My name is Beth Jarrett and my husband is Jeff. He has had a rough past three years. On June 13th, 2019 he was at work when he collapsed at work due to a heart attack. No history of heart issues. Due to lack of oxygen to his brain he suffered a severe tramatic brain injury. He was rushed to the hospital where he remained for six weeks and coded a total of seven times. I was there morning, noon and night by his side. He finally was able to be stable enough to get the surgery he needed. He then was transferred to Seaton then RHI. He came home September 13th 2019.
Our lives we once knew have been shattered. I can't begin to tell you in all the ways. His TBI runs our lives and he is a ghost of a man I once knew. His long term and short term memory, and logical portion is affected. He has aphasia of his speech, and partial paralysis on his upper right thigh. No one really knows how hard it has been for him, myself and our 2 children. Connor is 12 now and Allison is 10. He has been trying to pick up a few pieces of his life and making progress in his rehab. Covid hit and like many places his rehab facility shut down It has just been so hard. He was our main support and that was taken from him.
I work full time at a local hospital. I wear so many "hats" as a caregiver, wife, mom, daughter,worker, cook, maid, therapist, dr. The list goes on. I can't keep up! This past August 31st my father passed after a long battle and my mother found out she had breast cancer and multiple myeloma. I feel like my life has been made into a made for television drama. My children are amazing though. 2 straight A students and they help me out in so many ways. They have been blessings.
He has been on so much medication that his Dr. and I thought his diarrhea and anemia was due to that. So he had a colonoscopy last month. Jeff is 44. Doctors usually do not recommend until 45. No history of colon cancer. I thought it was going to just be a follow up appointment to tell us they removed a polyp. No, he has colon cancer. The dr. sent him for a CT scan. That's where they found it metastasis to the liver. Another CT scan with a different view revealed colon cancer with metastasis to the lungs. PET scan last week revealed it's also in the lymph nodes. It's terminal.....He has already fought so hard.
I don't even know which way is up right now. Why?! We had our whole life in front of us. Dr.'s are focusing on palliative care and quality of life right now. He completed his first chemo on April 22nd. In the end this Colon cancer will get him. No matter how hard he will fight.
I am writing this and have a Facebook post about fulfilling a wish for him. I posted a message on a few group sites and had an overwhelming response with many wonderful people caring and prayers for my family wanting to help give my husband and our family a beautiful, positive memory to cherish.
One of his wishes is to attend the Indy 500. We have never been (even though we live about 15 minutes from there in Avon).
His other wishes are to drive a Ferrari around a track. That's my son's favorite car. Throw first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game. Lastly, attend his first game at Soldier Field for a Bears game. As you can tell, he is a man's man. If it's fast he likes.
Thank you for reading our story and hope that it will reach the right people who can help makes these happen for an remarkable man. Thank you and God bless.
Beth
