Friends and family, we felt it was time to update everyone on the journey that Dallas has been on the past few years. We all know him as the happy, kind, sometimes stubborn, guy that would do anything for anyone and we are asking that you take a few minutes to leave him memories, stories, and thoughts. It’s at this time we want everyone to know what’s been going on… and it starts back in July 2015 when Dallas was diagnosed with what we all thought was Bell’s Palsy. It was almost a year later when he was having some jaw pain that his dentist prescribed him some muscle relaxers, which unleashed the beast of a tumor in his left jaw. June 10th, 2016 confirmed this mass in his neck was actually cancer which started the whirlwind of doctors and specialists. July 29th, 2016 was the first surgery to remove the tumor. This complex surgery brought the family together as the risk outweighed the survival given the tumor being wrapped around the carotid artery. An 8 hour surgery turned into 4 hours where the surgeon used “miracle” to describe was took place… truly an act of God. There was another surgery that quickly followed to cut some additional nerves from his shoulder muscles. This was only the start of Dallas’s journey.
Fall 2016 was filled with 8 weeks of chemo and radiation (5x a week for 8 weeks). Dallas was a trooper and kept his spirits high during this time. He wasn’t going to let this stop him from working and being on the open road, he was back to driving in February 2017. A scheduled scan in March showed some small spots on his lungs. Chemo was the immediate option, but given the hell Dallas has just gone through, he waited for the biopsy to confirm. The 2nd round of chemo began in April 2017 where he was going in every three weeks for four months. This didn’t knock him down, he kept driving. The PET scans were taking place every four months to monitor the progression of the cancer. It wasn’t slowing down, round 4 of chemo started February 2018. It was in May 2018 when a difficult conversation with the oncologist shared that there were one more option, and that chemo would be more aggressive than any of the previous three. A scan showed the cancer was growing, but Dallas wasn’t done fighting. He started working with a specialist in Vancouver, he gave this alternative option a try, but it was very difficult to manage while still driving.
November 1, 2018 Dallas returned home in the morning from a haul, and it was only a few hours later that he had a massive seizure that landed him in the ER. A PET scan showed the cancer had not only grown in his lungs, but spread to his brain, spine, liver and abdomen. December started with 15 rounds of radiation for his full brain and 5 rounds on his spine. With a new oncologist fighting for Dallas, a new clinical trial was started on January 1st. It was on his birthday, January 24th that he found himself again in the ER due to shortness of breath. It was managed and he was sent home.
Which bring us to now. February 22nd Dallas was again admitted to the hospital for the last time due to shortness of breath. After some tough conversations, it has been determined that there are no longer any medical treatments to stop this aggressive cancer. Dallas has decided to move into Hospice at Collin and Dawn’s house where he will be surrounded by family, friends, and baseball while focusing on managing the pain and enjoying every day. He is a fighter and will continue to look for alternative options. While no one knows what the next few days, weeks and months look like we wanted to provide everyone an opportunity to reach out to Dallas. We will use this site to keep everyone updated.
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