State of Affairs at Kennedy Diesel

Some may have noticed my Forum participation has been a bit sporadic for a while and quite low as of late. My purpose for this post is to explain this a bit. Sales have been exceptionally high as have Tech calls which keeps me quite busy. We are also in the middle of a Family medical crisis. Initially Carol had been simply saying that I was gone to a "medical emergency" and naturally some people assumed it was me. The reality is that I am doing fine, it's my Dad that is having medical issues.


For the last year or so, I've been somewhat preoccupied assisting my Parents with their new property and plans to build their retirement home. Back in Dec 2005 my Dad had a mild stroke so I've also been working on assisting him with his Retirement under disability. After about a year of fighting I think we have finally gotten this resolved, but now bigger issues loom. Around Easter he started having severe headaches. He toughed it out until April 13 (yes Friday the 13th) when he went in to the Clinic. His blood psi was very high so they gave him a prescription and scheduled more testing. On Monday April 16 he had a MRI scan. Shortly after getting home from the appointment he received a call telling him to come back ASAP to be admitted as he had a brain tumor. On April 21 he had surgery to remove as much of this tumor as they could. On April 24th he was released. He is now home awaiting the lab report and direction of treatment. Throughout this ordeal I have taken the lead contact role as eldest son. It's been incredibly difficult to keep up with what is going on and very stressful. I think I have finally gotten through to his various Doctors that I have the Medial POA, and that Myself and my Brother are listed on the "Medical info disclosure" paperwork so that we can speak freely with the Doctors. What a PITA to deal with these guys.


What does the future hold? We won't know until his next appointment. For Myself, I don't think I'll be out at many events this year and many of my pet projects have been put on the back burner for now. I guess I'll just have to let my customers' trucks do my talking at the various events across the Nation.

I would like to thank you for being understanding. I haven't exactly been the friendliest guy on the phone (especially as of late) and I always duck order taking and refer people to our Web store. This way I can keep on the Tech stuff and Elaine and Carol can handle the order processing. That said, I remain the on the "front line" and answer the phone over 90% of the time. During the past few months I'm certain I have been excessively short at times with some people. Primarily EGR blocker questions (supposed to be self serve from web store) as there's no way that I could keep up with these calls without the web support and online ordering. I'd like to thank you for reading this and understanding. Thanks again. Getting this off my chest makes me feel much better.

JK

Best of luck with your father's medical issues. Thanks for keeping on the front lines while this is all going on.

The thoughts of myself and my family are with you and yours. Ed

I will say a prayer for your father, and to help you find peace in the middle of life struggles.

No God, No Peace. Know God, Know Peace.

Haven't had too many dealings with you, but last order was definitely pleasant.

My prayers are with your father and with you and your family.

We are with you John. I've been through brain surgery. It was ruff! But my family and God got me through it. Let us know if you need anything. I'm sure many here can and would help.
Praying for you and your's,
dave

Best wishes for you and your father, John. I hope all works out well.

John,
My thoughts and prayers to your Dad and to You and your Family.
I was just thru a crisis with my Dad, He was operated on before Christmas for Breast Cancer, he is 72 years old

God Bless

William

John,

Being in the medical field I can feel exactly what your frustration is.

Your Dad does not need to be doing anything but concentrating on getting better. He is very lucky to have a son like you to take care of his affairs.

Wish him well for all of us, and may God grant you unlimited patience in dealing with all the hurdles you must cross.

Mike Cooper

Best wishes for your father, for you, and for your entire family.

Dave

Sorry to hear that news, John...

I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.

Chris

John,
All the best to you and your family. I have had some family medical issues as of lately and know how tough it can be. You have the best Gm Diesel parts/customer service out there.... your exhaust from 2001 is still going strong on my crew cab...Thanks..Todd

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, John.

Thanks guys. Wednesday is the day. Pathology should be back, prognosis and treatment plan.

John, prayers are being said for your and your family.

Best of fortune to your dad after his bad luck.

They say family accompanyment (? just being there ) is as important as the medical technology.

John
Pat and I wish you and you're family the best and may your father's health improve as each day goes by. Our thought's and prayers are with you.

Please keep all of us informed.

Patience and stability are what makes sons like you a blessing.

Ponch

I'd like to thank you all for your concern and sympathy. I don't want to say too much here and burden with details, but I just thought I would give an update. My Dad is now undergoing Chemo and radiation. He is in relatively good spirits. He knows that statistically speaking the end is relatively near. Much too early as he just turned 60, but he has come to terms with it.

This is a great Community and the support has been overwhelming. It has also been particularly helpful to have Mdrag who is a Radiation Oncologist to turn to for simple, to the point answers without any dancing around.

My goal at present is to finish the "cabin" and figure out some sort of "facilities" so he can spend as much time there as he wants.

John,

My prayers are with you & your family, going through exact same scenario with my Dad & his colon cancer right now, I've found that prayer helps when nothing seems to, and humor when you can find it is uplifting as well.

John, our prayers are with you, your family and your dad. I know your pain and what you will have to go through. Been there done that. My dad left here a long time ago with cancer. Chances are so much better now for treating it. If by some chance he doesn't see improvement in responce to the treatment I'd suggest contacting M.D. Anderson in Houston. They are the best in the world at treating cancers of all kinds. Sure it would be inconvienent, but you still gotta try to have the best care available. I will offer rooms in my house for you and your family to stay in should you so choose to pursue that avenue of treatment. I'm only about an hour and twenty minutes from the Medical Center. Whatever you all choose to do, we are all with you. Remember all you can do is all you can do. Put it in God's hands and then follow your inner gut feelings as to what you should do, which you probably have already done, since you are trying to fix a cabin for him. I don't doubt that you could just mention when you would be working on the cabin and you'd be surprised how many folks might show up to help with the fixin.

ditto. I am sad for what you are going through John.:(

John, jsut found out about you and your dad. Know what your are going thru as I have had similar conditions with my parents this year. Good luck and your family are in my thoughts. Vince

Thanks again for the support guys. He's on his 3rd different chemo as the first two didn't do much. Down to grasping at straws.

We had been holding off on building our house as I'd be too involved in my Parents project. When theirs got postponed we started ours. Between the house build and medical appointments there just isn't much time left for anything...

John, we are very sorry to hear about your dad's illness. We will keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers. Please keep us updated. God Bless

First two types of Chemo were pretty much unsuccessful. Round three (the non FDA approved one) first checkup shows promise at slowing things down!

John

All our hopes for your dad.
We have had our brushes with cancer here too in past years.
No amount of words can help but rest assured that we are thinking about you and yours.

All our best

Robyn and Pat

I, too, just found out and I hope the best for your Dad.

Keeping you and your family in my prayers. My uncle is going through chemo himself. Initially they hadn't given him through the end of last year, but he seems to be responding to things well and they're extending his outlook. Although still terminal, he's going to have more time with his daughters and new grandchild.

My thoughs and prayers for your Dad and family. Hope things work out for him.
Take care of your self also.