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Hello, I just want to share the stories of my parents as inspiration. My grandmother was a spit-fire woman set on living until she was 100 years old. She was born in 1928 and her mother blamed her for the Great Depression. On her 7th birthday she got twin siblings and was very mad because she had wanted a camera instead. Her days as a child were spent chasing the ice man (who delivered the ice for everyone's ice box) to get ice shavings since they could not afford ice cream. Her shoes never lasted a whole year, making winters brutal. She never learned how to swim because she was pushed in a lake once and almost drown. She never learned how to ride a bike either. She was multicultural and a brilliant cook who worked for a hospital. She was ahead of her time and believed all lives were equal. The bond I had with my grandmother was very important, she helped raise me since my mom wasn't in the picture. She spoke whatever was on her mind and was both bitter and sweet. One day we learned she had given up a son for adoption, she had kept 3, but there was a 4th. It was a surprise to my dad to get a new brother after 50 years. Not long after there were complications. She started to bleed like she was having her period. She was on blood thinners due to a clot in her knee. This caused a tumor in her v****a to bleed. She had vaginal cancer and was embarrassed by it. She was unable to have surgery to remove it because she was old and during her last major surgery her heart had stopped 3 times. They did chemo and radiation instead. She lost her hair. She was angry because she didn't want to die and she believed she was going to hell. Her mother told her she would go to hell for having children before she was married. Nothing calmed her down. After they did everything they could, she was put on hospice. We promised her that she would die at home and not with strangers. We took care of her, but mostly my dad did. She said "I love you" to my dad for the first time while on her death bed. She also said some horrible things like "have I already gone to hell because you're still here." She lived 2 years past the time she was given by the doctors and even worked a considerable time carrying heavy loads while on chemo and radiation. She never gave up. Sometimes she forgot she had cancer and sometimes she just didn't make sense at all, but up to 4 days before she died she was still herself and a strong independent woman I will always look up to. She had the death rattle for 3 days after being unable to swallow for a week. I miss her, but am glad she is no longer in such pain. She died during my first semester of college, it was hard. Mid-October 2016 I was at school and got a message that my dad went to the hospital because his eyes had turned yellow. I wasn't concerned, but when he wasn't home that night and still in the hospital I started to worry some. 2 days later, they confirmed there was a small growth. All I could think of was what just happened to my grandma, but we didn't know if it was cancer yet so I stayed calm. By the end of the week, cancer was confirmed. Pancreatic cancer. They told my dad if he didn't get surgery he would die in a month. Only 20% of people are able to have this surgery at all and many usually die during it or shortly after. He had lost a considerable amount of weight and was lucky that made it a viable choice. He had the surgery, the full 7 hour Whipple. I waited in the lobby of the hospital carefree because I didn't want to jinx it. He passed with flying colors the doctor was the happiest man on Earth that day. My dad woke up and the phone rang, they were asking for someone named Mary who had been in the room prior - my dad thought they had turned him into a woman during surgery (a good laugh after something so serious). They completely removed the tumor. Within a week my dad was walking again, but he was unable to eat, he had several tubes going out of him. It was horrible and in total he lost over 100 pounds and he looked like a walking skeleton. He says that was the best weight loss program ever since he was finally able to wear his jeans from the 70's again. He thought every day that he would die from starvation, but he made it through and was able to eat by his next birthday. He went through chemo (just in case) when his body was ready for it. It was long and hard especially with rolling veins, but he got through even as people died next to him while getting chemo. My dad only continues to get better, now he almost looks normal. He's one of very few survivors and he's just thriving. I'm lucky to still have him around even if he's a grumpy old man, he's my dad and I love him.
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