Author Undergoes Biweekly Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer, Reflects on Father Who Died at 94
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 19
Author Undergoes Biweekly Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer, Reflects on Father Who Died at 94
1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 19
Summary
Every other Monday, the author receives chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer and says the treatments have sharpened her understanding of fear, endurance and dependence on others.
Her reflection centers on her father, a Holocaust survivor who watched Nazis take his mother, brother and sister from their home in Poland at age 17 and rarely spoke of that trauma.
In his final hospital days, he reverted to Polish, repeatedly cried for his mother and died the next day at 94 after a nurse named Ruth shaved and groomed him so he could die with dignity.
The author links that memory to her own illness, describing a husband who attends every treatment and stayed six nights in a hospital chair after surgery.
Her conclusion for Father's Day is that her father's final lesson was not just survival, but accompanying loved ones through suffering when it cannot be stopped.