Chiefs Saying "Goodbye" to my old man - Page 2

My dad passed away this week. He was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer earlier this year, and had been going through chemo.

I think the family had been lulled a little into a false sense of security, of time, because he had been tolerating the chemo so well. The doctors had found a concoction they thought his heart and liver (the two most vulnerable organs he had) could work through.

I don't know if it was complications from the chemo, but his heart gave out earlier this week.

Now, I'm not writing this as a look-at-me or cry for sympathy. I'm doing this because when I think about my dad, I think about the Chiefs, and watching games with him. He's the reason I care so much. There's another reason, too, but I'll talk about it at the end.

I am so, so thankful my dad and I got to see the past five years of the Chiefs together. That he got to see them get back to the top of the mountain this year.

He was always a more even-keel, optimistic fan than me. He endured the succession of washed up QBs with eternal optimism and belief that they could turn it around in KC, just like Lenny did.

I used to sarcastically thank him for raising me as a Royals/Chiefs/Mizzou fan, but damn if that didn't make 2014, 2015, and 2018-now all the sweeter. Now I thank him in earnest.

I'm so thankful he got to see that run end (and return the good-natured digs to his fraternity brother from Colorado, who never stopped reminding Dad about the 1983 draft).

We'll put him to rest tomorrow. Going to be a hard day, no doubt about it. But I'm confident that when I watch the Chiefs, it's going to bring the good things out. When I talk about them on here, it's going to bring the good things out.

Now, that other thing I mentioned at the top; if you're wondering if there's anything you can do, what I'd really like is for you to commit to taking care of yourselves. Go to the doctor. And please, please, please get your colonoscopies. My dad's cancer started as colon cancer before spreading. He never had a colonoscopy, and I can't help but think if he just HAD, he'd still be here. We would have caught it early enough and stopped it.

And I wouldn't be standing in his place at my sister's wedding next spring. I wouldn't be giving the speech, I'd be helping him write it.

If you've read all of this, thanks for letting me ramble. Sometimes, getting the words out is the best thing for this.

Go to your check-ups. Get the colonoscopy.
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My mother-in-law was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in January of 2017. By September she was gone. Despite knowing the odds against her long term survival, initially they had her on a treatment that really seemed to be effective, and I was frankly amazed by how well she was doing. Don't recall the specific details, but eventually her body just stopped responding to treatment, and then she started getting a build up of fluid in her lungs that they had to drain. After enduring that twice, she said no more. They stopped the treatment and put her in hospice, and she was dead a day later. It was awful, but at least she didn't suffer horribly for very long.

The really weird thing was how quickly the tumor popped up and grew. She had already survived breast cancer and had screenings regularly. The last one she had was in October of 2016, and she was cancer free. She was in her late 70s, active and the picture of health; hell, I always figured she'd outlive all of us; her mom died at the age of 97. The goddamn thing went from nothing to massive and fatal inside of three months. I guess sometimes when your number's up, it's just up.

Anyway, sorry about your dad. Be happy that you had such a good one for as long as you did.
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