1Donors
$25Raised
$50Target
6th Annual West Side Walk Christina Opper

 

My story begins when I was twenty and met Craig.  November 5, 2020 we would have been married 10 years.  Together we had a son named Logan and a daughter named Emerson.  We loved to travel up north and our favorite spot was Whitefish Point.  Craig was a hard worker who did excavating and as a hobby worked on old antique windmills that now spin around in the countryside.  Last year  (2019) Craig started having chest pain and was admitted in the hospital for almost a week.  We were told there was very little chance of him having cancer and that it was probably pneumonia.  I work as a teacher so one day my phone rang early in the morning while I had students.  It was Craig calling from the hospital to tell me that he had been diagnosed with cancer.  I quickly rushed to his side and together we cried, but he was going to fight like hell to beat the cancer until his body just couldn't anymore.  

I will never forget Craig coming home and telling his son on the steps that he had cancer and was really sick.  In fact, he had Stage 4 Lung Cancer (never smoked a day in his life).  Logan was 7 at the time and asked if dad was going to die.  Craig replied some day, but we just don't know when.

I was by Craigs side taking him to appointments, watching him get chemotherapy and was there when he had fluid drained off his lungs to help with his breathing.  I also watched in agony the pain he went through and the almost near death experience he had from an immunotherapy drug.  The year of 2019 was absolutely a roller coaster.

Christmas in 2019 was sad.  We cried a lot and I saw Craig really going downhill with not wanting to eat, losing a lot of weight and just really quiet.  After Christmas we decided to one family trip up north and Craig said it was probably going to be his last.  I remember at Christmas he looked healthy from my eyes, but the pictures of him showed his skin was so yellow.  January 2020 we were literally in the emergency room every Saturday and Craig had to have oxygen in order to breath.  He was becoming more dependent on it.

Logan turned 8 on January 30th and five days later Craig passed away.  Our slogan was Blowing Cancer Away in honor of his hobby of doing windmills.  I walk today to honor his life and also for me to realize as well as my children that we are not alone in this journey.  

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