And they died on the same day…..
Just like a Russian fairy tale, Cher and John, our beloved friends of 25 years, died on the same day at the age of 53 from breast cancer. Cher did everything right, mammograms, healthy diet, meditation, yoga, etc, but found a lump that was diagnosed as Stage 4 breast cancer. She fought with grace and courage every step of the way, but after a grueling 18 months she was gone!
John fought with her, shaving his head when Cher lost her hair, going to every appointment and treatment. He gathered friends around her and planned parties to celebrate her ‘good reports’ but he lived in disbelief and despair at the aggressiveness of this disease.
I accompanied them to as many treatments and doctors appointments as I could to offer my support, my presence. Toward the end, I advocated my way into Hopkins busy schedule to get Cher a ‘gamma-knife’ treatment (can’t they change the name??!!) as a last effort, but it was too late. Hospice angels came to our rescue. We decorated Cher’s room with flowers, prayer flags, incense, music. Cher struggled to move her eyelids from the depths of her drugged body to answer my voice when I called her name. John laid on the bed with her, holding her hand, keeping vigil.
After six days of hospice, she passed at 2:45 am on April 18, 2008. We were not there at the actual moment of her death, but raced to John when he called. Upon our arrival, we were told by friends that John had taken ‘something to sleep and was resting’. Impatient to see John, we requested that they check on him. Shockingly, no one could rouse John. We called 911, and they fought to save his life, rushed him to the ER where he was pronounced gone!
Did he take his life deliberately? I don’t think so. I believe he was so distraught that the prescription drugs he was taking along with sleeping meds caused his demise.
As I write this, I still can’t believe it happened. Did I mention their two young adult daughters, 22 and 29? That’s for another time……
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
Did you know…..
About 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. This represents 12% to 13% of all women!
An estimated 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year.
About 39,840 women in the U.S. are expected to die this year from breast cancer.
Every 69 seconds a woman dies of breast cancer.
This disease is an epidemic! It must be stopped!
