In Honour of Dad

Hi everyone.


As some of you may know, before Dad passed away I had decided to take part in the Leukaemia Foundation's "Worlds Greatest Shave" in 2011, to honour my father. Now, I know Dad didn't have leukaemia (blood cancer)- he had throat cancer- but as far as I am concerned, cancer is cancer. It scares people. It isolates people. It makes people feel like they're alone. I wanted to do this as a show of support, for Dad and every other cancer patient, to let them know that they're not alone. I thought that, for me, the best way to show my support would be to shave off my hair. So I went about trying raise some money; my target when I first signed up was $1500. I hit that, so I upped my target to $2000 just before the funeral. The day of the funeral, I received $1000 in donations. That brings me up to about $3000 in donations. I have to wait for a week or two until all of the money I've banked goes through before I get a final figure, but I'll let you all know when I know!

Anyway! On the 12th of March, I shaved all my hair off.
I went from this:

to this:

...and I've never been more proud of the people in my life. Thank you to everyone who donated, whether it was 5c or $5 or $50! It's so great that you got behind my family and I, and more importantly, it's so great that you supported such an amazing cause.

So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support.
Dad would be so proud of you all.

...And So Our Fight Has Ended

Hi everyone.

My wonderful, brave, amazing father, Barry Francis Lynch, lost his battle with cancer two days ago, on the 22nd of February, 2011 at approximately 8.00pm. He passed away peacefully at the hospice, and is now free from pain and suffering.

His funeral will be held on the 2nd of March, 2011. If you would like to come, please email me and I will send you the address and time.

As I am participating in the Worlds Greatest Shave in honour of Dad (even though he didn't have Leukaemia, I believe that cancer is cancer, where ever it is, and any research for Leukaemia could help find a cure for other cancers), if you would like to, please feel free to donate the money you would have spent on condolence cards and flowers to either my Worlds Greatest Shave page (to donate, click here) in your name or to the Cancer Council of Australia in memory of Dad.


I'd just like to thank everyone who has read this page for your support. You are all amazing people and I'm so honoured you've let me share my fathers journey with you. Please let Dad's battle be warning for everyone- think about what you are doing to your body when you smoke, and if something doesn't seem right, go see a doctor. It's better to be safe, healthy and feel a bit silly, than to be sorry you didn't go get checked out sooner.

Blah.

Hi guys.

We've really hit rock bottom.

On Friday the 11th, Dad had 4 bleeds over the course of the day. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, he had 2 bleeds each day. On Tuesday the 15th, he had one massive bleed. The tumour had also started putting pressure on the blood vessels and tissue around itself, and on Tuesday we watched a lump start off the size of a pea grow to about a 7cm lump in diametre, and about a good 3 or 4cm in height. We got told to watch it as it could break the skin and he could start bleeding from that too. Lo and behold, it broke the ski and bled, though they managed to stop it before it got too bad. He is now heavily sedated and on large doses of pain killers. He's not been fully conscious since about Sunday evening, and the last few days he's just been out of it.

The sad reality is that Dad will never wake up again. If he does, he'll have severe brain damage caused by anaemia (which in turn is caused by the bleeds). Mum and I are ok. We just want Dad to be out of pain- it's not wishing he'd die, because I honestly wish this wasn't happening at all... but it's so selfish to keep wishing he'd stay here with us even though he's in an insane and cruel amount of pain.

No Need For A Post Title

Hi guys.

So, we've had better weeks. On Wednesday Dad had a small bleed, but it stopped itself. Then yesterday, Mum sent Dad a text just before we left to go see him asking him if he wanted the newspaper. "No, but bring tissues, I'm having a bleed" was his response. We rushed down there only to find out he had had FOUR bleeds over the course of the day, from 6.00am to his last one at about 3.45pm. The hospice hadn't rung us at the request of Dad- he didn't want to worry us (needless to say, we almost throttled him when we found out!). Dad was not very well and the nurses had sedated him. We stayed with him all last night and he was fine- tired, sleepy and lethargic, of course, but technically fine.

Mum and I went to go home this morning to get another change of clothes and have a shower and such, and as I was driving down the highway we get a call- Dad had just had another (massive) bleed, so I did a u-ie and drove back (we got about 3/4 of the way home!). This one was bigger than all of yesterdays combined, and he is really not well now. He is sleeping and heavily sedated. I'm over saying it's not looking good, so I'm just going to say we're sitting and waiting to see what will happen. Dad's never had so many bleeds so close together, so we don't know what to expect.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling and incoherant, I don't function well on little sleep.

Five.

Hi all.

Dad had another bleed last night. He lost about a cup of blood and it stopped by itself.
He is ok, just tired and weak (as he always is after a bleed).

There's not much more to say, really, I've said it all before.

Bounce

Hi all.

Just a quick update- Dad's bounced back. Again. And again. And again. And again. And now he's back for another round! We got to the hospice at about lunchtime (since we called this morning and the hospice said to wait until later to come as he was sleeping) and there Dad is, sitting up on the edge of his bed cleaning his glasses. After staring at him for 30 seconds in disbelief, Mum and I both burst in to tears (of happiness, may I add)- it was such a shock, considering yesterday we were told to say goodbye (again).

So yeah! Dad is still very weak, and the "final outcome" has not changed, but for the time being at least Dad seems to be ok.

Fever... in the morning.

Hi everyone.

We've jumped back on the rollercoaster for another ride.
At 3am this morning Mum and I got a call from the hospice, telling us that Dad had a high temperature (though not as high as last time) and was having seizures and to get down there as fast as we could. We raced down there and Dad was not in a good way. He is very weak- moving his lips slightly to mouth words at us seems to drain him. Dad is aware of what has happened- he remembers before and after the seizure, he knows he had a seizure and he knows what the doctor asked him/told him.

The doctors seem to think his seizures are caused by the infection and fever, but they can't seem to find where the infection is (just like last time). They're treating him with broad-spectrum antibiotics, but this is purely for his comfort- they're not giving them to him to prolong his life. We got told by the doctors today that this is "the beginning of the end", so to speak. Dad is a very unwell man, and he is in a hell of a lot of pain.

If you want to pray for Dad, don't pray for a miracle- pray that he is not in any pain, because a miracle ain't going to help us any now.