Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wow, it's been a long time so much has happened...
I can not believe I have not Blogged since Sept 2009. So, much has occurred since then. Unfortunately, November 2009, on my 40th birthday, my husband, my friend, my groom passed away. He was fighting prostate cancer. It was a horrific ordeal. I think the only thing that kept me going during that time was following purpose. He needed me, the kids needed me and I needed to stay busy following my purpose. I found myself engulfed in finding ways to improve his health. In order to get everything done, it had to be scheduled. My days were filled at doctors appointments, my nights at school, and every Monday afternoon I had to do my volunteer work at the clinic. I had to cut down my class schedule, even attend school at night, so I could take him to all of his appointments. He went through almost 9 months of chemo, 59 radiation treatments, hormone therapy, etc. He was the best. Smiling and very encouraging til the end. At one point, I told him I am going to take a semester off to attended to him, soley. He said, "NO, You go to school. I'm just sitting here." I cut my classes down so that I would be home by 11:30 am and I arranged for his brother- in- law to sit with him twice a week until I got home. Craig was faithful in that aspect. Thank you so much Craig for your support. Well, as my fall semester 2009 was winding down or should I say gearing up towards finals. My husband, my friend began to detioriate. He was not eating or drinking. I would plead with his Palatative care doctor, I need help. He's not eating or drinking much. He was weak. They started him on a new regime of Ritalin for energy and other drugs to help him feel hungry. Well, for that first week we had a miracle. He regained his energy, strength and was eating. I was stoked. We even had a birthday party for him in October. His best friends in the whole world came to spend it with him. We had a ball. I have a video of the weekend. That weekend Donald was determined to get better. He began walking around the house, believing he would get better. Reflecting back to the day we were first referred over to Palatative care, because his oncologist had nothing else to offer us. It was hard to get him to go. He refused to go. He did not want to face or hear what they had to say. I was trying to encourage him to go because we needed help to maintain his high quality of life. They provided him with the comforts he needed. They provided us both with counselling, how to end of life issues, how to explain to the children what's going on. There service was great, considering the horrific reality we were facing. I must say through the whole ordeal Donald was amazing. He was the bravest person I've ever met. Even his final hours here, he was trying to make me laugh, wishing me happy birthday, telling me to stop with the tears, "We are going to be fine. We are going to make it through this." I told him I was not crying, my sinuses were acting up. I noticed a huge difference in him from the day before. None the less, I know he would be proud of me today. I did not stop or quit finishing my prerequisites, even in the toughest times of my life. Thanks Donald for your inspiration to continue on following my dream.
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What a touching story! My father also died of prostrate (and colon) cancer, and his death is a large part of the impetus I feel to be a physician/scientist!!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your dad...
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy...The finality of death is mind boggling...
My husband was my number one supporter and he would not let me stop for no reason...
When I got the call from Ross that I've been admitted, I cried tears of joy...And said, "Donny, I did it."
Life is GREAT...You can do it...I can't wait to hear where you are going to med school..