Dear Uncle Mikey....

I was 16 when I met him and not so sure if I really "liked" him, or maybe I just didn't understand him.  He was standing in his mothers hospital room, fresh from Oklahoma and wearing a cowboy hat!  Now keep in mind, we're in a suburb of Chicago...who wears a cowboy hat in Chicago?  His personality filled the room.  Laughing, joking and having a certain arrogance about him.


That "him" I'm referring to is my husbands brother, a man that would become my brother-in-law for the next 30 years...Patrick Michael or as he would say, "Uncle Mikey"


Back at the end of May, I wrote about Michael suffering a massive stroke.  As debilitating as the stroke was, he was making some improvement.  The improvement was ever so slight, but nonetheless, we thought he was making some progress.  He was moved from the hospital last week to a skilled long term nursing care facility just outside of Oklahoma City.  The doctors told his wife that with the severity of this stroke, he no longer had any mobility from the neck down, vision in his right eye was lost along with his bodily functions. 
Michael had been direct with his wife in his wishes that should he ever become debilitated during their marriage, he wanted no type of life support.


Late last night, I received a phone call from his wife.  God called Michael home. 
There are no more feeding tubes, no IV's, no more suffering. 


I do believe he is truly at peace.


The next few days are going to be the hardest.  His wife and son will bring him back to Illinois, back to where he was born and raised.  This will be his final resting place.  This is what he wanted.
We will honor his wishes with the Irish tales and prayers that he so loved, and we will toast to him on his final journey home.

                              Rest In Peace Uncle Mikey.....

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
May the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

It's Not Always Cancer That Comes Knocking...

For as long as I can remember, it seems as if someone in my family has endured a cancer diagnosis. It was almost to the point, I would wonder who's next? This time, instead of cancer knocking at our door, it was a massive stroke. My husbands older brother was recently stricken with this debilitating malady.
A once vibrant, highly intellectual individual has been reduced to having his breathing assisted by a ventilator and more tubes than one cares to know about.
The doctors and entire medical team that he has are some of the finest in Oklahoma City, and we're comforted knowing that he truly is in good and capable hands. With each passing hour, we are hoping and praying that his Irish Luck will pull him through this so that he can continue being that vibrant individual we all know and love dearly.....

Cancer-It Comes In All Kinds...

I guess you could say that I've had a pretty good assortment on the different types of cancer in my family.  Lets see, besides breast cancer, we've had leukemia, bone, ovarian and lung cancers...x's 3 on the latter type.  Right now I have a 54 yr. old cousin battling this dreaded and ugly beast termed SCLC or as it's commonly called... small cell lung cancer.  I lost my mother as well as her mom to lung cancer. 

Now, being that I am a cancer survivor,  I remember the feelings that some may go through when diagnosed as well as the truly crappy feeling that over comes you while going through the malady of treatments.  I can also be very empathetic, but one thing I can't understand is the feeling you have when you're told by your doctors that in order to even try to get an extended lease on life, you need to travel 1,000 miles from your home and go to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. 

That is exactly where my cousin and his wife are traveling to today. 

They're traveling in hopes that the doctors at the Mayo Clinic will have better options, treatments and maybe give to him just a little more time.  A little more time to spend with his grandchildren and hold his newest grandson.  A little more time to spend with his wife, now that the kids are all grown up and gone.
But there's one thing my cousin is.  He's a realist.  He knows how sick he is.  He knows that this maybe a long shot.  But he knows he must try.  Because everyday researchers and scientists are discovering new drugs so that people with that dreaded beast can maybe have an extended lease on life. 
Just like the one I was given....
To my cousin....you are in my thoughts, my prayers, and in my heart...

I love you cuz....