Originally I planned to post this in Cheers and Jeers, but as I kept writing I realized it would be far too long, controversial, and ramblimg for a C&J post. that and the fact that BIPM hasn't posted C&J yet, and I won't be around at 7PM. So here, therefore is my extended, sad, C&J comment:
This won't be a happy one for me, I'm afraid.
JEERS to Lung Cancer. My family and I learned on Tuesday evening that my father has Lung Cancer. Since then he has had further tests that have revealed that..
more after the flip • Crossposted at ePluribus Media
UPDATE: It's heartening, and a little weird, to see this near the top of the reco list. I can't tell you haw grateful and thankful I am for all of your kind words -- both to me and the family. I'm going to head home and won't be able to reply for a while, but I plan to print out the comments when I get home and thke them to Dad so he can see what y'all've got to say. He's wondered why I love dkos so much -- now I think he'll understand it much better.
- He is in Stage Three Adenocarcinoma
- it has metastasized and spread to his lymph system. They also suspect, though haven't confirmed, the presence of cancerous lesions in some of his bones (the hips and knees are most suspect), and he had an MRI this morning to see if it has moved into his brain.
- He has had a procedure that basically glues the outside of the lung to thepleura, which will block any further accumulation of fluids and will increase his breathing capacity.
- He has elected to not undergo any other form of treatment (chemo, radiation, etc..) designed to "cure" the disease, but instead, he'll only take treatments that improve quality of life. He wants quality, not quantity.
- We have bought a hospital bed and it has arrived at his house, and Mom is meeting with folks from the Hospice of the Western Reserve to make arrangements for their help. Please, if you feel a need to help us out, go to that link and make a donation. They are incredible people, under-appreciated, underfunded, over worked, and in desperate need of a CHEER of two.
CHEERS also to the guys from the medical supply company, who delivered my Dad's bed and ended up helping mom move a whole bunch of other stuff as well to make it fit in the room he's going to use. They were courteous, very helpful, and gladly volunteered to give her a hand.
CHEERS also to Dania Audax, my lovely and compassionate wife, who has been a rock in my otherwise chaotically storm-tossed world this week.
And a moment, if you will, about the decision to not undergo chemo, etc.
Dad is a UCC minister, and has, on numerous occasions in the last 15 years, preached a sermon about the abuses of the healthcare system, and the ridiculousness of both medical specialists and the right-wing of the church.
He says, and I agree, that we've got one shot at this world, and when the time has come for our maker to call us, it's time to go. Why, then would you spend everything you've saved and earned and toiled for, to extend your time in a hospital bed, throwing up and losing your hair and suffering from side effects that are worse than the disease, only to eke out a few more months of misery?
This is not to say that, if detected in an early stage, that you shouldn't fight cancer with everything you've got. We applaud Elizabeth Edward's decision to fight her cancer, because she's still in a position to beat it, and her odds are good that she''ll have a full recovery.
But in my Dad's case, we know it's terminal. Surgery's not an option, and the cancer has spread too many places for localized treatment of hot spots.
So despite the Oncologist's assertions that "we can lick this thing," we're unwilling to spend what little we have left on an oncologist's yacht payment or an insurance lobbyist's bribes.
Instead, we'll do everything in our power to make sure he's comfortable, happy, pain-free, and surrounded with love and attention.
As for the right-wing zealot cultists who claim to be christian, we are curious why it is that, when they know for certain that eternal life awaits them in heaven, and that their every need will be met, that they try oh-so-hard to avoid the death that all of us face in the end. If they cared so much about folks like Terry Schaivo, why wouldn't they let her die and join her heavenly father in a place where pain and suffering don't exist? That's what we believe my father will find, and we're glad that he'll move on from this life surrounded by those who care for him the most, at peace, without pain.
Isn't that what we all want in the end?