Jon’s Story

Site created on February 11, 2019

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


In the early morning of November 8, 2018, the devastating Camp Fire broke out in Northern California's Butte County. No one have could anticipated that it would become the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. Among the many destroyed structures was the home Jon Rosenstiel shared with his wife, April, and daughter, Chelsea. A series of stressful weeks followed for the family as they faced sudden displacement, mourned the loss of their home, and wondered where they would go next. Their experience was by no means unique, it was an uncertainty that nearly all of the residents of Paradise and Magalia faced, an anxiety that left the entire community in fear for their future. So when Jon began to become ill, he thought it was merely the result of all of the stress he was under.


On December 23, 2018, Jon began to feel pain in his left abdomen/chest, by the evening it had escalated to the point of agony. He asked his daughter to escort him to the ER where doctors assumed he was having a heart attack or an aortic aneurysm. He was given nitroglycerin, but it did nothing to alleviate the pain and his EKG results showed nothing out of the ordinary. Jon was given a chest CT and ultrasound and admitted overnight. The following morning the radiologist confirmed that the CT scan showed a 7cm (2.7in) mass on the tail of his pancreas.


It took a full month for an endoscopy and FNA (fine needle aspiration) biopsy to be performed. The biopsy results indicated cancerous cells and another CT scan was performed. On January 31, 2019, Jon was diagnosed with Stage IV Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas. Unfortunately, the cancer had progressed past the point where surgery was possible and had metastasized into his liver, lungs, spleen, and several lymph nodes, and was heading into his kidneys. After a consultation with Dr. Dron Gauchan, a treatment plan involving chemotherapy was decided upon.


Jon's first chemotherapy treatment is scheduled for February 20, 2019.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Chelsea Rosenstiel

Dad's memorial service is set for April 6th at 3PM, at the Rio Linda Kingdom Hall (315 W Q St, Rio Linda, CA). We welcome anyone who wishes to come and join us. 

We look forward to seeing you,

Chelsea
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