Jeffery Bryant Vance

Jeffery Bryant Vance 1964 ~ 2006 Special friend, son, brother and uncle, Jeff, passed peacefully away at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah the afternoon of May 23, 2006. Jeff was born May 9, 1964 in Salt Lake City, Utah, son of Susyn Lehman Vance and Bryant Reid Vance. He was raised by his mother and stepfather, L. Dean Keel. Graduated from Cyprus High School in 1982. Diagnosed with stage four colon cancer December of 2003, Jeff fought a valiant battle with his disease for over two years. He was employed at Valley Emergency Communications Center "VECC" for 16 years, recently as Operations Manager. Many friends and associates have loved and supported him throughout his illness. Jeff never complained and worked throughout his treatments and illness. Survived by his best friend and partner, Tad; parents: Susyn and Dean Keel, Bryant Vance; brothers: Michael (Dondi), Scott (Lisa), Justin (Jocelyn), Cody (Jenny) and Jeremy; grandmother, Carol O. Inkley; aunts and uncles: Brad Lehman, Jon (Michelle) Lehman, Von (Kaye) Vance, Phil (Patti) Vance, Shanna (Gary) Lowe, Dolores Vance, Sue (Daryl) Ernst, Bill (Jean) Keel, Sonny (Sheri) Valdez; numerous cousins; special nieces and nephews: Amadeus, Austin, Taylor, Kylee, Kate, Quinton, Dallin Vance. Preceded in death by stepmother, Trina Vance; grandparents: William Lehman, Mary Helen Adams, Edwin C. Inkley Adral and Norma Vance; uncles: Udell Vance and Kim Lehman. The family wishes to thank Dr. Graydon Harker, Rick Hansen and staff at Utah Cancer Specialists, Ed Hunter, Dan and staff and St. Mark's Hospital for their kind and considerate care and support. A special thanks to the VECC "family" for their support. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, May 30, 2006, 12:00 noon at McDougal Funeral Home, 4330 South Redwood Road where a viewing will be held Monday, May 29, 2006, 6-8 p.m. and Tuesday, 11-11:45 a.m. prior to services. At Jeff's request cremation will take place and a graveside service will be held Friday, June 2, 2006, 1:00 p.m. at Valley View Memorial Park, 4335 West 4100 South. Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 5/26/2006.
Notice • Guest Book • Flowers • Charities

Dear Diary Friday...

It was an emotional weekend, and not a good one.

Friday my cousin went in for surgery to try to remove the tumor from his bladder. He was diagnosed this year also with a "bad heart" and blood clotes, two of which are in his brain. He has been on Cumidin (sorry for the spelling) and so they had to remove him from the blood thinner about a week ago and try the surgery. The doctor got most of the tumor, but it was so deep into his tissue, they had to stop the surgery to wake him up. Now we are waiting for the biopsy to be returned to let us know what options he has. Right now it is coming down to 1) putting him on chemo and radiation therapy, 2) if the tumor is not a good one, going back in and taking the risk of the clots moving to try and get the rest of it, and 3) putting him back on the blood thinner to break up the clots and hope that in the meantime, the tumor does not grow and/or spread. My family is staying very positive about it and at this time, he is home with his family.

Friday I also came home to see my Spooky had yucky eyes. By Saturday morning, he was salivating, couldn't open his eyes....it was just sad. Dylan and I went on a "vet hunt" and finally ended up at VCA where the doctor put him on an eye antibiotic, but no oral antibiotics, because with an upper respiratory, that is the equivalent of a human cold, so an antiobiotic wouldn't help. So, by Saturday night, Spooky's eyes were non-stop draining, he couldn't stop salivating, and his breathing was horrible. Oh, and his eyes that were pink before were now an angry red. We headed to the emergency clinic. The doctor was in total disbelief that we had not been given an oral antibiotic to stop any SECONDARY bacterial infection that could occur from the virus...LIKE PNEUMONIA! And the eye medication, well Spooky is extremely allergic too it. And since cats eyes, ears, nose, and mouth are all on the same tubes, if something goes in his eye and irritates it, they SALIVATE! Poor baby!! They gave him a mega dose shot of antibiotics, cleaned out his eyes, gave him an IV of fluid as he was just a little dehydrated, sent us home with oral antibiotics, as well as eye drops. He is now quarantined in his own room, with his own bed, food, water, and litterbox. I go in twice a day to give him his medicine and love him. The eyes are a bit clearer, there is no more salivating, and now he has a horrible case of the sniffles.....which the doctor warned me that he would get worse before he got better. At least now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Sunday I mowed the lawn, edged it, trimmed it, pulled weeds, and helped over my parents....until the horrible headache hit. I ended up in bed at 6:45 and I think I was probably pretty delusional by that time, as I was in sooooo much pain. I am going to have to talk to my doctor about some medication because this headaches start when a storm is coming in and the pressure starts dropping....and I HATE IT!