by Lori
My father, Phil Hahn, was diagnosed with a
glioblastoma brain tumor on October 24, 2010 at the otherwise healthy
age of 64. He lost his heroic battle on March 16, 2011, and we miss him
terribly.
Mom and Dad were out dancing on the dance floor at our
cousin's wedding October 1, 2010. In fact, they were one of the only
ones left dancing when they asked for couples married 40 years or more
to go up on the dance floor! They looked incredible. However, it was
just 3 weeks later we found out about my father's diagnosis due to some strange
symptoms he was experiencing. Things changed in an instant. That instant
was when we saw the scan of a golf-ball sized tumor above his right
ear.
Our lives have been completely altered and, unfortunately, we
aren't alone. I was reminded of that when we walked on April 30th for
the GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME national kick-off event. I was so proud
and excited to have raised over $1800 in 10 days for the Phil Hahn Team!
I found out about the walk sort of late in the game, but was happy to
get involved the moment I heard about it. It was emotionally very
difficult to do, and I found myself crying a bit during the day, but we
are so glad we did it. We want to walk again next year and become a part
of this national Movement to raise awareness
about brain tumors.
I met so many amazing people during the
walk. They had such amazing stories to share. Their stories helped
strengthen the reason why we were there and our purpose for walking and
fighting this dreadful disease. At the walk, I met Chris who has
incredible guitar and gospel music to share (did I forgot to mention he
has had 2 brain tumors?). He said he would have never met his future
wife to be if it weren't for his brain tumors. I also met Caity who
created cookbooks to sell at the walk. She was just gorgeous and at 24
years old. She told me how difficult it was in that people didn't
understand why her face looked different, etc. I understood her pain and
knew exactly what she was talking about. She looked as if she was
comfortable in talking with me too, because I understood.
While
dealing with my father's devastating illness and trying to cope, I began
to journal on the caringbridge.org site so that others that live
out-of-state could easily get updates on my father's status because his
condition was changing every day. My caringbridge posts turned into a
personal story about my father for the grandchildren so that they could
remember his journey through my eyes. I was amazed and surprised by how
many friends and relatives responded to my site and told me I had a gift
to write. They encouraged me to continue writing or blogging. With my friend
Angie's strong suggestion that I continue to blog, she created a
website for me to use as a tool to continue my writing. I took her
suggestion and continue to blog at the new site about coping with grief
and other issues. Now I am trying to become a part of a national
movement to help fight brain tumors and make a difference.
