay for the inner replacement tubes inside his Tracheostomy tube. These are nearly $50 for just a few of them. These have to be changed frequently because if one of them clogs, he cannot breathe until it is replaced. It's terrifying for him and for the rest of our family when this happens! It turns the single breath he's trying to take into an emergency situation.
We need help urgently and we need it as soon as possible. Donations of ANY size will go a long way and will mean so much to us. Anything you can spare will be greatly, greatly appreciated.
My family and I would like to thank each and every one of you for simply taking the time to read our story.
Your prayers and positive thoughts are more welcome than you could know.
The Shew Family~ ( Set up by Darla Langdon, Keith's Sister)
Organizer and beneficiary
Darla Langdon
Organizer
Buckley, WA
Samantha Shew
Beneficiary