Hero At Large

John Hancock has endured more trials in the last 37 years that most of us will in our entire lifetime.

When he was 12 years old he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (aka juvenile diabetes). He decided early on that he would follow the rules to maintain the best possible health possible.

During our first year of marriage (2001) John was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent surgery to have the tumor removed and then continued with six weeks of radiation even when he began vomiting blood during the last week of treatment.

On May 4th he was admitted to Good Samaritan for chronic kidney failure. His doctors were puzzled because based on his labs he should have been in a coma with seizures -- not walking, or talking coherently. He was started on dialysis on May 5th. Statistics show that 46% of people who start dialysis are dead in 90 days, mostly because they can't handle following the rules and dietary restrictions. John has opted not to be a part of that statistic.

While John was a patient I couldn't help but snap this mugshot of him 5 days into his hospital stay. He'd never gone that long without shaving in the 8 1/2 years we've been married. I couldn't help but tease him when I pulled up to the curb on May 11th, that I wasn't sure if I wasn't just picking up a bum from downtown Phoenix. He was wearing his pajamas, had lost 8 pounds, and hadn't been able to shower, wash his hair, or shave for a week. (Only mental pictures for that!) He remedied that pretty quickly once he got home.

John has had a rough time adjusting to the reality of not being able to have a full-time job. He misses being "Hero at Large" at the hospital. He has been well-known for been highly capable of stepping in to ANY department and knowing how to do whatever needs to be done. He's been on standby for deliveries when the doctor isn't present (but has made it just in time), he's been called to the OR and recovery to help out when another person was needed with a critical patient, he was always the first one asked for in the ER when it got bombarded, and of course has been an amazing nurse and mentor on the Med/Surg floor. John has been well loved and respected by many of his coworkers. I believe the hospital will probably never fully realize how much of a loss they have incurred from this wickedly intelligent, extremely capable, multi-talented man.

No matter what, he will always be my HERO!