A rural carrier needs our support.... Joe Mandeville

[Postaltexan]

If you would like to help Joe and Kelley....
One of our dear friends and Rural Carrier Joe Mandeville needs our help. To start off, he has lost his voice due to a paralyzed vocal chord from nerve damage. It is caused by a mass growing on his left lung or inflamed lymph nodes along his windpipe. Some biopsies have been done that did not show malignancies, but they were not able to test all areas.

He is now scheduled for surgery Monday, Sept. 14th to remove the mass on his lung. They will not know whether they will be able to just remove the mass or if the whole lung will have to be removed until they get into the surgery.

Whether the mass is malignant or not, he will have to go through chemo and or radiation as the lymph nodes along his windpipe are inoperable because of their location. His adrenal glands are also enlarged, but they will have to deal with this after the surgery.

He will have a minimum one week stay in the hospital followed by 6-8 weeks of recovery after the surgery. Then they will start the plan of attack on the lymph nodes and anything else they will need to do.

He does not have enough leave to get him through this ordeal and most of us are not able to donate leave because we are not in his postal district.

So, those of us here on Ruralinfo decided that we would try to send them some money to help them through this time. Im sure most of us know that when someone is going through something like this, there are a lot of days of missed work for the spouses and the family to be able to be beside their loved one.. Then we decided there might be other rural carriers out there that might like to help too, so we decided to set up this for everyone.

If you can manage it, please think of sending them something to help them through this time in their lives. They are hanging tough and Joe is a stubborn headstrong guy, and we know he will get through this. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any help you are able to give. It will help put their hearts and mind at ease in this difficult time.

Here is the link to donate to them through Paypal

http://ruralinfo.chipin.com/joe-and-kelly-mandeville

Or if you prefer to send them a card through the mail here is their mailing address:

Joe and Kelley Mandeville
7203 Carr Dr
Belleville, IL
62223

They have also set up a site where they will be adding updates as they go through this ordeal..  

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/josephmandeville

We have also set up a virtual candle page for Joe if you would like to add your thoughts there

Light a Candle for Joe

[Postaltexan]

Update on Joe

Joe had his surgery today. The mass in his lung was Cancer and they had to remove half of his lung to get it.

He is in intensive care now but having a lot of pain. He woke up after the surgery, but the pain was unbearable for him, so they put him back under. They are having problems keeping his blood pressure up right now also.

Since they are now sure it is Cancer, they will be starting chemo and radiation to attack the cancer in the lymph nodes as soon as possible.

Joe is not out of the woods yet guys, lets keep our thoughts and prayers behind him because he really needs it now more than ever.

Right now keeping his blood pressure up is their main concern.

We will continue to update this blog as we know more..

Just please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

I know Joe and his wife deeply appreciate it..