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The end of January Tim was having increased pain in his back. They did an MRI and found a spot on his spine so they did a CT scan to see what it was. The CT scan showed a mass on the outside of his stomach so a biopsy was done of the mass and lymph nodes in that area. The results came back that the mass and a lymph node were cancerous. Tim saw a oncologist regarding the results and she wanted to have a PET scan done to make sure there was no other cancers. The PET scan was done and Tim went back to the oncologist on February 17th. He was told that the scan showed that he has Stage 4 gastric cancer that has spread to his bones and also a lesion on his liver. They discussed options and it was decided that he would start radiation therapy on March 2nd to see if that would help with the pain so he could have a better quality of life.
On March 1st Tim was taken to the ER because the pain was unbearable. He was having muscle spasms so bad in his back, left shoulder, left arm and chest. He was then admitted into the hospital so they could try to get his pain under control. They tried many different kinds of medications and got the pain so it wasn't as painful, but he was still having the spasms. They started his radiation therapy on March 8th while he was still in the hospital.
Tim was discharged from the hospital on March 12th. Because of living on the second floor of their apartment building it was decided that Tim and Judy would stay at his son Tim's house since there were only a few steps to the basement and there was a bathroom and a living room area for them. On March 14th it was decided that they needed to take a break from the radiation therapy as it was affecting his esophagus and making it hard to swallow.
On March 16th Tim was admitted into the hospital again for the unbearable pain and spasms. So they started to decide what medications he should try to make the pain bearable and make him comfortable. The decision that sounded the best was to change his Morphine to Methadone to see if that would decrease the pain. It has been a very difficult, heartbreaking situation but we are hoping that the doctors can figure out a way to make Tim comfortable.
Tim's family has set up a GoFundMe page for anyone that can help with the mounting medical bills and loss of income since Tim's wife Judy has not been able to work much due to caring for her husband. The whole family is thankful for all our family and friends that have been there for Tim and his family.
This is the link to the GoFundMe page-
https://www.gofundme.com/7g8q4-tims-medical-fund 
