So here is the thing. I don't want to put this stuff on my facebook. He's on my facebook and for as long as he is alive the stories belong to him. Once they are mine completely, maybe.
These are the chronicles of my brother Gary. As we speak Gary is 43 years old. He will never be older than that. Gary and I don't share blood. He is half brother to my sister. They have the same dad. My sister, Kristy is my half sister. We have the same mom. Still, I love him. That's that.
March of 2020 brought a diagnosis of Stage 4 Colon Cancer. It had already metastasized to his liver. His oncologist ( I refer to him as my boyfriend, you'll find out) told him there was no getting out of it. Turns out there was a half of a flipped switch from his mom and half a flipped switch from dad that made this cancer absolutely unavoidable. At some point it was just going to be there. Down the line we discover that his doc and others had been prompting him to go to the doc over some symptoms and he didn't. Times years. So no surprise it was already in his liver.
Sharing a dad made it important for my sister to get checked out before she could turn 40. She's fine, thank the stars, but she will be vigilant.
Gary said from the start he wanted to travel and for all of us to go with him so he could spend time with us. The following trips happened:
April 2021 - Gaitlinburg, TN. Whole family, the whole mess of us. Dad, Kristy and my BIL John, Gary and my SIL Megan, me and all the dogs. Gary & Megan's Lola and Atlas. My Noodle. Good times for sure.
September 2021 - Jekyll Island, GA. Just the two of us. It was a great trip. We laughed and ate good food and drank good drinks.
Now we are at June 2022 and we are in Pensacola Beach, FL. Me, Kristy, Gary & Megan. He is perched on the absolute edge of death. We are just waiting for it and trying to get his final bucket list items in. I don't think he really wanted to go to the beach. He doesn't like the beach. He does like restaurants and bars and shops and the whole thing. We have been here for 3.5 days and he has walked downstairs twice and been on the patio maybe 2 times at most. He has been on the couch 20 out of 24 hours of every day. Sleeping for much of it.
He has a 43 year old heart and lungs that aren't sure what they need to do, but they are pretty convinced it is not time to die. So is he. Still. He's coming around to it and knows where he is. He doesn't like it. That makes all of us.
We put him on hospice and promptly left for the beach. That was a rough day. He could have had hospice WAY before this but he has an oncologist (I struggle to respect this breed) who doesn't understand the regulations and how they could have coexisted. Also not willing to learn.
This is the back story on the Gary Chronicles. More to follow.....
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