Relay For Life Cancer Fundraiser

I participate in the relay for life event in honor of my father who was battling cancer and has hopefully beat it. My father was a man that almost never got sick, not even with a common cold. One day he was complaining of feeling sick and having pain in his back. We thought maybe it was a kidney stone but he said the pain was so bad we needed to take him to the ER. When we got there they sent him for a cat scan. When the doctor came back in he said "has anyone talked to you about cancer?" It was fathers day of 2012. They decided to remove the mass and do radiation on his lymphnode glands where the cancer had spread to. We thought this would be the best option so he wouldn't lose his hair and they said he wouldn't get sick. After his first day of radiation he came home and was sicker then a dog. This went on for a week until they finally gave him medicine. Then he finished radiation and we were so happy. We thought we were finally done... But we weren't. A few months later he had pain in his hip. The doctor ordered x-rays and cat scans and didn't find any thing. Then we went to a new doctor and they did a full check up since he wasn't familiar with my dad. He pressed on my dads chest and my dad felt a new pain he never felt before. This doctor ordered a cat scan of his whole body and found a mass the size of a softball in his chest behind his heart and in between his lungs. It was September 5th 2013. My mom then wanted a pet scan done of his whole body... They found cancer in his pelvic bone as well. They said they could not operate due to the size and location. So our option was Chemo. He had to go 1 full week with 2 weeks off in between. He started chemo and the first week went well other then losing his hair. The second week my dad got dehydrated and was throwing up a lot so we had to bring him to the ER. They gave him fluids to help rehydrate him and then he had his two weeks off. The next week of chemo on about Wednesday he started not to feel good. On about Friday he was in the doctors and passed out from dehydration again. His heart rate instead of increasing like normal decreased. They kept him in the hospital with fluids. The next chemo round we decided at the end of the week we would just bring him for fluids to try to prevent him from passing out. We brought him Saturday morning for them and when he went home he said he still didn't feel well. The next morning in the car on our way for fluids he says "oh no, I'm going to pass out" and he was out. I was in the back seat trying to wake him up while my mom drives faster to the ER. He finally wakes up when we pull up and tries to get out to get his fluids not remembering that he just passed out. They brought a stretcher out and brought him in. He spent another few nights in the hospital. Then his final round of chemo comes. The day before his last day he passes out again. He refused the last day of chemo and said I'm done with the chemo, No more. He spent a night there to get rehydrated and we went home until the next cat scan to see how he responded. The cancer was gone from his bone and the mass in his chest shrunk to the size of a golf ball and was considered inactive. Today he is in remission and they said if it doesn't come back within 5 years he is fully cured. We pray everyday!!!