Please pray for my wife's uncle...

[omzig]

My wife's uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year. He recently had an adverse reaction to chemotherapy so they had to discontinue it. Now he is hospitalized with pneumonia and a bowel obstruction. My wife is very close to him and is very upset. Your prayers are appreciated.

[dirknerkle]

I'm sorry to hear the news. Your all in our prayers, Don.

-dave

[WWNF911]

Sorry to hear Don. I will pray.

Leon

[g2ktcf]

Don, sorry to hear the news. We will pray for you and your family.

Chris

[Penfold]

Sorry to hear about that Don. I will keep your wife's uncle in my prayers.

[tlorek]

Don, you and your family are in our prayers.

[Wayne J]

In my prayers also.

[dj merritt]

Your uncle and Family is in our prayers.

[Xccentric]

Sorry to hear that.
My family and I will add you and your family to out prayer list.

[omzig]

Thanks everyone for your prayers.

There is good news and bad news. The good news is that he is recovering well from a very bad case of pneumonia. The bad news is that his cancer has spread and he now has a lesion that is close to his spinal cord. There is little that can be done at this point other than radiation treatments that may buy him some time.

He is now home from the hospital. My wife and I, with some help from Hospice, are going to care for him in our home. My father-in-law, who is blind, also lives with us, so we have our hands full here. But with God's help we are going to try to make his final days as comfortable as possible.

[Penfold]

Well Don, at least he is going to be home with loved ones instead of in a nursing home or hospital. It will give your father in Law and your Uncle time to catch up so that's always cool. My mother in law lives with me and my wife. On the weekends she goes home with my brother in law that lives two streets down from me and my wife. So I sort of know what you are going through. It can be tough at times, but it can also be rewarding. Take care. ;)

[omzig]

His battle with cancer is over. He died Tuesday and was laid to rest yesterday. We are saddened by the loss but take comfort in the fact that he no longer suffers and has joined his wife and son who died before him.

Thanks again for all of the prayers.

[LabRat]

His battle with cancer is over. He died Tuesday and was laid to rest yesterday. We are saddened by the loss but take comfort in the fact that he no longer suffers and has joined his wife and son who died before him.

Thanks again for all of the prayers.

As you grieve the loss of making new memories, try not to forget to take the time to cherish and celebrate the memories you already have.

[dirknerkle]

Our prayers continue that you may find peace and solace and remember the love of our Lord, which knows no bounds.

[omzig]

My wife has a lifetime of memories of her Uncle Joe. In the relatively short time that I knew him, I have many fond memories as well. Joe never was afraid to tell you how he felt about something. My wife's cousin once described him as a "pleasant grouch." That's about right...I called him Archie Bunker.

Joe enjoyed the outdoors and loved birds. I brought his large collection of bird feeders to our house when he moved in. I set them up so that he could sit in our enclosed patio (or veranda, as he called it) and watch his birds. His house was in the inner-city and his feeders were usually overrun with starlings and pigeons. My house is close to a wetland habitat called Sandy Ridge Reservation (http://www.loraincountymetroparks.com/sandyridge.htm). Sandy Ridge is home to hundreds of species of birds, so we have a large variety in our area. I sat with him for hours and talked as we watched the birds with binoculars. I'm so glad that we were able to provide him with an environment to enjoy Gods beautiful nature in his final days. I intend to maintain his bird feeders indefinitely in his memory.

We knew that Uncle Joe was dying and we were committed to make sure that he died with his loved ones at his side and in a comfortable environment, instead of alone in a nursing home.

I would like to share with everyone Joe's final hours, because I think it shows how God is in control and how he answers our prayers:

Joe's condition worsened very quickly over last weekend. He became very weak and could not even get out of bed without assistance. He was scheduled for the last of a series of radiation treatments on Tuesday. My wife and I were convinced that these treatments were doing more harm than good, and given his weakened condition, we tried to convince him to not go. But he was determined to finish the treatments and insisted on going, so despite our reservations, we somehow managed to get him to the treatment center.

After his treatment was over, one of the nurses mentioned to my wife and I how he didn't seem to be his usual rambunctious self, but was instead quiet and reserved. She also said that while he was lying on the treatment table with his eyes closed, he suddenly turned his head and looked toward the wall and said, "Look, it's Mary Ann!", "Hi Mary Ann!" Mary Ann was his wife who passed away about a year ago. At the time we wrote this incident off as a hallucination due to the cocktail of medicines that he was taking, including powerful narcotics for pain. All the way home, he said nothing except "I need to sleep." As soon as we got home we put him in bed and he fell asleep almost instantly.

It is now afternoon and my son had his kindergarten orientation to go to. I was going to take him, but being the "mama's boy" that he is, he insisted that mommy take him. Joe's brother, who also lives with us, had a doctor appointment to go to at the same time, so I called my dad and asked him to take him so that I could stay home with Uncle Joe. I sat down next to his bed and started to read the latest "Nuts and Volts" magazine that had just came in the mail. After a few minutes, I looked up at Joe and his eyes suddenly opened wide. I asked him how he was feeling but there was no response. His eyes were wide open and dilated but he was still breathing and otherwise seemed to be sleeping. Moments later, the sound of his breathing started to sound all too familiar to me. It sounded like my mother's breathing did years ago when she was a few hours from dying. I tried calling my wife's cell phone but she apparently had it turned off. There was nothing else for me to do but pray.

Several minutes went by and then his breathing pattern changed. His breathing was much more shallow and spaced apart. He occasionally would stop breathing for several seconds and then gasp. I new that his time was coming. The last thing that I wanted was for him to die before my wife and father-in-law returned. I tried my wife's cell phone again to no avail. I started to pray continuously and pleaded with God to make him hold on until they got home. His breathing returned to the rhythmic rattle like it was before.

After about 30 minutes, his breathing became very irregular again. Then my wife pulled in the driveway. I rushed to meet her at the door and as she was coming in the door my dad pulled in the driveway with my father-in-law. We all sat at his bedside and told him that we were there and that we loved him. In a few minutes the breathing stopped.

I believe that Mary Ann came for Joe that morning to tell him that it was time to go. I also believe that my prayers were answered and God kept him alive until my wife and his brother were at his side.

Rest in peace Uncle Joe