If you have been involved with a Terminal cancer patient step on in...

Mama fought breast cancer for seven years. She was diagnosed stage 3 in early 1977. May as well have been a death sentence right then in 1977, but Mama was not your average person. She fought it hard. Daddy retired two years early to be her caregiver in 1982, when she became paralyzed from the waist down, as our family's never had money and that was the only way, even with me chipping in. My sister was off at nursing school. Mama finally lost her fight, February 4, 1984.

It killed, Daddy, but being the rock he always was, he picked up and made things work. We started fishing more, going to local Macon Peaches ball games, watching baseball on TV. I never really cared, but I loved it because he did. Then in 1996, we had to end up putting him in an assisted living home.....per his wishes. He had been leaving the frying pan on when finished.....things like that. He knew he was going to mess something up. Kitty and I had been married since 94 and living with him, per his and my sister's wishes and we both had jobs. We were buying the house I was born and raised in from Daddy's estate while he was still alive. If you want a complete clusterfuck and something that's the most difficult thing to do in your life EVER, do that. Then about in early 1998, we had to keep putting Daddy in the hospital for recurring upper respiratory trouble. His doctor kept treating him for such and sending him home. About the end of October, he was in again and his doctor on call found he had metastasized lung cancer. Daddy was gone almost 30 days to the day later on December 28th, 1998.

Then I joined here and shortly after met Bruce (70-71DartGTReg). We chatted frequently in the chatroom we had back then and realized we had a lot in common, including our love for the slant six. I also learned he lived in Ft Valley, Georgia, about 62 miles away. Kitty and I would go see him and eat supper occasionally getting to know him more. He was a wealth of information. But he was already sick. He knew something was wrong, as his throat was swollen and sore all of the time. He had no family and no friends locally and no insurance. He was very financially strapped. So it was up to me to take him to the few doctors appointments we could get him into. Once a diagnosis was confirmed, that he had stage 4 throat and stage 4 lung cancer, he was very depressed. But I still drove the distance taking him to his treatments. Sitting with him as I did many years before with Mama. That was hard. One of the hardest things I've ever done. He called me after his hair fell out from chemo saying he had always wanted a tattoo on his head of a spider web and a black widow, that he knew a guy in Ft Valley that was an artist ans asked me to go and get one with him. I said hell yeah, because we knew where this was going and you only live once. But he got sicker and dies that following week. I did get that tattoo, only on my elbow and with his birth date and date of death in the web. about two weeks prior to that though, he asked Kitty and I if we knew of anyone who might come to the house, that he wanted to accept Christ. I have a friend who is a retired Methodist Pastor and took his Communion kit, gave Bruce Holy Communion and he accepted Christ that night. It was a beautiful thing and something I am glad to have been involved with, even if only a little.

So yeah, I've been involved with terminal cancer.