A Devastating Shock- Cancer Diagnosis – Updates 12/30/23-2/20/24

Ted was diagnosed with Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor in his abdomen on January 10th, 2024. Here you’ll find updates on Ted’s journey fighting cancer so far up until 2/20/24. New updates will go in individual posts.

For current store hours, click here. Some weeks we will be closed for chemo trips to Ann Arbor. For more up to date week by week hours, please see our Facebook page, as I’ll be updating that each week.

Quick links to donate:

GoFundMe: Ted Clark Fights Cancer Fundraiser

Venmo: Ashley’s Venmo

January 13th, 2024

We want to apologize to anyone who has tried to visit or call the store over the past couple weeks and found us closed. We also want to update everyone with why we’ve been closed several days in the last couple weeks.

On December 30th, 2023, Ted went into the ER after weeks of stomach pain and discomfort and worsening symptoms. While there, they found a large mass in his abdomen. We headed to Traverse City last week for a biopsy and closed the remainder of the week as we tried to navigate worsening symptoms. We received the results this week and Ted has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. He has been referred to U of M and we have yet to meet with an oncologist, so we are unsure at this time what treatment will look like and still don’t know many details. We are praying and believing that God IS HEALING Ted and that this will all be part of an amazing testimony for Ted to share for many years to come.

At this time, my plan is to cut our days back to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. As many of you know, we don’t have any employees, and unfortunately, we aren’t setup to bring any on yet, so it will just be me (Ashley) for a while. I have no idea how that may change, but I promise to do my best to update on our social media when we are open or if we have to close for a scheduled day. Please know that I’ll do my best to juggle between taking care of Ted, our four kids, and the store, but things may be a bit crazy and unpredictable for a while, and I apologize ahead of time for that.

We ask for patience and understanding during this incredibly difficult time and most of all, grace. We are just taking one day at a time right now, and I will do my best to keep you updated on what to expect with the store, hours, etc. Please continue to support our business when you are able. We love being a part of the Cadillac and Downtown Cadillac community and we hope to continue to serve the community for many years to come.

We’ve had an outpouring of prayers, love, offers for help, and so much support already and we are so appreciative of everyone!

Please join us in praying and BELIEVING that God IS HEALING Ted completely!

January 14th, 2024

There is a lot of unknown at this time in terms of schedule, costs, and treatments. Any donations would be so helpful and appreciated as we navigate the coming days, weeks, and months.

While I’m going to try to be at the store as much as possible, we have had to miss multiple days of work already and we anticipate there will be several more as we travel back and forth to U of M for appointments, treatments, and potentially surgery. Unfortunately, every day missed is a loss of income for us. (And while I hope to prep the store for employees when I’m able, we aren’t able to hire help at this time). Any donations would help us with daily expenses, travel expenses, expenses at home and at the store, any unforseen or uncovered medical expenses, and would help ease our minds so that I can be there for Ted and our children as needed.

If you are unable to donate, no worries. Please join us in prayer for complete healing. Thank you in advance for any donations and thank you all for all the prayers, love, and support!

GoFundMe Link: Ted Clark Fights Cancer Fundraiser

Venmo: Ashley’s Venmo

January 15th, 2024

Thank you all for the outpouring of prayers, love, and support! We have received dozens of offers to run the store at no cost, and I can’t tell you how much that means to us! We are so blessed by everyone’s kindness! Unfortunately, because of the complexity of the store and inventory, from the consignment to the men’s formalwear and everything in between, it would take a significant amount of prepping to get the store ready for employees and definitely some training. I am already with Ted at U of M in Ann Arbor now, and am not yet sure when I’ll be able to get the store ready for that or be able to train someone. We are hoping for some answers in the next few days so that we can put a plan together on all fronts. We appreciate each and every offer, and I will reach out if/when we are able to bring on some help. Thank you, again and please know that we appreciate you all so much!

January 16th, 2024

First, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has prayed, commented, messaged, called, donated, shared, and shown us love in one way or another over the last few days. Ted and I are both moved by the outpouring of love and support and we feel very blessed by all of you. It has all helped ease so much burden in such a difficult time. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

Quick update: We headed to U of M ER Sunday evening because of Ted’s worsening symptoms and he was admitted into oncology. They’ve been working to manage his symptoms with some success and others they’re still working on. CT scans show the tumor has grown slightly since two weeks ago but is not in any organs, praise God! We finally saw the sarcoma specialist today, and she was very kind and helpful. She walked us through a lot of information, treatment plan, and more. She has experience with this type of tumor and she also works closely with a network of other doctors across the country who do as well. This particular type of tumor is very rare, with around only 20 cases per year. The first step of treatment will be chemo, which they are going to start today. The doctor said that many patients start to see symptoms improve with the first treatment, and we are praying that is so! We’ve got a few more symptoms to tackle to get him feeling well enough to manage at home, but we’re praying that will happen soon. We’re hoping to be able to go home in a few days after his first round of chemo is completed. We continue to believe God IS GOOD and God IS HEALING Ted!

It has been an extremely shocking and difficult couple weeks. To say we were blindsided by this is an understatement. We knew nothing of any tumor or anything until December 30th, and so watching him get so sick so quickly has been incredibly scary. We are feeling a little more at ease with a plan in place, but our trust is in God above all! Praying for better sleep, a relief from pain and discomfort, and for bloating and nausea to go away. Please continue to pray for him through this journey.

January 20th,2024

Store update: I will be opening the store from 1pm-3pm Saturday. It will be a short window of time as we’re still monitoring Ted’s symptoms and side effects.

Update on Ted:

Lots of ups and downs in the last few days. He definitely woke up with some relief the morning after his first chemo treatment. A lot of pressure had gone down and he was able to eat and drink. The following night he went through some painful side effects and it took some figuring out to get that pain managed. It was a rough night and then a rough day yesterday. His taste is off from the chemo and he has suddenly become very sensitive to certain tastes and anything too sweet or salty. It’s added to the nausea, but we are figuring it out as we go. He pretty much slept from the time we got home yesterday until this morning, waking up just a few times. But he woke up this morning feeling so much better! He’s been more active than he’s been in weeks and honestly, we’ve had a really good day. We got to be with our kids for the first time in days and attend our son’s basketball game, and Ted really needed that. He was so glad to be there.

I want to take a minute to explain what he’s been experiencing with the tumor because I’ve had some questions and I know there’s been some confusion. It is not in his stomach, but in the tissue outside his stomach in the abdominal wall. It’s a sarcoma cancer and it is fast growing, which is why he started chemo immediately. Upon successful shrinking of the tumor, surgery becomes more of a possibility, and we pray that happens quickly. It’s a pretty large cluster of tumors, last measuring around 20cm, with some small tumors around it. It is pressing on his stomach and other organs, making normal functions of the body difficult, making him short of breath at times, making him feel constantly full and bloated, and making it hard to eat or keep food or water down at times, which is why he’s gotten so sick so quickly. He is making improvements with that though, between medications and learning what food and drinks work for him. It is stretching his belly out a lot, which is very uncomfortable for him. It has not spread to any organs, and praise God for that! Ted is a fighter and is the strongest person I know and his faith is strong that God is healing him! He’s been so moved by the support from everyone near and far and so has our whole family. We appreciate you all so much and we’re so grateful to have such an amazing army of prayer warriors praying with us, loving us, and supporting us through this! Positive things are happening and we’re moving in the right direction… keep praying!

Link to original Facebook post.

January 25th, 2024

UPDATE: We will be closed today, Thursday, January 25th, 2024. I plan to be open 1pm-5pm on Friday, January 26th and from 12pm-4pm on Saturday, January 27th.

As we are still working to tackle Ted’s sickness and other symptoms, he has needed a lot of help. We’ve had ups and downs and some days he’s up moving a little and eating small amounts while other days he has hardly been able to get out of bed or eat anything because of the pain and nausea. I believe we are making progress to getting him comfortable, but it has been a lot of trial and error. It may continue to be a bit unpredictable at the store until the cluster of tumors shrinks enough to provide him significant relief, as I need to care for him and our children first. There are no new updates, as we haven’t been to see the doctor since we got home a week ago. We are scheduled to go back to U of M next week, but I will update on next week’s hours next week when I have a better idea of what that will look like.

When we asked about the amount of chemo treatments, we were told that it could be up to 14 rounds of chemo, though we are praying for less! With 2-3 weeks between each round and each round lasting 3-5 days, that is about a year. It is still our prayer that the chemo is successful in shrinking the tumors enough for a surgical removal sooner rather than later. I am also praying that we get to a point where I can get the store functioning on a more regular schedule sooner rather than later. I have not been able to make any progress on getting the store ready for employees yet, but will update when I do.

Thank you again for the outpouring of love and support and for all the prayers! We appreciate you all so much! Thank you, also, for your continued understanding through this difficult time and for continuing to support our small business. I was blown away by the support so many showed in the couple hours that I opened this past Saturday. Most everyone who came in did so to show their support and let me know they are praying for Ted, and I am so thankful for you all. Online and in person, you’ve all been such a light through this difficult time. Thank you.

We continue to pray and believe that God is healing Ted.

February 1st, 2024

Do you recognize this young man without his beard? Teddy is doing pretty good today. Port placement went well yesterday, but it’s sore and taking some getting used to. He ate some breakfast this morning, which is a win. A couple more hours of chemo today and then he gets the pump and we can head back to the hotel and rest until tomorrow’s check-in. Thank you for all the prayers!

We are closed this week as we are in Ann Arbor for Ted’s treatment these next few days. Thank you for understanding, and I will be back in the store next week. I will update on days and hours next week.

We are praying for a lot of relief and a lot of shrinking of the tumors with this treatment!

February 6th, 2024

Store Hours this week:

Friday: 1pm-5pm

Saturday: 12pm-4pm

Teddy Update:

We are home. Ted has now completed his second round of chemo. He’s experiencing more fatigue and continued and increased nausea with this round. His hair started falling out pretty rapidly on day 2 of treatment. We continue to struggle with managing his nausea and he’s still eating very little. He has lost around 30 lbs in the last few weeks.

He has had no new scans since his last trip to Ann Arbor. Unfortunately, they don’t expect to do any new scans until AFTER his next round of chemo, which is towards the end of the month. We have no idea how well the chemo is working at this point. We are trying to tackle this from a natural side in addition to the medical treatment and have conquered some of his symptoms that way. Unfortunately, we are just in a very difficult stage of this process until the tumor shrinks enough to provide him significant relief.

Some specific prayer requests: we need the tumor to shrink and provide him relief from the nausea so that he can eat and keep food and liquids down better. We need him to be able to build his strength up to fight the cancer and the negative effects of chemo. Our three girls have been battling a cold of some sort, so please pray they heal quickly and that it doesn’t spread through the house, especially not to Ted. If you need a specific name for the tumor we are praying to cast out, it is called desmoplastic small round cell tumor. We are praying for quick and complete healing, in Jesus name!

There are a lot of new friends here from these last few weeks. A quick recap and for those who don’t know, Ted is a young 38 years old. We have four children, ages 6, 7, 11, and 13, and we have been homeschooling them the last few years. We own and operate Charming North together, a retail shop in downtown Cadillac. This diagnosis and discovery of the tumor was a complete shock that came with no warning signs and he has gotten very sick very quickly. The mass is in the connecting tissues in the abdominal wall (outside the stomach) and has not spread to any organs. They are expecting he may need around 14 rounds of chemo, alternating three and five day cycles every 2-3 weeks. In time, after several chemo treatments, they may be able to look at other treatment options such as surgery. Our faith continues to be in God above all, and we continue to pray and BELIEVE that God is healing Ted.

Thank you to all who have prayed, sent kind messages, sent cards, and for all the donations through the Gofundme and venmo, in person, and in the mail. We appreciate you all more than you can imagine. Thank you!

Picture is of Ted and our youngest daughter at my cousin’s wedding last September.

February 14th, 2024

My valentine. We had a little day date today.

No new news right now. Things are about the same. He had a relatively good day today and was up and around a good part of the day, which is the most activity for him since the last chemo treatment. He’s lost 35 lbs total in the last few weeks, but seems to be maintaining now this last week. We continue to work on managing symptoms and eating and we are constantly praying for relief and complete healing.

February 17th, 2024

The shop is open until 4pm today!

I have adjusted our hours on FB and Google and plan to work 1pm-5pm on Fridays and 12pm-4pm on Saturdays for now, except for chemo weeks, when we will be closed. I have hopes of being able to adjust that by summer, but we are taking it one day at a time for now.

As some have seen, Rick Grant has been helping me at the store when I’m open. We are so thankful for his and Tammy’s help! He is the expert in menswear and he will be here for a few hours starting around 1pm today, if you have any menswear needs.

The next chemo week begins Feb. 26th, so we will be closed that whole week (it’s a 5 day cycle). There is no new news on Ted. He’s still fighting symptoms. He has lost about 35 lbs, but is maintaining that this last week. We continue to pray the tumors shrink fast, for relief, and for complete healing! Thank you all for continued prayers, love, and support!