- T
- S
- J
There are people in this world who continue to give and give regardless of their own personal battles. My hope is that we can all come together and support those amazing people in our community who devote their lives to helping others.
Don and his wife Tracy (who has continued to serve our community as a nurse) have been fighting this battle with pancreatic cancer for over 3 years and have accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Throughout their battle they haven't asked for anything, they have actually done their own fundraising for organizations supporting others in need.
The most important thing we can give them is time together. We want to help give Don the ability to spend as much time with Tracy as possible which means her taking time away from work.
Don wrote this a year ago...
My mind is doing laps in my skull and I'm getting dizzy.... A million thoughts, just spinning around like an F5 tornado... I try to focus on these thoughts as they zip past my minds eye. So many ideas, running by too fast for me to zone in. Some of these glimpses into my head seem like they could be awesome, if I could get just a little more information from my mind.
Over the last 28 months, I have been in a very strange mindset.
One day I am 'just' sick, and the next I am battling the deadliest cancer,
in terms of 5 year survival rate.
I never truly knew about Pancreatic cancer until I was diagnosed in July
of 2012. Of course I had heard OF it, Patrick Swayze and Michael Landon being the sum total of my PC education. By 'education', I mean that I 'knew' pancreatic cancer was a certain death sentence. When I sat in that office, looking at the floor, and the doctor started talking to my wife and I, his words hit me like a fully loaded Peterbilt. After 10 months of specialists telling us, at 39 years old, I was "Not old enough to have pancreatic cancer", we were now being told, "You have Pancreatic cancer."
Honestly, all I could hear was Charlie Browns teacher... WAAA WA, WAAAA, WAA WA, WAAA!!! You're dead..... My mind shut down, my heart fell to the floor, and my tear ducts went into overdrive.
Over the next few weeks, I was set to have a ridiculously massive
surgery, pancreatoduodenectomy(say that 3 times fast) also called The Whipple procedure. I had to make 'end of life' decisions before I was even 'middle' aged. I signed all the medical power of attorney papers, wrote out my will, had a family get together/BBQ, had to have "THE" talk, made everyone in my family cry, and then I had to say good-bye to my 'brothers' at work. Little did I know, it would be a permanent fair well. I was in surgery for almost 11 hours. I died twice on the table. I also died in ICU. During the ICU death, I saw the 'light'. I was greeted, near the end of the light 'tunnel', by my father. He passed when I was only 11. He stopped me, put his hand on my shoulder, "It's not your time. You have things to do." He turned me around, and told me, "I will be here for you when it IS your time, for now, go back and finish your job." Fast forward through all the pain, sleepless nights, chemotherapy,
radiation therapy, pain, mental breakdowns, frustrations, pain, fear,
happiness, laughter, tears, pain, lost friendships, pawned or sold belongings so I could get medicines to keep me alive, oh, did I mention, pain? I am still here and I am still fighting this miserable disease. Right now, it is trying to make a come back. There is a spot, a little bigger than a quarter, that is cancerous, that has shown it's FUGLY little self. This will be a short lived return for the monster.
When my father told me I "still had things to do", I had no idea what
those THINGS were. I am starting to realize, with the help of a few, very special friends, that my 'Job' is to inspire people and help them to cope with their battle. I feel that I am suppose to be here, to help, with my words...
Yesterday, 10/21/2015, Don and his wife Tracy received heartbreaking news...
" I just got home from my oncologist... It was decided that today will be the last time I see him...There is nothing further he can offer me...This monster has made it's move...No matter what I eat or how much, it takes it's share and I continue to lose weight... My next step is hospice.....
Don and his wife Tracy (who has continued to serve our community as a nurse) have been fighting this battle with pancreatic cancer for over 3 years and have accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Throughout their battle they haven't asked for anything, they have actually done their own fundraising for organizations supporting others in need.
The most important thing we can give them is time together. We want to help give Don the ability to spend as much time with Tracy as possible which means her taking time away from work.
Don wrote this a year ago...
My mind is doing laps in my skull and I'm getting dizzy.... A million thoughts, just spinning around like an F5 tornado... I try to focus on these thoughts as they zip past my minds eye. So many ideas, running by too fast for me to zone in. Some of these glimpses into my head seem like they could be awesome, if I could get just a little more information from my mind.
Over the last 28 months, I have been in a very strange mindset.
One day I am 'just' sick, and the next I am battling the deadliest cancer,
in terms of 5 year survival rate.
I never truly knew about Pancreatic cancer until I was diagnosed in July
of 2012. Of course I had heard OF it, Patrick Swayze and Michael Landon being the sum total of my PC education. By 'education', I mean that I 'knew' pancreatic cancer was a certain death sentence. When I sat in that office, looking at the floor, and the doctor started talking to my wife and I, his words hit me like a fully loaded Peterbilt. After 10 months of specialists telling us, at 39 years old, I was "Not old enough to have pancreatic cancer", we were now being told, "You have Pancreatic cancer."
Honestly, all I could hear was Charlie Browns teacher... WAAA WA, WAAAA, WAA WA, WAAA!!! You're dead..... My mind shut down, my heart fell to the floor, and my tear ducts went into overdrive.
Over the next few weeks, I was set to have a ridiculously massive
surgery, pancreatoduodenectomy(say that 3 times fast) also called The Whipple procedure. I had to make 'end of life' decisions before I was even 'middle' aged. I signed all the medical power of attorney papers, wrote out my will, had a family get together/BBQ, had to have "THE" talk, made everyone in my family cry, and then I had to say good-bye to my 'brothers' at work. Little did I know, it would be a permanent fair well. I was in surgery for almost 11 hours. I died twice on the table. I also died in ICU. During the ICU death, I saw the 'light'. I was greeted, near the end of the light 'tunnel', by my father. He passed when I was only 11. He stopped me, put his hand on my shoulder, "It's not your time. You have things to do." He turned me around, and told me, "I will be here for you when it IS your time, for now, go back and finish your job." Fast forward through all the pain, sleepless nights, chemotherapy,
radiation therapy, pain, mental breakdowns, frustrations, pain, fear,
happiness, laughter, tears, pain, lost friendships, pawned or sold belongings so I could get medicines to keep me alive, oh, did I mention, pain? I am still here and I am still fighting this miserable disease. Right now, it is trying to make a come back. There is a spot, a little bigger than a quarter, that is cancerous, that has shown it's FUGLY little self. This will be a short lived return for the monster.
When my father told me I "still had things to do", I had no idea what
those THINGS were. I am starting to realize, with the help of a few, very special friends, that my 'Job' is to inspire people and help them to cope with their battle. I feel that I am suppose to be here, to help, with my words...
Yesterday, 10/21/2015, Don and his wife Tracy received heartbreaking news...
" I just got home from my oncologist... It was decided that today will be the last time I see him...There is nothing further he can offer me...This monster has made it's move...No matter what I eat or how much, it takes it's share and I continue to lose weight... My next step is hospice.....