The Struggle Has Ended

Greg Hewlett passed away on January 17th after nearly eight years of battling colon cancer. While we grieve his loss, we are comforted to know that he is with his Lord.

If you would like to leave your thoughts on Greg, please see this thread.

If you would like to make a charitable donation in Greg's honor, please see this thread.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Walking around

Hi, Greg here.

I am so happy. After yesterday night's pain, all things are wonderful. Thanks everyone for the love and support.

I awoke yesterday from the surgery without a working epidural - Civil-War-battlefield-screaming-type-pain. They couldn't give me general stuff because you have to be awake for epidural placement. Sitting up and leaning over to get the second one inserted took about about an hour and I believe may be the greatest accomplishment of my life. All downhill from here.

They gave me this great little bear (comes free with the surgery!) to squeeze when I cough. He's got this cute little MD Anderson t-shirt and his given name is Sir Koff-Alot.
bear.jpg

All day, they make me cough, breath into machines, and walk. Here I am on my first walk this morning.
Walking.jpg

I'm watching the game with Mom and Dad. I just shouted a hooray as Romo connected on 4th and 2 to Crayton for a TD. Oooo, that hurt!


14 comments:

Leslie said...

I'm so happy that you're doing better today. I'm praying for you and Christine. Sir Koff-Alot is very cute!

Susan Peck said...

Greg, it was so great to talk to you today! I'm really sorry that you had to endure such pain with the first epidural, but praise God that the surgery went so well and that you are feeling much better now. Thanks for posting the pictures. It is wonderful to see that you are already up and about. We will continue praying for you and Christine. I love you both! Susan

Jan Hurst said...

Greg, it is great to see pictures of you up walking and to know you are coughing. Good for you and keep it up. Enjoy the game and keep finding such things to focus on to pass this time. Glad they finally got the pain under control. God Bless you and Christine. I'm glad your folks are there and I hope Christine is better, too. Get well soon. Love you. Jan & Steve.

John said...

It's great to see you typing on the computer. Looking forward to buying you lunch and catching up.

Andrew said...

Nice. I'm glad to hear the good news.
the hospital gown and robe is actually a good look for you. you might consider coming into work like that.

Scott Rogers said...

Dear Sir Greg: You are one mean fighting machine. And, you're one prayed-for mamma jamma too. I stand in awe..... You 'da' man. -Scott & crew

Shannon said...

I know it can't compare, but this story is the closest I have come to being able to physically empathize with some of your journey because with my third baby the medical people couldn't get my epidural in, and I was hunched over at a 10 (I'll explain the numbers some other time if needed...), basically the baby was crowning and they had me sitting on a cold metal table Indian-style, saying, "Put your head between your knees! Breathe in and Hold it! NO! HOLD STILL! [I had the involuntary shakes/tremors at this point.] You can't move! This has to go in exactly right...."
Just hearing that your epidural wasn't working brought up a "mental ghost pain" that made me pray and turn pale involuntarily and incessantly - practically all night long. Glad you got some relief and glad there's Sir Koff-Alot.
Not only are you my cancer-fighting hero, but now you've become my childbirthing-man hero!
YOU ARE THE MAN, GREG HEWLETT - NOW WE'VE GOT TO GET CHRISTINE SOME RELIEF. And she's THE WOMAN, might I add.
Lots of love to you both. As with all the others, we are praying for you. Thanks be to God.

Deb Peck said...

Greg, if you can spend an hour hunched over after lung surgery without any pain relief, I name you as an honorary member of the BEYOND BELIEF CHILDBEARING SOCIETY. Now all you need is to pass the breaking your waters and shove down HARD on your uterus during a contraction (requiring you to try to crawl your way up the table away from the excruciating pain and torture) while somewhere in the small sane depths of your mind you remember that when this is over, you have a whole 36 hours before they send you BACK in your helpless state to the front where several little very smart children are waiting to have you be the female version of Soloman, wash their dirty clothes, make their meals, clean their house, and in general, make up for the way in which you have put them out in your absence! Oh, by the way, you're bringing along the junior model of this demanding breed, and it is extremely HIGH MAINTENANCE!!!!!! Don't expect to sleep any time soon!!!!
Sorry, I got on a rant. We're just so very, very, thankful you made the grade. As Matthew said when the dermatologist told him his acne was due to high testosterone levels, "What a man"!!!!!!!

leyla said...

Greg,
I echo your sentiments : )) I am so happy .
Thanks for all the good news and pictures.
Best regards and continued prayers from Istanbul,
Leyla

John & Debbie said...

Greg, We are so very happy to hear that you are up and around!! Praise God!! This is truly wonderful news!! We are so happy for you and we continue to keep you and Christine in our prayers. We hope and pray for your healthy recovery. Thanks for the updates.
P.S. I am so sorry that Romo couldn't get it done for you, there's always next year. Go BIRDS.

David Pagan said...

Greg,
We are so glad to hear that things are going well with the recovery.
I just wish there was a happy ending to the Cowboys game; I am sure that caused a little more pain before it was over (it did for me). It's hard enough supporting them up in Redskins country without games like that one...
We are continuing to pray for you and Christine.

Denise said...

Greg,
It's so great to see you upright! I guess our prayers were answered for now. Onto the next prayer. I 'm glad you finally got some relief for your pain. (Reading all these "epidural gone wrong" nightmares makes me thankful that I bypassed all that and had natural childbirth.)
How someone who just went through your surgical ordeal could care about football, I'll never know, but I guess it helps in your present condition to take your distractions seriously!
We'll keep praying that God keeps you in his care during your recovery. Tell Christine I am thinking of her and her painful ordeal. Love to you both.

Veta and Dallas Taylor said...

We thank the Lord that your surgery was a success. Can't believe that you watched some of the Cowboy game. We continue to prayer for your quick recovery.
Dallas and Veta Taylor

Georgan said...

Prayers have been answered for the success of the surgery and the diminishing of that pain-bear!
Glad Sir Koff-alot has taken over in that area!
Blessings and love,
Tom and Georgan Reitmeier