Year of 2011 …

John’s Illness

It wan’t long after my reunion with John in 2009 that I received some very disturbing news from John as I was driving home from work. I worked at Pella Corporation in Pella, IA and spent around 25 minutes on the road each day.

John and I talked frequently during my commute home.  During one of those visits John informed me that he was planning to undergo an Endoscopy because he was having trouble swallowing.  He explained to me that he had been diagnosed with acid reflux disease years earlier but that he had not gone back to the doctor for follow-up treatments until recently.

Then, the telephone call that no one wants to receive where John informed me that he had been diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer and was given 6 months to 2 years to live.  He said the results of the Endoscopy & ensuing biopsy revealed that he had a malignant tumor that was 1/3 of the size of his stomach.

After meeting with his Oncologist John asked if he could live another 5 years with treatment and was told that he would have a 1 out of 100 chance of living that long.  As it turned out, John came very close to beating those odds by living until December 6, 2014.

Most of the notes of his treatment were made in 2011 as his condition worsened. (will append this page as notes are located and compiled for accuracy).

On November 10th, 2014 I received an e-mail from Sandy which proved to be pivotal in John’s declining days.  The e-mail began “After a very challenging weekend, I decided to have John moved to the Hospice House in Hiawatha.” She went on to say “– we had a very difficult weekend, both emotionally and physically.” It was heart breaking news to receive this word from Sandy, but not unexpected.  I made a point to get to Hiawatha for what ended up being my final personal visit with John before he entered eternity.  The date was Wednesday, November 26th; I remember that being a snowy day with road conditions that were not the greatest.