Celebration of a Life Ending Too Early

Heidebrecht, Michael D.   1949-sooner than expected.

 

Michael was born on June 13, 1949 in Newton, KS.  He graduated from Newton HS in 1967 and joined the Marine Corp.  He was sent to Viet Nam and came back to Wichita in 1977.  He will leave behind 2 sons, Quenten and Everett Heidebrecht ,  extended family David and Kristen Musall.  Also left behind will be grandsons Quenten Jr, Benjamin, Gage, Memphis, Christian, and Cameron.  Veronica and Ava Mae, his granddaughters, will also be left without their grandpa.  Also left behind will be his good friend of 32 years and caregiver, Lynn Musall. 

Michael was diagnosed with cancer as a result of Agent Orange exposure in Viet Nam. 

All friends and family are invited to a celebration of Michael’s life on Saturday, September 22, 2012 at Harvey County Park West.  The Irish wake and party will start at noon at the white pavilion.  Please bring a covered dish to pass and all of your comments to share with Michael. This will be the only time that you can sing his praises or his curses.  Bring your own beverages. 

“ It is better to be seen than viewed.” 

Medical Update

I realize that these blogs are not coming at a regular intervals but I am posting things here as soon as I can.

Michael went to the oncologist on Monday of this past week.  He is seeing a Dr. Dakhil out at the VA hospital.  Dr. Dakhil also has a practice in the Wichita area.

His PSA count has gone up to 200.  Normal is 3.  It was up from 145 a week ago.  What this means is that the cancer is still growing.   Dr. Dakhil wants Michael to start on the hormone therapy.  What they do is give him an injection in the stomach just below the skin.  The hormone pellet that is delivered will work for three months.  He will get his next shot in December. 

The doctor also found a nodule in his lung.  It is 1.2cm and he isn't sure if it is cancer but he is assuming so.  The lymph node that is near the lung is infected with the cancer also.  He told us that since it is so small, he is going to leave it alone for a month to see if it grows at all.  If it does, then it is probably cancer and he will address that next month.  He is hoping that hormone therapy will work and will start to decrease the PSA count. 

What the hormones do is removes all of the testosterone in his system.  With the testosterone gone, the cancer has nothing to feed on and will starve to death. 

They have changed his medicines also.  They put him on a 3 day Fentyl patch and 30 mg quick release morphine.  He is still in pain.  Last night he fell asleep in the chair in the back room smoking a cigarette.  When he woke, he came in the apt to go to bed.  He woke up this afternoon at 2PM and fell back asleep at 5pm.  I woke him up at 6 to make him eat supper.  I am almost sure that the sleeping all the time is the pain meds.  It is very frustrating to see him sleep is life away and yet I understand about the pain. 

So he has to go back to the doctor in October.  In the mean time, we are trying to do some small exercises to keep his muscle tone up.  He has lost so much by not being able to move around without the pain. 

I hope all of you out there are doing fine.  I know that you miss him but we really do need to stay here to see if we can get this cancer whipped.

God Bless and Take Care.
Lynn & Michael

Back In Oz Land

We arrived back in KS on Monday evening late. When we got here to the apartment, we found that the air conditioner was off.  Very hot in the house so Michael went to the electric panel and tried to reset the circuit breaker only to find that when he did so, the panel sparked.

So on Tuesday morning, we called the landlord.  He was over and he said that it wasn't repairable.  So he came by on Wed morning with a new unit to install.  It is much quieter than the old unit.  We are cool and happy.

Michael is still in pain.  We have talked about going back to TX when the docs say that there isn't anything that they can do.  There is no hospice down there in TX where we are.  There is no running water in the house so I would have to take him to the ranch bath house to give him showers.  There is no family bathroom there so I would have to take him into either the women's or men's bathroom.  There is not enough power at the house to run the equipment that he needs.  Not sure what we are going to do yet.  He is adamant about not dying in KS.

Went to the Warriors Society meeting last night.  Met a group of wonderful people who asked to help out one of their own.  He was in Iraq and was hurt badly.  He and his wife of 2 months just lost their home and are living in a tent on someones property.  He is injured and was told that he would not ever walk again by doctors in Germany. He is now on his feet and is fighting with the VA for the benefits that he is due because of being injured while fighting for his country.  I am angered by the VA and what they are doing with the veterans in this United States.... Something has to be done.  Another 4 years of Obama is not what this United States needs.

Enough with the political stuff. 

Hope all are well.. Take care and God Bless.