Rob, I want you on my side!

Petey...You haven't done all that you can do. You know so much about so many things, but somehow you haven't gotten to the right places as far as your healthcare goes. I KNOW that the system will not allow a person in your situation to go without care. Go to a medical center with a medical school and a charity hospital. You claim to be going with quality of life......From what I understand, your "quality of life" will not be very good if you allow this cancer to continue to grow untreated.

I was struck by your obvious affection for your children.....young adults and still in need of your presence and your guidance. Please show them that you love them enough to recruit them for your team.....to see you through this.....to accept whatever the results are......rather than to simply stop trying.

As Rob says, there might be a time in one's life when there is no other option, but you are not nearly there yet. You CAN be treated, and you can live for many more years.......but if you don't try, there is no question that you will NOT live for years.

Life is a journey. We aren't privileged to know what's around the corner, but you know......it doesn't matter, as long as we stay focused on the journey itself and take what comes. It is NEVER what we expected, so...Being in treatment is not the way you wanted to be spending your next year, but when it is over, and when you exit the "dark tunnel" of discouragement and pain, there WILL be light, and there WILL be life, to be enjoyed at a new level....and possibly an even better level than before.

Petey.....get your good brain around this and get one of those kids or your wife or your self to drive you to the places that offer care for the needy, and get yourself into their program. It can NOT be that hard.

I'm mad at you now. Don't expect us to fall in love with you and then have you do this. No way, Jose'!! Get off your duff and get out there......first thing Monday morning.

I want to hear that you have a plan by Monday night. The treatment won't be fun, but it will be interesting...and whatever it is will be better than NOT being here at all.

I know that you are a man of faith, but do you really think that God wants you to give up on the life He gave you?? God loves life. He created us to be with Him for eternity, but he doesn't want us to rush the process by not taking care of our selves in this earthly life.

He gave you those kids to care for and to be an example for. Show them what you are made of. Let them help you through it. It will be bonding. You will give them a gift by allowing them to help you. I am betting that your family will be closer than ever before.

Choose Life, Petey.

I'll be looking for a message on Monday, and I hope that you have made your choice and have made a plan.

We love ya', you funny guy, and we're not gonna let you off the hook so easily.

So there.

Colleen--T-2N0M0 SCC dx'd 12/28/05...Hemi-maxillectomy, partial palatectomy, neck dissection 1/4/06....clear margins, neg. nodes....no radiation, no chemo....Cancer-free at 4 years!