He lost the battle, but he won the war!

The Battle is Over


Jack passed away Thursday November 19th at 5:00 AM. The week before he took a quick downturn and by Sunday we had to take him to the emergency room. While there the doctors consulted with the Docs at the UW, and it was decided that the best thing to do for Jack was to keep him comfortable. After a good night at Harrison Hospital he was transported to Hospice Care Center. The people there were wonderful and took wonderful care of Jack.


Our family was there with him most of the few days he was there. Mae arrived from France on Wednesday and was able to say her goodbyes.


It was a hard time but a good time knowing that Jack was out of pain and ready to see the Lord in person.


We are grateful that he didn't suffer and that now he is truely in a perfect body.


Can you hear him singing and laughing?


We will miss him terribly, but we know he is in a much better place.

LIFE IS NOT ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS.

IT'S ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN.

Jack Leslie Ford

May 25, 1942 - November 19, 2009

“Our wonderful Jack has gone to be with the Lord – He lost the battle, but won the war”

Jack Leslie Ford passed away peacefully at Hospice Care Center on November 19, 2009 after a difficult battle with a malignant brain tumor.

He was born May 26, 1942 in Coraopolis, PA to John and Mae Ford. He worked many years for the U.S. Government as a computer programmer.

Jack was a member of the Hansville Community Church, the Washington Old Time Fiddlers, and Kitsap Wood Turners Guild. He was a founding member of Poulsbo’s “Church of the Checkered Past”. He enjoyed turning and carving wood and camping with his family.

He is survived by his wife Karen, brothers, Jeff (Sue) Ford of Kent, and Don Ford of Seattle, his twin sister, Jean Ford of Poulsbo and sister, Mae Ford-Hellemans of Puget, France and his best friend, his dog, Bailey.

Donations in Jack’s name may be made to Hansville Community Church or “Royal Family Kids Camp” through Christ Memorial Church in Poulsbo.

You can shed tears that he is gone,

Or you can smile because he lived,

You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back,

Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see him

Or you can be full of the love that you shared,

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,

Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember him and only that he is gone

Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on,

You can cry and close your mind be empty and turn yourback,

Or you can do what he would want:

smile, open your eyes,love and go on.


The entire family thanks each of you for your thoughts and prayers during the past 10 months. We will each do as Jack would have wanted and journey on to the next adventure.

November 2009

Can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. Sorry to you all.
We've had a long Autumn season with Jack. It appears that after all the radiation, it is taking his brain some real time and effort to heal itself. Both his mental and physical being have been set back. My theory is that his brain is working really hard to get it's syntax's reconnected, so it just doesn't have alot of time for the everyday things. However, just in the last week Jack has seen some great strides in his recovery and everyone is encouraged. Of course, now that the fog is clearing, he is mighty aware of his situation and it is frustrating to him, to say the least. He is tough and determined.
He is having physical therapy two days a week, occupational therapy one day, and speech therapy one day. This is a pretty busy schedule for him. I take him for the physical therapy sessions and his sister Jean takes him for the occupational and speech. We are very happy with his therapists and have seen much improvement.
Happily, sister Mae returned from France for another 4 weeks in September and October. Love that great cooking! While she was here, she and Jean took care of Jack for 5 days while I went to Moclips out on the coast and spent a few glorious and SUNNY days in a beautiful condo where I slept alot and read and walked on the beach. I came home much refreshed. Thank you Jean and Mae!
So now we wait and work with Jack and pray that the improvement we are seeing will just keep on getting better and better. With this type of radiation and chemo they say it could take up to two years for a total healing. We are hoping it won't take that long, but if it does, that is OK also. We just keep waiting and praying for the old Jack to come back.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Once again - sorry to be so long in posting. The summer has kept us busy with travel as well as trials. I went to Royal Family Kids Camp in July where we ministered to 36 hurting children from the Foster Care system. This was our 17th year. Hard to believe but every year is better and more fun than the last.
At the end of July we took our new trailer and travelled to Kittitas, Washington (just outside of Ellensburg) where we attended the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Workshop for 5 days. This was during the hottest days on record for the state of Washington. The classrooms were air conditioned, but the auditorium and outside were scorching hot. We had a good time in spite of it and really enjoyed our new 20 foot trailer.
Our next trip was to Centralia where we camped out at the Centralia Oldtime Campout. There we enjoyed 6 days of oldtime fiddling, etc and reunited with many friends made there over the years. Jack doesn't play, but he loves the music and people.
Next week we are off again to Scenic Beach State Park in Seabeck. This will be just the two of us. We are looking forward to peace and quiet and solitude. Lot's of naps and reading.
Due to a couple of falls and some memory and comprehension issues, Jack had another MRI two weeks ago here in Poulsbo. The good news is that the tumor has shrunk and looks to be much more compact. The peripheral is no longer spread out. However, the jury is still out on his other issues. It seems to be a form of dimentia, but it seems to be getting a little better every day. We will see the chemo doctor on September 3rd to discuss the possibility these issues are derived form the chemo treatments. Meanwhile Jack's sister and I continue to keep him busy and active doing brain exercises. He is sleeping alot and hopefully this is giving his brain time to heal.
Once again - Thank You to all of you for your prayers and well wishes.
We will beat this thing!!

Another Trip & Update

Yesterday we went to the UW for an appointment with Jack's Chemo doctor. According to the lab in Silverdale Jack's platelet counts were over 100,000 and high enough for him to start some chemo again. When his doctor got the blood tests back from the UW the count was much lower, and he, of course, will use the numbers from his lab. So, once again, we were disappointed but understand that the doctor gets to make all the BIG decisions. Now we will wait two weeks and return the the UW for an MRI and blood draw.
Meanwhile, Jack continues to feel better. His "brain" is working much better, but his energy level is still down. Maybe he just needs some excitement in his life. This weekend we are off to Sequim for some serious fiddle music. That should help.
We did have 5 wonderful days at the ocean. Slept alot, but the weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed the change of scenery. And it was great to be with the family for a couple of days. Everyone had a good time.

Follow-up Visit

On Thursday we travelled to the UW via our usual car-ferry-car route. It was a beautiful day. We went with high expectations of finding out how much Jack's brain tumor had changed in the past month. He did a blood draw, had an MRI and then a visit with our Chemo Doctor. We were glad to hear that his white blood cells are finally in a safe zone. His platelets are still climbing, but still not great. The MRI showed that his brain is still healing after all the radiation and the doctor could not really tell yet how it is doing except that the tumor is still there.
We had a good discussion with the doctor and understand that Jack will continue the chemotherapy as long as is needed to keep the tumor at bay. However, this treatment will not start until his bone marrow is back in full force. He will likely be taking the oral chemo 5 days on and 28 days off in higher doses that before. The good thing is that Jack has tolerated the chemo quite well, so hopefully it won't slow him down too much .
We were disappointed in the findings, but grateful to know that Jack has lots of good years left in him. Right now we are digesting the information and making an effort to get back into the "swing of things" here at home. We are looking forward to our trip to Moclips and family reunion at the end of May and a summer full of camping fun and fiddle camps.
Once again - Thank you to all of you for your prayers and well wishes.
I will continue to post as we find out any new information.

Finally - At Last!

Jack finished his radiation treatments on Monday and we are very glad. The only bad thing that happened was that we were so looking forward to a celebration but did not get home until 7 PM. There were several glitches in our day such that he had the final doctor consult at 5 PM. We were so exhausted when we got home that even the champagne didn't help much.
Today is Thursday and he is still fatigued beyond reason. The doctor said it could take up to 4 weeks for him to get back to any kind of "normal". Problem is that after all our great adventures, we are not sure what normal is.
Also, his platelets are not going up yet so we are still going to Silverdale everyother day or so for blood draws. Each time we hope it has gotten better. We will keep going until they really start to grow.
We had planned a trip to the coast next week, but have cancelled. Can't see spending all that time and $$ for travel and a condo when he can relax more here at home and know that he is safe. Maybe even I can get something done around the house. It was not a hard decision.
Meanwhile, thank you once again for your prayers and kind thoughts and gifts. We have been truely blessed by you all. Please continue to keep us in your prayers until Jack completes his recovery.
We have a appointment on April 30th for an MRI and consultation with his Chemotherapy doctor to discuss any further treatments. Until then, we are on medical "sabbatical".

Good News!

As of yesterday, Jack's radiation treatments are back on track. He had another platelet infusion as well as his radiation treatment. Today he had his 26th radiation treatment and his platelets are looking pretty good. If all goes well his last radiation treatment will be on Monday and our travels will end for a while.
I am off today for a 5 day art trip to PortTownsend and back on Sunday. Jack's sister Mae will accompany him to radiation treatments on Thursday and Friday. Both sisters are looking forward to spending some real sibling time over the next few days. This is a good thing for all of us. I'm hoping to return home refreshed, and with lots of great projects in mind.