Man’s cancer battle chronicled in book

By MICAH HENRY

You might have seen him in a gray and black State Highway Patrol car in years past. But you might not have heard about his epic battle with cancer — and the positive way he has come through it all.

Tim Tarleton, 70, and his wife, Linda, have written about the entire ordeal in a short book entitled, Duke University Hospital Versus Burkitt Lymphoma (And a Sometimes Difficult Patient), which is the type of cancer that had attacked him.

Tim is a retired State Trooper, who served the Alexander County area for three decades. He and Linda live in Bethlehem along the beautiful shoreline of Lake Hickory. Tim is a three-time recipient of department commendations, including the Patrol’s highest, the Award of Valor.

But one of his biggest life-and-death battles would lay ahead of him.

About three years ago, as a part-time job, Tim was helping at Players Ridge Golf Course, in Bethlehem, removing dead or dying trees. In January 2023, Tim began feeling weaker and weaker. He had no energy to get going each day and began to stumble over cut limbs. Late that month, he was unable to continue his job there.

“I lost my appetite, I had lost about 40 pounds,” Tim related. He thought he was temporarily sick and could push through it in a few more days.

Instead, Linda insisted he go to a doctor.

After rounds of blood tests and an emergency room visit for dehydration, Linda said Tim’s situation was “just not making sense.”

On February 3, 2023, they were referred by oncologist Dr. Flint Gray to have an appointment the following Monday at Duke University Hospital as soon as possible, after Dr. Gray said he felt there was cancer activity in Tim’s blood.

Linda prayed that God place the right people in their path to heal Tim’s disease.

At Duke, they met with Dr. Harry Erba, hematologist.

Tim’s first visit was quite memorable at Duke. He declined the use of a wheelchair and, though barely able to do so, insisted on walking down the halls to Dr. Erba’s office. He promptly sat down in the office and began to vomit. Linda and her daughter, April, quickly tried to clean up the mess, but Erba came in and told them to stop, that they had the best people around to do that there.

Dr. Erba serves as Duke’s Director of the Leukemia Program and clinical investigator of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy Department.

The specialist outlined a rigorous treatment plan, designed to outpace and squelch Burkitt lymphoma. However, the side effects would be awful. Tim prepared for a rough 60 to 90 day stay at the hospital.

Linda relates that he quibbled with nurses over having to wear a hospital gown and having a bed alarm. After 50 days in the hospital, he was able to come home for a few days but one night, got up and fell face first onto a tile floor. Linda found him unresponsive. That prompted an ambulance call and local ER visit. The damage? A broken nose, two black eyes, and other minor injuries but, thankfully, no other broken bones. Back at Duke a few days later, Tim grimaced at having to wear a bright yellow wristband that labeled him a “fall risk.”

Through it all, the couple looked to the Lord for His healing power. Linda and Tim’s family and friends tried their best to keep a positive vibe around Tim. He became uncharacteristically morose as the chemo further weakened his body. Twice, Linda came into Tim’s room and thought she had found him dead.

Linda felt their lives flip upside down while Tim was at Duke. The man who had been her security and problem solver suddenly needed her to stand in the gap for him.

“Every problem that arose, every issue that came up, he took care of it. I didn’t even remember the last time I had to put gas in my car. But now, our roles were reversed dramatically. I was having to do everything. I watched helplessly as he lost more weight, got paler, got weaker, and began to develop this new ‘I don’t care’ attitude, which was the most difficult thing to watch,” Linda stated.

She reminded Tim that the Lord hadn’t brought him this far to abandon him.

“How many times in your life have you faced ‘bad odds’ and things that can only be explained by ‘divine intervention?’ Remember when you stopped a highly intoxicated driver with a carload of illegal pills? And as you casually approached the car, buttoning your jacket, he pointed a pistol at you, then accidentally dropped it as he cocked the hammer back? You did not have very good odds that night, either, but God was surely in control! Remember how that story ended? The same man who dropped that pistol that night eventually became an employee and counselor at the same facility he was once sentenced to be a patient at. Remember how proud you were to learn that? Again, not good odds at all, but an intervention from God,” Linda told Tim.

“We do not serve a God who plays the odds. We serve a God who knows where you are and is in control 100 percent of the time,” she added.

The couple, with God’s help, persevered, In July 2023, Tim completed his chemotherapy treatments and celebrated with many of the Duke staff. He was able to ring the completion bell, sharing hugs and tears with the nurses.

 

But there was another wrinkle. Dr. Erba, on a hunch, did more tests and found osteomyelitis, a bone infection, in Tim’s body, nearly masked by the side effects of the chemo.

Tim was put on a different floor and placed under the care of an infectious disease team.

Linda and Tim later learned that many of the Duke staff pray for their patients, including Dr. Erba and one of Tim’s nurses.

The couple was overwhelmed with an outpouring of support.

“Hundreds of people prayed for us,” Linda recalled. “Our community held fundraisers to help with expenses. Many donated meals and services anonymously. Some who Tim had previously arrested reached out with donations and offers of help. Family and friends visited and sent cards to tell us how much they love and support us.”

Tim remarked to Dr. Erba that he “did not know when, but at some point God Himself reached down from Heaven and touched this place (Duke Hospital).”

Dr. Erba replied, “He sure touched you.”

July 11 of this year marked two years that Tim had completed his chemo.

“It’s been such a journey. We’ve both gotten closer to the Lord. You keep trusting the Lord, find courage in Him, and don’t give up,” she said.

Nowadays, Tim is feeling good. He is able to work part-time at Westwind Construction, a company that provides materials for marine builders.

Linda said that she and Tim wrote the book as a way to cope with Tim’s survivor’s guilt after he came through the chemotherapy and to encourage other patients going through cancer battles. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and Amazon.

Web exclusive

View a video about an amazing rescue Tim Tarleton was part of during his time as a State Trooper:

Angel on Route 64 — It’s a Miracle — S4E11 Part 2