Since my Dad lost his brave battle with cancer.


He had bladder cancer

Dad being dad, made light about the fact he was peeing blood, didnt press for a long awaited specialist appt- it had got "lost" in the system

He finally got to see the specialist (which he had to drive to Launceston for 2 hrs away...not in our Capital Hobart which was 10 mins away).

I got a call at work to say it was liver cancer (liver, hmmm, you can loose a bit and it grows back..bad news, but not the worst).

I think he must have heard the C word, and got confused...or maybe i did, coz it wasnt the liver, it was his bladder.

He had exploratory surgery, which revealed the cancer, and the only option was to remove his bladder.
He had the surgery , and complications set in...a 6-10 day stay turned into weeks, and a temp bag for his bowel, as well as his new permanant one for his bladder. Open wounds delayed radiation treatment.

But still, no complaints.

He ended up with a massive hernia, his stomach looked like a huge box was inside of him...no complaints.

Then he said he had pain in his chest....

He had secondary bone cancer


This was discovered in October 2005. Another call at work, but I didnt find out it was terminal til a few days later....
Mum told me on Hobart show day, a public holiday. she didnt me to hear over the phone. She didnt want us to tell Dad, he still didnt know. This was so hard, we had to act "normal" around him, when all we wanted to do was cry. The Drs told him not long after.
We celebrated his 58th birthday on the 19th of Dec that year, and one last Xmas together 6 days later.

He passed away 30th March 2006.


We try not to play the "what if" game...(and believe me, there are a lot of them)...its just a lot of wasted energy...and it wont bring my Dad back to us.

Please please please, get to know your body. If something doesnt feel right, or doesnt work like it used to, please seek medical advice, and keep pushing til you have an answer.


I love you Dad, miss you terribly, and always will


feel free to share your own stories here about departed loved ones

We are all family on the org
[Edited 3/29/10 13:48pm]

His fav song

He seems to have been a very strong, positive man and having lost my dad myself I can imagine how much you miss him . I am very sure he'd be very proud of his daughter who not only dedicates this to him as her loved dad but also tries to raise awareness about that important issue !

Serious said:

Thank you

He was a softy...
when his dad died, he went behind a shed and cried, and while watching my wedding video, he got up in a gruff after my sister arrived and started talking..."i didnt want to watch that anyway"...
found him downstairs, under atree crying....His mum (my nan) passed away the day before i got married, and we were coming up to the part of our speeches where we had a minutes silence for nan...the videographer had superimposed her picture into that part

The Sunday before he died, i ended up in hospital overnight...stress had really flared up my arthritis.
he was more concerned for me, than himself....
I actually left the ER before they admitted me, complete with cannula installed and instructions not to inject any narcotics
i think they could tell i wasnt a drug user...although once i arrived at dads, my aunties wanted to give me dads morphine
I slept with the phone under my pillow all night.

I know he was proud of me, although he hardly ever said it, he "told" me in his own way.

[Edited 3/29/10 3:14am]

prb said:

awwwww honey I'm sorry. If u want to talk just msg me and ill call. X infinity
[Edited 3/29/10 3:23am]

missmad said:

awww, thanks hun

im okay, a bit teary typing all that, but had a giggle with my sister on FB, thats what we do

prb said:

, a laugh is nice. if u ever do u no the numba.

Aww Tracy!
Your dad sounds wonderful and is no doubt smiling down on you.

As I said before on FB, he raised a wonderful & caring daughter.

Sorry for your loss.

MrsMdiver said:

Thanks Hun

we both have/had our moments

Lots of for you!! My dad passed away this last september... I havent been able to put out pics yet or talk about him much because I deal with things by not dealing with them... It just seems so weird still My mom has been trying to get ,me to visit his grave, which I cant even THINK of doing! Does it get easier?

Anywho, didnt want to turn your thread into my problem, sorry! Just needed to say it...

he sounds so brave and noble.

I wonder sometimes, if it isn't just better to die at a dignified pace, but medicine is all about trying really hard just in case

My uncle was misdiagnosed recently with terminal cancer of the pancreas, 6 months to live, turns out that was a grave error, second opinion was he wasn't dying after all, but now, 2 years later he isn't well, something is pretty wrong and nobody seems to know what. He just lies in his bed all day

now im really depressed

how the hell did i miss this

Feb 15, 2010
Music
Posted by The MOSHROOM desk
­It is with much sadness that we heard the news about The Knack's front man; Doug Fieger who passed away at his home in LA today.
We were thrilled to have Doug join us on our last Countdown Spectacular tour in 2007. He was a great performer and a true gentlemen who luckily for us was at that time enjoying a brief remission from cancer.
It was fantastic to see Doug get up and perform The Knack's huge chart topping hit of the 80's to thrilled audiences right across Australia. All singing along to 'M M M My Sharona'. We would like to salute Doug for his courage and bravery throughout his battle with ill health.
On behalf of us all at The Frontier Touring Company and the cast and crew of The Countdown Spectacular 2 tour of 2007, we would like to pass on our deepest condolences to Doug's manager; Jake and to all of his family and friends. In tribute to Doug, here...
http://www.moshroom.com.au/

I got to see him perform during this touring, it was a highlight of the night
RIP

ZombieKitten said:

oh wow, this sux. it is weird sometimes docs with years of experience can treat some but not others, how can that happen, I'm not sure. Has he gone to see more than one specialist? Gp can't do anything?

zaza said:

thanks Zaza...you share his birthdate

prb said:

tinaz said:

Im so sorry for your loss.

Yes, its cliched, but it does get a little easier, though you will never forget.
you need to do things in your own time. If you ever need to "talk", im a good listener
and never apologise for expressing your feelings...sometimes its easier to start somewhere like this....



[Edited 3/29/10 4:33am]

ZombieKitten said:

Thats awful hun, must be hard on all your family

missmad said:

I think he's been to specialist after specialist and is sick of it all now

ZombieKitten said:

it must be frustrating, knowing you are sick...but not knowing why.

I hope they find an answer soon

prb said:

how awful. X infinity

prb said:

Thank you! I really appreciate that!!

Our daddy's shared the same birth day, remember? And the same diagnosis of cancer, but my dad's was lung. AND they seemed to share the same personality...acting gruff when emotions stir. It broke my heart to see/hear him cry and my mom told me something I didn't know until I was grown...that he hated to see me cry and it would upset him terribly. I know how you miss him. I still grieve to this day and he died November 21, 2001.

for you prb..

my dad's been gone for 17 years..
and i can still hear him quoting from this cartoon..
a looney tunes one..
'meow man'
he used to sit and watch the saturday morning cartoons with us..
and take me down and get me fudgesicles from the store so i was a chocolate
mess by the time we walked back home..
much to my mom's dismay
and thinking of this definately beats thinking bout how he died

tinaz said:

Youre welcome

Shyra said:

dad was the kind of person who would give you his last dollar.

when it was raining, id ring "pa's taxi to pick up me and the rugrat to take him to creche.

He was the first one to call me Mrs xxxxx...even before id started going out with Steve, he must have seen something before i did

when ever i sell a funny greeting card, i think, oh dad would have liked that, he was so quick with the one liners

Genesia said:

johnart said:

thanks

peb319 said:

i know what you mean, it sounds morbid, but im so glad we had a viewing for dad, he looked so peaceful and thats how i like to remember him.

i didnt want to leave the hospice after he died..i didnt want to leave him there alone


the day he died, the waiting room (and his room) was full of relatives...we took over the place

But he waited til it was just mum and her best friend in the room before he left us...5 minutes later....typical dad, he didnt like putting on a show