Lost our wonderful Dad, husband and friend

[Bec]

With a heavy heart and sadness, I wanted you to know that we lost our friend, Dad, husband and wonderful Christian steward last Friday.

Many of you may not remember me, but I visited the site regularly with questions and used this site often. This site helped us fight Dads horrrible disease and we all beleived that the info we received from many of you kept Dad alive for many years.

Dad should have died five years ago when he had open heart surgery and was so sick. He had a cow valve put in to replace his valve that was not working well. His valve had calcified and needed to be replaced. We found out that they could now replace his valve with a mechanical valve because cumminen is not required daily. Before the surgery, Dad was weak but attended his (my sons) grandsons wedding and we have great pictures where he was dancing "the night away.

Dads MDS was under control and he only required txs every 20 weeks. He was still having weekly procrit shots, and low dose of steroids. He was so happy to not be requiring weekly or bi-weekly txs.

The heart surgery went great but he developed ards and could not get off the respirator. Dad had a living will.. At 4:25 on Friday morning, my 3 sisters, myself, and my Mom decided to stop the 14 medications and we sang his favorite hymns to him as he left to be with our heavenly father….

We are so shocked and we miss him terribly but the best gift he left us was telling us before the surgery that God was in control and he would see us all in heaven one day.

His funeral was a celebration. He did not want any large expense or fuss. He was cremated and we are spreading his ashes on his farm land and he told us all to take ashes to the beach when we go and sprinkle them everywhere.

My husband, my sister, and my son spoke at the funeral. My nephew sang… It was so what Daddy wanted. We sang Victory in Jesus as we walked in and it was beautiful.

After the service, we went to the church social hall for visitation and fed the hundreds of friends that attended.
It was so much easier on us…

We have been so blessed. Dad was our everything but we know he is in heaven probably constructing something beautiful.

Please pray for my Mom He was her best friend and she has been so involved in his care for the past nine years.

Dad was a MDS survivor…. He lived a positive and happy life with MDS. He was 73, had eleven grandchildren and left us all with the most wonderful memories..

I thank you all for everything.
Bec

[Mary4Mike]

Dear Bec,

What a beautiful tribute to your dad. It sounds like he was a wonderful testimony to Christian life and that testimony has been passed on to his family. What could be more pleasing to the Lord. I look forward to meeting all of you someday in heaven.

Yes, I will pray for strength for your mother and your family. May the Lord wrap his loving arms around all of you at this time and forever.

A person with this disease (or any other for that matter) has to continue on with life. You are NOT the disease. It sounds like your dad did this.

All the best,
Mary

I am sure things are busy now, but, later when you get a chance, I would be interested to know if you every had luck with AFLAC. We did, and I would like to pass that info on to you.

[Bec]

Thank you Mary for your kind words.

This new site is a litlle difficult to get on so I just figured out how to get back on.
Please send me the info about AFLAC. My attorney sister said it listed MDS not being covered but I argued that we may need to look into it further.

Thank you for any help. Dad left Mom enough money to be comfortable but we want to receive any money she may deserve.

God bless you Bec

[Mary4Mike]

Bec,
I hope that things are going along well for you and your family.

When we made our first AFLAC submission, we had a letter from our doctor stating that MDS fit all the criteria of cancer. I also enclosed some articles that I had printed from the internet. I believe they were from MD Anderson. Thay explained MDS and how it is a blood malignancy, etc. We also had to enclose the initial bone marrow biopsy that gave the diagnosis. I would find an agent that will work with you. The information that I am giving you pertains to an AFLAC Cancer insurance policy. It isn’t total reimbursement by any means, but a set amount for each treatment and TX given. If your parents paid the premiums, then they are deserving of the specified benefits. I wish you the best in this. Let me know if you have success.

Mary

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