Birthday Request

I don’t typically like to send mass broadcasts with personal requests via email however this is a very special situation. Below is a copy of an email broadcast I sent to all my co-workers and friends this morning. This was a very difficult thing for me to do, especially at work. I typically am a very private person when it comes to grief or difficult situations in my life, however, this particular email was not written for myself but as a birthday request from my mother.

In August of 2007 my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Small Cell lung Cancer. At the time, the doctors told her that she had approximately 3 months to live even with aggressive treatment. She immediately began treatment with using at times up to three different types of chemo. In November the prognosis indicated that her cancer had stopped growing but not yet begun to shrink. For lung cancer, this is actually looked at as a treatment failure because without treatment, the cancer spreads extremely fast. Fortunately, her doctor had heard of a clinical trial on a new form of chemo out of Japan and enrolled her into the program. She is one of only 16 people in the country in the trial. As of yesterday, she has two treatments left and the cancer has begun to shrink.

Next Thursday, February 27th, 2008, will be my mother’s 54th birthday. When I spoke to her last night and asked her how she would like to celebrate it, she said that all she wanted was:
1) a visit from me
2) A million birthday cars

She asked me to spread the word to all of you and see how many birthday cards she can get for her birthday. Her specific words were “I know that I shouldn’t ask for such things as it might appear selfish, but if I don’t ask then I won’t get my wish. Please ask your co-workers and friends to send me a card, because I wasn’t suppose to make it this far.”

If you have a couple extra bucks this weekend and some time to pick up a card, it would mean a lot to my family if you could send her a card wishing her well on her birthday.

Her name is Mary Hajovsky, and her mailing address is: P.O. Box 2, Scotland, Texas 76739

If you would like to know more about her story and this treatment, below is a link to a local news broadcast that aired a couple months ago:

http://texomashomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=5222

I have also started a blog to document our process through this battle (and to share some genuine funny stories as well). If you are interested in receiving a link to it, just shoot me an email and I will send it to you.

Also, please forward this email to anyone you think may be interested in sending her a card or hearing more about this treatment

Here's to hoping her wishes come true.