"My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer on the 4th of July & given 4-6 months to live. He was an ex- smoker, heavy drinker and retired firefighter & a very strong man with an even stronger personality! He went through chemo and immunotherapy and only had some skin rashes but tolerated the treatments very well. He and my mom always had an abusive relationship. I got saved after I grew up and moved out and got married. The first Christmas after I was saved, I came home and gave my dad the book “Man thou art loosed” by Bishop TD Jakes. I was certain he would read it and turn his life over to Christ. Instead he got mad at me and told me I now had “condemned him to hell” because I told him about Jesus. So when he got diagnosed with the cancer about 20 years later, I was all the more concerned about his soul. I put him on a couple of prayer chains I was a part of for prayer for healing but most importantly salvation. I really didn’t see any softening of his heart but his body was holding up very well and the tumors shrunk down to just a couple of centimeters. It seemed as though he would be enjoying many more years. Unfortunately in January 2021 his cancer doctor, told him to take the covid 19 vax. He was one of the first to get it bc of his age (72) and health status. Shortly after that his tumor got larger and his doctor, after having told him many times he would never get him radiation treatments, sent him for that treatment. He got one radiation treatment and it seemed to burn his back on the outside. They never gave him another one. He also had a rash on his bottom that he thought was a “bed sore”. This seemed very odd as he was not sedentary at all and his skin was not thin. He never told his dr about the rash (he was embarrassed by it). He started to decline at that point and by summer time he was starting to have a hard time breathing and the “bed sore” was getting worse. I believe it was mid October when he was omitted to the hospital with shortness of breath. He was in there for about 3 1/2 weeks. It was about a week before I finally called his DR bc no one was treating the “bed sore”. The DR said he never knew about it. A culture was taken and a special wound care nurse came in to treat it daily while they waited for the results. Because the covid protocol was still in place, my dad was only allowed one visitor a day for 4 hours. My mom, brother and I took turns visiting him as we watched him decline. No more treatments for cancer were given just steroids, pain meds and oxygen. My dad was nice to me when I was there and I talked to him about his body being his “earth suit”. I told him “you are a Spirit, you have a Soul and you live in a body.” He seemed to grasp that and I kept talking about Heaven. Often he would change the subject but I knew he heard me. The results of the biopsy came back about 4 or 5 days before he passed. It was herpes virus that had been dormant but was reactivated when he got the vax. The sore was so large that students were brought in to see it and pictures were taken. I never saw it. His lungs were also getting worse and I don’t know if the tumor was growing or if the radiation damaged his lung tissue but the teaching DRs would bring their students in his room and have them listen to how bad his lungs sounded. My dad was very gracious to them and he let them look and listen to his body. It made me sad because they just saw him as a specimen not as the legend he was. He saved many people’s lives as a firefighter but now was reduced to this. He never bragged or boasted about that himself. On Halloween day, it was my mom’s turn to visit him. He always LOVED Halloween. He would take months to make unique decorations for his yard and goodie bags and glow necklaces for the neighborhood kids as well as hot dogs and soda and even grilled shrimp! For the adults he would have beer/alcoholic beverages. It was a party at their house and everyone came. So he was especially sad/depressed/ frustrated/angry- I’m sure many emotions were going on that day as he sat in the hospital getting worse no matter what treatment the DR tried. He took out those emotions on my mom. He even tried to hit her but she was able to walk away as he couldn’t really get up or reach her. He was verbally abusive to her and she was crying and asking him to “please stop” but he continued. She later told me that she was just felt a tangible peace come over her and felt like God was telling her to go wash his head and face. So she got a rag, put warm water on it and soap and gently washed him without saying a word. He just sat there. And then visiting hours were over and she left. I was waiting outside in the car for her and she was visibly shaking and crying. She told me he was being so mean to her and she never wanted to go back there to see him again. My brother went the next day for a short visit. Then I went the following day to see him before I had to fly back to my home. He was very nice to me and let me shave his neck. I remember when I was leaving, I knew that would be the last time I was to see him alive. He put his fist out to give me a “fist bump” bc of covid rules and I just gave him a hug and told him I loved him and said I would see him again. I remember telling one of the respiratory therapists at the nursing station as I was leaving that even though I wanted to see him healed, I was more concerned with his soul because I was a Christian. I knew she totally understood without her saying anything specific. I flew home the next day and my mom when to visit him either that day or the following (can’t remember exactly) BUT when she did see him, he was a changed man!!! PRAISE GOD!!! Like actually a New Creation! He wasn’t mean to her and was actually kind and loving! He had even called his best friend and told him he found Jesus! It was about 2 days later that he made the decision to go into hospice because his lungs were so bad, he was having a hard time eating. He went to be with Jesus about 2 days later, Nov 9, 2021, and my mom was able to be in the room holding his hand and telling him it was ok and to “go with Jesus”.
Click the link to listen to Angie's story on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bOhe4nZkisg?si=PfqdYYsR_CqJd4Wp
- Submitted by Angie Azar