- On October 18th, my husband Jim went to the ER for shortness of breath. After many tests and scans, they found lesions on his chest, lungs, and spine. In short, he had cancer, but they couldn't tell us what kind yet.
- On November 10th, we got the official diagnosis: Metastatic Breast Cancer. And it had spread pretty much everywhere. We started out with medication to treat the cancer and hopefully slow it down. After just a few days on the meds, Jim was having some bad reactions.
- On November 20th, I brought him back to the ER. He was very dehydrated and disoriented. He was admitted to the ICU. The cancer has spread to his skull/brain. We were hopeful that we would get him back to good and have him a while more. It does not seem that is going to happen. We had him back for a brief moment. He was able to wish his daughter happy birthday, hear another daughter tell him she got promoted at work. The youngest daughter showed him a great picture of her in her lab coat and goggles from her college lab that day. And our son and he joked about our son’s crazy hair. He got to wave and smile at his beloved granddaughter and new son-in-law. And I got to hear him tell me he loved me and give me a kiss. Now today, we are going to be going to comfort care for him so he can pass as comfortably as possible. We are all heartbroken. If you know Jim, you know he is one of the best guys out there. He has a quirky personality that just wins you over. And to watch this happen to him so quickly has been a nightmare. We just watched a daughter get married on October 10th to now having to plan his end of life. As this was unexpected and happening so fast, we unfortunately feel we need to ask for help to pay for funeral expenses, medical bills, and other expenses that come up during this time. I and my family thank you with all our hearts and so does Jim.
