The Luck of the Irish

If anyone can be said to have "the luck of the Irish" on this Saint Patrick's Day, it's Jeff Small.

Jeff Small of Huntsville, Ontario, Canada

You'll recall that on 19 August 2023, I published a post on the Culbert Family History blog regarding Jeff's diagnosis with stage 4 gastric cancer. Click here if you missed it.

Jeff's wife, Kim (Culbert) Small (the 3x-great-granddaughter of John Culbert & Mary Ward) is here to update us on Jeff's situation. Take it away, Kim...

 

Kim (Culbert) Small

It’s been a very difficult year, starting in April 2023 when Jeff was diagnosed with stage 4 gastric cancer and told palliative chemotherapy was his only option. 

After only three months he experienced complications with treatments. His white blood cell count dropped to zero and Jeff was hospitalized. In addition, he had a rare response to the immunotherapy drug which resulted in endocarditis. He almost died. 

At one point, I was told they could keep Jeff alive for about three more days - long enough for our kids to get here from Calgary and New Zealand to say goodbye. When he miraculously pulled through that, we were told the cancer had most likely spread, and that Jeff was in the last six months of his life. We made preparations, and I took a Caregiver’s Leave in September as he was so weak.

Jeff stopped all treatments in October as the side effects were so severe, and he wanted to enjoy his remaining time with family for Christmas. He continued to focus on quality nutrition, tried various alternative protocols, and forced himself to go for walks twice daily. He kept a positive attitude and laughed often. 

On December 21st, we were told his PET scan showed “no activity” and his oncologist was referring us back to the surgeon for a scope as she couldn’t explain it. On 12 March 2024, the surgeon declared Jeff “cancer free”. We believe the love, prayers and support we received from our friends and family played a major part in this outcome. We are infinitely grateful for this gift and plan on living our very best lives, taking nothing for granted. 

Much love,

Kim & Jeff