- Update
- 3 surgeries later
Yesterday afternoon as we were chatting best i can, waiting on surgeon to come see me to tell me when we can go home. She came in, squatted next to me, and asked if i had seen the pathology report yet. I told her no as it had not posted yet.
Pathology report from surgery was not in my favor. Apparently there is still cancer in my jaw below where they scrapped the bone that looked microscopically clear during surgery. It is also in two lymph nodes that are separated from each other which could indicate it is trying to spread.
Needless to say this has cracked us. We are truly struggling. We thought we were past the worst of this.
My options laid out yesterday is removal of my lower jaw, replacement with my fibula, aggressive removal of lymph nodes, with followup chemo and radiation. 50% survival at 5 years. No surgery 2% chance of survival.
I am broken. I am destroyed, trying to hold it together because really crying like i want to only makes neck sutures and my feeding tube hurt worse. Pain killers only seem to hold off pain for 2 hours before my body metabolizes them.
Please pray!! We need a serious move of God in this situation.
Trying desperately to hold my faith and stand on His promises. Its really difficult though. Ashley is struggling as well. Our kids are upset. Its like the universe is trying to just eliminate everything that we have worked so hard for. Ashley and i talked last night…its seems like if God wanted me so bad He has had ample opportunities…in cluding the blood clot i threw during surgery. Why do i have to endure so much pain. An easy path for once would be amazing. Alas does not seem to be my path.
April 7, 2026
Things are getting real. New surgery scans scheduled for the 10th with another CT scheduled for the 21st for the surgeons planning. Working hard at work trying to get things tidied up for when i am out. And working hard on the farm trying to finish some things before surgery if possible….finishing chicken coop and expanding the pasture before I’m down for a bit.
Trying to figure things out one day at a time.
Family, Friends, and Community, the Hebert family humbly request your prayers and support.
**OUR STORY**
Thank you so much for clicking on this page and reading our story. My wife was diagnosed with Left Retromolar Trigone Squamous Cell Carcinoma just before her 50th birthday. She is a wife and amazing mother to our 3 lovely girls. Two years ago, we moved from the city and bought a farm so that our girls could enjoy country living with animals like she did. We
have been working hard for the last eight months to keep everything as normal as possible for them.
These anxious moments were coupled with deep prayers knowing that Jesus is the true healer and miracle maker. Continuing to have this deep desire to be here to parent our girls and being completely helpless to circumstances, we prayed desperately and purposefully, along with hundreds of you, for a miracle – that the Lord would save her life. Much to the
surprise of her doctors, we had dramatic results from the first three rounds of chemo, the tumor shrank by nearly half and the tear causing pain, was gone. We truly believe this was only at the hand of God and that the Lord is doing a work in her body in miraculous ways. We are so in awe of the Lord’s sovereignty over her body and know without a doubt that his hand is in this situation. December 2024, she went in for a dental procedure to remove a small growth from her left back molar on the jaw. It was sent for testing and came back benign.
Over the next 6 months, the pain got worse, she thought it was lockjaw and was being treated by a chiropractor for that condition. In June, she went in for my normal dental cleaning and could not open her mouth very much (could fit an index finger between her teeth). The dentist sent her to a specialist who looked in her mouth and immediately referred to the cancer center for further testing. At this point, she could fit a straw between her teeth.
On July 17th, we got the news that we did not want to hear again, it was Cancer. The doctor told us it was just really bad luck. Her history with cancer has been a long one. At the age of 21, she was diagnosed with tongue cancer. She had surgery within 2 weeks of diagnosis and recovered quickly as only young people do. Five years later, it returned on the same side, again surgery was the best option. Then four years after that, again, a cancer diagnosis. This time with a twist, it switched sides. Surgery yet again, followed two weeks later with a surgery to remove lymph nodes and glands from the right side of her neck. Right after that, she had thirty-five radiation treatments, it was December 2006 when that came to an end.
She had 18.5 years clear from cancer. This time was spent having a family and growing a career in disaster management. We had three beautiful girls that we should not have been able to have (twins and their little sister).
At first, the clinical notes stated that her cancer was inoperable, they referred her to palliative care and chemotherapy. She underwent six rounds of chemo (carboplatin and 5FU) and have completed nine rounds of Immunotherapy (Keytruda). Her 10th Keytruda round got postponed due to high liver enzymes (lovely side effect called immune-mediated hepatitis. She is currently on a high dose of corticosteroids, an antibiotic, and a reflux medicine to help. She goes in once a week for blood work to check her enzymes to see where we stand. In the meantime, we are in a holding pattern for treatment. In addition to the medical intervention, she is also doing quite a bit of alternative treatments. At this point, we figure, what can it hurt?
**OUR NEED FOR HELP**
The doctors want to operate now. The surgery is daunting, involves 12+ hours in surgery, at least 1 week in the hospital and 10-16 weeks recovery time. This has put a lot of stress on us trying to figure out how we are going to pay all our living expenses and medical bills while she is out of work. She has two weeks of vacation time saved up….but nothing else. Mississippi does not require short term disability, so her employer does not offer that. She has FMLA available to protect her job, but that is it. She applied for SSDI to see if she could get that going before the surgery, and was recently denied. The stress and worry of trying to figure out how we are not going to lose everything when she undergoes surgery is terrible. She has been trying to ride the chemo/immunotherapy train as long as her body is responding to it. We fear that we are nearing the end of that progress.
**DIRECTED PRAYERS NEEDED**
• That financially we can make this work.
• That Andrea comes through surgery and makes a complete recovery to be here for our
young girls.
• That God continues to use this story, HIS story, to show the world who He is and what
He is capable of.
**OUR PROMISE**
Please be assured that all of the money raised in this campaign will go completely to ongoing
treatments, care and associated medical expenses needed to support Andrea’s battle with cancer and to support our family in this time of need and hope.
Thank you for being a part of this journey with us!
We are sincerely grateful for any donation to help us pay for these expenses! Every donation
will greatly multiply the funds that are needed to accomplish the goal of remission and,
ultimately, cancer free. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Please share my fundraising campaign with everyone, donations are tax deductible and greatly
appreciated. To Share, scroll down to the bottom of my campaign and click on the icon of the
social media you have.
**Important update** — when making a donation, please enter the amount you wish to donate in the large box at the TOP (campaign donation). If you wish to give an *additional* amount to “givetaxfree.org” so they can fund their work, you enter that in the second box. If you leave the top box empty, your entire donation goes to GTF and not to Andrea. You can also choose to make no additional donation (or tip) by sliding the slider to 0%.
The Hebert Family
Andrea, Ashley, Caroline, Cameron & Lauren
3/13/26 Update:
3/19/26: Today was updated scan day.
Bloodwork: Liver enzymes are back to normal, so they are going to start weaning me off the corticosteroids I’m on. Will take about 4 weeks as long as my numbers all stay good. White blood cell counts went up from 5.08 to 9.49, Red blood cell counts went up from 3.95 to 4.36. Platelet count was a little bit low but not dramatically low. So my body is fighting!
Pet Scan:
Slightly decreased hypermetabolic activity centered in the left retromolar trigone. No evidence of metastatic disease.
Standard update went down from a high of 25 to 7.3 on the last scan to 6 today. A decreasing Standardized Uptake Value (SUV) on a PET scan generally indicates reduced metabolic activity in a specific area, usually signaling that a cancer treatment (such as chemotherapy or radiation) is working effectively. It suggests that a tumor is becoming less active, shrinking, or dying.
Chest: No lesions worrisome for malignancy
Abdomen and pelvis: No lesions worrisome for malignancy.
Bones: No lesions worrisome for malignancy.
I do have a sub centimeter calcification in the left thyroid lobe. And of course a gallbladder filled with stones.
MRI:
1. Interval development of a small enhancing nodule along the buccal soft tissues. Recommend correlation with direct inspection and attention on follow-up imaging
2. Slight interval increase in size of a waxing and waning 0-.6cm superficial left parotid gland lesion possibly reflecting an intraparotid lymph node.
3. No cervical lymphadenopathy.
Interval development of a small T1/T2 hypointense enhancing nodule along the buccal soft tissues adjacent to the left 2nd maxillary molar tooth measuring approximately 1.3×0.7×0.4cm. No discrete new nodular or mass-like soft tissue enhancement seen elsewhere.
Skull base and brain: No acute abnormalities. Stable small probable chronic infarct in the inferior left cerebellar hemisphere.
Parotid and submandibular glands: Slight interval increase in side of a 0.6cm T1 hypointense, T2 hyperintense peripherally enhancing lesion in the superficial left parotid glad. previously measuring 0.3cm on 10/14/25 and 0.7cm on 7/31/25.
Thyroid: Mildly heterogenous with sub centimeter T2 hyperintense left thyroid lobe nodule again noted.
Some of these is “greek” to me…….I see the surgeon on Monday, late afternoon, to go over all these updated scans.
#God’sgotthis
March 23, 2026 Update:
Today we met with the Surgeon. We will have additional PET and MRI mid may to surgery planning and to see where we are (praying for no metastasis). Surgery is scheduled for May 22nd, the day after the kids are out of school for summer break. I have to go down the night before (2.5 hour drive to New Orleans) so that I can be at the hospital on the 22nd at 5am. The surgery will be between 8 and 12 hours in length and will include harvesting an artery, tissue, possibly bone, and skin grafts from my left arm. Due to the moved tissue or “flap” it will need to have its new blood supply monitored very carefully and will require about a week in the hospital.
The removed tissue will be sent to pathology to ensure there are clear margins, results typically take about 1 week.
After surgery, I will be in ICU and remain asleep and comfortable on a breathing machine until the following morning. I will have a temporary tracheostomy during the procedure, this could mean that they could wake me up sooner. I will have drain tubes, a feeding tube (that will remain for a month), and multiple bandage sites when I wake up.
Day 1: They will wake me up and take me off the breathing machine. I will not be able to talk and will need to bring a board and markers for communication. At this point, they will be giving me medication to control pain. If the surgeon’s team feels I’m ready, they will get me out of bet and sit in a reclining chair with the help of physical therapy. This is when they will start giving me liquid feeds through the feeding tube. There will be lots of medical teams checking on me and the surgical sites throughout the day and rest of hospital stay.
Day 2: Activity level will gradually increase with the help of physical and occupational therapy. Swelling of surgical site will likely get worse over the first 2-3 days, before it begins to get better. Discharge plan discussions will begin with family.
Day 3: If surgeon feels I’m ready, the tracheostomy tube will be changed to a smaller, more comfortable tube a the bedside by the ENT team. Once this smaller tube is in, a speaking valve can be placed. I will have to continue to work with physical and occupational therapy as well as speech and swallow therapist who will help me begin to speak.
Day 4-5: Based on progress, tracheostomy tube may be capped and/or removed. Surgical team will finalize the discharge plan and give a tentative discharge date and time.
Day 6-7: Depending on both the assessment and recommendations from surgeon and swallow therapist, plans for being able to eat will be formulated. Though the surgeon told us today that she would like me not to have anything by mouth for 1 month to allow for healing of the surgical sites. At this time, the surgical team may begin to remove sutures or staples.
After I’m home, things will be interesting in dealing with the feeding tube, all the wound sites and skin graft sites. I will go for a post op visit 1-2 weeks after going home. In addition to surgery, I may have to have follow-up chemo and/or radiation that will start 4-6 weeks after surgery to allow healing time.
Now to figure out all the moving parts with kids being home for the summer and animals at our place that will need daily care.
This is a link to my Amazon list for surgery if anyone would like to help out.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/GPVAN14DS3AS?ref_=wl_share