My Dad

My dad's journey with bladder cancer ended Tuesday night. He was diagnosed in August of 2017. The cause of the cancer was from the radiation treatment he had for PCa many years ago.

He had brachy treatment as well as external radiation treatments. I believe he was in Atlanta for about 9 weeks for that treatment.

He never questioned why this had to happen or get mad about it. There was no cure for the new cancer, they had used all the radiation they could to the area on the prostate cancer, and chemo would not work on this type either. He went to the specialists at Washington University in St. Louis for conformation of this. His body was too weak to make it thru a surgery attempt that probably would have ended up with him dying or at best coming out with a bladder bag and colostomy bag.

He made the decision to let nature take its course. It was a hard journey for him and my mom. They set a great example for me as to how to handle life's little trials.

I am not posting this as being against radiation therapy, it was the only option he had. This post is about a tribute to a great man that put up a example of bravery, grace, mercy, and love during the time he had left. We are so proud of how he handled himself and he is now in heaven have a great time with all of our family that is already there.

One funny story, he had gone from about 280 pounds before this diagnosis to about 140-150 on Tuesday. He was from NE Arkansas and my mom was from Michigan. My Grandma had to teach my mom how to cooked fried stuff to keep him happy. Not knowing what bodies look like when you get to heaven, my wife laughed Wednesday when we had to buy a much smaller shirt for his funeral. I asked her what she was laughing about. She said she could picture Grandma seeing him being so much smaller and fussing about my mom not feeding him enough.

I hope as I go thru the rest of my life I can live out the examples he left for me to follow.

Thanks,

Larry

I'm sorry, Larry. (Not to draw away from your tale in any way, but I share your current sense of loss as I went to my step-father's funeral this past weekend...not from PC. I talked at the funeral about how my step-father was a role model for me...not in dealing with cancer, but how to be a step-father, which was a role I took-on when I was about the same age as he was with me.)

Thanks for sharing his story.

No bodies in heaven, but I chuckled at your story anyhow.

bbqdude said...

I hope as I go thru the rest of my life I can live out the examples he left for me to follow.

Thanks,

Larry

I heard that.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Thanks for posting Larry and sorry for your lost. I lost my Dad to bladder cancer when I was 18. It was a horrendous 3 year fight back in the 70's and I am using the lessons the way my dad handled it today. I only hope I can be as brave and thoughtful as he and your dad was.

Condolences, Larry.
Love the story about your mom and your dad’s mom.

I'm so sorry to hear this and I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing this with us--wishing you and your family all the best.

" I lost my Dad to bladder cancer when I was 18. It was a horrendous 3 year fight back in the 70's"

Startech, it is a horrible thing to watch them waste away. I am glad he went peacefully and on his "own terms" as best you can with such a monster.

"Not to draw away from your tale in any way, but I share your current sense of loss as I went to my step-father's funeral this past weekend".

I am sorry for your loss BlackJack.

Dude,
I know that area well, I'm between the Bluff and St. Louis. I've ate in just about every place South East Missouri has to offer. I lived in the Cape in the late 70's

Sorry for your loss. Thanks for posting and sharing about the food.

Good Luck!
Hero

Larry , so sorry for your loss. If your experience was anything like mine, you will take comfort knowing he is at peace now.

Your comment, where you said.... “I hope as I go thru the rest of my life I can live out the examples he left for me to follow. “..... is all that a father can ask of a son, knowing that you admired him so much to say something like that. He is looking down on you now, proud of your thinking that way
May he Rest In Peace.

Thanks Halbert! That sums it up nicely.

BBQ, so sorry for your loss. Please be comforted by the great memories of your dad and what a wonderful role model he was.

Jim

sorry to hear that man. I have a friend that is having several tumors removed from his bladder today. the doctor said it's most likely cancer. the same guy had a cancerous tumor removed from his liver a few ago. another friend recently had a tumor removed from his liver. follow-up scans showed 21 new tumors. he had another cancer a few years ago too. we're all ex-IV drug users so this is happening more frequently as we age.

how long ago was your dad's treatment? I ask because I received similar treatment. be well man.

F8, his treatments were about 15 or 16 years ago to the best that I can remember. He pretty much was never fully continent, but he had a bunch of kidney stones that they had to go up and get out, which led to a lot of catheter time. That most likely had something to do with that. He started having issues with bowel movements about 5 or 6 years ago. The last trip he was able to make to our house (.3.5 hours away) was about 2.5 years ago. We drove about 40 minutes to Nashville, at lunch, stopped along the way to pick up blueberry bushes and on the way home he had a accident. That was the last trip he really made to anywhere other than the doctor and church. If it was more than 30 minutes away or more than 2 hours total he wouldn't go.