Patrick Swayze

Sorry this picture is so dark...

Patrick Swayze lost his battle to pancreatic cancer. He lived 20 months after his diagnosis. He was very lucky.

The man on the left in this picture is my 2nd youngest brother, Brent. He died this past February 10th at 2:06 am. 60 days after his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

He was 52.

The girl beside him is his daughter, my niece, who is more like a sister to me. The man on the other side is our Dad. This picture was taken Christmas this past year. He had been loosing weight ever since before Thanksgiving. His doctor (general practitioner) told him it was because his diabetes was uncontrolled. But he lost 60 pounds in 3 months. I knew that wasn't right.

The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are so vague, it is often missed until it is too late. But my brother's case, well that is disturbing to me. By the time I saw him, we were at his house for Thanksgiving, and his daughter was here from Oklahoma. We were both startled. She is in the medical field as well, and she asked me what I thought. I told her point blank that if he were a patient of mine, and he walked into my office, we would immediately start a work-up for pancreatic cancer. Patients who have pancreatic cancer have a "look" about them, and my brother had that look. But, of course, it took some "tough love" for us to get through to him. I finally had to tell him, "Brent, I think you have pancreatic cancer". I will never forget where we were, how everything looked, etc., when I looked my brother in the eye, so sure of what I was saying. Not wanting to be so sure. It was a terrible feeling. And it was even more terrible when I found out I was right. Sometimes, I hate having the knowledge that I have.

I told him he had to call his doctor that Monday, and demand a CT scan of his abdomen and pelvis. He did that, and his doctor immediately put him in the hospital based on the results. By December 10th, we had the news. My niece was already back in Oklahoma, and I had to call her and give her the news. It was heartbreaking. I had prayed so hard that I was wrong, but I knew deep down that I wasn't.

My brother was driving up until a week and a half before he died. One night he was up going to the restroom, and he fell. From then on, he was bed-bound and out of it. He died almost 3 days later at home, with all of us there (almost- but that's another story...). We had been at his house since the morning after he fell. He lived a little over 2 hours away, so we just stayed there, my niece, sister-in-law, and I all slept in the room with him, just in case. That's how he wanted it, he had made that clear when he was diagnosed, that he wanted his entire family with him when he died. Even though he was non-verbal for that entire time after his fall, I know that he knew we were all there.

I have more that I want to say, mostly about my brother's life, as opposed to his death, so I will do that later. It will be happier, I promise.

And on a somewhat brighter note, Angel is doing some better, she has taken some steps on her own, (which is a huge deal, since she has not walked in 2 1/2 weeks!!

I just felt I had to share this story with you all, in light of Patrick Swayze's passing. May you rest in peace, Patrick.