She was a very religious person. In fact, she was a Pentecostal Pastor at their church in Indiana.
When she was 72 years old, Mary passed out at a restaurant while I was visiting her and my grandfather in Indiana. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was told that she was okay, but then was transferred to another hospital so that she could be stabilized.
That’s when they discovered her pancreatic cancer.
Two years earlier, her sister – my great-aunt – had passed away from the same type of cancer. Still, no one really expected my grandmother to get it.
The doctors told my grandmother that without chemotherapy, she only had three months to live. If she underwent chemo, though, she could live for three years. So my grandmother scheduled her first chemo treatment for the beginning of April.
Two weeks later, on Jan. 12, 2009, she passed away.
While she passed away in a hospital, my grandmother lived most of her final days at home with my 83 year old grandfather. My father – her son – remained stoic the whole time, but my brother and I both knew how sad he was.
I’ve always participated in Relay for Life, but now I wonder if there is more that I should be doing to bring awareness to cancer and its prevention.