Mr. Van Curen Boots the Tumor

Hello, my name is Delaney Davidson. I am organizing this GoFundMe for my teaching partner Jarrett Van Curen. I ask that you please take the time to read about his story and what has happened over the last week. We are not supposed to question why things happen the way they do. But, I’m personally struggling with that. My teaching partner, my best friend and the brother God knew I needed, is facing the greatest challenge of his life.

Let me tell you about Mr. Van Curen... or as his students call him, Mr. V.

Jarrett is 32 years old and has a beautiful wife plus 3 boys. Lindsey and Jarrett have been married 9 years this coming June. Jett, the oldest, is a 7 year old boy who is his Daddy's carbon copy. Judson just turned 5 and is as sweet as his Mommy. Jase turned 1 in March and he has just figured out how to walk. All three boys look just like their Daddy. Lindsey is a second grade teacher at Pittsburg Elementary School. Jarrett is the lead Ag Science Teacher at Big Sandy ISD. Jarrett will receive his 10 years of service pin at the Ag Teachers Association of Texas this summer. During his ten years of teaching he has taken 8 FFA teams to the State level, too many blue ribbon ag mech projects to count, and impacted hundreds of students' lives.

On a daily basis Jarrett wakes up between 2-3am, grabs a cup of coffee and walks over to his leather shop to work building cowboy boots before helping get the boys ready for school and then heading to teach. Jarrett paid his way through college at Texas A&M-Commerce by tooling leather and then taught himself bootmaking. In 2019, Texas Monthly Magazine named him one of the Top 20 Bootmakers in Texas. He's won various awards and belt buckles at the Boot & Saddle Maker Round Up in Wichita Falls, Texas. Mr. V also makes belts, money clips and wallets. You can check out his work at his website and Facebook page. https://www.vancurenleather.com

He and his parents opened up a leather goods and cigar shop in Jefferson, Texas in October of 2022. I encourage you to visit their website. https://calaveraleatherandcigar.com/index.html

Let me fill you in on the events of this past week...

Mr. Van Curen and a few ag mechanic students went to Hewitts (a local hardware store) on Monday 5/15/23 at the beginning of 1st period. On the way back Mr. V had a seizure. The boys were quick on their feet and got the truck in park, called 911 and then me. I got there within minutes of it happening. After what felt like ages the ambulance arrived. It took him quite a while to "come to" but he was able to stand up and get on the stretcher. He doesn't remember anything except his mouth feeling funny while driving and then us asking him to sit on the stretcher. He was transported to UT North off of 155 from Winona, TX. There he got an EKG and a scan. The scan showed a 2.5" mass on the frontal lobe of the right side of his brain. They then sent him to the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at UT Health (off of Beckham) in Tyler, TX.

After further testing on Tuesday, the mass was determined as a slow growing gliomas. It has been there for several years. The doctor told the family that it is terminal, due to the inability of removing the entire tumor. Thankfully, there are no other masses anywhere in his body. They operated on Thursday morning, and it took a total of 3 hours. The doctor said it was a smooth surgery, and he "removed the most that he could as safely as he could." We were able to visit with him shortly after he was wheeled to his room from surgery. He was able to move all extremities and talk with us. (Praise God!) By Friday (5/19/23) Jarrett was able to eat solid foods and make laps around the nurses station.

Mr. V's parents (Jennifer and Ray Phillips) have done extensive research. They have found a facility called Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. Dr. Black is the head of neurosurgery that leads a team of doctors that work miracles on tumors. Several " small world" connections have been made and Jarrett has an appointment scheduled for June 6th at 1:00pm.

****Update****

July 3, Jarrett has now seen all of the Doctors at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. They are very optimistic at being able to remove at least 80% of the tumor with surgery. Jarrett now has a surgery date of 7-12. Pre-op is 7-11. All of the family will be with him for these procedures and the 3-4 days following when he will be discharged from the hospital. Everyone will stay in California until his follow-up with the Doctors approx. a week after he is discharged. Once cleared to come home, Jarrett and family will travel back to Texas for further recovery and preparation for continued treatment which may be chemotherapy and radiation in Dallas and possibly participating in a clinical trial that has shown great success in stopping the growth of his type of tumor. We look for Jarrett to return to Texas around July 25.

I plan to help the family as much as I possibly can to help get him there. I ask that if you are the praying type to please pray for Jarrett and his family. If your heart leads you to want to help this family I ask that you please donate through this account. The money raised will go towards fuel, hotel rooms, meals and any other medical expenses.

Holding your best friend’s head in the palm of your hands as he struggles to awaken after a seizure is something I do not want to experience again. But I’ll do it again in a heartbeat. I promise to hold your hand through this journey with you and your family.

#BlueBootsV