Pat S

About Pat S

I have been married for over 27 years. We have raised three incredible children who have all graduated college and gone on to have amazing careers. I always thought that I was completely healthy and then one day in 2018 there was a bombshell that showed that I had stage III advanced prostate cancer! This was March and my wife is the only one that knows how to keep me completely calm (after an initial freakout session). It is impossible to describe in words how impactful having a caregiver that truly understands you is. This journey would be 180° different if not for her tremendous patience, understanding and unconditional love! She literally helped save my life and continues to do so every single minute of every single day. It turns out that she set up a secret Facebook group along with my daughter that I did not know about. In June 2018 at a softball game (that I play with my two adult boys), people started showing up with Positive Vibes/ShefflerStrong tee shirts- first one of my boys, then my other boy, then my mom and dad, then other friends all showed up with these shirts on- her and my beautiful, selfless daughter Ashlen, put this all together- I still had no idea what was to follow! After the game, we took pictures and then went to a local pizza joint- after we ordered we were all sitting around the table (about 15 of us at that point) And Ashlen suggested that I look at Facebook- hundreds of people from all over the world had posted with the same shirts on with positive vibe messages to me- of course, I burst out crying with joy and appreciation. Although the support from my wife, Caren has been tremendous 24/7, this moment in time changed the trajectory of my battle, in a great way. I have never felt so supported and loved by a large number of people in my entire life. This was in the midst of a clinical trial that included Lupron, chemo etc. it REALLY positively had an incredible, life transforming affect on me-it has now been almost 2 years and the support that I feel from others is just indescribable- But the one person that has been with me practically 24/7 on every single appointment, on every single call, for every single laugh and every single cry, has been my incredibly beautiful, understanding, selfless, loyal wife Caren. I have come to understand that being a caregiver is at least as hard if not harder than being the actual patient. If she is not an angel on earth I do not know what it is!

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