Kim Stelly, Oct 28, 1954 - July 25, 2007

On Memorial Day of 2005, our neighbor and friend Kim had a seizure
while on vacation. An x-ray found a small mass in his brain. An MRI
confirmed that it was located in the left ventricle. In mid June a
biopsy confirmed that it was cancer. At the time, he was given 8 to
12 months, even with treatment. He choose surgery, followed by 18
weeks of chemo, then 7 weeks of radiation. The surgery didn't get the
whole tumor, however. He did a second round of chemo in January and
started a third round in mid June. In mid October an MRI found no
sign of the tumor and he was declared to be in remission. His oldest
daughter Sarah announced her engagement, with a date of November 10,
2007. On the 28th we had a big party. He went back to work in early
November.

In early April he had another siezure. An MRI showed that the tumor
had come back very aggressively. He started chemo again, but this
time it didn't seem to respond. In early June they went to MD
Anderson. Further labs showed that it had crossed the hemispheres and
was now pressing on the frontal lobe. Kim's faculties were failing,
he was having memory and cognitive lapses and almost no endurance. The
doctors said it was inoperable and untreatable. In July a
neurosurgeon from Johns Hopkins said he would look at the case as a
possible candidate for an experimental surgery. Kim and Fran said
they would only do it if it improved his quality of life. They went
in on July 16th and the doctor was afraid it might not work and wanted
to look at the work ups some more. That evening Sarah decided to get
married immediately. In 24 hours she got the photographer, who said
sure, the florist, who said she could do something, the priest and,
best of all, her dress was ready (her sister Monica, our dog/house
sitter) had picked it up on Friday. On Sunday the 22nd, with help
from his son Ben, Kim walked Sarah down the aisle. Monday MD Anderson
said there was nothing they could do. He was too weak to ride home
and had to be ambulanced. He died Wednesday afternoon, surrounded by
family and his two dogs. His funeral was Saturday, attended by around
200 people. I went to Mass for the first time since my father died.

Thursday was Fran's birthday. They had been married for 25 years.

It's kind of strange not seeing him working in the garden.
--
dillon

Broadway Photo sucks. Ask me why.
.