James Springer Recovery Fund

A quick introduction to who I am, my name is Dusty Shelton. I have been best friends with James's wife (Jennifer Springer) for almost 30 years. We have seen our families grow up, get married, have babies, lose loved ones and worked through traumas. We are in two different states but we are family. We will drop anything for each other at a moment's notice and recently that was put to the test.

So here is James's Story.

On Sunday, February 19, 2023, James woke up at about 3:30am with severe side pain. He eventually stumbled into our kitchen to grab some water. The next thing you hear is a large crash of glass and a bunch of things falling to the ground. He passed out. James was found blacked out on the kitchen floor with scratches & blood on his face. He came to a moment later after we woke him up. He complained of severe pain in his side. He asked to lay there on the floor for a few minutes. He refused an ambulance because it was such a bad pain he didn’t want them to touch, let alone move him. After about 45 minutes he was taken to his local ER.

They immediately did a CT scan of his abdomen & they found a very large tumor. This tumor was internally bleeding - which is what caused him to black out. The ER doctor made the decision to Trauma Helicopter him from Bluffton to MUSC in Charleston for emergency surgery.

Upon arrival at MUSC, they placed him in Surgical Trauma ICU and monitored him closely. The trauma surgeon decided to wait on surgery as it was unclear where the bleeding was originating from. Basically, he did not want to go searching for a small leak and create a river he couldn’t control bleeding wise. James sat in ICU for several days getting all sorts of tests, biopsies, and bloodwork. He was stable and in good condition. He was sent home with the notion that this could be cancer.

So home he went. Had another test, a PET Scan. And a follow-up appointment with a Surgical Oncologist. We followed up within a week of discharge, and it was not good news. A very rare Neuro-Endocrine Tumor (PNET for short) that originated in his Pancreas. And then spread to his Colon, Spleen, 1 Lymph-Node, and Liver.

Immediately surgery was scheduled for the following week. During surgery, they removed his entire Spleen, part of his Colon, and part of his Pancreas. They tried to operate on his Liver, but it was not cooperating. So to not tempt fate, they ended the surgery without removing the cancer from his Liver.

Surgical oncology and also a medical oncology follow-up confirmed two things: Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, and another surgery for the Liver.

Partial Liver Resection is scheduled for June 13th - next week. They will remove at least 60% of his Liver.

James went home to recover and rest his body till June 13th.

June 13th came and as expected they removed 60% of his liver.

Since the surgery, James has had some ups and downs. A few infections and recovery have taken its toll on him.

Yesterday we got the best news. As of right now, James is cancer free. They will continue to monitor him through recovery and make sure the cancer does not return but there is a moment of relief.

MUSC has been an amazing hospital and we all agreed that he has had amazing care. The only downside to this has been that MUSC is over 2 hours from where James and Jennifer live. So during all these surgeries and tests; Jennifer and the kids have been staying in a hotel. With James being in the hospital for weeks at a time, the cost of hotels and food; not to mention Jennifer has not been able to work much between the hospital trips and being the sole caretaker in the family, they have gone through much of their savings and need help with catching up on bills at home as well as paying all the co-pays.

Both James and Jennifer would never ask for any help, so I am asking for them. These two people are some of the best humans I have ever known and do anything for anyone.

I know we are all going through something but if you feel in your heart that you can donate any little amount, they will be so grateful.

Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this but it is a lot!!

Dusty Shelton