All - below is brief description Dick's cancer "history", from Dick's son Christopher Lang. You always hear that he/she fought their cancer. Dick not only fought it, but won against terrible odds! His passing, while sad & unexpected to many, is really another example of the ability of the human spirit to conquer great obstacles! - dan
I wanted to pass on a few more details of my dad's cancer struggle. He was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in 2005. This is a cancer with a very low survival rate. I've heard somewhere between 2% and 5% of those who have it live past 5 years. But as you know my dad was one who looks more at the chance that survival was possible, however unlikely, and fought to make that his reality. After undergoing extensive treatments, the cancer finally went into remission, and eventually vanished all together. He knew that it would likely return, but as fate would have it, it never did. He lived the rest of his life cancer free (14 years).
He was very motivated to spend the rest of his life doing what he loved, which included visiting his grand children, traveling, and of course, spending as much time out on the water as possible.
In the end, the damage his body sustained treating the cancer began to catch up with him. Over the last year, he noticed he was growing weaker, and feeling short on breath. As it turns out, liquid was building up in his lungs, and he had to get it drained every month or so. As the problem worsened, they tried some procedures to both fix the problem, and offer relief from the symptoms, but in the end, his lungs were just too weak to continue. - Chris Lang, 22APR
No comments:
Post a Comment