Dana & Greg Before They Met One Another

Let me first tell you about me and how my life started early on as a wife. Not once but twice.

From a town of Greenwood,SC

Many years ago I went through the loss of a daughter at birth.  Dawn Elizabeth received her Angel wings on September 30th, 1983 before we even got to hear her first Cry or see her first smile.  What happen?

We do not know, even science could not figure it out.  As a young couple with a son and then the loss of our daughter we were very concern could I have any more children?   After a year I was really starting to wonder, but it happen I was pregnant.

Scared to death and excited at the same time wondering would I go another 9 months and would the past repeat itself.   Fortunately April 24th, 1985 came, our second child, was a boy. Our world was complete now with 2 healthy boys.

Then in 1986 my husband became very ill around the Holidays we thought he had the flu no big deal just trying to keep the rest of us from getting sick. Holidays past and he got to feeling better but not himself 100% because he was having a nagging headache that just would not stop even with medications.

Doctor told him it was STRESS due to years of what had happen in the past and possible working too much.   Okay we said yeah he probably is right.  So we continued to treat with over the counter and medication he could take during the day that would not make him drowsy at work.

Then in February our world was rocked again. Test were done and it showed a spot on the brain.  See back in 1986 there was no MRI only CAT scan and it only could show on the image something was there that should not have been on the front lob.

So here we go making Dr. Appointments out of town 2 hours away both of us missing time from work and scared to DEATH! Diagnose was given after a biopsy that there was a tumor we needed to schedule surgery to see if it is malignant.   Surgery took place and results came in as benign.

Happy dance we were crying and rejoicing in what God had given us and that was results we knew could be treated with chemo. Things going great other than my husband could not work but he wanted to do volunteer work at the local hospital I worked at during the week.

Dr. accepted it because he was not having any complications yet! Six weeks later time to get a review of chemo results and it was not good the tumor had not decreased as they were hoping. So off we go to see the out of town Dr.

After studying the results he suggest we go to DUKE University and that he should stop volunteering even though he looks fine on the outside but the inside was not. He could not only be at risk to himself but to others.

Again our world was rocked. 

We made it to Duke University 2 weeks later for review and that’s when we really had our world rocked.  We were just hoping that there would be a drug that could cure this demon in my husband’s head, but there wasn’t.

The review showed that he had a glioma tumor that occurs in the brain and spinal cord. His was located in the frontal lobe the main vessels that controlled your movements and thinking process were involved. So there was no surgery or drug that could cure it. There was a high intense drug treatment to take the swelling off the brain but we would just have to take it day by day.

WOW now that was a BIG ROCK that just hit us both head on in the face. Treatment started immediately at Duke University and we traveled every 4 weeks to see the Dr. After a few trips we requested that this treatment be done locally and the matters got worked out but we still had to report to Duke every 6 weeks instead of 4 weeks.

We agreed and as time carried on I noticed something just was not right and so another test was done and the tumor had grown so the treatment drug was not controlling the tumor as they were hoping it would do.

Decisions were about to get really tougher now. What are we to do?

Well before the decision could be discuss my husband had a seizure and 2 weeks later the Cancer took his life at home.

My world again was rocked.  Left at a young age to raise 2 boys the age of 7 and 3.  How can this be I lost my daughter as she entered the world with no cry and now my husband to cancer!

Why me?

Well till this day I’m still not sure why me but one thing I am sure about! During all this God was with us we never lost our hope for a better tomorrow.

Greg tells his story

Our next podcast

Hope For Tomorrow Episode 002