A Special Guest Blog: "CANCER" by Ibrahim

My family and I would usually visit my Lola and Lolo's house every other Saturday.  We would all hop in the car for an hour long drive until we hit the exit and see a statue of a Native American with a sign reading "Welcome to Cotati".  My grandparents don't live in Cotati but they live in Rohnert Park.  We would arrive in my grandparent's driveway, knock on the door and wait for them to open the garage door.  My Lola or Grandma always preferred us to enter through the garage.  I always wondered why but never bothered to ask.  As we entered the house, I see my Lola scanning all of us, trying to catch something wrong or out of place so that she could point it out and crack a little joke; she loves to tease us.  I also saw my Lolo or Grandpa smiling, he was always jubilant when he has company around.  He teased me by calling me "Abraham" in his strong Filipino accent.  Then he's turn to my little sister and ask her if she still knew how to dance, he would then say, "Dance Sanapoknay"...no one ever knew what it meant but whenever he said it to her she automatically was puzzled and he would always start to laugh so hard.  We would then go into the living room and watch television; my grandma would always get confused with the different TV shows.  After a few hours, we would leave.  Before we left, my Lolo would tell me to take care of my family and gave me a five dollar bill.  Abraham Lincoln was the president on the five dollar bill.  As we would drive out of the driveway, my grandparents would stand outside waving goodbye.  We would wave back at them from the car until we could no longer see them.  I didn't know my Lolo was going to have surgery a week later.

A week later my mom got a phone call from my Uncle Luis saying that my Lolo's surgery was unsuccessful and that he would have to get another surgery in order to stay healthy or live.  So once again we drove up to my grandparent's house; this time, we spent the night because my grandma was staying by herself.  Once we got to the house instead of entering the house to see a happy old couple, we see my grandma crying at the kitchen table.  She was already dressed and ready to go because my mom promised her that we would take her to the hospital.  The hospital was in Santa Rosa which was about 15 minutes away.  When we got to the hospital the butterflies were nagging my stomach; I wasn't sure about what condition my Grandpa would be in.  We got to the room and he was asleep.  Lolo had tubes running all over his body as if he was wrapped in a spider web.  He didn't look happy but he didn't look sad either.  An hour passed by while we all stood over my Lolo talking about life, always including him in the conversation without him even talking.  We prayed, said goodbye and then we left the hospital.  The car ride home was mostly silent except my sister promising my Lola that she would one day become a lawyer.

From day to day we would go back and forth from home to Rohnert Park to Santa Rosa.  We constantly did this until my grandpa's surgery was over which was about 3 weeks.  Those were the fastest three weeks of my life.  During those three weeks, I would mostly stay with my cousins, Khai and L'jin.  Khai was the same age as I and L'jin was a year younger than my sister.  We would have so much fun with our cousins playing video games, board games, swimming and anything to get our minds off our grandpa and his surgery.  L'jin was always the kind of smart ass, always trying to be a little rebel and Khai was the responsible one, she never wanted to get in trouble.  Throughout those three weeks I got to see a lot of different family members.  My oldest brother flew in from Oregon.

My grandpa was in ICU.  His body was slowly giving up on him.  They gave him extra oxygen and put him on a respirator.  His kidneys were starting to fail.  I think it was because the cancer must have spread to where his kidneys were.  At this point, my Lola had called all her children to come to town.  We gave my Lolo two days to recover.  My mom slept at the hospital both nights.  She called us and told us whenever my Lolo would show any good signs.  My Lola on the other hand was speechless for those two days.  All of her kids were staying at her house so we all squished in there except for my Mom and Uncle Luis who were at the hospital. On the last day we all made a special prayer.  At this point, the respirator and the other machines were the only things keeping my grandpa alive.  The next day everyone was to be at the hospital by 4 o'clock.  I went early with my Uncle Jonathan.  We waited outside for everyone to come and he showed me his iPhone.  I got to play a couple of games.  My Uncle Jonathan would always have the newest technology that came out.

At about 3:30 p.m., everyone was at the hospital a little early.  Everyone was crowded in the small little room -- my uncles, aunties and cousins taking their last glances at my Grandfather who was looking extremely pale.  Everyone was to say their last words.  Once the first person spoke who I think was my Uncle Jose who is the oldest in the family, everyone started crying.  We all went around saying our last words to my Lolo...My Lola was the last one to talk before they pulled the plug, "I love you, and I'll be with you soon, Sweetheart!"  That was the one thing I remembered her saying.

My Lolo was on his own now fighting for his life, you could see his skin slowly turning blue.  He was pronounced dead at around 4 o'clock August 4th 2010.  I remember afterwards that I went downstairs to the cafeteria and bought my favorite snack -- Baked Hot Cheetos from the vending machine.  After that I don't remember anything...I don't remember leaving the hospital or anything.

It's been 2 years since my Lolo died.  Now every time I go to my grandparent's house, we take Lola to see my Lolo to the cemetery.  My grandma hasn't been the same since.  Sure she still cracks a joke here and there, but she's just sad.  I used to think my Grandpa would live forever but now I know that it's impossible...it's impossible for anyone else to live forever. That is why now I try to cherish every single moment I have with my family because you'll never know if you're ever going to see each other again.  So make the times you have with your love ones count; each second a precious moment.