Liberty County deputies banded together to help one of their own get through a difficult time and financial burden. Jon Glandon, a former deputy of the LCSO, discovered he had brain cancer in 2003. After a three-year remission, the cancer has returned, as did the routine visits to Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina. The constant travel has created a financial burden for Glandon’s family.
“He’s battling brain cancer,” Jon's wife of 20 years, Theresa Glandon, said. “The first battle came in 2003 when Jon had a grand mal seizure that led to the discovery of the tumor.”
Glandon went through radiation and had part of the tumor surgically removed.
“The rest could not be removed because it had interwoven with parts of the brain, so for the next year he was on a pill form of chemotherapy,” Theresa Glandon said.
She said after a complete year of treatment, he was re-evaluated with a biopsy and was told the cancer was in remission.
But during one of Glandon’s routine MRIs, doctors had bad news.
“They discovered a new tumor on a separate part of the brain this June,” Theresa Glandon said. “Surgeons are unable to remove it because it is on part of the brain where his motor skills could be affected. It’s the same type of tumor, but in a different spot.”
They placed him on a clinical trial to see if new medicine being developed would work.
“It worked for about a month but then stopped,” Glandon said.
They put him back on his original treatment and began chemotherapy intravenously. The treatment required the Glandon family — Jon, Theresa and their children Robin and Josh — to travel to Duke every two weeks.
“Most of my medical expenses are taken care of through insurance,” Jon Glandon said. “But not the cost of going back and forth to North Carolina.”
The family would drive for 14 hours round-trip every two weeks, having to pay for meals, gas, hotels and eventually, car maintenance and rentals.
Recently, the Glandon’s received a bit of good news when they were told they could start getting most of Jon’s treatments in Savannah. However, they still must make occasional trips to Duke.
“Every six weeks, I still go to Duke because I have a doctor’s appointment anyway,” Glandon said. “And it happens to fall during the same time I need a treatment. So that is the only time I go to Duke now, every six weeks.”
“The expense of staying at the hotels and gas and things has been a burden,” his wife added. “We’ve been fortunate to have family and extended family who have lent us vehicles and helped us.”
Their extended family includes Glandon’s law enforcement family who decided they would pitch in and take up a collection to help defray the cost of the trips.
“He is one of my soldiers,” Lt. Danny Pittman said of Glandon. “I’m going to take care of my soldiers, especially when they are going through some trials and tribulations. When some one is sick or needs our help we are going to come together and do what we need to do. He used to be on my shift and he is a great deputy. We are going to stand behind him, and as long as I’m breathing, I’m going to stand behind him.”
“He is family,” Cpl. Gary Richardson said. “He’s worked hard all his life and now that he needs help I’m going to look after him. We have a real tight family.”
The group placed posters within the department and courthouses in Liberty and Long counties, and presented the family with the cash they collected.
“We are a group of guys who have worked together for years,” Chief Deputy Keith Moran said. “Obviously Sheriff Don Martin is dedicated to his employees and as far as we are concerned he (Glandon) is still here working for us and if that means digging in a little deeper so we can give back something to take care of him that’s what we will do.”
Richardson is planning a Texas hold-em poker tournament at 7 p.m. Nov. 22, to help the Glandons. For more information, call Richardson at 977-0752.
Anyone who wants to donate to the family can call Pittman at 977-0951 for instructions.
“He has two great children and he is still a man who is trying to do the best that he can for his family,” Pittman said. “And I just want him to know that we love and we care for him, so we took up a collection and we just wanted to give him this before he leaves again to Duke.”
“He’s battling brain cancer,” Jon's wife of 20 years, Theresa Glandon, said. “The first battle came in 2003 when Jon had a grand mal seizure that led to the discovery of the tumor.”
Glandon went through radiation and had part of the tumor surgically removed.
“The rest could not be removed because it had interwoven with parts of the brain, so for the next year he was on a pill form of chemotherapy,” Theresa Glandon said.
She said after a complete year of treatment, he was re-evaluated with a biopsy and was told the cancer was in remission.
But during one of Glandon’s routine MRIs, doctors had bad news.
“They discovered a new tumor on a separate part of the brain this June,” Theresa Glandon said. “Surgeons are unable to remove it because it is on part of the brain where his motor skills could be affected. It’s the same type of tumor, but in a different spot.”
They placed him on a clinical trial to see if new medicine being developed would work.
“It worked for about a month but then stopped,” Glandon said.
They put him back on his original treatment and began chemotherapy intravenously. The treatment required the Glandon family — Jon, Theresa and their children Robin and Josh — to travel to Duke every two weeks.
“Most of my medical expenses are taken care of through insurance,” Jon Glandon said. “But not the cost of going back and forth to North Carolina.”
The family would drive for 14 hours round-trip every two weeks, having to pay for meals, gas, hotels and eventually, car maintenance and rentals.
Recently, the Glandon’s received a bit of good news when they were told they could start getting most of Jon’s treatments in Savannah. However, they still must make occasional trips to Duke.
“Every six weeks, I still go to Duke because I have a doctor’s appointment anyway,” Glandon said. “And it happens to fall during the same time I need a treatment. So that is the only time I go to Duke now, every six weeks.”
“The expense of staying at the hotels and gas and things has been a burden,” his wife added. “We’ve been fortunate to have family and extended family who have lent us vehicles and helped us.”
Their extended family includes Glandon’s law enforcement family who decided they would pitch in and take up a collection to help defray the cost of the trips.
“He is one of my soldiers,” Lt. Danny Pittman said of Glandon. “I’m going to take care of my soldiers, especially when they are going through some trials and tribulations. When some one is sick or needs our help we are going to come together and do what we need to do. He used to be on my shift and he is a great deputy. We are going to stand behind him, and as long as I’m breathing, I’m going to stand behind him.”
“He is family,” Cpl. Gary Richardson said. “He’s worked hard all his life and now that he needs help I’m going to look after him. We have a real tight family.”
The group placed posters within the department and courthouses in Liberty and Long counties, and presented the family with the cash they collected.
“We are a group of guys who have worked together for years,” Chief Deputy Keith Moran said. “Obviously Sheriff Don Martin is dedicated to his employees and as far as we are concerned he (Glandon) is still here working for us and if that means digging in a little deeper so we can give back something to take care of him that’s what we will do.”
Richardson is planning a Texas hold-em poker tournament at 7 p.m. Nov. 22, to help the Glandons. For more information, call Richardson at 977-0752.
Anyone who wants to donate to the family can call Pittman at 977-0951 for instructions.
“He has two great children and he is still a man who is trying to do the best that he can for his family,” Pittman said. “And I just want him to know that we love and we care for him, so we took up a collection and we just wanted to give him this before he leaves again to Duke.”