Our good friend Don is battling stage four esophagus cancer and losing, so obviously it has hit my wife and I hard. We have done what we can to support him and his wife as he has gone through many chemo treatments and trips to the hospital. After over two years of battling bravely, we now know that Don is not going to be one of the miraculous ones that survives cancer. I can't even believe that I am writing this, as he is such a strong man, with a will to match. I thought that this would be one of those "moments" in life where love, support, attitude, medicine and willpower would combine to prevail over a horrible disease. Apparently, I was wrong.
I started writing this post after I had completed a 13.1 mile Jimmy Fund walk to support Dana Farber and all that they do. I wanted to relay the day's events in chronological order, and attach pictures to show all of the incredible people gathering together for this cause. I wanted to say how proud I was to be contributing to a worthy cause, and how I hoped others would join in some sort of fundraising for a good cause.
Then I came across this picture of my dear friend Don:
This is a photo of him at or around the time of his initial diagnosis, all 275 pounds of him. Here, he is full of life, and loves to laugh, work, play games, and oh-my what a beautiful singing voice. I mean, one of those voices that you wonder why he isn't singing professionally kind of voices.Here is a photo of him from March of 2010, which doesn't even begin to show you how he is now:
Don now weighs in at about half of his original weight, yes that's around 135 pounds, just awful. He still loves to laugh, when he has the energy for it. He can't work. Worst of all he can't even sing anymore. He is a mere shell of himself, literally and figuratively.
I could go into all sorts of depressing thoughts that I have had while trying to understand all of the "whys". I don't want to do that; I just want you to know that there is a man still living among us that has a huge heart and soul, and he has taught us all a lot about love and persevering through the worst adversities that anyone should have to go through. He has done this all with as many smiles as he can muster, and a will to survive, no matter the pain.
The most heartbreaking thing is that he was the most shocked person when the doctors told him just recently that there isn't anything else they can do for him and that this cancer would take him from this world. He really thought with every fiber of his being that he would beat this, that he would survive as he always has.
On September 12th, 2010, I walked for my friend, Don V. I thought about how any discomfort I could feel walking that distance paled in comparison to what he has endured. I raised almost $900.00 through the generosity of others to help fight cancer, and to improve treatment and care for patients and their families. It was a great day of giving, caring and love, and I look forward to doing more of this.
If you haven't already, I hope you can all do something similar to help others, and to make this world a better, more beautiful place to live life in. Most of all, please do what I must do; remember this blog and promise to actually live life while you're here.
Walk on sweet brother, walk on.
