THE VAN

Okay, this is Neal's Van. Neal passed away on Feb. 11th, 08 from side effects of lung and bone cancer (lung embolism, to be specific). IF YOU SMOKE, STOP NOW! It is an ugly and brutal way to die. Well, we have been trying to sell this ever since March, probably, and FINALLY, someone has bought it! What a relief! Actually I am sad to see it go because it is one of the things my brother and I shared - I have the same van, except it is a Grand Caravan instead of the Caravan model. After I got my van, he found this one and bought it. It was fun to know he had bought basically the same thing, and we joked about it several times. He didn't get to drive it much, though, because exactly a year ago on the 6th, he had called me to say his legs were numb, and he never actually walked again as that really was the start of the rapid downward spiral of his health.
I don't like to post negative things on the blog, but this is a bit of my life, and the journey. If you smoke and this makes you think about stopping, I have done my job. You can't be prepared for the total disruption of your life and that of your loved ones who must help you when cancer strikes. So do yourself and your loved ones a favor and stop smoking now...at least prevent this kind of death. There is no one in the health care system who really has your best interests in mind - it is all about the money. From the doctors to the nursing homes, hospice care, it is all about how much they can charge the health insurance and get away with it. We had to fight every day to even get them to take Neal's temperature at the nursing home. Even the Doctor insisted that Neal wanted to die. They changed the nurses regularly so no one nurse could follow his downward progress and raise the alarm when there was a problem. I could go on and on.
I hope and pray that the new administration will find a way to move the focus on healthcare from the almighty dollar to the real care of human beings.