My Father, My Mother, My Brother
by Deedee
My story starts a little over eight years ago when my older brother, who I loved and adored was diagnosed with colon cancer with mestastis to the liver. I was devastated when he got sick. He went through so much and he never complained. It was so sad to watch my big brother, who always looked out for me and protected me become so sick. If I thought I had it bad I didn't realize what it was doing to my mother and father.
My mother was also a sick person. In 1990 she was diagnosed with breast cancer but was doing great, but in 1994, she went into liver failure and was in a coma for over a week. The doctors finally figured out she had a genetic liver condition and in combination with the drugs she was on for the breast cancer it made her liver fail. Thankfully, she survived this ordeal.
My father on the other hand was a healthy man except for high blood pressure. He went to the doctor on Oct. 10, 1994 and received a good report and was told to come back in six months. He was so happy because the doctor told him he was healthy. A week later I got up to get ready to go to work and could not get into the bathroom because my father was in there. I waited for about 15 minutes and decided to go see if his car was in the driveway because it was unusal for him not to come out of the bathroom if he knew someone was waiting to get in there. His car was in the driveway so I ran back upstairs and knocked on the door. I got nervous when he didn't answer so I pulled open the door and imagine my horror when I saw him lying on the floor. I went over to him and knew right away my beloved father was gone. I started screaming and crying. My mother go up and said "What's wrong?" I said, "Oh God he's dead!" I called 911 but hung up on them because I didn't want to leave him alone. They called back and my mother told them what was going on so they sent the paramedics who then pronounced him dead. I was in shock. I couldn't believe that he was gone. The hardest part was having to call my brother and give him the news.
He and my father were so close plus my brother was sick with cancer. He had just got home from the hospital. He came down to my house and made all the necessary phone calls as he is a Funeral Director. He handled everything and when he was done he was admitted to the hospital that afternoon because he was bleeding and needed blood transfusions. After my father's funeral, my brother got sicker and we knew we were losing him but he would not admit he was dying. He was determined to beat cancer.