Funds for Friends Jan & Debra benefit Nov. 12 at Keeseville Elks Club

Nov. 4—KEESEVILLE — Jan Shumway and Debra Douglas Straight are besties since growing up together in AuSable Forks.

Both women face monumental health challenges, which have prompted family and friends to organize a benefit, "Funds for Friends Jan & Debra" from noon to 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Elks Club, 1 Elk St., Keeseville.

The event offers a huge live auction at 5 p.m. with auctioneer Ed McCallister, Merriloons the clown for the kids, from 1-3 p.m., and Art & Ida Douglas' "Village Inn" famous Michigans to sample or reminisce.

Merriloon will be clowning for kids 1 p.m.-3 p.m. The music rotation includes Fulton Folly, noon-2 p.m., Susan Richards & Scott Tuller 2-3 p.m., Gene Gilbert 3-4 p.m. and DJ Dan Rochester 4 p.m. until the auction ends.

Fundraiser Raffle is $20 per ticket. In-house raffle items include Thanksgiving Turkey raffles, Balloon Popping, surprise gifts, and more.

'TERRIBLE DISEASES'

"They've been high school friends for years," Randy Douglas, Debra's brother, said.

"They were friends since they were little kids, and they both are facing these terrible diseases, so we just wanted to get the word out there."

Debra grew up in the Town of Jay and AuSable Forks. She is the granddaughter of Art and Ida Douglas, who owned Art's Village Inn, a restaurant and bar, in AuSable Forks.

Her father was Tom Douglas, who was a Town of Jay Supervisor two different times. He passed away in 2000.

"She worked for several law agencies, mostly notably in Clinton County for Kevin Ryan and Kevin Peryer," Randy said.

"She also worked for a lawyer here in town, Dan Manning II, then she went to work for the federal government within the prison system and was a clerk to the warden at FCI Ray Brook, and a federal penitentiary in Colorado before retiring. She turned 66 in July."

MISDIAGNOSED

A first cousin, Jeff Brown, passed away from ALS Oct. 18, 2011.

"My sister had the genetic testing," Randy said.

"They're saying it's not genetic. She retired and moved to Naples, Florida. She was misdiagnosed for the last seven years."

Recently Debra, and her husband Bob, relocated to Boston to be with their son, Nathan, and daughter-in-law, Michellee, and grandchildren, LJ and Meilani.

"So, they could have help taking care of her because she needs 24/7 care," Randy said.

"They moved in together in Boston."

Debra did ALS testing on Sept. 5, and the specialist said she was misdiagnosed and definitely has ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to als.org.

It is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease "named after the New York Yankee baseball player who lived with it until his death in 1941," according to mda.org

"She's been in a motorized wheelchair for the last four or five years, and currently she's totally disabled," Randy said.

"She only has one thumb that moves a little bit. Basically, she's lost total use of her whole body. My wife and I and kids went and visited her two weeks ago in Boston. My brother is going down this weekend to help and assist and see, but it's been certainly trying times."

Debra loves family, and she loves spending time with her grandchildren.

"Before she got sick, she used to walk and ride motorcycles with her husband and those sort of things," Randy said.

"She was very active in the homeowners association in the park that she lived in in Naples, Florida, until she got so sick that she couldn't continue. She was the president of one of the homeowner associations.

"As the disease progressed, she wasn't able to do those things. She was enjoying retirement when all of a sudden, she tripped and fell and broke her foot back in 2016. She's been misdiagnosed ever since and progressively got worse."

FLORIDA VISIT

Jan Shumway traveled with a group of friends last November to visit Debra.

"They've been friends for a long time," Chad Garcia, Jan's nephew, said.

"My aunt has no kids of her own. So my family and my sister, we're kind of her family and has always been super close all of our lives. My aunt was misdiagnosed for awhile, too, months not years. She started feeling really poor late last year, December time, because at Christmas she wasn't feeling well. She was having a whole bunch of problems with her face. She had multiple root canals. She just kept getting worse. Nobody knew what it was."

Fast forward to April 2023, and Jan was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, "a rare but highly aggressive (fast-growing) B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

This disease may affect the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys, ovaries, or other organs. Burkitt lymphoma may spread to the central nervous system (CNS), according to lymphoma.org.

"Once you read about it and start knowing what it is, one of the places it can start is in the jaw and in the face," Chad said.

"It's a very rare cancer. She's just been in the battle ever since with week-long stays for chemo in Albany and multiple other hospital stays whether in Plattsburgh or spending time in Albany. She's been in rough shape for awhile."

For years, Jan primarily managed local convenience stores. Most recently, she worked at a rehab home in Saranac Lake.

"That's where she had been working up until her diagnosis," Chad said.

"She was going to retire this fall. She was kind of forced earlier to do it."

Jan loves the water and lives on Fern Lake.

"There is a family camp there for years and years," Chad said.

"Her and my mother actually built a house there in the late '90s. They built a duplex. So, she loves boating, being out on the water. That's number one.

"She has a little card group. Her and her friends have cards. She loves to go to my kids sporting events. She didn't have her own, so she doesn't miss one of their games. That's a major, I would say, hobby of hers. She travels with us all the way to Syracuse. My kids play travel sports, so wherever we go, she goes, too."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell