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Athens · 02:22 PM

As some of you might have noticed on my signature my beloved Auntie died this morning in the hospital. She had fought cancer for 3 years and she finally lost the battle. I�m not posting this looking for remorse from strangers; quite frankly I have had more then enough. But my uncle has posted a single page tribute to her and it has some interesting cancer statistics and her story. For those that are currently fighting or know some one fighting cancer it may be uplifting to read. For those that have herd about cancer but have no idea what it is really like it�s a recommended read because sooner or later you will or know some one that will get it. Cancer is the scourge of the earth and we should all do our part to contribute to funding towards cancer research. Cancer affects all ages, sexes, races, and religions. Cancer in the most indiscriminate killer human kind faces. I�m not going to post links to charities because every one will have there local preference and depending on those that are suffering or know some one there are just to many cancer charities to list.

Her tribute and info http://www.snipershark.com my uncles site.

Another good link for those that are religious who are looking for a support board that is unique I recommended this place, it�s christen. I�m not religious by a pray was posted there for my Auntie.
http://www.snipershark.net/church/

Its been 5 years now. Still feels like yesterday. Editing to update the tribute link. Snipershark.com is a dead site. My Aunties story is at In Loving Memory In Loving Memory

olePigeon · Mar 20, 2005, 02:00 AM

My mom had breast cancer. Luckily she was able to have it removed, went through extensive chemo, and it's never come back.

OldManMac · Mar 20, 2005, 02:09 AM

My condolences on the loss of your aunt. I lost my father 23 years ago, to a cancerous brain tumor.

Athens · Mar 20, 2005, 02:12 AM

My Grandma has had to brain operations to remove tumors. She currently still has 3 in her head which are not growing which have been there for YEARS now so she lucked out. Again this was a accedental find, she hit a guy driving, wasnt bad he got up and rode away and she realized she had a total blind spot in her vision so she got checked and she had 5 tumors, a couple as large as golf balls in her head. Until that point there was no sign. Its amazing how cancer sneaks up on you. My auntie only found out because of xrays taking when she got a bad flu. SHe prob had the cancer for 10 years before with no signs.

The worst part of this death is the entire family missed her by hours. In my case i was going to see her right after work, I would have made it there by 8am, she died at 4am. My uncle was flying back from smithers to see her and he landed by noon, and my mom other uncle, grandma where going to get there by 10am. We all missed her by so little. Not having a chance to say goodbye is the hardest part.

malvolio · Mar 20, 2005, 03:30 AM

My sympathy to you and your family.

I lost my grandmother to colon cancer, and my mother is a cervical cancer survivor. And a good friend died of throat cancer less than a year after we graduated from high school.

DeathToWindows · Mar 20, 2005, 04:08 PM

My condolences. May she rest in peace.

xi_hyperon · Mar 20, 2005, 04:18 PM

My mom has had breast cancer, but she pulled through fine. I have not had cancer and hope I never get it.

wdlove · Mar 20, 2005, 05:52 PM

My prayers go out to you and your family. May Diane rest in peace.

My father died of cancer in 1975.

Cody Dawg · Mar 20, 2005, 06:03 PM

I am so sorry for you, Athens.

You are so sweet to have this link up for her. We all send you and your family our best wishes and I pray that she is at rest now.

Cancer is a bad disease that affects everyone in some way, it seems. My grandfather died of pancreatic cancer.

The only thing that I have learned and believe in is that cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment. Linus Pauling knew this and it is why he advocated so much vitamin C in the diet. Today people drink alkaline water and eat fruits and vegetables to combat the free radicals with antioxidants. I drink a lot of green tea and carrot juice and cranberry juice and eat as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible.

I don't know what else to do other than that. I do not let myself get much sun in order to avoid skin cancer as I've had skin cancer lesions removed repeatedly and as a woman I go and get mammograms every year and just like the rest of us, I know that life is coin toss. I may get cancer someday.

Tell your uncle that a wonderful site is CaringBridge.org also.

God bless you and your family.

SimpleLife · Mar 20, 2005, 06:28 PM

My ex girlfriend had breast cancer 20 years ago. She was in her early 30's. Twice they intervened.

Today she is a happy camper of 50 with her new boyfriend.

Athens, my sincerest sympathies for your loss. Rare are such medical situations turning into happy ones, as I had friends who died days after they were told their situation was a cul-de-sac.

I hope you will have good memories of her for a long time, as this is her true legacy to life, and especially to you.

Cadaver · Mar 20, 2005, 07:20 PM

My condolences.

I'm a cancer survivor myself. Two years this month.

Cody Dawg · Mar 20, 2005, 07:53 PM

Congratulations, cadaver.

Truly, I applaud you - good for you!

keekeeree · Mar 20, 2005, 09:18 PM

You said you're not looking for condolences, so I'll save those. You also recommended reading your uncle's tribute to gain some insight into dealing with this disease. In this spirit, a few questions come to mind.

You say that a lot of your family, yourself included, missed "saying goodbye" by a matter of hours. Your aunt was diagnosed with a 100% terminating form of cancer three years ago, and in 2002 was given 6-12 months to live. Why did it take your aunt and family three years to say goodbye to each other? I know that question sounds accusing, but it isn't. I simply don't understand how she, you and your family could take so long to say goodbye.

It sounds like she fought the disease tooth-and-nail for every day of those three years, suffering greatly at some times, perhaps a lot of the time. Why? Maybe this is a bigger-issue question than one specific to your aunt, but I don't understand the need to squeeze out every little drop of life, no matter how miserable it may be for yourself or those around you. Is it out of fear of death? Is it out of a feeling of obligation to fight for your family's sake? What is so wrong about accepting death with comfort and open arms?

My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer twenty years ago. She survived and is still kicking. I had a friend that was diagnosed with lukemia five years ago. He also survived. Since I've never lost anyone to this disease, maybe I'm just not getting something. But your post and your uncle's website tribute raised more questions than answered them for me.

Athens · Mar 20, 2005, 11:44 PM

Originally posted by keekeeree:
You said you're not looking for condolences, so I'll save those. You also recommended reading your uncle's tribute to gain some insight into dealing with this disease. In this spirit, a few questions come to mind.

You say that a lot of your family, yourself included, missed "saying goodbye" by a matter of hours. Your aunt was diagnosed with a 100% terminating form of cancer three years ago, and in 2002 was given 6-12 months to live. Why did it take your aunt and family three years to say goodbye to each other? I know that question sounds accusing, but it isn't. I simply don't understand how she, you and your family could take so long to say goodbye.

We all wanted to be with here when she died, she had a couple close calls and each time we went to the hospital and basically said our good byes but she pull through each time. This time from Call to death was about 6 hours.

It sounds like she fought the disease tooth-and-nail for every day of those three years, suffering greatly at some times, perhaps a lot of the time. Why? Maybe this is a bigger-issue question than one specific to your aunt, but I don't understand the need to squeeze out every little drop of life, no matter how miserable it may be for yourself or those around you. Is it out of fear of death? Is it out of a feeling of obligation to fight for your family's sake? What is so wrong about accepting death with comfort and open arms?

Asking for a few hours, thats not squeezing every last bit of life. As I said on my post on snipershark.com im glad its over and i perfer losing her now then having 3 more months if she was only going to be in great pain. But that said it would have been nice to get those few last hours so we all could have been there when she died. Thats the hardest part becuase ive been ready for her death for so long but I always thought I would have that chance to spend the final few hours with her with every one else

My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer twenty years ago. She survived and is still kicking. I had a friend that was diagnosed with lukemia five years ago. He also survived. Since I've never lost anyone to this disease, maybe I'm just not getting something. But your post and your uncle's website tribute raised more questions than answered them for me.

any more questions?

Cody Dawg · Mar 20, 2005, 11:58 PM

Keekeeree: You should go post somewhere else.

You're acting very insensitive and mean.

Why the third degree? Seriously, the poor guy just lost a loved one.

TheBadgerHunter · Mar 21, 2005, 12:09 AM

Mother died of cervical cancer. Apparently she lived with it undiagnosed for a very long time along with a number of health problems.

Athens · Mar 21, 2005, 06:21 AM

Im surprised at how many people have been touched by Cancer, I wasent expecting it to be more then 50%

keekeeree · Mar 21, 2005, 09:57 AM

Originally posted by Athens:
...but I always thought I would have that chance to spend the final few hours with her with every one else.

Thank you for your answers Athens. I think I understand what you and your family were thinking. After she was diagnosed, the end seemed far enough down the line that everyone assumed it would be predictable enough to plan for, and in the end, it wasn't. That's tough and I'm sorry that you and your family were caught off-guard. I can't imagine spending three years planning for a fleeting moment of such importance only to miss it by hours.

It sounds like she was a very important woman who was loved and cherished by a lot of people.

Athens, thank you again for taking the time to answer. In doing so, you've accomplished what your post intended: to educate.

keekeeree · Mar 21, 2005, 10:04 AM

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
Keekeeree: You should go post somewhere else.

You're acting very insensitive and mean.

Why the third degree? Seriously, the poor guy just lost a loved one

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
I am so sorry for you, Athens.

You are so sweet to have this link up for her. We all send you and your family our best wishes and I pray that she is at rest now.

Originally posted by Athens:
I�m not posting this looking for remorse from strangers; quite frankly I have had more then enough.

For those that have herd about cancer but have no idea what it is really like...

My intention wasn't to be insensitive and mean. I was respecting his wishes. Sorry you're missing that and feel the need to jump all over my post...

Athens · Mar 21, 2005, 10:23 AM

Originally posted by keekeeree:
Thank you for your answers Athens. I think I understand what you and your family were thinking. After she was diagnosed, the end seemed far enough down the line that everyone assumed it would be predictable enough to plan for, and in the end, it wasn't. That's tough and I'm sorry that you and your family were caught off-guard. I can't imagine spending three years planning for a fleeting moment of such importance only to miss it by hours.

It sounds like she was a very important woman who was loved and cherished by a lot of people.

Athens, thank you again for taking the time to answer. In doing so, you've accomplished what your post intended: to educate.

We got the call at 10:30 that she was at the hospital and this time they where giving here hours, to a couple days. I was on my way to work and was going to see her right after work, leaving at 7am I would have made it my 8am. My mom, uncle, and Grandma where going to leave at 9am to see her, would have got there at 10am. My other uncle who was in Smithers working on a Movie cought the first flight back and made it back to Vancouver by Noon. She died at 4:30 am, she only lasted 5 hours from when we got the call she was taking in. It was just sooooo quick. Other times at the hospital it would be near death then a couple days later she would go home. We really thought she would be there for a couple days, not a few hours.

Cody Dawg · Mar 21, 2005, 10:28 AM

Hey Athens,

Although this is little consolation at this point, at least she died with loved ones near her and holding her hand.

So many people never have that opportunity. I hope I am able to die with people who love me near me.

The people who die suddenly, no advance warning, are the ones that I feel sorry for in a way for that reason. No time to say good-bye.

You loved her and she knows it.

Athens · Mar 23, 2005, 04:07 AM

found out something interesting. My Auntie made medical history. She is the first and only case to make it past 4 years with this kind of Cancer in North America and maybe the entire world.