For those of you that don’t know, shortly after my Mom and Dad’s trip to Greece in September my Dad began feeling some pain in his lower back. Associated with that pain was discomfort in his abdomen. After several visits to his doctor, on December 14th, 2009 he was diagnosed with cancer. Seven long days later it was determined he had stage 4 non-small cell adenocarcinoma…Lung cancer. The cancer had spread from the primary tumor in his right lung to the left lung, to lymph nodes surrounding his lungs, to the 12th thoracic vertebrae (T-12) and part of his pelvis.
We were shocked!
My Dad’s medical team moved quickly after the diagnosis with an MRI of his brain which turned out negative (finally some good news), and many appointments in preparation for radiation of the T-12 in his back and chemo to begin immediately following the radiation. The immediate concern is the growth of cancer cells in his back which could potentially affect his spinal cord. The docs feel confident they can stop the cancer from advancing in his back with three weeks of radiation targeting the T-12. Currently, he is scheduled to begin chemo on Jan 21.
We are also in the process of getting a second opinion from Dana Farber as he begins treatment here in Maine.
We love you, Dad, and pray all goes well.
Chris, this is great. It’s so good to have the right information out there. You’ve done a good job.
Thanks.
Dad
sorry my e mail will not pick up your blog so i am using my daughter’s laptop. i agree with dad that it is important to get the right info. i talked to him today and will be in touch.
Glad to hear you have gotten your appetite back some. Thank you Chris and Mark for blogging and keeping us abreast of whats happening. Our love and prayers are with you Ward and your family.
I emailed Ward yesterday about something else, and his reply told me about his diagnosis. What a shock. I worked with Ward and Joanne in the 1980′s on the Beyond War project, and really enjoyed my time with them. More recently, Ward served as an unofficial translator, helping this Jewish kid from the Bronx compose an essay intended for a Christian audience. We had fun once again. I love the two of you. Please know that you will be in my thoughts and prayers. Marty
Dear Ward,
I am so sorry to hear that you are so ill; Judy and I pray that you may have relief and a remission, some happy time with all your family.
My brother who had been an episcopal priest in Ireland for forty years went through mesothelioma last year, so I have special empathy with your circumstances.
I would be happy to visit with you if you want company any time: let me know please.
Richard Sides, 781-631-7014
Dear Ward and Joanne, what sad news. Monty and I send love to you both from our kids – Tom, Peter, and Chrissy – as well as from ourselves, Betsy
Dear Ward and Joanne,
That is one big fish you caught! It makes me think of all the “fishes” you have gathered under your ministry. I am now a hospice volunteer and I believe that it is such a caring and loving way to end this chapter of your life. Speaking of “chapters,” you might like to know that I am having a book launching celebration at Sweeney’s Retreat in August for the publication of my first novel. It is about the concept of reincarnation as the protagonist, a first world Bostonian woman becomes involved with a fictitious West African village. She faces adventure, drama, mystery and romance; and she helps to bring micro-loans to the women in the village to start cottage industries, including a cyberspace cafe for the purpose of creating an online teaching school. Also, the women assemble solar panels to create electricity for the village to save the trees that are being consumed for firewood to cook with. The solar panels will allow the villagers to use “cookers” or stoves. Another story will take place in the second century under Hadrian and it will be the nexus between paganism and Christianity. We will also have a story in Salem. Rebecca Towns Nurse was an ancestor of mine..she was hanged and was a deaf and sweet old lady and someone coveted her farm. That and more, for the nine lives. In some ways, Ward, I feel that I have been living nine lives! The greatest lesson you ever taught me was that in the Episcopal church the focus should and is on the Christ, and not the ego. So, as an old Glover who was baptized at St. Mike’s I have followed the thread forward, and sometimes backward, on my spiritual journey. Now, you are following the next mystery in your own spiritual journey. May God bless you and your beautiful family and you begin to make your crossing “crossing the bar.” I have reprinted my children’s tale of “A Glover Goes to Sea” about my great-grandfather’s first sea voyage as a cabin boy to the Grand Banks in 1866. Also, I have written a memoir titled “On the Strangest Sea” and it is filled with loving remembrances of my challenging life, including a chapter on caregiving my mother at the end of her life. You have been a teacher/rabbi to so many of us, and I thank you for all you have taught me and all that we accomplished in “the village.” Fare foreward! Pat Lee Brainard, and now Fougere. I have found my fourth mate to sail the seas with. God Speed, Ward. Pat
Hello,
It was with a heavy heart I heard of Ward’s passing, and with great regret I missed the service due to unforseen circumstances. Ward was a
great man who loved his family dearly. I know
it must have crushed him to have one of his sons
pass before him, but I know they’re up there
fishing some honey hole catching up on missed times. We lost another great one.
My condolences
Lars