If I were you man I would accept that the truck needs some high dollar repairs and stop nickel n dimeing it... that's just money you could be saving for your valve seals.
If you're willing and able to do the work yourself, or with a buddy who might know how, valve stem seals are not an expensive job. A full set of Fel-Pro's from rockauto are $20 lol.. You'll need some other seals, gaskets and fluids while you're in there, but you COULD do it all yourself for probably $2-300, my guess. It's paying someone else to re&re the top half of your engine at $100/hr that's the expensive part. If the job is well planned, it can be done in a weekend too.
However doing that job yourself will not only teach you A LOT about working on your own vehicles, but you'll also get to know your engine intimately, and you'll know exactly what shape it's in once you get it apart.