It has definitely been quite a while since I have written anything about me or what has been going on, so I've decided to try to start doing this a bit more regularly, and also I feel I owe it to myself to get things off of my mind in some fashion or another.

As some of you may or may not know, my father passed away on December 15th, 2008 from a six month battle with cancer [choriocarcinoma to be exact]. This has been a very hard hit to me as well as my family, as it all happened very fast. For anyone who is looking, quick research of choriocarcinoma will show that this form of cancer is in fact, very sensitive to chemotherapy (the cure rate is generally around 90-95%).

This was incredibly enlightening to us as we were very hopeful that he will get through the treatments without a hitch. We knew the treatments would get exponentially rough, but we also knew it would be an essential price to pay for a complete cure. Unfortunately, choriocarcenoma is also known for catalyzing metastases, or the rapid spread of a disease from one organ to another. Right after his last treatment, the remaining bit of cancer metastasized to his brain, causing seizures and a 'coma-like' state until he finally passed 4 days after the cancer metastasized to his brain.

From what we were told by the wonderful nurses, doctors, and our friend and Oncologist Dr. Z at the Martha Jefferson Charlottesville Hospital, during the 'coma-like' state he could hear us and listen to us, but just could not respond. He finally passed in my mothers arms peacefully on the morning of the 15th, and without any pain.

It has taken this long just to even write anything about it, let alone feel any semblance of normality in my life, and at times it fees like it will never get better. However I have a good group of people here on dA and close friends that have done all they can to support me as well as my family through this, and for that I cannot thank you all enough. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, I would not know where I would be right now in my life if it weren't for you all.

On a lighter note, I just re bought a subscription for myself AND set up my premium portfolio, viewable at [link]

CURRENT LOVE AFFAIRS
*prismes
=SimonSawSunlight
~grif04
~cyrage