Doo-Dah Diner owner fighting aggressive cancer as customers, community rally around him
For months, Doo-Dah Diner owner Patrick Shibley was dealing with excruciating pain in his lower back and pelvic region.
The pain — which he originally suspected was a slipped disc in his back — was so bad that he had stepped back from his duties at the well-loved diner at 206 E. Kellogg, which he started with his wife, Timirie, in 2012.
Then, a visit to his chiropractor launched a terrifying chain of events: The chiropractor recommended Patrick get an MRI, and just after Thanksgiving, the results came in.
Patrick, 58, was diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer — a rarer, more aggressive form that had spread to his bones and lymph nodes.
Now Patrick — well known for his gravelly voice that can be heard above the din of the busy diner as he relays orders to the kitchen staff — is preparing to start treatment, and friends, customers and the Wichita community are rallying around him.
One of the Shibleys’ friends and business associates has even started a Go Fund Me campaign for the couple, who will have to cover back-to-back deductibles as Patrick starts 18 rounds of chemotherapy later this week. The day after Christmas, he’ll also begin eight radiation treatments — meant to help ease the pressure on his cancer-riddled spine.
The Go Fund Me, which was started late last week, aims to raise $11,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, it has brought in just over $3,500.
Timirie and Patrick, who are known for putting on fundraisers through the diner, say they are a little uncomfortable about being on the receiving end of financial help. Still, Timirie said, the campaign is a “blessing.”
“I’m just not used to being on the other side of this,” she said.
Though the couple is still in shock about the diagnosis, she said they’re optimistic. The cancer hasn’t spread to Patrick’s organs, which doctors told them was good news.
Though he’s likely had the cancer for years — and even though it’s an aggressive form — it’s fairly slow-growing, Timirie said.
“We’re very optimistic,” she said. The treatment protocol has success of five years plus, and we feel like we’ve got another miracle left in us.”
Prayers needed
A year and a half ago, Patrick fell from the back of his pickup and suffered a torn meniscus and rotator cuff. He worked through it, though, and both Timirie and his doctors say he has a “Superman level of pain tolerance.”
But this pain was different, Timirie said, and it’s limited how much time Patrick can be at the restaurant. Fortunately, kitchen manager Jon Newsome knows how to run the kitchen without Patrick and, combined with the front-of-house staff, has been able to keep turning out the diner’s famous biscuits and gravy, monkey bread and eggs Benedict as usual.
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Patrick — who’s always worked in restaurants — still goes to the diner daily to check on things, and just last week, he helped Timirie deliver three catering orders.
But once treatment starts, that will become harder, she said.
Timirie, meanwhile, is trying to split her focus between caring for Patrick, taking care of the diner, tending to her DooDads permanent jewelry business and checking in on her 83-year-old mother.
It’s all been overwhelming, she said, but she’s been comforted by the outpouring of love that has come her and Patrick’s way ever since they announced the diagnosis in a Facebook video last week.
“We haven’t really been much in the diner, but we’ve felt an overwhelming amount of awesome support from messages and phone calls,” she said.
Supporters have asked the couple what they need, she said, and they just don’t know yet. The world of cancer is brand new to them, and they’re not sure exactly what to expect.
“We’re going to see: The games start this Friday with chemo,” Timirie said. “I don’t know what we’re going to need when that starts besides just a lot of prayers.”
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