Help with meals, lodging and gas

Uncle Darrel’s Cancer Journey

This journey for Darrel started when Pat noticed this past January that he was losing weight without trying. She tracked his weight loss over the next 6 months and he had lost over 50 pounds. Then he started having problems with other things, so she decided that he needed to have some further testing done with a colonoscopy, which was done on Sept. 13.

The surgeon came back and told them that he had removed 9 polyps but had left 2 larger ones because he suspected that they were cancerous. He referred Darrel to Rochester for follow-up, which happened Sept. 27, where they were told he possibly had rectal cancer. This was confirmed Oct. 4 after his CT scan and MRI. So far everything is confined to the pelvic area, they don’t believe it has spread to anywhere else. His liver and lungs look clear, and they don’t believe it’s spread to his bones as of right now. They have a consult on Oct. 10 where they will learn his options. They are talking chemotherapy and radiation first, and possibly surgery after that.

This is going to be a long, hard road for him because on top of having cancer, he also was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in August of this year, so some things aren’t clicking and he doesn’t remember things that are told to him

Darrel contributed to this community for over 45 years. He was there for every storm advising people of what was going on and most of the community turned to him on the radio to hear the latest. He worked almost every holiday away from his family so the others at the station could be with theirs. He shared recipes on Party Line that became favorites for a lot of people, and is still asked about some of them.

Please help him now in his time of need any way you can. If not monetarily, then just a card of encouragement would brighten his day

UPDATE:

Darrel has been given the diagnosis of Stage 3 rectal cancer. He will start chemo in the next few weeks and then radiation following that, then possibly surgery (which is likely). This is the start of a long, hard road for him and the family. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and donations.