My Dad

Four years ago my Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Unfortunately he didn't catch it soon enough. After his surgery, they said they didn't know where it would end up because it was in his blood stream among other places. So after three years they told him that he might live a year but more like 4 to 6 months the way the cancer was spreading. My Dad did everything he could to help himself. In the end, he lived 9 months past his original year diagnosis. Praise God! The last few months were the worst though and while it was hard on us it was hardest on my Mom and she watched him grow weaker every day. Around the first part of July he had to have an emergency surgery on his bladdar to remove blood clots. After that he pretty much didn't leave the house again. Around the first part of August my Mom allowed Hospice to come in and help with whatever was needed. They were a HUGE blessing. Dad's liver started shutting down and his body started to swell. Cancer is a truly hideous thing and I'm just not sure why God allows His children to go through it but He does and we must always give Him the glory for all things. I can't begin to convey to you the changes my Dad went through in that last month and a half of his life. On September 18th, my Dad went home to be with the Lord. The night before, I was able to stay with him because, ironic as it may be, my Mom's mother (Grannie) had passed away earlier that week on Wednesday and Friday evening was her viewing. By this time, (Friday evening) my Dad was on some stronger meds that kept him pretty sedated. I know he must have hated that because he never wanted to be drugged to the point he wasn't at himself. However, this was a necessary evil because of his pain level. Steve came to help me that night and sit with me and our piano player from church, Bro. David was there. We each kind of took a turn keeping Dad's swollen leg up on the bed. He kept trying to slide it off and trying to get up. He hated being in the hospital bed and he never gave up trying to get out of it. :) I loved my Dad (and still do!) and it was so hard seeing him waste away. I'm glad I got to spend those last few hours with him even though they were not very good quality hours. We all went to the funeral of my Grandmother on Saturday morning and some friends of Dad's stayed with him the few hours we were gone. It wasn't until we returned home that Dad started showing signs of passing away. He'd been fine that morning when the hospice nurse came through. It almost seemed like he waited for us to get back. We were all able to be with him as he passed. The hospice nurse was able to be there and amazingly enough my parent's (and also our family dr) dr. showed up. It was very comforting to have these people there to let us know what was going on. We were all able to tell him we loved him and tell him goodbye. That was SO hard. Dad slowly stopped breathing and that was that. It was a wonderful funeral that I'm sure Dad would have been proud of. My best friend from college, Melanie and her husband came down much to our surprise. She was such a blessing to me and Steve. Such a good distraction. My Dad loved her and always asked if I'd talked to her or how she was doing. So it was good she was there. So many people came to his viewing and funeral. Many I didn't know but somehow my Dad had touched their life. Even those who came for me and my sisters had been touched by his life at some point. My Mom, sisters, and I have all cried our share of tears and will probably cry some more. However, it is a bit easier when you know your loved one is in heaven with God and is no longer plagued by the disease they had here on earth. As I watched my Dad slip away from us I tried to keep this in mind. The Bible is true when it says in I Thessalonians 4:13 "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ! We do not sorrow like others who have no hope in God. They know not where their loved one is and only hope that they went to be with Jesus but do not have that assurance. We KNOW where Dad is and we KNOW that we'll see him again someday! Praise the Lord! Over on the right hand side of your screen you will see a little music player box. If you want, you can listen to the song I co-wrote with my Pastor (Gayle Russ) for my Dad and put it on the recording I did a little over a year ago. I hope you enjoy it.