Saturday, May 30, 2009

In Loving Memory of a Wonderful Friend!!!

CANCER SUCKS......PERIOD.

I am so freaking tired of people close to me being affected by cancer!!! I am so tired of watching people close to me fight and fight and fight and then lose their battle with that awful disease!!! I.HATE.CANCER....... PERIOD.

Early this morning I lost my very close friend, Julie, to cancer. She battled cancer for many, many years....and actually she defied alot of doctor's odds; and lived alot longer than any doctor ever thought she would!!
But that doesn't make this any easier!!!

She was tired.... she was hurting and her body was tired..... We were able to say everything we needed to say to each other (she told me she loved me every night that we talked on the phone)....nothing left unsaid. She knew how much I loved her; and I know how much she loved me!!
But selfishly, that doesn't make it easier!!!

Julie was the sweetest friend anyone could ask for. She had a very rough family upbringing/life (her parents were not good to her), so I think that made her a better friend, as all she longed for was to be loved and cared for!! Her and I spent every Wednesday and Friday together (my days off)... we would get our nails or hair done together, shop, go to lunch or just hang out and laugh.... geez, those days off will be so lonely now!!

Anyway, the past 2 weeks she had Hospice "Crisis Care" (not End of Life care) at her home to help stabilize her blood pressure.... one of the cancers she had was in the adrenal glands so that majorly affected her BP.... and over the past week I started hearing and seeing her get weaker and more "out of it".
While I was in Key West, I still called her everyday to check on her; and during one of our phone calls she said "I hope I can wait for you"..... I certainly didn't think then that I would have lost her now.

She did wait for me.... I got to see her briefly Wednesday morning.... we had a nice visit...talked and laughed and then she got sleepy...so I went home to let her rest. That evening I called her, but she was very incoherent... I could barely understand her. Thursday morning when I called, her husband said she was unresponsive and could not be woken..... what.... what do you mean.... No, it's not time yet!!!

After 2 days of "actively dying"..... where we all kept vigil over her as she struggled to breath..... she lost her battle early this morning.... she is now in Heaven...no longer suffering...no longer in pain....no longer hurting!!!
I love you and miss you, Honey.....

Julie and her husband, Tom


Julie and Angie

Me and Julie
All of us, at my B-day Party (she was so happy to be included in my family stuff....and I was so happy to have her there!!)

10 comments:

pan x 8 said...

WOW! I'm so sorry for your loss but so grateful you had so much to time to be with your beloved friend. Thank you for sharing such a tender moment...

Amy McMean said...

ahh Melissa I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I'm glad you were able to see her and share those last days together. I hope the memories of all the great times you had together will comfort you during this time.

Hair Bows & Guitar Picks said...

I am so sorry to hear about your friend.

Cancer SUCKS!!!

Carrin said...

What a great friend and great tribute. So sorry to hear about your loss.

LazyCrazyMama said...

How awful. So sorry to hear about the loss of your dear friend.
We lost my brother-in-law to cancer a little over a year ago. It was absolutely the worst and most difficult thing we ever went through.
So nice that you spent so much time with her, I'm sure that she really appreciated it and that it helped her out!

Diva Ma @ Mommy Fabulous said...

Ahh, Melissa, I'm so sorry about your friend. Reading posts like these make me so grateful for my dad's recovery from brain cancer, but so afraid of what the future holds. I HATE CANCER and what is does to people. The blessings come in the fact that you got to spend the last days with your friend. Thanks for sharing this.

Emily said...

ahhh cancer does suck! I hate it... it took my paw paws life and a good friend dad!! Boo! I will be praying for you my dear friend! im soo sorry for youor loss!! sending you hugs and love

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

I am SO sorry for the loss of your friend. I agree, cancer SUCKS.
xoxo

April said...

HUGS!!!!

Chris said...

My sympathies to you in this very tough time. Cancer bites!

This was a wonderful tribute to your dear friend.