Henry Cecil, 10/8/66 - 1/26/20
Henry was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in July of 2017. He was determined to live his day to day life as if he didn’t have a terminal diagnosis. He didn’t have a bucket list. He was happy to go to a job he loved, spend time with his friends and family, work on projects around the house and yell at the tv when his beloved Saints got a bad call. Until the end he laughed a lot, encouraged the people he loved who were scared to lose him and continued to face the disease head on.
Today his body stopped, but the way he chose to face cancer hasn’t. He was open about his diagnosis and endlessly advocated for screening. At least three people caught their cancer early because of his efforts.
In lieu of flowers, please consider giving to PALTOWN, an organization that helped us tremendously during this journey. We both spent many, many hours speaking with others in COLONTOWN, PALTOWN’s online community of empowered patients, caregivers, doctors and scientists. We learned where to go for cutting edge treatment, how to manage chemo side effects, how to navigate the world of clinical trials and always had a ready ear when we just needed to vent.
Any amount starting at $1 is truly helpful to support this valuable organization, but if you need inspiration to determine an amount to give, here are some numbers based on Henry’s cancer stats for you to consider:
- 5 radiation treatments Henry received
- 10 surgeries/invasive procedures he endured
- 25 years he served his country in the USAF
- 57 rounds of chemo he completed
- 75 MRIs since diagnosis
- 114 days he worked while simultaneously receiving a portable chemo infusion
- 188 miles traveled (one way) for chemo every two weeks at Mayo Clinic
- 365 days per year that I will miss him
- 914 days that he lived after diagnosis