Chuck Pefley Double-Luck-Chuck

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

On behalf of Chuck:  Penny and/or his daughters will co-author this blog together.          

It’s a bit of a shock to be diagnosed with a serious, life threatening disease.  So, imagine being told you not only have Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, but you also now have Stage 4 cancer of the lymph system, otherwise known as Large B Cell Lymphoma.  I mean…DOES lightning strike in the same place twice?

            That’s exactly what happened last Wednesday when we received a call from a hematologist at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  Dr. Martin had just received the results of the CT scans and bone marrow biopsy done earlier in the week. He was finally able to solve the medical mystery and give us answers to what we had initially believed to be a much simpler cold or virus that was suspiciously hanging on since the first week of December.

            Dr. Martin wanted Chuck/Dad to be admitted right away for chemotherapy. Our first stay at the “University of Washington Hospital Resort” lasted 6 days.  Chuck received immunotherapy and chemotherapy as well as multiple additional diagnostic procedures to help aid in his cancer staging and treatment plan.

            On Wednesday, January 17th, Chuck was discharged from round 1 at the resort. A follow up visit with Chuck’s team of specialists Friday, January 19th determined that he will receive weekly chemotherapy into his spinal fluid, in addition to returning to the resort every 21 days for about a week of in-patient chemo (followed by 2 weeks at home to recover) for the next several months.

            While Chuck’s medical team can’t guarantee a full recovery, they believe in the treatment plan and Chuck feels up to giving this cancer thing a go!  As some of you may know, this ain’t his first rodeo- he has been a Thyroid Cancer Survivor since 1979.

            While this just plain STINKS and was not on our bucket list of retirement “Must Do’s”, we feel so fortunate for: access to top notch medical facilities and specialists as well as a supportive care team filled with family, friends, and neighbors.  In Chuck’s opinion, he won the lottery with his personal nurse who knows him and his needs better than anyone else.   

            We have just started this challenging journey and may or may not be in touch via text or social media.  Just know that we appreciate the well wishes and concern, and will update everyone via Caring Bridge as we are able to.