My Father, John Raymond Neu was born December 21, 1944. He was a smoker (Winston brand) for most of his life. He began as a teenager and never quit. He was a career military man, retiring as a Commander in the US Coast Guard after 27 years. He was only 45 years old when he said goodbye to the military. He did not seek employment upon retirement. He loved to spend time with his children (2) and his grandchildren (7). He also had a relationship with 3 children of his wife and their 7 children. He loved to read and was a History expert.
For the last few years he was having some trouble with a smokers cough. When he would laugh he would lose his breath and turn red. This problem became worse as time passed. I would visit with him regularly and it looked to me as if he had been losing some weight this last year. He dismissed it as not eating as well as he should. He was never a big eater.
Anyway, in July of 2002 we had a family vacation. My father was complaining about back and shoulder pain that was nagging him. He was just not comfortable and would often use a hand massager to get bye. He was not one to visit a doctor but due to the increasing pain in the back he actually went to a chiropractor. The initial diagnosis was promising. They claimed to see why he was having discomfort and had a plan to correct it. He was going almost every day. After a few sessions he started have slight seizures in his left arm. He called them muscle spasms. The Chiropractor dismissed it as normal for the treatment he was receiving. These seizures progresses to his left leg and arm. This was bad enough to convince him to see a Neurologist in September of 2003.
A cat scan was performed and a brain tumor was detected on the right side of the brain. He was immediately put in the Hospital (Shands of Jax Fl), for additional tests. In a few days they announced to our family that he had advanced, stage 4, small cell lung cancer. He was given 9 to 12 months to live. The oncology team told us they believed, with treatment, he would get worse, improve, spend quality time with the family for a few months, and then likely decline. He began Chemo immediately. He received Carboplatin and Etoposide. He received 4 doses, 21 days apart. Radiation treatment, 21 days to the brain was performed in parallel with the chemo.
My father did not respond well to the chemo. He would not eat and started losing weight. He was in constant pain from his back and shoulder. He was having seizures that would cause him to lose the use of his left leg and arm. He was taking Dilantin and a steroid to help control the tumor swelling and seizures. They remained in check for a short period. He was taking oxycontin, but it did not help much. He finished his last dose of chemo in the first week of December.
The Oncology doctor then gave us the bad news. The radiation treatment and the chemo had been marginally effective. He also explained to my father that they could do many more things but he had to eat and gain strength and weight. If dad wanted more treatment he had to eat. He did not. He continued to lose weight. In January 2003, he weighed 115 pounds. He looked very sick and was definitely under nourished. He was drinking boost but not enough. A good day would be 3 8 0z boosts and a bite of something prepared.
The pain was increasing and the Oncology group agreed to a series of radiation shots to the chest to help knock out the tumor causing the most trouble. He was scheduled to receive 12 radiation shots but was having tremendous trouble walking so we had to arrange for transportation. He had received 3 of the 12 radiation doses.
On Friday 2/14/03 he woke up and told his wife he did not feel up to a scheduled MRI but would try to get himself together for the radiation treatment by late morning. She helped him to the restroom and left to make a phone call to cancel the MRI. When she returned a few minutes later he had passed away. He had not called out to her and did not have any indication of a struggle. 5 months after the diagnoses of lung cancer he was gone. He was drug way down from the chemo/radiation and never got better. He had just turned 58.
My life will never be the same.
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