RIP

In June of this year my Grandfather was diagnosed with lung and bone cancer. He was in tremendous pain even before he was diagnosed as as the days turned into weeks he started to deteriorate faster and faster until the pain and weakness from the tumor in his spine was so great he needed a walker, and eventually a wheelchair. He went through several sessions of radiation and several sessions of chemotherapy, they shrunk the tumor on his spine but found that it had eaten away at the bone. He had no bone left and so they went in and filled his spine to keep his spinal cord in place and alleviate some of his pain, they repeated this twice. He had been in and out of the hospital since we found out and was started on fentynol patches which is a very strong pain killer, soon after they put him on delotted, another pain killer, as well. Eventually he was put on a strong dose of morphine as the other two pain killers were not enough. We helped keep him as comfortable as possible, getting his medications for not only the cancer but also for his diabetes, we bought him anything to make his life a little easier; cushions, walkers, wheelchairs, ramps. Three days ago we tried to get him up and ready for the day but he seemed very lethargic and confused, he couldn't wake up so we took his blood sugar and found that it was under 100 so we started waking him up to shove sugary drinks and chocolate down his throat, it took us almost an hour to get his sugar over 100. My mom is a nurse so she has a lot of useful equipment laying around the house including a device to measure blood oxygen levels so she used it on him and found his blood oxygen was far below what it was supposed to be so we convinced him he needed to go to the hospital and called an ambulence. When we got to the hospital they ran a lot of tests and found he had pnemonia, they determined that he had it for about two weeks and we never knew. They said he had a very good chance of recovery once they started treatment. We were planning on going back to the hospital then next morning when we got a call that he wasn't doing well. My brother and I went because my sisters are to young to handle that stuff. As my brother and I walked into the room as he took his last breath, if you have never lost someone close to you then you have no idea the pain it is to hear the air leave someone's lungs forever. My grandpa was the most amazing man I have ever known, he was always there for me and the rest of my family, he kept us together, he was the glue, the peanut butter, the one who cuts the turkey on thanksgiving, he was the head of the family and losing him is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. My grandma and grandpa were married 49 years and his birthday is next week, he would have been 69 years old. My grandpa was my mentor, my guidence, spirtitual and otherwise, and my best friend. He made everything more fun; we went and cut down our own christmas tree every year, picked apples, took his boat out fishing, worked in his yard and his garage. His yard and vegetable garden were his most prized possessions, he took amazing care of them, the amount of vegetables we would get every year was just astounding, enough to make a veggie market jealous. He was an amazing woodworker as well as the best chef and baker I have ever met. His cakes and food were enough to make even the most devoted dieter gain ten pounds in one sitting. His passion though was golf, it was always on tv when he was home and he went once a week to golf with his buddies. When he wasn't golfing or doing anything else he was spoiling his grandkids; Brandon, Corine (Brandon's wife), Stephanie, Katie (me), Justin, Allyson, Kendre, Brooke, Tanishia, Aaron, Sarah, Kyle, Noah, Shawn, Hanna, Emma, Avery, and TJ and his one great grandkid; Aiden. My grandpa worked everywhere and did everything. He worked at a funeral home driving a hurse, he worked in a steel mill at 18 and was run over with a hi-lo, he worked in realty, was a traveling salesman for tools, he was a fire marshall for a while when he finally retired he was a volunteer fireman. Ironically his funeral is at the same funeral home where he worked as a young man. He touched so many lives and everyone who met him loved him dearly. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be missed by many people including my grandma who is now left to pick up the pieces and move on with her life. Of course she has 4 kids with spouses, 18 grandkids, one great grandkid, many good friends to keep her company so I think she will be ok.
Missed but never forgotten 9/22/12