#2016 02-24-2004 01:08 PM | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 541 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) |  "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 541 | My deepest condolence to you and your family. Packer will remain a great hero in this battlefield and will be missed by everyone here.
Karen stage 4 tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/01.
Karen stage 4B (T3N3M0)tonsil cancer diagnosed in 9/2001.Concurrent chemo-radiation treatment ( XRT x 48 /Cisplatin x 4) ended in 12/01. Have been in remission ever since.
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#2017 02-24-2004 02:50 PM | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts) | | Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,552 | I hate these kinds of posts. I wish that we could all survive this insidious disease. I am deeply saddened at the news of Packers passing. He fought a valiant fight and his courage was a source of inspiration to all of us. This is yet one more reminder of just how precious and precarious life is. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
Gary Allsebrook
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Dx 11/22/02, SCC, 6 x 3 cm Polypoid tumor, rt tonsil, Stage III/IVA, T3N0M0 G1/2
Tx 1/28/03 - 3/19/03, Cisplatin ct x2, IMRT, bilateral, with boost, x35(69.96Gy)
________________________________________________________
"You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" (James 4:14 NIV)
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#2018 02-24-2004 03:17 PM | Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 139 Gold Member (100+ posts) | | Gold Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 139 | My sympathy goes out to you, Dee and all of us. We will miss him and his humor and his strength.
God bless us all,
Judy U
Judy U
Stage I SCC floor of mouth, left radical neck dissection 8/03
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#2019 02-24-2004 04:05 PM | Joined: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,384 Likes: 1 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | | Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,384 Likes: 1 | Thank you for thinking of us and letting us know about Packer66.
It is sad news....very sad indeed.
Please know that you and your family are in my thoughts.
Mark, 21 Year survivor, SCC right tonsil, 3 nodes positive, one with extra-capsular spread. I never asked what stage (would have scared me anyway) Right side tonsillectomy, radical neck dissection right side, maximum radiation to both sides, no chemo, no PEG, age 40 when diagnosed.
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#2020 02-24-2004 05:09 PM | Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 246 Platinum Member (200+ posts) | | Platinum Member (200+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 246 | Dave and I had the amazing good fortune to meet Packer on two occasions.We both came away permanently changed by the encounters. The strength,spunk, and pervasive good humor he lent to this forum were magnified a thousand fold in person. They say the eyes are the window od the soul. You had only to look at Packer's to see the beauty within.
It is a sad time for OCF indeed but a strengthening of our collective resolve to work tirelessly to get the word out about oral cancer.
In solidarity,
Kim & Dave
kcdc
Wife of Dave,diagnosed with Stage III Tonsillar SCC,August '02
Modified radical neck dissection followed by radiation therapy
'There is glory and radiance in the darkness and to see we have only to look"
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#2021 02-25-2004 02:14 AM | Joined: May 2003 Posts: 33 Contributing Member (25+ posts) | | OP Contributing Member (25+ posts)
Joined: May 2003 Posts: 33 | Thank you all, I will be mentioning this foundation at the sevices, it was such a big part of my father. I love him so much, he is and always will be my hero, and I will always adore him. I also will be asking instead of sending flowers that people make a donation to the OCF in the name Of Frank Joseph Sherman Jr. Thank you all. | | |
#2022 02-25-2004 02:45 AM | Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 246 Platinum Member (200+ posts) | | Platinum Member (200+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 246 | Hi Packer's Little Girl:
Hope this day finds you knowing how much your dad was loved and respected on this forum for his candor, support, and at times off-color, right-on wisdom. Many of us counted on his spunk and unfailing zest for life, his love of you and Dee, and his soft spot for pets and most of all, his ability to see beyond himself and reach out to us here even when he was feeling at his worst.
It is a very gracious act for you to mention OCF at Packer's service. I am sure many OCF members would like to send condolences to Dee. I am reluctant to post the home address without knowing if this is okay. Please respond if you see this message and indicate if it is okay.
To my fellow OCF members who knew Packer, it is with a heavy heart that I write today after hearing the news of Packer's passing last eve. He was one of the first people to reach out to Dave and me when we were lucky enough to stumble upon OCF in August, 2002. I'm sure there are no accidents and the combination of first responders Brian and Packer was a prelude to the continued gift that is this site.
I appreciate the opportunity to vent this morning. I realized that Packer has always represented for me the pillar of strength and hope in this awful fight against oral cancer. I counted on him to make it even when the odds were against him because that is what he always has done ever since I have known him. That man could own a hospital room and charm every nurse with a simple wink and a furiously fast hand writing notes. Packer taught me here on this site and even more poignantly in person that you don't have to speak, be physically perfect by societal standards, and that real men can indeed drool and remain dignified. It was impossible to meet Packer and not come away different than when you entered his space.
So, when I heard the news last eve, I felt a bit of the pillar of my hope for the future had crumbled. This morning, I realize that Packer quietly did with conviction what will become a new source of support for all us still fighting. He demonstrated unfailing strength,good humor, grace of character, and empathy toward others admist his own trying times. These were the cornerstones of Packer's life and the legacy he has left for us here at OCF.I'm thinking the pillar hasn't crumbled after all-I just hadn't noticed before how integral Packer was to building this infrastructure.
Kim
kcdc
Wife of Dave,diagnosed with Stage III Tonsillar SCC,August '02
Modified radical neck dissection followed by radiation therapy
'There is glory and radiance in the darkness and to see we have only to look"
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#2023 02-25-2004 04:34 AM | Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts) | | "Above & Beyond" Member (500+ posts)
Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 642 | Packer's Little Girl,
I am so sorry to hear about your Dad's passing and I want to thank Kim for her beautiful, articulate eulogy of Packer. Packer and Dee, along with Kim, Dinah, Joanna and many others were here when I was in need and discovered this site and I will be forever grateful to Brian for creating it and all of those who helped me here with advice and inspiration.
Danny G.
Stage IV Base of Tongue SCC
Diagnosed July 1, 2002, chemo and radiation treatments completed beginning of Sept/02.
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#2024 02-25-2004 05:27 AM | Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,627 Patient Advocate (1000+ posts) | | Patient Advocate (1000+ posts)
Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 1,627 | I'm from Maine and visit there every summer. We travel right past where Packer and Dee live to get to my mothers and my sisters. I had such hopes of meeting Packer and Dee this July and am disapointed and sad that I won't have that honor. Dee, if you're reading any of these, I would still be thrilled to meet you and Packers family if possible.
Please let us know where to send donations.
Minnie
SCC Left Mandible. Jaw replaced with bone from leg. Neck disection, 37 radiation treatments. Recurrence 8-28-07, stage 2, tongue. One third of tongue removed 10-4-07. 5-23-08 chemo started for tumor behind swallowing passage, Our good friend and much loved OCF member Minnie has been lost to the disease (RIP 10-29-08). We will all miss her greatly.
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#2025 02-25-2004 05:33 AM | Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 194 Senior Member (100+ posts) | | Senior Member (100+ posts)
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 194 | Hi, I am very sorry for the loss of your father.He and I came on the forum about the same time several years ago.He helped me many times with his humor and how strong he was. It seems odd, I came on to day to post that I had had my very last operation to rebuilt my face. It was done Feb. 23. The night before i said to my husband I need to be alone for awhile, It was like Frank told me, You prepare for battle. I thought it will be the last time I hope. I thought of him that night. I was doing my 11 surgery. It does not get any easier. He gave this a valient fight and inspired many of us.Your family and Dee should shine with pride about how brave he was and how he helped so many people keep up the fight.I am sure there is a very special place for people like Frank to be. One of them is in all our hearts.Gayla
gnelson, StageIV, cancer free since Nov.9,2000
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