Saturday, January 31, 2009

Dear Physicians, Please Won't You Share?


Allow me to somewhat knowingly decipher this article below for you...

In a nutshell, not every physician is a good sharer.  Meaning that, unfortunately, some Moms slacked off and never taught the important "sharing virtue" to their children and some of those children grew up and became doctors.

Current awareness of "end of life care" including hospice, palliative care, supportive care, etc. should FOREMOST be the personal responsibility of EVERY PHYSICIAN to inform EVERY ONE of their patients of and with.  

Patients go to physicians that they trust with their VERY LIVES, thus if there is any information that may even somewhat be beneficial to any patient (regardless of the physicians own personal opinions and experiences) their physician OWES IT TO THEIR PATIENTS LIVES to clearly share these resources!

Countless people, organizations, political groups, advocates, etc. and so on STRUGGLE to come up with additional ways to get End of Life and Palliative Care information to each and every patient, exceedingly high amounts of money and resources are used and spent in order to do so.

Why are all of these efforts to spread End of Life and Palliative Care Awareness necessary to begin with?!!

It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, relaying this information should not be difficult!  All each physician needs to do is personally and notedly hand one of those fliers/books/dvds/resources that they are constantly gifted with to their patients!  That's it!  

Do we really need to pass a law requiring physicians to "share"?


End-of-life care differs by race: study

January 30, 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The way that older adults with advanced cancer live out their last days seems to vary based on race, a US study suggests.

But the reasons for the discrepancies remain unclear, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Alexander K. Smith of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

"Improved understanding," they write, "will hopefully lead to interventions that improve end-of-life care for all patients with advanced cancer."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, January 2009.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Cherishing the Now, Begging for More


This is the letter that I wrote to my Dad very early on New Years Day, 2009...11 days prior to his, PapAmores', death...

You gathered us around you this night, the last one of this year. All these anxious faces, all these pleading eyes, looking up to you, like we always do, drinking in your presence even more than we did before.

We're scared, we try to hide it, but it really shows, I'm afraid we're not doing that great a job...well, okay...I am, I'm the one aimless and lost, incredibly scared, terrified, devastated, crushed...pretty much praying for the end of the world.

Papa, my Daddy, you love without end, you're the rock, the beacon of light, the fixer, the healer, the widsom, the strength, you're rational and wise and smart as the universe, yet funny and silly, you're cool Papa, why...you're Papamore!

And I still run home to you...and now my girls do too, so you see...well, maybe that's the problem? Is it because He wants us to only run to Him?

And if that's true, and I'm sorry I don't think it is, but if it is, then that is just really stupid! Why, if God would be that freaking mean, well then, then it wouldn't be Him. Because the God I know, the God you've shown us in everything you do, He knew we needed someone very special to be able to run to, He knew no one else could ever do, but you.

So, when we run to you, He smiles, because He sees how very much more we love Him, through you...

Anna stayed up to watch the ball drop, "it's a brand new year" she said, then she smiled and told me that she was thinking, God has a ton of stuff to remember, so she understands that He might have forgotten that Papa needs to get better because, with all that He has going on, maybe she just needs to remind Him more that she really needs her real Daddy around for a really long time, her real Daddy, her Papa.

"And God listens to our prayers, He really does," she peacefully told me with a smile...

Of course, she's right...she's Papa's little mustard seed.

We love you, with all our hearts...and then some...

And we are okay, we're okay! I promise...xoxoxoxo


Potential effective treatment of refractory and relapsed AML

Chemotherapy for Relapsed AML: Making the Best Out of a Bad Situation

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with recurrent adult acute myeloid leukemia.


Pulmonary leukostasis in hyperleukocytotic AML is an oncologic emergency demanding rapid intervention. The combined treatment with chemotherapy and radiation appears useful.

Effective treatment of refractory and relapsed AML with the triple combination of mitoxantrone, topotecan and cytosin-arabinoside (MTC)

Patients (pts) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and mutant RAS benefit from high-dose cytarabine (HDAC) intensification: a Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) study

Studies of Voreloxin in AML  "We are extremely pleased by these interim results for both of our AML studies."



LOR-2040...including an advanced Phase II clinical trial with LOR-2040 and high dose Ara-C (HiDAC) in refractory and relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Uplifting Reply from Congressman Pete Hoekstra

Dear Ms. Huizenga-Lubbers:

 

Thank you for contacting me about palliative care.  I am sorry to hear of your father's passing and am disheartened to learn of the difficulties that you have experienced.

 

I appreciate hearing of your support for palliative care.  President Obama has prioritized health care reform in the early days of his administration.  I look forward to the debate over ensuring that patients have access to the types of care that they need.

 

Please know that I will remain mindful of your support for the expanded use of palliative care as Congress continues to deliberate over the matter.  I hope Congress and our new president will work in spirit of bipartisanship in developing solutions to such an important issue.

 

Again, thank you for sharing your views with me.

 


Sincerely,

Pete Hoekstra
Member of Congress

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

We Lost our Haven in the Middle of the Storm


Who will protect us now?

Who will provide shelter from the elements outside?

Where will we run to now?

What will bring us refuge?

We are so exposed...out here...in the rain...in the cold...in the sleet, hail and lightening...

We've lost our protection...the very essence of our being has been ripped from our souls...

There is a violent storm around us, it's destructive power is increasing...but, we have no where to run to...no haven in which to abide...

For You, our Forever Safe Place...have died

And it's so hard to look up, when your face is being smashed into the ground.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Don't You Know That My Papa Died?!

Oh, your precious and wise, Annabella...she misses you so much, Papa.  You knew her best of all, what was really going on in that brilliant little mind of hers, how much she really hurt when she said it was all okay.  She was able to easily cry with you, open up her amazing heart fully in the safety of your love.

And, it's hard to understand for a billion different reasons, why you're no longer here, whatever good could come from a plan that takes you from us?  

A plan, this now, the present, in which Anna is simultaneously forced to endure a recent single parent family/broken home while at the same time having her most sacred one, You, ripped from her life...I'm afraid I'll never make sense of that why.

So today, because I had to, today...because the entire world just keeps moving on, I had to go meet with my divorce attorney.  It's ugly on top of ugly...a cruel reminder of the constantly painful past and frequently tormented presence.  

My heart breaks to witness the additional pain this "extra" devastation further saddens those I most hold dear.

And Papa, my sweet Papa...I know that meeting with my attorney was on your "short list" that you ever so faithfully were determined to yet do...but, there wasn't enough time and I did not work very hard to make it happen that last week.  How could I?  Schedule your time to include something as ugly as this for your last moments on earth?  

I'm sorry, Papa...I couldn't...

But, Brett went with me today, I had told him he really didn't need to, however I am SO glad he did!  You would be so proud of him, Papa...he's the best big brother ever, he's even becoming a lot like you...which is very good!  ;)

It is overwhelming...we love you so much that...it's difficult to be around those unaffected by your death sometimes.  

Especially devastating to clearly know and see that the one you daily prayed for and loved, the one that I brought into your life...honestly doesn't give a damn, at all...

Anna was very upset with some boys at school yesterday, they had thrown a snowball at her and in response she had whipped right around and nearly screamed at them...

"How could you do that to me?!  Don't you know that my Papa died?!"

At that moment, I knew exactly how she felt...yet ever so helplessly, all I could do was just hug her ever so tightly and say, "I know, Papa's pizon, I know...it just doesn't make any sense at all."


Sunday, January 25, 2009

Sigh a thousand sighs


"In a way I think you're lucky, it's so hard here."

My words to PapAmore as he stood at the brink of death...

Lucky to be TRULY living...Lucky to have no more tears...Lucky to know the essence of peace...Lucky to have no more fear...Lucky to know Jesus...Lucky to commune with God...Lucky to be in heaven...Lucky to not fear hell...

Lucky to feel this pain...Lucky to have our hearts shattered...Lucky to have your memory...Lucky to have been taught what only and truly matters...

Lucky to recognize the scent of your cologne...Lucky to know we're never truly alone...Lucky to be loved without measure...Lucky to feel true grace...the Grace from Him alone...

Lucky to cry...Lucky to mourn...Lucky to question...Lucky to have our very souls ache...ever since you've been gone.

Lucky to have had you at all...Lucky to join you above soon...

In just one blink of an eye we'll all be together forever...

Lucky to run to you above someday...

Lucky, most lucky...to have had been and be yours...

Lucky to have had you all...

Lucky

Because of you...

The most luckiest lucky of all...

No Regrets, God's Plan

PIANO DI AMORE - PAPA PRESENT DAY

It arrived yesterday, in the afternoon...our surprise gift from you, our PapAmore.

The delivery truck came, just as you had scheduled and previously planned, to our house.

We are overwhelmed, remarkably not surprised, but definitely overwhelmed.  

Overwhelmed by the greatness and significance, not surprised because remarkably so, it's so you...so lovingly you...that's what we knew, what we'll always have within us, the forever gift of being loved by you...

You ordered a piano for us, before you died...it's something we've always dreamed of, have been saving for years to have, never imagined that we would soon actually have as our own.  

But in your final hours, you made this dream come true.

We are forever loved because once we were loved by you.

Yesterday you gave us the gift of our dreams, tomorrow we're going to get the sheet music for "That's Amore" and sing it forever for you...

We love you, Papa

Thank You

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Arend 'Odee''s Update by Wanda Lenderink


THE WORD FOR TODAY...."I AM STILL ALIVE....NOW, YOU KEEP LIVING! "

Posted 2 days ago

AS THE MANY CLOCKS IN OUR HOUSE ,THE CLOCKS THAT ODEE SO FAITHFULLY KEPT WORKING...TICKED AWAY REACHING FOR A NEW YEAR...OUR LOVING ODEE GATHERED US AROUND HIM...THE EYES OF EACH ONE OF US INTENSILY FOCUSED ON THE MAN WE LOVED...OUR HEARTS WERE SO TRANSPARENT ...OF THE NEED FOR MORE TIME..

AS THE TICKING CONTINUED ...WITH COMPASSION ODEE ACKNOWLEDGED THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF NO REMISSION....LESS TIME HE REMINDED US ...WE STILL HAVE HOPE...HOPE FOR A MIRACLE...OUR TIME WAS IN OUR LORDS HANDS ...THE LEUKEMIA WAS NOT THE KEEPER OF THE CLOCKS...HE TOLD US OF HIS LOVE FOR US...HIS NEED FOR MORE TIME WITH US.....THANKING US FOR OUR LOVE...

AS THE TICKING CONTINUED ..HIS VOICE BETRAYED THE SURRENDER OF HIS HEART..."BUT IF GODS SAYS... "IT IS TIME"..THEN I ,MUST LEAVE...I WILL ALWAYS BE IN YOUR HEART...DON'T THINK FOR ONE MINUTE THAT I WILL LEAVE YOU...IN FACT ,I WILL HAVE A BETTER PERSPECTIVE AND I WILL BE RELENTLESS...I WILL NEVER STOP BUGGING YOU ...BECAUSE I WANT TO SEE YOU ALL IN HEAVEN SOMEDAY...I KNOW YOU WILL BE SAD AND THERE WILL BE TEARS..BUT YOU MUST NOT LIVE THAT WAY...LOOK, I'M STILL ALIVE SO YOU MUST KEEP ON LIVING...AND OUR TEARS FLOWED AS THE SECONDS TICKED ON...AND AS ONLY THE MAN WE LOVED COULD DO ..HE POINTED HIS FINGER AT ALL OF US ..."ALRIGHT NOW, NO MORE CRYING"...

AS TIME TICKED ON...A NEW YEAR..WE SPENT OUR TIME ..LOOKING FOR MORE HOPE..WATCHING THE LEUKEMIA INVADE..DESPERATE FOR MORE TIME ..BEGGING GOD ..REMINDING HIM OF YOU PRECIOUS PEOPLE PRAYING ...PRAYING WHEN OUR HEARTS WERE SO WEARY..AS WE MET WITH THE DOCTOR ..WE ASKED HOW MUCH TIME ?..."WEEKS TO SIX MONTHS"...OUR HEARTS ONLY HEARD SIX MONTHS ..MAYBE TIME FOR A NEW TREATMENT ..

THE LAST THREE DAYS...MORE FAMILY CAME JUST WANTING TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR DAD AND GRANDPA...SISTERS AND BROTHERS CAME ..SOME STILL COMING..AS THE HOURS AND MINUTES TICKED ON...NEW HOPE CAME ...AN APPOINTMENT WITH A RESEARCH SPECIALIST IN CHICAGO ...EVEN A JET MADE AVAILABLE TO FLY HIM DOWN THERE...

AS TIME TICKED ON ..AND IT WAS JUST HIM AND ME...CLOSE TO EACH OTHER ..WE BORE OUR SOULS WE TALKED OF THE MIRACLE THAT GOD HAD PLACED US TOGETHER...WE TALKED OF OUR LOVE...WE WERE SO THANKFUL..BUT ..PLEASE LORD MORE!!!! WE TRIED TO TALK OF THE "IF'S" ...BUT IT WAS SO PAINFUL....WE WOULD FIND OURSELVES STARING AT EACH OTHER ..AS IF IT MIGHT BE OUR LAST LOOK..

NEVER KNOWING THAT AS THE CLOCKS TICKED ON ..ALL OF HEAVEN WAS PREPARING FOR THAT MOMENT...TO US IT CAME AS SURPRISED ...WE THOUGHT WE STILL HAD MORE TIME ....MAYBE HOPE...BUT AS WE GATHERED AROUND HIS BED...HIS BREATHING SO DIFFICULT HIS EYES A PICTURE OF HIS SOUL ...I REMEMBERED HIS WORDS...IF THE TIME COMES ..."YOU HAVE TO BE READY TO LET ME GO "...I BEGGED HIM TO UNDERSTAND...HOW COULD I DO THAT??....LOVINGLY, HE TOLD ME WHEN THAT TIME COMES ...HE WOULD LET ME KNOW...AND ON THAT DAY AS TIME STOOD STILL...HIS EYES TOLD ME IT WAS TIME ..MY LOVE LET HIM GO ... AND THROUGH OUR TEARS ..WE REMEMBERED HIS WORDS ...I'M STILL ALIVE....[IN HEAVEN]...SO KEEP ON LIVING...

PRAY FOR US .....WE KNOW OUR LORD WILL BE WITH US....AND WILL MEND OUR BROKEN HEARTS...BUT ...HOW WE MISS THE MAN WE LOVED....AND THE CLOCKS KEEP ON TICKING ...EVEN THOUGH OUR WORLD HAS STOPPED ...

Thursday, January 22, 2009

It's all worth it to have had him at all.

Reflecting upon the movie Shadowlands, the words of C.S. Lewis...

In a strange way, I see now how the suffering of all of us who mourn the loss of our PapAmore, Arend 'Odee' Lenderink, is a part of the blessing.

I imagine that not many are "blessed" enough to feel this kind of anguish...not everyone has been able to experience this great amount of love on earth.

The degree to which our hearts currently shatter is a direct result of the enormous amount of love they held for and were given by this sacred man we knew.  

I wouldn't give up all of my pain of today for even one yesterday without him.  

It's all worth it to have had him at all.

We can’t have the happiness of yesterday without the pain of today. That’s the deal.


The Price of Love

shadowlands-directed-by-richard-attenborough-1993

We can’t have the happiness of yesterday without the pain of today. That’s the deal.
- Shadowlands 1993

Shadowlands, the 1993 film portraying the love story between the English writer, CS Lewis, and the American poet Joy Davidman Gresham.Within our story, Shadowlands comes at the end of the beginning, and at the beginning of the end. But as one dark day is closing, so a different dawn awaits.

Why love, if losing hurts so much?


I have no answers any more: only the life I have lived.

I'm sorry that I'm feeling sorry for us...


How do I stop fighting for you when you're all I want back?  

How do I "let go" of our lifeline?  

How do I not search for the only one who always had the answers?  

I just want to climb in your lap.

I just want for it all to go away.

This morning your little Anna told me, not long after she had awoken...
"Mama, this is just so ridiculous!  I can't believe my Papa died!  I keep thinking it must be a dream...but, it's not...and sometimes, I don't like it when you wake me up now, Mama...'cause then I know it's real, that my Papa really did die."

I'm sorry, that we miss you so much, Papa...

I'm sorry that I don't actually feel God "carrying us" most all of the time now, like most likely I should...

I'm sorry I "fought" for you perhaps too long...

I'm sorry that I'm feeling sorry for us...

We miss you and you're gone...

It's so hard to believe that you're gone...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Potential Good News for some AML Patients


Don’t let age bar you from having a blood stem cell transplant

by MARIJKE on December 9th, 2008

According to a press release issued by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Older Age Doesn’t Affect Survival after Bone Marrow Transplant, if you’re over 65 years old and you have acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), you could do just as well as younger patients who receive the transplant.

In a new study, researchers looked at 551 patients who had transplants for MDS and 565 for AML. They found that age had no statistically significant impact on transplant-related mortality, relapse, leukemia-free survival or overall survival.

Time From Diagnosis to Treatment Initiation Predicts Survival in Younger, but Not Older, Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients

Blood. 2009 Jan 1;113(1):28-36, MA Sekeres , P Elson, ME Kalaycio, AS Advani, EA Copelan, S Faderl, HM Kantarjian, E Estey

An extract out of grape kernels can bring about leukemia cells to kill themselves.

Americans have chosen HOPE over fear

In light of America, our Freedom, Gratitude, Hope and a Cure for Cancer, HERE as of Today is a Bill we best Support.

It's Hard to Live without Hope


It was Tuesday evening, January 6th, 2009

My own little girls were on a scheduled visit with their father for a few hours and I was at my parents along with my sister eating tacos, all four of us together, at their "breakfast" table.

My Dad was feeling good, he was already on his second taco, I was filming him telling some of his favorite memories and his eyes were dancing in response to the joy he had for life, for us, for the memories he was sharing, for the time we were presently having...

The "C-word" was still looming, but the hope we had discovered that day had lifted enough for us to be able to breathe again a bit...it felt so good to have even just a glimmer of hope again...we could smile now, even laugh, really enjoy each other's presence.

Ironically hope actually had been found online, frantic googling for a glimmer of it was ultimately successful!   For just hours earlier I had stumbled upon this term we'd all never heard of before called Palliative Care.  

As it turned out, platelets were NOT THE ONLY thing that could be done for my Dad!  There were other options, clearer directions, definite comfort for his pain, even potential treatments available for the man who supposedly had none.  

Palliative Care had given us some hope back that day, the mere knowledge of it alone provided such an immeasurable gift of healing to our pain laden hopeless hearts.

My Dad died five days later, but those all too brief moments of hope, I will always cherish.  

I carry them in my heart today and even now, just over a week since he moved to Heaven, they are somewhat able to soothe the intense pain of losing him.  

If I could live forever in only one moment, it was that one...the moment we found hope again...it's so hard to live without hope...

Please contact your local elected officials today and urge them to increase Palliative Care Awareness via the most effective manner possible.

If You Don't Respect Life, How Are You Able To Save It?

God created life so that it would be cherished, respected and treated with divine care.

Would you feel comfortable going to a Physician who purposely withheld VITAL resources regarding your LIFE?

If you work in the Medical Field and have a patient lying in bed, shivering from cold temperatures, would you put a blanket over them?

If you saw a small child playing alone in the middle of the street, would you move them to the sidewalk before danger approached?

If you happened across a blind man dying of thirst, would you lead him to the nearby drinking fountain?

Do you send your child out to play in the snow with bare feet?

Do you put your Grandparent ailing from Alzheimer's in charge of keeping track of all of your family's weekly activities?

Stupid Questions...Common Sense

Would a Cancer Doctor at the very least, share a folder of Hospice and Palliative Care Resources (of which, btw...are not the same thing) with her Patient during their "Medically, you've run out of options, basically you'll be dead soon" Meeting?

Stupid Question...Common Sense

Right??!!

Astoundingly, it's not...as I am sadly discovering it is not COMMON SENSE for many Cancer Doctors...how could this be??!!!

The very ones whom others trust with their VERY LIVES...not respecting it??!!!

The reality of this is terrifying for us all, because one thing we ALL will have in common is dying...


Do you Respect Life?  And if so, how could you not?

My Dad's Cancer Doctor never shared Palliative Care Resources with him at anytime...the only way we found out about it was through a lucky search on the Internet...so regarding this issue, in a sad, albeit strange way...Google was able to Respect my Father, while his Oncologist was not...

I love my Dad (Arend 'Odee' Lenderink)...and I am not okay with this having happened to him nor to anyone...

Monday, January 19, 2009

For PapAmore, Palliative Care Awareness in Honor of Odee Lenderink


In Honor of PapAmore, Arend 'Odee' Lenderink...we wish to dramatically increase the amount of quality information and valuable resources shared with and available to those potentially facing the final stage of cancer.

Although incomprehensible, some physicians do not share with their patients essential knowledge of greatly aiding end of life material.  Rather they seemingly feel it is their "God given right" to singularly destroy all hope while at the same time offering no "road map" for the horrific journey most likely ahead.

When I reflect upon the dark aimlessness my parent's were dealt by my Dad's one and only Oncologist, I am so overwhelmingly sickened.  To deal another human being a "medically no more options" hand without providing them with the necessary tools to face this nightmare is beyond cruel and inhumane.

I fervently pray that none other will have to endure this agonizing path.  I can't get my Dad back now, but I can (hopefully) work towards helping others in his name.

To simply hand a patient a folder Palliative Care Resources is such an easy yet vital act. 
 
There is NO EXCUSE for ANY Physician to omit doing so...

Please a leave a comment below for our Papa, regarding 
Odee Lenderink's Palliative Care Awareness and please do not hesitate to add any suggestions and/or questions as well...



cancer respects no one

It's so painful to see your most idolized, heroic, esteemed figure treated like dirt.

Witnessing such an act threatens to destroy whatever sense of justice your life might still be able to believe is indestructible.

But...cancer respects no one.

Cancer is intimidated by none.

Cancer doesn't care about who you are or what you've done.

No human characteristics repel cancer's ugly eagerness to destroy.

So thankful that there is no cancer in Heaven.  

Try as it might, that's only one forever place that cancer can ever be...  

Cancer truly is hell.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

So Much to Love about PapAmore, Odee Lenderink


  1. Arend Richard Lenderink is his "official/legal" name.
  2. He was the oldest of nine.
  3. His father's name was also Arend and he too always went instead by Odee
  4. He's pretty much completely Dutch.
  5. He spoke Pig Latin
  6. He performed all of the "stay-at-home-parent" duties for his first 5 girls while always working full time outside of the home.
  7. He often left the wrapper around the cheese in their sandwiches, just to "make sure they were paying attention"
  8. He ADORED his Father
  9. He lived and told the BEST STORIES EVER
  10. He had the MOST AMAZING voice, EVER
  11. He was REALLY silly
  12. He gave the BEST Bear Hugs
  13. He was never afraid, that I (Sara) know of anyway
  14. He patiently listened and heard each word
  15. He made bad things better
  16. He loved to paint and all of our houses have been gifted by his meticulous detail of painter perfection
  17. He never preached, told stories instead to instruct and guide his children
  18. Jesus was his VERY best friend
  19. He never got over being COMPLETELY SMITTEN with Wanda Lenderink
  20. Once he laid eyes on Wandi, he never looked at any other woman ever again
  21. He was school board President when I (Sara, youngest) graduated and gave me my diploma
  22. He adored the mountains
  23. He loved the Great Lakes
  24. He loved to go for long walks
  25. He was our "safe haven"
  26. He called his little ones Pizon
  27. He never raised his voice in anger
  28. He had the most booming, commanding voice that ever was
  29. All of my (Sara) friends adored him and were terrified of him, simultaneously, at the same time
  30. Although he wasn't a "crier" he often became choked up, especially out of pride in his family
  31. The most important thing to him, was to know that his family would be in heaven with him someday
  32. He had an irreverent sense of humor, but only in the most Christ-like way
  33. He cold turkey quit smoking the moment he met my Mother, Wanda Lenderink
  34. He was the most productive man to ever walk upon the face of this planet
  35. His yard is far and beyond a Landscape Masterpiece
  36. He played with, giggled with, cried with, worked with, traveled with, rode with, skipped with, colored with, wished with, hoped with, got in "trouble" with, swam with, sang with, prayed with and read with his Grandchildren
  37. He fervently wished and prayed for "just one more week in Florida" with his beloved wife/best friend
  38. He didn't want to "go" yet
  39. He made us promise to keep on living if he did
  40. He told each one of us that he would always be in our hearts...and he is...
  41. He always had hope, up until his very last breathe
  42. He is in Glory now
  43. Because of him, we now long for Heaven, even more
  44. His Bible is very worn and well read
  45. Whatever he said, he meant

Heartwarming PapAmore Post Comment, Thank-You Anna


Sara, I don't know you but I feel as though I knew your "Papamore". First I would like to say that I am deeply sorry for your loss of what appeared to be an awesome man who you loved with your whole being and second I wanted to leave you a message so long ago, but thought you may think it's a bit weird how I stumbled upon your life. I was following another carepage months ago, and being that I am from Grand Haven, I typed "Grand Haven" in the search to make sure that there was no one in my home town that needed support. And that is when I found your daddy. I followed his journey with every update. I prayed to God for this man and his family...people that I didn't even know but came to know through his carepages, that were wonderfully written by your mother. I looked forward to updates with the hopes that this terrible monster would leave him be. Then, the update came that he was not doing well, I felt terribly. I felt as though I was losing someone that I cared about. I cried tears for the loss of this wonderful man. So anyway, I don't know where I am going with this but I wanted to tell you how awfully sorry I am for your loss. And I also wanted to let you know that not only has he touched the life of people who were close to him, but he has touched the life of complete strangers as well. I continue to read your blog and feel so bad for the pain that you endear daily. My daddy is 66 years old and I dread the day that I must lose him. Please know that I think and pray for you often. Take care and please continue to write on this amazing page dedicated to a wonderful man, that I never knew. Anna

January 17, 2009 1:44 PM

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Please Help Make A Positive Change...For Everyone...For PapAmore...


EVERYONE should be Privy to certain Information, regardless of Internet Access and Skills, Physician Communication Ability, Current Ability to Absorb and/or Hear the Information at that moment, etc.

Is it really okay for ANYONE to tell another human being that due to lack of Medical Options that their life is over and THEN to send them out the door without sharing with them VITAL RESOURCES regarding AVAILABLE?!

Without googling Palliative Care and contacting them on our own, my Dad would not even have had a pain relief prescription, he was dying from AML without even a prescription for relief from the intense pain.

Please Help Make A Positive Change...For PapAmore...

For PapAmore...Are You Familiar With Palliative Care?


For PapAmore...Are You Familiar With Palliative Care?

I want to make a difference for my Dad...
EVERYONE should be Privy to certain Information, regardless of Internet Access and Skills, Physician Communication Ability, Current Ability to Absorb and/or Hear the Information at that moment, etc.

Is it really okay for ANYONE to tell another human being that due to lack of Medical Options that their life is over and THEN to send them out the door without sharing with them VITAL RESOURCES regarding AVAILABLE?!

Without googling Palliative Care and contacting them on our own, my Dad would not even have had a pain relief prescription, he was dying from AML without even a prescription for relief from the intense pain.

I can't change the whole world, but when I have seen my Hero tragically inflicted by the cruel, senseless lack of what should be a required (seemingly, sharing hospice and palliative care resources is currently not mandatory, or so we have been led to believe) distribution of a simple brochure entailing information...that is something easily remedied, imo...

The goal of palliative care is to prevent and relieve suffering and to ensure the best quality of life for patients with serious illness. It is offered simultaneously with all other appropriate medical treatment.



Letter sent out, Please Copy/Paste, Thank-You!

All that my Dad, Arend 'Odee' Lenderink , was told by his Oncologist was that medically he had no more options, he was was then sent on his way with no resources and never informed of Palliative Care, not verbally, not via print materials, no information shared in any form nor matter... http://papamore.blogspot.com/2009/01/for-papamoreare-you-familiar-with.html  

The only way that we found out about Palliative Care was through my extensive (and desperate) googling...thus on the internet I discovered Palliative Care, I immediately called the closest Palliative Care facility (St. Mary's Lacks Cancer Center) and they were wonderful, we literally cried tears of relief and comfort as they even set up a house visit at my parent's home the very next morning. (I discovered Palliative Care online 5 days before my Dad died from AML)

They were also the ones to bravely share that contrary to my Father's oncologist (Dr. Amy C. Vanderwoude) 2nd opinions are a good thing, a thing called clinical trials exist, Palliative Care is available, pain medication can be prescribed, introduced us to Hydrea, informed us that my "no options" Father was the healthiest AML patient that they had ever seen, that Hospice is another option, etc.  

In an attempt to put a positive spin on this, I would like to (if it is already a policy, all the better, I would so appreciate knowing either way please) somehow help however I might be able towards requiring that oncologist's share Palliative Care information and resources in written form...  

Prior to contact with Palliative Care, my Father (my entire Family) was left without ANY options...it was such a dark, scary, horrific time anyway and then to not have any resources or information shared by his oncologist with us...I feel compelled to ensure that others need not go through the additional agony of enforced ignorance as we were instructed to abide by and endured.  

More on my Precious Dad, Odee Lenderink, who died from AML on 1/11/09 http://papamore.blogspot.com

Thank You so much for your time and for all that you do...

Please Help Make A Positive Change...For PapAmore...

To Receive the BEST Leukemia Treatment, Be Actively Informed and Involved


For PapAmore, whose everyday life actively taught us to always give-back.

Leukemia Resources

Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc Patients, families and health care professionals can benefit from these FREE services by calling 800.747.2820 or email at help@aamds.org.

National Marrow Donor Program

National Cancer Institute

Rare Cancer Alliance - Visit their Cancer Support Forums

Steve Dunn's Cancer Guide
This cancer survivor's site 

Granny Barb And Art's Leukemia Resources
includes links to medical sites, 
organizationssurvivor stories, and much more

Medicine Online Atlas of Acute Leukemia
more technical information on Leukemia, but also includes many photos of different types

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Large resource site has a good sections on 
leukemia, patient services, volunteering locally, discussion boards, and information on myelodysplastic syndromes.

Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Listings at DMOZ
directory just for AML and currently has about 20 listings of editor-selected AML leukemia web sites

InnerLife Wellness Center
Important information and links for Optimizing Health, Maximizing Life and Preventing Disease.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society BBS 

Leukemia Cancer News

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BEST ADVICE...Get a VALID (meaning more than your Oncologist relaying to you that she already shared the file with so and so...) Second Opinion!!!!! (Furthermore, if your Oncologist ever discourages you to get a 'Valid' 2nd opinion...this is a RED FLAG, it's time to find a new doctor.)