My name is Brittany Rodriguez. I am the daughter of Jeff Rychener. I am raising money to help with medical costs, in-home care, and bills due to a recent jaw-dropping health diagnosis.
He was seen in the ER for extreme back pain, fatigue, weight loss without trying, and numbness in his legs. Upon initial blood work, we found out his blood sugar was 613. We were told he has diabetes. That’s all we thought was going on… we were wrong and had no clue just how much worse the news would become that evening. They did a full physical exam and ordered a CT of his abdomen after he complained of it being tender upon exam. The shocking results of that CT have caused so many questions. We were told that there is a large mass on his pancreas that has spread to his liver, spleen, colon, and omentum. CANCER. My dad has cancer and it is all over in his abdomen.
How could this be?! This can’t be real. They had to have given us a different patient’s results.
He was then transferred to a different hospital for a full oncology workup (or so we were told that is what was going to happen). Upon arrival, we were met with a hospitalist that had no compassion. She told us there would be no PET scan, no biopsy, and questioned us being there. She said, “Your dad has metastatic cancer and there’s nothing we can do.”
They wanted to discharge him with no pain meds and no diabetes education. They expected him to “figure it out.” Well, I wasn’t going to let my dad be treated that way.
I requested the attending physician to come talk to me. Once he saw in front of him the excruciating pain my dad was in, he was quick to write orders for pain meds. I told him, “If your loved one just got this diagnosis, you’d want the best treatment for them.”
We have since met with many doctors and I suggested a pain regimen for him that is actually helping reduce the severity of his pain so he can rest. He just wants to sleep. His body is so tired and it is absolutely gut-wrenching to see. Anybody who knows my dad knows he doesn’t sit still. He loves being outside, working on projects, and being with his family.
Moving forward, we are waiting on results of a biopsy that he got yesterday. It takes 4 days for results. Oncology spoke with us yesterday and said he is pretty certain it’s very aggressive pancreatic cancer with a poor prognosis. His options would be palliative care or hospice. If it is the non-aggressive kind, then we would talk about numerous options for treatment. He also had an MRI of his spine last night, but we are still waiting on results.
My dad will not be able to work any longer, so I am trying to raise enough funds to pay off his debts, cover medical costs, and any other expenses that may incur related to his care.
My brother and I are not ready to lose our dad. My kids don’t want to lose their grandpa. Please help share his story!
