Goal:
USD $200,000
Raised:
USD $13,814
Campaign funds will be received by John Martin
Friends and family, thank you for your interest.
As some of you may have known, Jeryl has not been doing the best for the last few months. He has been experiencing abdominal pain, and lost quite a bit of weight. Finally, on Friday, January 10, after a particularly severe bout of pain, Jeryl went to Hershey Medical. They ran a few tests, but decided to wait for more extensive testing until Monday. In the meantime, they kept him on pain medications to control the pain. Over the weekend, his pain increased drastically, and higher amounts of medication were needed to keep it at bay. On Monday, CAT scans revealed an extremely aggressive form of cancer, and that it had already spread to at least his liver, lungs, and lymph nodes. Doctors say that treatment is futile, and are simply doing their best to keep him comfortable for the very limited time that they expect he has left.
Please pray for Jeryl & Maria, and their children. Pray that God’s will would be done. Pray for grace to accept this and keep moving forward. If you feel led to give, your financial support will assist with covering the mounting hospital expenses and help to provide for a future, likely without him.
If you wish to make a tax deductible donation, we can arrange that. Feel free to send an email to supportthecampbells@pineynookfarm.com for more information about this.
God bless you for sharing. Feel free to follow this campaign below for updates, and share with others who may be interested.
We are praying for you.
May God's grace and loving kindness support you in this difficult time.
We are praying for you as you face the many decisions ahead of you.
Praying for you all!
May you feel His presence near you as you go through this unexpected experience. "But my God is able to supply all your need"
January 27th, 2025
The viewing for Jeryl will be on Wednesday (January 29) from 2-4 and 6-8 PM, and the funeral will be on Thursday (January 30) at 10:00 AM. Both will be at the New Guilford Brethren In Christ Church, at 1575 Mont Alto Road, Chambersburg, PA 17202. Burial will be at the cemetery at the Fetterhoff Mennonite Church.
January 26th, 2025
Jeryl passed away peacefully in his sleep around 2:30 this morning (Sunday, January 26). Please pray for Maria, the children, and the family.
-John David
January 20th, 2025
Jeryl was released from the hospital late on Saturday, January 18, and is now settled in at home, with Hospice oversight. We are thankful that he can spend his remaining time with his family. Please continue to pray for Jeryl and for strength for the family.
-John David, for the Campbell and Martin families
January 18th, 2025
So much has happened in the last 48 hours that it's hard to encapsulate in a short update.
In my last update, I mentioned that typically, for someone with a colon tumor, the hospital would perform a colostomy to remove the affected area, but that the doctors did not consider this to be a good option because of Jeryl's extremely weakened condition. Late on Wednesday, the doctors told Maria that, while it would be quite risky and they didn't really recommend it, they would attempt to perform the colostomy if that was their wish. Jeryl had been sleeping and talking very little on Wednesday, but after the doctors left the room, he spoke just enough to make it clear that he had heard the entire conversation and wished to proceed with this surgery. The family felt they should honor his wishes. The doctors were able schedule the procedure for Thursday, but made it clear that there was a very real possibility that Jeryl would not survive the surgery.
Thursday was a long day. Surgery was scheduled for mid-day, and many of the family were present. After hours of delay, Jeryl was finally taken to surgery close to 8:00 P.M. After a suspenseful time of waiting, we got word that Jeryl was out of surgery and doing fine. Jeryl's bowels were not nearly as backed up and enlarged as expected, so the procedure went quite smoothly. The surgeon told us that the surgery went much better than he had ever imagined possible. What an answer to prayer! It felt like God's miracle to us.
However, the fact that the bowels were not enlarged much would seem to indicate that much of the pain that Jeryl had been experiencing was being caused by his liver, which is enlarged to about three times its normal size. Doctors were hoping to relieve much of his pain with the colostomy. They feel that he will likely need to stay on heavy doses of pain medications to keep the pain under control.
To be clear, none of this does anything to address the cancer which appears to be in various of his organs. His body will likely slowly continue to decline. The goal was simply to hopefully relieve some of his pain and perhaps give him a few more moments to spend with his family. Without the colostomy, doctors guessed that he might have had a day or two left. Now they say it may be up to a few weeks.
At this point, the hospital says there is nothing more they can do. If plans hold, the family plans to take Jeryl home in the next few days, and Hospice will assist with his care there.
Continue to pray for a miracle, but, more importantly, that God's will would be done.
-John David, for the Campbell and Martin families
January 16th, 2025
Thank you all so much for your support so far, both financially and, more importantly, through prayer. We as a family have sensed that SO many prayers are being offered on our behalf. It's a huge encouragement.
I'm sorry that I don't know all the medical terms, but I'll do must to explain in layman's terms where things stand now.
When Jeryl was admitted to Hershey Medical on Friday, the doctors wanted to do all the usual things for a person in his condition, CAT scans, biopsies, etc. They did some CAT scans, but his pain was so intense that they felt they needed to get that under control before doing a biopsy. Over the weekend, his pain was all over the place and he got much weaker. Yesterday, the doctors finally felt that he was stable enough to proceed with the biopsy, and they put it on the schedule for today.
Because of a mass they had seen on the CAT scans, they did a colonoscopy. Also, they were suspicious that a mass in his colon was blocking his intestines and colon and causing some of his pain. So they were prepared to also put a stent in to prevent further blockage if possible, and allow drainage.
When they performed the colonoscopy today, they found a tumor that had grown to a point that it was completely blocking his colon and had grown into the walls of the colon all the way around, completely preventing anything from passing. There was also no way for them to put the stent in. In a situation like this, depending on the patient's condition, they would consider surgery to remove the tumor and a section of the colon, but they feel that he is too weak for this to be a good option. They say there is little to be done besides keep his pain under control.
Apart from a miracle, it appears that Jeryl's time is very limited. Please continue to pray...
-John David, for the Campbell and Martin families
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