I met Lucille at the age of 12, and it was love at first sight. That love lasted 50 years.

Lucille was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. After high school, Lucille attended and completed beauty school and became a licensed hair stylist.

Lucille was a military bride and traveled to several military bases throughout the United States and Canada.

1979 - I retired from the United States Air Force and started a second career with a major utility company.

1980 - Lucille was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid. Treated with radioactive iodine and medication for the rest of her life.

1983 - Lucille suffered an aneurysm in her brain. Doctors said if she survived she would be a vegetable. God proved them wrong. He simply touched Lucille's head and the blood vessel sealed itself. The only side effects, it zapped some of her energy. She returned to work and resumed her normal daily activities. She enjoyed bowling and church activities.

1990 & 1993 Silent strokes. No paralysis.

1996 - I purchased a 21-foot boat and we looked forward to my second retirement. Lucille simply love that boat. We named it "The Donquista and I have no idea what the name meant. But, our oldest great grandson name is Donquise.

2000 - I finally retired and we looked forward to traveling and boating.

2002 - All hell broke loose. On a beautiful Sunday morning Lucille and I were walking toward church when she became extremely short of breath. I helped her inside and she was still laboring for air. I offered to call an emergency squad, but she refused. She eventually resumed breathing normal. I told her we would see or family physician the following day.

The family doctor suspected it might be Lucille's thyroid because Lucille had lost weight. The doctor that treated Lucille for her thyroid told us to come to his office as soon as possible. When he first saw Lucille, he said, " You sure do look bad." He informed us it wasn't her thyroid and sent her across the street to Mount Carmel East hospital for chest x-rays.

The following day we took the x-rays to St Ann hospital to a pulmonary physican. The pulmonary phsyscian said that he would be honest with us and he was looking for cancer. Needless to say, we were in shock. The results of the x-ray showed Lucille had malignant pleural effusion. He removed a huge amount of fluid from Lucille's lungs and she received immediate relief.

The following day we were sitting in the oncologist's office. Lucille had been his patient since 1983, when she had her aneurysm. Lucille called him her blood doctor because she had to have blood drawn every 6 months. Her bone marrow produced too much blood. He informed us that Lucille had Stage 4 NSCLC with malignant pleural effusion and was inoperable. There was a mass in both lungs and a spot on her liver. We asked what were our options. He said 4 to 6 months without treatment. A year to 3 years with treatments. We elected treatment, which would consist of 6 treatments of Carboplatin & Taxol. The oncologist ordered x-rays to check her bones and brain. They came back clean.

August 19, 2002 - Lucille received her first treatment and was a real trooper. Minimal side effects. Shortly, thereafter had a port installed. Lucille was very petite and had small veins. The second treatment wasn't as easy as the first. Because she had tolerated the first treatment so well, they increased her dosage. When I took her home she was still asleep and had urinated on herself. I cleaned her up and she slept for another 6 hours before she woke up.

Her red blood count was low and we tried Procrit without much success. The treatment had been hard on her and her hair started to disappear slowly. The third treatment was much more harsh than the second treatment. She slept for approximately 12 hour before I was able to feed her. She had lost more weight and food tasted like metal. I gave her plenty milkshakes consisting of ice cream and boost or ensure. After the 4th treatment we agreed that Lucille couldn't take any more treatments (I had read on the Internet that 3 treatments were as good as 6). The oncologist agreed with us.

Lucille was enrolled in the Iressa program and given Prednisone (steroids) in November 2002. Her next x-rays came out practically clean. We felt Iressa was working. The left lung was completely clean and the right lung had a very small spot. The liver was clean. The following month, he appetite came back and she gained a few pounds. December and January were pretty good months for her.

February - 2003, Lucille started losing weight again and x-rays showed a mass on her right lung. They thought perhaps it was fluid, but it turned out to be the lung itself. The oncologist called in hospice. Initially, we weren't receptive to hospice being contacted. But, the oncologist explained that it would be in our best interest, because Lucille wouldn't have to go to the emergency room if she became ill after normal working hours or weekends. Lucille hated needles. So, we agreed to have hospice visit with us once a week. I was Lucille's caregiver and I gave her baths, etc. I wouldn't have it any other way. Lucille developed a close relationship with the hospice nurse. Hospice was simply wonderful for the last 6 months of her life.

Lucille was diagnosed August 12, 2002 and passed Aug 5, 2003. Iressa sustained her for 9 months.

There isn't a single minute or day that goes by that I don't think of Lucille. She left me with 1 daughter, 4 granddaughters and 10 great grandchildren.

I was truly blessed to have Lucille for all these years.