Touched by disease giveaway

I Recently lost my Grandfather He was a First Lieutenant in WWII, I always enjoyed his war stories he would tell me when I was a young boy.. He recently passed due to Old Age, I also had a uncle that was eaten up from Lung Cancer and has passed.. He was a retired Law Enforcement Officer.. my condolences for your loses to the oringinal OP.. One of the hardest things in life is looseing people close to you..
 
I'm still in the process of having a loved one suffer from cancer.

My grandfather (Papa as I call him) has suffered from Thyroid Cancer since my sophmore year of high school, so going on 9 years now. Before the diagnosis my grandparents lived in an RV traveling the country building churches with a group of seniors. He was the grandfather that you never wanted to upset pr dissapoint, but at the same time I always and still do look up to him.

Through the course of the disease, the cancer spread to his bone marrow and kidneys. About 5 years ago they had to shut his kidneys down and he now goes to dialysis multiple times a week. He has his good days and his bad, and my grandmother has taken such amazing care of him. This Christmas was the first Christmas that we didn't get to spend with him because of the cancer. It was sort of an eye opener for me because I know the day will soon come that he's no longer with us.

I'm sorry for everyone's losses and I appreciate the opportunity to write down a little tribute to my "Papa".
 
I`m sorry for your loss, I know a little about what you are going through. I lost my Father to cancer in August Can`t say we are quite over it yet. Getting rid of stuff can be a hard chore too. All I can say is hang in there and remember the good times.
 
About a year ago my mom had a double mastectomy for breast cancer
They think "they got it all"
I hope it doesn't come back and they did get it all

She has pain from nerve regeneration
And she is tired a lot
Other than that she is doing very well
We're all glad she made it through ok
It was quite a scare for my family


My college buddy just called me last week and said his dad has 3-12 months to live
He has tumours all over his body
He had some tumours removed about 5 years ago and he went through chemotherapy
It totally ruined my day
He is an only child so he is pretty close to his dad
I got to thinking how I would react to news like that:(
So now he has to go meet with lawyers and all that stuff
He sems to be doing ok
I didn't really know what to say to him, to tell the truth
I just told him he has a strong support network and we are all there for him
And if he "needs anything" and all that
It seems so cheesy to say that stuff
But, I guess it is true

Do you take a leave of absence from work to be with your father while he dies?
Seems like I would want to spend EVERYDAY with him from now on
Do you try and do things together you always wanted to do?


I told him about Tuesdays With Morrie
I haven't read it, but, it seems like it has helped a lot of people in similar situations
Also there is a book by Neil Peart of Rush fame
Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road
In less than a year, Neil Peart lost both his 19-year-old daughter, Selena, and his wife, Jackie. Faced with overwhelming sadness and isolated from the world in his home on the lake, Peart was left without direction. This memoir tells of the sense of loss and directionlessness that led him on a 55,000-mile journey by motorcycle across much of North America, down through Mexico to Belize, and back again. He had needed to get away, but had not really needed a destination. His travel adventures chronicle his personal odyssey and include stories of reuniting with friends and family, grieving, thinking, and reminiscing as he rode until he encountered the miracle that allowed him to find peace
Click to expand...
I think I will buy the book for myself and read it before I give it to him

I must say cancer never hit home for me until last year
It's the "it happens to the other guy" syndrome we all fall into
Now when I see stuff about about breast cancer awareness
I don't just brush it off as another charity
I CAN happen to you
Although I'm not sure you can really do anything to prepare yourself mentally for such news

I do know of a couple cancer success stories
One friend had some form of Hodgkins Disease or lymphatic something
He had chemo therapy and he has been in remission for about 15 years

Another friend had a tumour removed from her breast and has been cancer free for 10 years

I think they key is early detection
I know you have all heard that before
Heck, my doc says I gotta start having the prostrate exams in about 10 years!!
Not something I really look forward to doing
But, I will...


Cool knife :thumbup:
I LOVE Westerns

Sorry for the loss of your mother in law
This a great idea for a contest
Words can be very therapeutic..IMHO

I would like to hear of any book recomendations for my friend as well:confused:
I remember Something For Joey was one of my favorite books as a kid...
 
My cusion Nancy--we were buddy"s when i was growing up--a tomboy girl that was just fun to be with--she never married but did very well by herself--became the head nurse at the VA Hospital in Roanoke Viriginia--all her life she was head strong as can be and never really had any medical problems but a couple of years ago she started getting really bad headackes--Had some tests done and she had a brain tumor--they did all the stuff they do and gave her 6 months to a year to live--dam it was hard for her--being a nurse as she was she knew exactly what was wrong--Damn me typing this got tears in my eyes--i miss this friend--:mad:
 
I feel it my responsibility to expose Kris for what he is - one fine fellow!

Last spring, I mentioned my late Dad's old Boker Tree brand knife, which he had lost four decades earlier, in that sub-forum. Kris offered to send me a similar used one. Sadly, it wasn't similar - it was identical - even to the scales' wear and blade patina. Once again, I could see my old Dad whittling - or cleaning one of his pipes. Kris did this of his own volition - and for gratis. His benevolence has caused me to 'pass it on' - 'pay it forward' for another. I just hope that who ever gets this Kris treasure will do similarly - somehow. Kris, you're a super fellow... someone is about to get a treasure! Oh, and thanks again for that Boker!

John (aka 'Stainz')
 
My older brother passed away at an age that was younger than I am now. He initially had colon cancer. They thought they got it all, but it soon started sending out tumors all over his body, he lost two fingers, then another operation on his wrist. Then a couple on his spine treated with radiation, the one that got him was in his brain. They tried and were successful in giving him 6 more months with a Gamma Knife, Gamma rays all pointed (7 or 8) to the tumor inside his brain. The individual rays passed harmlessly though the brain, but where they intersected they burned out the tumor. Actually erased the tumor with a mouse controlling the machine. It was experimental at the time, but it worked, but it did come back and he passed. Cancer does affect us all, sorry about all the losses, I do understand.
Jim
 
My girlfriend sara for about six months got "pneumonia" when she was in the hospital and had her left lung drained they eventually found a tumor irritating her lung so they sent her to surgery on the table they checked for cancer, positive, they closed her up and sent her to sloan ketttering in new york. for the next two and a half years i watched her lose and regrow her hair throw up everything she ate get weaker and weaker. Eventually needing a walker to get to the bathroom, and having to push her around in a wheelchair to go out, this is bad enough without your mother being a hopeless alcoholic hers was, i can go on about her for hours so i wont just know she cared more about the next warmer than room temperature coors light than her daughter. i stayed positive as best i could not nearly as positive as sara she knew she could beat it. when she had her siezure and was in a coma for a week i thought that was it and so did the doctors, well fuck that she said and she woke up stronger than hell she was, we even went to long beach island for two weeks she loved it, when we got back she went to the hospital for her regular thing and started having trouble with her kidneys, they were failing i saw her on Saturday she was awake but couldn't speak on Sunday she was unconscious her kidneys were giving out and so were her lungs the cancer was winning i stayed with her in the hospital sleeping on the tile floor in the bathroom so the nurses could get by for three days listening to her lungs get worse and worse, telling her i loved her try to et her to respond, on the second night she did in an unrecognizable voice she told me she loved me that was her final words on the third night her lungs just got worse all of a sudden and i was sure she wasn't gonna make it till morning fuck that she said again and waited till her best friends got there and she took her last gasping breath and twitched away. id like to think it was her heart that stopped but it was probably her lungs im sure it was painful. that was september 2nd 2009 she was 20 when she died. i along with my cousin, good friend Patrick and my moms boyfriend filled in her grave i was gonna do it alone but they saw me and came and offered to help so i let them. my name noodlefish was her first nickname given to me.

she had osteocarcoma in the connective tissue between her ribs and flesh
i found out weeks later that her mother knew the cancer wasn't being affected by the chemo in the end and was spreading she told no one not even sara we could have done more i would have taken her on a long trip or something... fuck it im venting you heard the story thats it, sorry about the punctuation ive never been good at typing bear with me
 
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I lost one of my sisters to ovarian cancer about 5 years ago, She was only 55 yrs old.

She fought it for several years but eventually lost the battle. It was terrible watching the disease slowly take a little more of her week after week. By the time she passed, she truly was just a shell of who she really was.

Her experience has changed my attitude toward life and I really do try to work and worry less, and spend more time enjoying life with family and friends.

Cancer is a nasty nasty disease and my thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who is dealing with cancer, either directly or through a loved one.

On a more positive and encouraging note, another family member, and a few friends and neighbors, have been touched by cancer and have successfully (so far at least) beaten it... Keep the faith.


Kevin

PS. As for the knife giveaway, thanks for the generosity Kris, but please exclude me from the draw. I have more knives than I know what to do with and would prefer to see it go to someone who would really benefit from another quality tool, and use the heck out of it.

Just posted in the "spirit" of the thread.
 
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I have lost a few people close to me from disease. My Father in law was the first relative who I was very close to who passed away. He had cancer, and it took him quick. He was being treated by two hospitals, one in town and the other about a 100 miles away. The far one said that he was in remission, and was getting better. They were the "specialists". The day after his appointment there, he started feeling weak and we brought him to the local hospital. They admitted him and set up the iv drip. They were giving him pain meds to keep him comfortable at the end. When we questioned this, they said that he was almost done, that he wasn't getting better. Shortly after that he did in fact pass away. I was always the strong one who everyone leaned on when times were tough, and I did the same this time. About two months after the funeral, I had what I will call an "experience". It was not a dream, but I don't think I was quite awake either. I was in bed with my wife and I opened my eyes and there was my father in law in the room! I was like "OH MY GOD what are you doing here, you're supposed to be dead!" He gave me the smile he always did and said he was just stopping to let us know that everything was ok for him now, and not to worry. I said "let's wake up Jo and tell her". He said I could just tell her when she woke up, then he told me I should get back to sleep and get some rest, and the next thing I know it is morning and I am waking up again. Now, I am not a church going man, and I know this wasn't a dream, but I swear on everything that matters to me that this is true. And even now, 12 years later there are tears running down my face when I think of this. I still have the old Schrade sharpening stone he gave me all those years ago. I had a similar experience two years ago when my mom passed away. My mom was always supportive of my knife addictions, and one time when I was there I was showing her my new scissor tool I bought. She thought it was pretty cool so I gave it to her. She used it until the day that she died. When she passed away, I made sure that I got it back, and it sits on the kitchen table with my other special knives. The experiences I have had with death gave me a new appreciation for life. Realize how short it can be and make every minute count for something. Life goes on, the world keeps turning no matter what. We just keep on going. And that's my story. My condolences on your loss. It is never easy, for anyone. If my story is the one picked, know that this knife will have a place of honor here with my other special knives. It will get used in the kitchen, they all get their turns, but it will be cared for and never sold or given away. And if you decide you want it back someday, you will. Thanks for the opportunity for this. Best wishes.
 
Hi all! This is Kris' wife, Juli. I just wanted to thank you all for sharing your experiences with me. I cried a little, and smiled at the warm memories. I visited my mom yesterday for her birthday, and can only hope that she went to a happier place. She was so scared of dying; I think that her fear caused her to give up the fight. My daughter told me yesterday that she forgets what my mom's voice sounded like - I hope we can find video of her somewhere with her speaking, so we can always remember!

I also wanted to share a cousin's story with you. Last January, within 2 weeks, she first lost a grandmother (I think to cancer, but am not positive), then her other grandmother (also my grandmother - this loss to old age), and then her 27-year-old husband (to brain cancer). The second grandmother died the day of the first grandmother's funeral, and then her husband died two days before the second grandmother's funeral. To top everything off, when my mom found out her cancer was terminal, my cousin's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. They have done surgery to remove it, and I haven't heard anything further with it, so hopefully they got it all and it won't be returning any time soon. At the same time as both of these diagnoses, one of my uncles (unrelated to my cousin) was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He is still holding on and undergoing treatment, but is basically bedridden.

After completing a random draw, post #28 - Noodlefish was the winner. Congratulations, and thank you again for sharing your stories. Please p.m. or email us your contact information!
 
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One of my best friends recently killed himself by plunging a Wolfgang Puck knife into his gut 7 times. He suffered from Major Depression in high school on till his death. Artie, we will miss you and the plentiful broccoli rabe eternally!
 
I am sorry about your loss. Losing someone that close always causes profound sorrow. Vampire Gerbil was as human a human as a human can be and his death epitomized the fact that the good die young.
 
I lost my maternal Grandfather, a WWII Army Air Corps Major who bombed the hell out of Nazi Germany, and later a Pilot for Pan Am, to prostate cancer a few years back. He was the greatest man I ever knew! I lost my youngest Aunt, who worked for the Department of Health and Human Services in D.C., less than a year later to non-hodgkins lymphoma. My Grandmother went shortly thereafter, not being able to cope with the loss of her husband and youngest daughter within such a short period of time. My Mom, a retired Teacher of 37 years, is currently fighting neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas, which had spread to her liver by the time it was caught. It is an uphill battle, but she's holding her own. Cancer sucks, but it sure does change one's outlook and attitude towards life. Life is precious!

Thank you, CUTS LIKE A KRIS, for the thread, and everybody who has posted, for sharing the experiences! May God Bless each and every one of you and your loved ones!
 
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