My Story is about Dionysios P. Simopoulos (my dad)

This event took place from 10/25/2022 to 08/07/2022

The Discovery

My dad began to lose considerable weight and then was diagnosed with diabetes. This led to further blood exams and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer was diagnosed.

This is My Story

My dad was a prominent scientist, hailed by many as the the most popular and most respected popularizer of astronomy in Greece. But beyond this, my dad was a gregarious, generous and wonderful soul. His laughter and presence would fill a room. He had the inherent ability to make everyone he met feel special. He would bring out the best in others because ultimately that’s what he saw.

When my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 4 years ago on October 25th, 2018, he was told that he would have about 3 to 6 months to live. I still remember the day he told us the news: “The news isn’t good. I have pancreatic cancer and I don’t have much longer to live. But it’s ok, there is good news too. I at least have 6 months of life.” And just like with everything else life had to serve him to that point, so too with this he viewed it as a glass that was not just half-full but overflowing and he decided he was going to make every one of those “6 months” he had left, count. And we as his family had no choice but to follow suit!

So that’s what we did: We lived life … to the fullest. We made every moment count. Even the most mundane moments became major events: like ordering take-out or watching his favorite cooking show. Those were “big” moments because we were doing them together. My brothers and I would share our boring work stories with him almost daily and he would listen to them like he was listening to earth shattering news.

During the past four years – yes, those 6 months turned into close to 4 wonderful years – my dad enjoyed friends, family and loved ones, wrote a few books, ate his favorite seafood, took a huge liking to sushi and watched cooking shows on TV. He would put on music and sing while he would write his books — some of them scientific in nature, others going back in time through his life — but regardless the topic, he would sing. He would note the color of green on the trees and point it out to us. He would walk out to his jasmine bush and would shout to us to come to smell the flowers when they were in bloom. He would make it very apparent when he was biting into a sweet piece of watermelon, telling us it’s the best watermelon he had ever tasted. But most importantly my dad would laugh. He would laugh that infectious laughter that made everyone around him laugh too.

My dad filled us with love. He left us full. And although his absence is huge the love he left us with lives on and because of that love we are fine. Because we made those little moments in time count.

I used to say that my dad carried me literally and metaphorically all my life. And he continues to carry us all with the love and the special memories he left us with. I read somewhere that time does not heal, love does. And I agree. Love not only heals, love lives on.

The Impact of Time

Every minute counted. Every moment counted. We made sure of it.

My Story is about my mother, Joy Greisman Bonn

This event took place from 12/02/2020 to 05/06/2021

The Discovery

It was discovered because my mom went to the doctor for a check-up. She had some stomach issues but not life-threatening ones and felt the pain differed from other times. We thought for sure her diagnosis would be Crohn’s or Colitis or Ulcer because she never expressed just how painful it was or that it was a different type of pain that came along with a lack of appetite. This made her doctors immediately do bloodwork and scans due to her ailments.

This is My Story

My mother retired at 72 as an interior decorator and designer. She and my father decided to retire in October of 2021 and move full-time to south Florida. As soon as they got to Florida my mom started complaining that she wasn’t feeling well. She was getting sick from everything she was eating and spent many sleepless nights feeling awful from dinner. My mom always had stomach issues but they were not unusual to what those of Eastern European descent seem to have in common. My mom was the hardest-working person I have ever known. She never complained and even if she was feeling horrible, she was always moving along. After a few weeks of not feeling well and she felt the pains she was having were unlike her stomach pains of the past, she went to the doctor. He immediately did blood work and sent her for tests. I will never forget where I was and what I was doing and what my mom was wearing when the Facetime call came in on December 2nd. My mom and dad called to tell me of the diagnosis. I immediately said, “oh no that’s what Alex Trebeck had”. They instantly downplayed it and explained what would be the next step. My mom was very calm and kept saying they gave her the wrong test results because she was the healthiest sick person. My parents returned from Florida and my mom was treated at SK Memorial Hospital. She underwent aggressive treatment. The treatment didn’t go well and she had four strokes. This all took place in a matter of five months. Any chance I could be with her or my brother, Craig, or sister-in-law, Nicole, and my mom’s two sisters, we were with her. My dad never left her side except to grab some ice cream he hoped would make her smile and possibly try to eat. My mom decided after the round of chemo that she wanted to go the palliative care route. This was a very hard one to digest for all of us but we wanted her to do what would make her most comfortable. As things rapidly changed and the disease became more prominent, my mother would talk to each of us. She gave each of her five grandchildren, Jacob, Jordan, Peri, Harley, and Dani, a message of how much they meant to her. They were her life. No one brought her happiness like the five of them. My mom’s last message to me as she held my face from the hospital bed at home surrounded by HOSPICE workers is one I will never forget….I love you more than anything. Those were her last words to me just a few days before she passed. On May 6, 2021, my mom passed. There was no one like her. While she was sick, she kept saying she had a wonderful life and how lucky she was with her family and friends. She was there for everyone always and has very big shoes to fill. I just hope she knows, WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES.

The Impact of Time

My outlook on time changed and the value of time because it is so hard to detect. It has not been like other cancers where early detection is widespread and available. The value of time became even more meaningful because my mother’s diagnosis showed that it was metastatic. She had stage 4 and time was running out because of this fast-growing, moving disease. There is never enough time with those you love especially when you get his with a diagnosis out of the left field. You expect the loved one to be a part of all that is ahead but Pancreatic cancer doesn’t give its people it chooses a fighting chance if you had the diagnosis my mother had. Although my mother had five months with us after diagnosis, each and every moment was important. The last few months, weeks, and days, were filled with loads of emotions and more crying and fear than ever before but the time was precious and we got to share how much we loved her and she shared how she loved us. I will never forget the precise moment of my mother’s passing as I held her left hand and only wanted more time.

My Story is about my Grandma Raya.

On August 17th 2022, my Grandma Raya left this universe. My Grandma Raya beat the odds and lived 2 1/4 years with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. The doctors enjoyed having conversations with her as she was a doctor herself. Her passion was saving lives. Raya was the strongest warrior, bravest and kindest person I know. The doctors were shocked how someone could survive such pain and she did until the very end.

Over the course of her treatment she went through chemo, radiation, and immunotherapy, which caused her to develop guillain-barré syndrome where the immune system attacks the nerves. She wasn’t able to eat and constantly threw up and had a tube surgically placed in and still continued throwing up but kept on fighting.

I would like to honor her life as the brave hero she is.

My Story is about Gabriele, my father.

This event took place from 05/26/2022 to 09/14/2022

The Discovery

In the spring 2022 my father started having some discomfort after eating, his general medicine doctor prescribed drugs for irritated esophagus. Nothing changed till 25th of may, when my father the GM doctor suggests to have an ultrasound scan on the abdomen “I suspect you got an aneurism in that area”.
This prompted me to bring my dad in the most important hospital of our area. After a long day of tests, everything was apparently ok and they couldn’t see any signs of aneurism or cancer. Still my father was still suffering in his back, abdomen and stomach. So after further investigations, a huge mass was found in the pancreatic area and the we were told it was impossible to do anything in that hospital. So we arranged a paid appointment in one the most important private hospital of Italy for, we flew to Milan. He was admitted to Ospedale San Raffaele, here they told the bad news: he got a border line pancreatic adenocarcinome in the body and tail, the surgeon told my father he had to undergo chemotherapy and heparin twice a day to control a huge blood cloth in the liver blood vessel.

This is My Story

My and my brother moved back to our parents house to help our father and our mother, both shocked by the diagnosis.
Gabriele started having unbearable pain, so the specialist suggested a procedure called “Celiac Plexus Neurolysis”. The situation kinda improved but we had to wait a month for him to start chemotherapy. So in meantime his stage 3 pancreatic cancer started to increase in volume (over 8 cm) and all the principal blood vessels were reached.

My father legs and feet started to swell up a lot, at the point he was able to walk with great difficulty, we tried with drugs and drainages. His conditions started to deteriorate very fast, he was unable to eat and drink and lost weight, we booked a paid appointment with a doctor who prescribed some special drinks suitable for pancreatic patients, he improved and started gaining his weight. He was always cheerful and wanted to have walks on the wheelchair every evening with us.
The last chemotherapy session was the beginning of the end.
According to his blood test (we knew that lately in the day in the Emergency room,), my father wasn’t eligible for the treatment that day, but somehow the doctor decided to administer it. In the evening my dad started to feel freezing cold and to breath with great difficulty.
In the ER we were told my father got sepsis and there wasn’t a single free bed to admit him in the hospital.
We bring him back home, frail in the body and the spirit. He survived 2 weeks on antibiotics, the situation was dramatic. He was admitted in the hospice were he passed away the 14th of September, with no pain, surrounded by us, his family, and the precious cares of nurses and doctors.

The pancreatic cancer transformed a healthy and sporty 69years old man to a frail creature in no time, he survived 3 months and half after diagnosis, also because in our area we don’t have a pancreatic unit and wasn’t able to fly to Milan, or Verona.
The hardest point was when an oncologist from our local hospital told us “We don’t cure pancreatic tumors here, we can only help the patients with some palliative care”.
From our point of view, everything can change for patients and families with the creation of pancreatic units, there’s only a couple of places in Italy and they can’t absorb the whole number of patients. There’s still a lot to do in this fight, we know very well, but the meantime patients and their families are suffering greatly because of the lack of support.

The Impact of Time

An early detection would have changed everything for Gabriele, but it was just impossible. Some weeks prior covid19 began to spread Italy in 2020, my father went to an endocrinologist after his blood test showed something abnormal. The endocrinologist suspected hyperglycemia and asked my father to have a more specific blood test, he got the results on march 2020, the country was then on national lockdown. The doctor never answered our phone calls, emails, messages. 2020, 2021 and part of 2022 where very difficult for healthcare in our country, with Hospitals and clinics almost closed to the people. It resulted impossible to get an appointment till June 2022.

My Story is about My mom, Joy Greisman Bonn

This event took place from to 05/06/2020

The Discovery

My mom was having discomfort and it didn’t feel like gastro problems so she was concerned so she went to the doctor.

This is My Story

My mother was my best friend. My dad, my brother, sister in law and her two sisters and five grandchildren- Jacob, Jordan, Peri, Harley and Dani were the light of her life. When she knew she would die, she always said she had a good life and grateful for her wonderful family. She was the matriarch of our family. She was my anchor and life has just not been the same. She was a true JOY to all!

The Impact of Time

The last few months with my mom were spent with family surrounding her. We would lay in bed together and have conversations we never had. I was able to hear what she wanted for her family once she passed.

I was able to be there and hold her hand when she passed.