Count Your Blessings

Good Morning Shipmates!,

Before the 3-day holiday weekend, wanted to blog a story from yesterday....it was a pretty emotional day around this house, from here in Virginia, and all the way back home to my family in Chicago. Sitting back at the end of the day had my wife and I counting an enormous amount of blessings.

I had a full-body PET Scan yesterday to see how all the melanoma cancer is doing in my liver and brain, and the results were not good....but, as always, Demetria and I took it all in, talked in detail about the next steps, and hugged & hugged. More on that later....as it all changed from one phone call an hour later.

My wonderfully fun, hard-working older cousin back in Chicago, Bobby, had passed away yesterday morning from something we only heard about, in detail, 5 days prior. Bobby died of esophagal (throat) cancer. It was incurable, but treatable, just like mine.

We only heard Bobby was ill this past December, but had no details. He was doing well. Then, last Monday, one of my other cousins, Bobby's sister, emailed to tell us about his medical situation and that he had his first round of chemotherapy scheduled for 19 February at the Vet Hospital in Chicago -- Bobby was a U.S. Army veteran from the Vietnam War.

Suddenly, on Tuesday, he had a temperature well over 100 degrees and a staph infection and went to the hospital. The doctors could not control the high temp and his body gave up yesterday morning. I did not get a chance to talk with him and that hit me hard.

This family will forever miss this wonderful man who worked hard to take care of his family, and was always at every family function. And our Polish family functions are not small!

But as we discussed it, Bobby only lived 2 1/2 months after diagnosis of his cancer. I have been extremely lucky to be in my 17th month. Count your blessings, shipmates.

As for me....the most important thing right now is my cousin and the family pulling together back home in Chicago. I wish I could have talked with him and shared with him my experiences, if it could have helped. I remember the first 3 months after my diagnosis and it was overwhelming, at first. Demetria and I thought we could help and support. But Bobby is needed elsewhere.

So, in Memoriam for a U.S. Army Veteran: Our thoughts are with you -- Robert (Bobby) Zwierzynski, Romeville, ILL, Died: 15 February, 2008. My cousin. Bobby was 54.

SKCS Charles Zwierzynski