The product of a long career in the Navy, retired Capt. Paul Weckman has little love for his latest hairstyle.
“It’s very uncomfortable for me to be out of military specs after 26 years,” he said regarding it being longer than usual.
In a few hours, the proud veteran’s coiffed mane will be gone. Shaved off for a fundraiser in advance of future stem cell treatment that would force it to fall out. Paul’s wife Penny offers hope.
“I mean I love the silver fox, but it will come back. It will be OK,” Penny assured her husband.
“It’s funny because the road through all of this is very different. You have an expectation when you first go into it and then it’s nothing like that.”
Capt. Paul, the head of military and veteran affairs at Sanford Health, has cancer. The style, multiple myeloma.
“He doesn’t sleep a lot. I don’t know if he wants you to know that,” said Penny, who serves as a part-time caregiver. “It’s very difficult for him to sleep. It’s tough to watch.”
Toxic exposure
The reason why Paul’s here today, and hopefully many years to come, he says is thanks to Sanford Health.
“Who knows the outcome six months or a year from now? It could have been too late,” Paul said. “Caught it hopefully early enough that we can get the treatment and get back to life.”
Treatment meaning months of chemo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and drugs to help strengthen bones.
“That cancer, one of the causes could be from toxic exposure. In my case it was,” Paul said. “During my military career on ship, one of my jobs, I was in charge of a firefighting team on our flight deck and one of the chemicals they use is AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam). Which is today, now over time, they realized it’s very toxic.”
On an April work trip and during a fever-induced hospitalization at Sanford Medical Center Fargo in North Dakota, a doctor asked about Paul’s military service.
“It was kind of in front of us like a ‘wow’ moment when he sat down with us and said, ‘Paul, I think you have cancer,’” Paul remembered.
‘Great honor’ to care for veterans
When he got back home to Sioux Falls and Sanford Health oncologist Jonathan Bleeker, M.D., Paul was diagnosed within a week.
“At the last stages of chemotherapy,” said Paul, sitting in the Sanford Cancer Center. “The prognosis looks good but that’s what I’m here for.
“Working with the VA, who was great doing the community care, sent me here to Sanford Health to receive my treatment.”
Being a provider of choice for veterans during their most vulnerable moments is a Sanford priority.
“I think it’s a great honor,” said Dr. Bleeker. “In getting to know him especially and hearing his story, all the work that he’s put in, all the service that he’s given to this country, I think it’s really a privilege to be able to care for folks here at Sanford and we’re very honored to do it.”
Nurse Crystal Enstad is part of Paul’s care team and often checks on her teammate during chemo visits.
“Crystal is not only a nurse but she’s a Navy veteran. We first met not on the clinical side, but we have a veteran employee resource group (we attend),” Paul said.
A group embracing the retired vet during his current battle.
Raising money to benefit fellow veterans
It’s not the only support raising him up.
“Today we’re going to be going to the Sanford House,” said Paul in late September. “It’s a fundraiser event where they’re going to shave my head. All the funds raised, 100%, goes toward taking care of our patients at Sanford Health.”
The original idea was to get the buzz in his backyard in front of his grandkids.
“Then Paul started thinking – and you know how he thinks – and it went to another level. That’s where it’s going today,” Penny joked.
The goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of the year for the Sanford Military and Veteran Fund at the Sanford Health Foundation.
“This fund helps do special touches and community celebrations and everything you can think of from a veteran perspective to give it that extra flair at Sanford Health, whether it’s a patient or veteran employee,” sand Ashton Siebrecht, Sanford Health Foundation development officer.
With granddaughter Millie nearby, along with Sanford leaders, donations poured in and hair hit the floor.
“He looks fantastic,” Siebrecht said about Paul after the event. “I had never seen him with that long of hair and then to see him with no hair it was like two ends of the spectrum.”
‘This is his calling to take care of veterans’
Turning a cancer journey into a mission to serve others shows character and the culture at Sanford.
“I think it’s awesome. It doesn’t surprise me that when going through something like this at least part of his mind would be not just on himself but how to help others,” Dr. Bleeker said regarding his patient Paul.
Penny adds, “This is his calling to take care of the veterans and do what he can. Sanford has been amazing. Seeing what he’s going through now and the support they’ve been giving him doubles down on that.”
While raising money will help, equally important is sharing the message surrounding toxic exposure and screening for veterans.
“It’s not about me. It’s about all those fellow brothers and sisters that are serving now and have served. Vietnam it was Agent Orange,” Paul said.
“For any veteran, you need to open up and allow (doctors), help them diagnose you or at least inform them if you were in front of a toxic situation. Whether burn pit or other types of exposures out there.”
Paul said he is grateful, “from the day I was hired to even today, the (Sanford) leadership has just been outstanding, phenomenal, whatever words describe that as far as supporting our veterans and military. As long as they continue to support, that will be why I stay here until I do retire.”
Until then and you can bet after, the Weckmans won’t be leaving any veterans behind.
Fundraising for the Sanford Military and Veteran Fund will continue through Dec. 31.
Learn more
- Sanford Health named top non-profit for veterans
- Scholar serves community in health care & military
- Sanford Health, VA share data to improve veteran health care
…
Posted In Cancer, Foundation, Veterans
