My husband Tony, the strongest man I know, FINALLY let me bring him into the New London ER on February 6th 2025 after suffering from severe gas pain for the past couple weeks. The ER took scans of his abdomen and did some blood work.  We never got the results of those tests. Instead, we were told Tony needed to be transfered by ambulance to ThedaCare Neenah for 'exploratory' surgery. Very soon after this news he was whisked away and admitted into the ThedaCare Neenah hospital's operating room. We barely had any time to say our goodbyes let alone talk about all of the "what ifs" the doctors warned us about. My husband is a fighter so whatever the outcome was, I knew we were going to be just fine! The 'exploratory' surgery lasted 1 1/2 hours and was a success according to the surgeon. During the surgery they found a 5 cm tumor in his colon. They were able to remove it and send it out to pathology. Almost all of the 'what ifs' turned into our 'new normals'. Tony woke up from that surgery with a colostomy bag, cancer diagnosis, and lots of hurdles to climb! He was hospitalized until February 15th. Shortly after we got home we found out he is battling STAGE 3 ADENOCARCINOMA COLON CANCER.

He needs to heal from surgery before he can start any type of treatment. As of right now, he needs to have a proper colonoscopy in 6 weeks to make sure they got everything, genetic testing, make a cancer treatment plan, and heal/rest. His colostomy bag can be reversed after all of the cancer treatment is completed. The timeline on that is all unknown. We are just trying to take things day by day! 

My husband Tony has been the sole provider of our large family for a very long time! We never left any room for the unknown and what ifs. He is and will be out of work for awhile. He will be receiving short term disability but it won't be enough to cover all of the new and pre-existing expenses. Because of this we are asking for help with medical expenses, transportation, medical supplies, monthly bills, ect. Any donation will help reduce the stress we are dealing with. The less stress he has the faster he recovers! 

Thank you for your time!

Love, The Schultz Family