I lost my father in September of 2018 to small cell stage 4 lung cancer. He was a non-smoker and had never smoked in his life. It's rare, but doesn't have to be smoking related. He was diagnosed in February of 2018 and 7 months later he was gone. He'd been the picture of health and regular doctor visits to that point and the only reason he even approached his doctor was because of abdominal bloating. He chose the chemo path and had very positive results after his first round. We really felt like we had it beat until we got results after the next round of chemo and found the tumors had continued to spread. I think that took the wind out of him and it spiraled down hill after that quickly. He had a mild heart attack next that he didn't even know about and then a failing gallbladder put him in the ER. He never left the hospital after that. He tried hard to beat it so he could see my son and his only grandson graduate from high school, but the cancer just didn't want to give it up. I lost him on September 11th of all days as if that date wasn't crap enough. He was only 71 and had no preexisting health concerns. In the end I don't know if the chemo really helped or possibly made him weaker and brought on the end faster, but I don't think there's a right or wrong answer there. I'd lost a my grandmother to breast cancer and it was tough, but losing my father was a whole different ball game and continues to be a daily struggle as I'm sure it is with a sibling. I tell young people to have more than one kid all the time. I'm an only child and would have killed to have had someone else to help me through the experience.
