Keeping my promise

[Bucky]

To our members who have been here for a while, please bear with me yet again as I uphold my promise to Josh.
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I have a nephew named Josh.  I have to give you a little background on Josh before I get to my promise.  Josh l-o-v-e-s souped up trucks.  The trucks with big wheels, loud mufflers, loud music, all the shiny chrome and flashy "extras".  With that being said, he also loves to take his trucks through the mud . . . literally!!  His truck would be covered from roof to wheels in mud and then he would turn around and detail it until it looked brand new.  When Josh isn't working, he's out with his buddies and their trucks and the mud.  Josh's chosen profession is landscaping - being in his early 20's, he is very good at it.

In the spring of 2004 Josh complained of pain in his chest area.  The doctor at the walk-in clinic chalked it up to a pulled muscle.  In June when I was visiting, Josh still complained of pain.  More time passed and they went to another doctor as things just didn't seem right that he would still be in pain months and months later.  To make a long story short, when the new doctor ran some blood work on Josh it came back that Josh had a rare liver cancer.  He had been misdiagnosed back in the spring and it was now early fall.  A whirlwind of doctor appointments followed and he was given the grim news that his cancer was too advanced for the medicines to work or for him to go into a clinical trial.  Six weeks from the time of Josh's new diagnose, he passed away at the age of 22.

I was fortunate to be a part of Josh's hospice team to be with him 24/7 for his last few days.  I made a promise to Josh that I would share his story to help save others from having to go through what he did. IF you feel things in your body are not quite right and you are not getting any answers from the doctors . . . keep pursuing it. You have to be your own health advocate. Had they done some blood work in the very beginning, back in the spring, they would have found the cancer.  Because of Josh's age and his profession, the "pulled muscle" seemed like an acceptable diagnose.  It wasn't.  When you are explaining aches and pains to the doctors be as descriptive as you can be.  Is it throbbing, dull, sharp, intense, etc.?  Guys tend to downgrade the pain scale.  It was my SIL who noticed the grimace in Josh's face while he was dealing with the pain - it hurt a lot more than he was letting on.  We'll never know if Josh could have beaten this cancer had it been found earlier.

Josh - in every souped up truck, loud stereo, beautiful landscaped yard or business I think of you.  Every time I go to the doctor - I think of you.  Not a week goes by that I don't see a "Josh truck" in my travels.

Josh - it's been 10 years today that cancer ended your young life way too soon - I love you, miss you, and hear you. (I've kept my promise to you too, and always will . . . love you forever!)  xoxoxo

Aunt Bucky

P.S.  To those of you who have a cancer history in your families - please, make sure and get regular screenings.  (In Josh's case, no one in our family had any history of liver cancer.)  It is my hope and prayer that someday researchers will find a cause and cure for all cancers.  Way too many lives are taken by this awful disease.  To our members who are dealing with a dx of cancer right now - keep the faith and know we are here to support you in your journey.

[A66eyroad]

Thanks for your steadfast love, Bucky.

[susanep]

Thank you Bucky for reminding us all.

susanep

[Head2Toe]

Bucky - I am so sorry for your loss, but am grateful that you made this promise to Josh.  Awareness is a powerful gift.

Your message really hit home for me today.  Although NOT one of my most pain-filled days, this morning at work I felt pain that seemed to be screaming at me that something is really, really wrong in my body   I can honestly say that I was frightened - not because of the intensity of the pain, but because it was a pain that was so unfamiliar. 

Anyways - I want to thank you for re-affirming that the alarm I felt today should not be ignored.

[Katybarstool]

Sweet Bucky

Thank you for honouring your beloved nephew. Each year, I read his remembrance, and my heart aches for you. You were lucky to be part of Josh's life for 22 years, and he was even luckier to have an aunty like you.

God bless Josh.

Kathyx

[aussie mum]

Thankyou for sharing Josh's story with us, it's such an important message.
Thinking of you.