My Dad, My Hero
I can't believe I am writing this about my dad!! He should be here with me right now! He was a loving husband to my mom, and a GREAT father to my two sisters, and I!
Well, it all started 4 years and two months ago, on
April 22, 1994. My dad felt a little off balance when he walked,
so he went to the family doctor, and he said he had a inner ear
infection, so he put him on some medication. Two weeks later, he
went back, and the doctor sent him to an
Ear, Nose, and Throut doctor, who told my dad he had an inner ear
infection and put him on some other medication.
Two more weeks went by and he went back to the doctor. He told my dad he may have Multiple Scolerosis! He was in shock! He could see himself going from a man who owned a greenhouse business, planting flowers all day, to being in a wheelchair.
Then my dad went to a Nuerologist, who told him he didn't have M.S. My dad was relieved, but still wondering what was wrong with him.
The Doctor sent him to the University of Pennsylvania, where they did tons of tests. He said he felt like a pin cushion!
When he came home they told us he had one of three
things:
1) He may have been poisioned from chemicals sprayed in the
Greenhouses.
2) He may have a tumor hidden behind a lung, pushing on some
nerves causing the problems.
3) Cruetzfeld Jokob Disease!
We prayed it was the tumor, because the other two there was
nothing they could do for him!
When the tests came back it wasn't from the chemicals, and it wasn't a tumor hidden behind a lung. They said it was 99% CJD. We all cried! I was only 22 at the time. I was so scared! Here I was wondering how we were going to keep the family business going without the Backbone of the operation!!
They told my mom the only way they could tell her that my dad definitely had CJD was to do a brain biopsy while he was still alive, but my mom didn't want to put my dad through that if there wasn't anything they could do for him.
He could walk by himself, yet he couldn't hold a
cigerette without his hands
trembling, and dropping it. And so, even though I didn't like
that my dad smoked, I held that cigerette for him, and put it in
his mouth when he wanted a puff.
Unusual for CJD victims -, my dad didn't get the dementia til near the end. Two weeks before he passed away, he knew who he was, who we were, what was going on, and what was being done.
He wanted so badly to go out in the greenhouses and do some work, but he couldn't. That is what ate me up inside, seeing my dad, who taught me everything I know about life, and about the greenhouse business, and soo young, DYING!
On November 22, 1994, my dad died, 7 months exactly from his first doctors visit! He was only 52 years of age!
The autopsy confirming CJD was performed at the University of Pennsylvania and we donated his brain tissue to the University of California where Doctor Stanley Prusiner works.
We have found there are eight other victims in a 15 mile radius of where my dad lived and died.
If anyone wants to talk to me, or my mom, or my two
sisters, about CJD,
or just to talk about their loved one who is dying, or died,
please
don't hesitate! Thanks for listening!!
Email me at [email protected]