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Tim’s Story

Site created on December 22, 2019

Dear friends and family, welcome to our CaringBridge website. We will be using this to keep everyone updated on Tim's health.

A little background...beginning in early November, Tim started having some stomach pain. He tried different remedies to see if that would help for a few weeks, and by early December, he had a few more symptoms so he made an appointment to see his doctor. Originally, they thought it could be an ulcer, so he got some medicine for that but also got some labs drawn. His labs came back abnormal for the liver, so the doctor asked him to get an ultrasound to see what was going on. Tim had that done on Monday, Dec. 16. Later that afternoon, his doctor called him back and said there were some lesions on his liver so he would need to get a CT scan done as soon as possible. Tim had that testing done Tuesday morning, Dec. 17 at 9am. By 11:40am, his doctor called to tell him he had stage 4 colon cancer that had started in his colon and spread to his liver and lungs.

We had another appointment on Thursday to check the colon, and at that time, the Cancer team said that Tim's first oncology appointment would be January 6. After seeing the number of lesions on his liver, we asked that they move that up- they said they would try, but there was no guarantee. A few hours later, we had an appointment for the next day. We saw an oncologist on Friday, Dec. 20, and that night, St Philomena hosted a beautiful Rosary and Healing Mass for Tim. We are praying and asking our Lord for the complete healing of Tim's body from cancer.

On Saturday, Dec. 21, Tim got his chemo port placed. We feel like we have seen some miracles in terms of how fast the doctors are moving. It is such a blessing that everyone has been moving so fast, yet at the same time, we do understand that it is because of the severity of Tim's diagnosis. Tim is young and otherwise healthy and strong- he just turned 40 last summer and a few weeks ago, he was kayaking and hiking a challenging 4 mile course. He's also very active taking care of his wife, Becca, and kids, Isabelle (5), Anna (3), Jude (1), and baby due in July.

We believe that our God is a God of Miracles, and we are asking our Lord to completely heal Tim of cancer. In particular, we are asking for Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen to intercede on Tim's behalf. Sheen grew up near Peoria and attended the Catholic High School that is now the school where Tim works as Dean of Students. Sheen's intercession has been recognized in the miracle of bringing a baby born without a heartbeat back to life after 61 minutes. We ask for you all to pray and to beg our Lord for this great favor, especially during this Christmas season as we celebrate the miracle of God becoming man. We have seen miracles in our own life and we entrust Tim and our family to His loving care.

Jesus, we trust in You.

"We know that in everything, God works for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Please pray with us!
Eternal Father, You alone grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and by the working of the Holy Spirit. If it be according to Your Will, glorify Your servant, ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN, by granting the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession, for the complete and total healing of Tim Speck’s body from cancer. I make this prayer confidently through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Rebecca Speck — Apr 12, 2023

Hello all,

Tim's funeral will be live-streamed tomorrow morning on St. Philomena Peoria YouTube channel at 10:30am CST at https://www.youtube.com/@stphilomenapeoria/streams. You can click on the "live" tab.

Thank you for all your prayers for Tim and for our family. It's been a whirlwind of a week and we miss Tim so much. We do feel all the prayers and are so grateful for our wonderful community that has held us up so much. Putting together the pictures for the slideshow (found HERE) was so moving, and it was so sweet to see all the wonderful times we had with Tim. I see his big smile and joy in so many pictures...and yet, at the same time, I look at some of those pictures and remember how much pain he was in on some of those days. He suffered so much and rarely let others see that. We will miss him every day of our lives, but we are happy that he is not suffering anymore, and we trust in the promise of Christ's Resurrection. Tim was so strong and courageous and loved.

We would like to gather some memories of Tim to share with our kids over the years. Please scan the QR code below or click HERE to share a memory of Tim.

Jesus, we trust in You.
Becca

Read More of the journal titled "April 12, 2023- Livestream information and sharing memories"

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