Arrangements for my brother, have been made. For those reading this blog, please pass them along to others who may need them.
All services are to be held at Evans Funeral Chapel on Harford Road in Parkville, Maryland
Viewings are Tuesday, July 1 from 3:00 Pm - 5:00 PM and again from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
The service will be held on Wednesday, July 2 at 11:00 AM, also at Evans
Graveside service will immediately follow the service at Gardens of Faith Cemetary (on Lillian Holt Drive).
Christopher's death notice will be placed on the website www.evansfuneralchapel.com
Because the obituary that we wanted to run may not actually run, I wanted to place it here for friends and family to have and forward:
Christopher Nicholas Hodorovich, 35
Chris was born on July 17, 1972 to proud parents Nicholas Dickinson Hodorovich and Judith Marie Hodorovich. Chris was born in Dayton, Ohio, moved with his family throughout the east coast, growing up predominantly in Chalfont, PA. Here he attended Unami Junior High School, and graduated from Central Bucks West in 1990. After high school, Chris began employment in the food services industry, working his way through the ranks into upper management. He began his career with Ruby Tuesdays Incorporation. Through his promotions, Chris moved to New Jersey and then on to Parkville, Maryland. Chris continued his career with Uno’s Chicago Grill after moving to Waldorf, Maryland.
Chris lost his battle to colon cancer on June 27 at 12:20 PM, but not after fighting valiantly for 18 months. Chris is preceded in death by his mother, Judith, and is survived by his loving father, Nicholas, his brother and sister-in-law, Darren and Sandy Hodorovich, two nephews, Corey and Jared, and his devoted sister and brother-in-law, Jennifer and Robert Ray, and his best friend Kip and his family.
Chris was a devoted life-long Baltimore Orioles fan, and Disney enthusiast.
Chris will be best remembered for his heart of gold and his unique sense of humor. No matter what the situation, he thought of others and did for others first. He could make people laugh with his odd sense of humor. His greatest dreams were to be able to go to Disney World with his family and help others. His dreams were fulfilled.
Chris, you are loved and will be missed more than you could ever have imagined.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the American Cancer Society.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Phase I is Complete
The first part of inserting the “pain pump” into my brother was completed on Tuesday morning. This involves putting the tube into his back between his vertebrae that the actual pump will be hooked up to. The second phase of the procedure to hook up the pump is still planned for tomorrow morning; however it is a tentative plan right now as my brother continues to rock between being in pain and being fairly looped up on the various concoctions of medications they are giving him. They have yet to figure out the “perfect balance.”
Right now the nursing staff is encouraging him to walk around more to both test his mobility as well as get him moving and not just sleeping all of the time; however he is still groggy much of the day. The only times he seems to not be groggy are the few moments between when the medicine is about to wear off and when the pain begins. His oncologist has previously said that with these pain medications the body actually has to adjust to them and after a while he will be able to function with them with less grogginess – here’s hoping that happens sooner than later!
As of right now, the plan is that he will be released this weekend, but as always, one day at a time because each day brings different news, last night they were thinking it wouldn’t be until later next week, and today they are back to saying this weekend!
A great big thanks to Tammy for keeping Chris’s kids (kittens) fed and loved during his extended stay away, and to Kristen for being the “ray of sunshine” last night with your visit. Makes me want to start singing “You are my sunshine” but then I would have to start routing for LSU – right Jeff?!?
Right now the nursing staff is encouraging him to walk around more to both test his mobility as well as get him moving and not just sleeping all of the time; however he is still groggy much of the day. The only times he seems to not be groggy are the few moments between when the medicine is about to wear off and when the pain begins. His oncologist has previously said that with these pain medications the body actually has to adjust to them and after a while he will be able to function with them with less grogginess – here’s hoping that happens sooner than later!
As of right now, the plan is that he will be released this weekend, but as always, one day at a time because each day brings different news, last night they were thinking it wouldn’t be until later next week, and today they are back to saying this weekend!
A great big thanks to Tammy for keeping Chris’s kids (kittens) fed and loved during his extended stay away, and to Kristen for being the “ray of sunshine” last night with your visit. Makes me want to start singing “You are my sunshine” but then I would have to start routing for LSU – right Jeff?!?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Relay and No Radiation!
While this past weekend was spent with friends doing fun things – it was still another packed weekend – I am very excited for this coming weekend where we have no “out of town” visits planned – we can simply relax in our own relaxing way – i.e. spend time with friends on Saturday and the rest of the time get caught up around the house – and hopefully be able to find some little flowers to plant for my front stoop container garden (based on timing and cost – most likely only impatiens this year - next year I will get "fun with flowers" again!)
Friday night was the Cockeysville-Timonium Jaycees Relay for Life. It was fun – great to hang out with friends, and the irony of the location – to actually not talk about cancer for a few hours! I did set up my two luminaries – one in memory of mom and one in honor of Chris. We only stayed for a few hours and then headed to meet some friends for dinner and drinks before heading home to get some much needed sleep.
Saturday we were up early to pack and head to Salisbury to help their Jaycees with the Chicken Festival and then on to a night in Ocean City where Jeff was gracious enough to host us for the night! Funny, after leaving the chicken festival Rob and I both said that we didn’t want to even look at chicken for quite some time – so when we went to Harpoon Hanna’s in DE, we ordered wings – doh!!!
As for Chris, he continues to be at Hopkins as an inpatient. They are not foreseeing a release until later this week. More tests have been completed and we are beginning to get some answers though every one answer tends to raise more questions. They are starting to get his pain under control but every now and again he is having “pain attacks” – requiring higher doses. I think right now we could stop a rhinoceros with the amount of medication he is on. But, his best friend and family were able to make it down from PA this weekend to see him which helped raise his spirits some and I think helped him set a “fight resolve” a bit more!
Previously we were looking at radiation in his back specifically to reduce the pain so he could function and potentially not be in the wheelchair / scooter for mobility assistance. The concern with the radiation is that it would either delay the clinical trials and/or make him ineligible for some of them. Well, for good or bad, radiation has been ruled out as an option for the same reasons that it cannot be used for the rest of the cancer – even within his back region – the cancer has spread too much for the radiation to be of much use. On Friday / Saturday the doctor’s were considering a procedure where they would go into his back and deaden his nerves to the pain so that he simply wouldn’t feel it – again, the spread of cancer is too great to deaden that many nerves, and the preference is to not do the procedure if it will not work effectively enough. So, the current plan is to implant a “pain pump” into my brother’s back that will release the pain medication directly to the area where it is needed. He will also have a button to release higher does if necessary, which will also be placed under his skin. This will eliminate the need for the extent of the oral medication which was getting out of hand. The next steps continue to be the same – figure out which is the better option, clinical trials at Hopkins or see what CTCA has to say in Philly.
We also continue to look for apartments in the Parkville / White Marsh area that will allow my brother to keep his two cats (Palmer and Calvin – yes, he is a HUGE Orioles fan!) as well as provide ADA accessibility and be close enough that I can get there within a short period of time to help out with various items including any emergency visits to Hopkins since calling 9-1-1 would only put us at the wrong hospital and transfers between hospitals seem to be next to impossible to complete. The search continues!
Friday night was the Cockeysville-Timonium Jaycees Relay for Life. It was fun – great to hang out with friends, and the irony of the location – to actually not talk about cancer for a few hours! I did set up my two luminaries – one in memory of mom and one in honor of Chris. We only stayed for a few hours and then headed to meet some friends for dinner and drinks before heading home to get some much needed sleep.
Saturday we were up early to pack and head to Salisbury to help their Jaycees with the Chicken Festival and then on to a night in Ocean City where Jeff was gracious enough to host us for the night! Funny, after leaving the chicken festival Rob and I both said that we didn’t want to even look at chicken for quite some time – so when we went to Harpoon Hanna’s in DE, we ordered wings – doh!!!
As for Chris, he continues to be at Hopkins as an inpatient. They are not foreseeing a release until later this week. More tests have been completed and we are beginning to get some answers though every one answer tends to raise more questions. They are starting to get his pain under control but every now and again he is having “pain attacks” – requiring higher doses. I think right now we could stop a rhinoceros with the amount of medication he is on. But, his best friend and family were able to make it down from PA this weekend to see him which helped raise his spirits some and I think helped him set a “fight resolve” a bit more!
Previously we were looking at radiation in his back specifically to reduce the pain so he could function and potentially not be in the wheelchair / scooter for mobility assistance. The concern with the radiation is that it would either delay the clinical trials and/or make him ineligible for some of them. Well, for good or bad, radiation has been ruled out as an option for the same reasons that it cannot be used for the rest of the cancer – even within his back region – the cancer has spread too much for the radiation to be of much use. On Friday / Saturday the doctor’s were considering a procedure where they would go into his back and deaden his nerves to the pain so that he simply wouldn’t feel it – again, the spread of cancer is too great to deaden that many nerves, and the preference is to not do the procedure if it will not work effectively enough. So, the current plan is to implant a “pain pump” into my brother’s back that will release the pain medication directly to the area where it is needed. He will also have a button to release higher does if necessary, which will also be placed under his skin. This will eliminate the need for the extent of the oral medication which was getting out of hand. The next steps continue to be the same – figure out which is the better option, clinical trials at Hopkins or see what CTCA has to say in Philly.
We also continue to look for apartments in the Parkville / White Marsh area that will allow my brother to keep his two cats (Palmer and Calvin – yes, he is a HUGE Orioles fan!) as well as provide ADA accessibility and be close enough that I can get there within a short period of time to help out with various items including any emergency visits to Hopkins since calling 9-1-1 would only put us at the wrong hospital and transfers between hospitals seem to be next to impossible to complete. The search continues!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Disney World - HodoRay Style!
After much advice from friends including giving it out myself as well to my own sister by heart - I think I had better keep up with this blog if for nothing else than to save my Verizon minutes - especially considering we are still on a limited budget after three months!!!
The Hodorovich - Ray family did what we never thought we would do - go on a real family vacation - not just the overnight trip to Atlantic City where we all slept in the car overnight (when it was still legal) to "shower" by jumping in the ocean the next day! We went on a real honest-to-goodness vacation. And, we all have my husband to thank for the planning (ahh...the irony that he did the planning!), and my own firm for coming through with the funds up front to pay for the trip (though re-payment is looming!!!).
The trip was planned because all my brother has ever wanted was to take a family trip to Disney World - no small task for a family that has never taken real family trips - but my "honey" made it happen. Last Monday, after much doubt since my brother had been in the hospital a week before, we all boarded the airplane. All being a total of 8 - my oldest brother and his wife and two children (almost 2 and 7), my brother Chris, my father, and my husband and I. We were certainly the eclectic group. The trip was great. Except for my brother Chris and my sister-in-law, none of us had been to Disney World (well, my father had stopped by the year it opened when he had a few spare moments in FL between missions - but shhh...I'm probably not supposed to know that!).
Anyway, we headed out on Monday, saw Animal Kingdom that night, and went on our whirlwind tour of Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios, Disney Boardwalk, Downtown Disney, Typhoon Lagoon and the All-Star Resorts over the next 6 days. Being the ever-vigilant amateur photographer as I am (yes Kristen - I was entirely "TOO MUCH" this vacation), don't worry I took nearly 1,000 photos that we will be downloading and opening our home for a cookout / Disney slide show soon (figure August / September!).
While we were there, and thanks to connections through my college friends and Rob's contractor friend - we were able to receive many perks including priority seating at Fantasmic, at Illuminations and a very much sought after Reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table (did you all know that she is my favorite - blue and silver now have a meaning to you - think back a year and a half to a wedding!!).
Anyway, as seems to be the way these days until we can figure out how to get a bigger umbrella to cover ourselves from the cloud, we ended our vacation much as we began it - with uncertainty and a visit to the hospital.
For those unaware - one week prior to leaving, I drove to Waldorf to bring my brother up to Hopkins - however we were not able to make the trip - he was just not in a good enough condition - so we stopped at Southern Maryland Hospital. As I have shared with some close friends from that night- if you ever have a valued possession - I will certainly take care of it for you. See, I was trying to get Chris admitted through the ER as quickly as possible - he was having difficulty breathing and was in pain (the cancer has spread through his abdomen and affected lymph nodes are also in his back which we believe is the route of the pain - if you have ever had a pinched sciatic nerve, imagine that pain tenfold and constant). He did collapse in the ER waiting room and started retching. I got him rolled onto his side, but in the fall, his favorite Baltimore 's hat had fallen off and was now under his mouth - as is the case in situations like this, I focused on the random - all i could think about was moving that hat out from under his mouth - don't worry - I succeeded and saved the hat!
Anyway, after several days in the hospital, some doubt about him making the trip - he convinced all of us that he would make the trip because it was important. Well, all was well for the trip - Chris was able to make it out 6 of the 7 days to hang out at least for a few hours with the family. Sunday into Monday he was having difficulties and on Monday morning, the day we were to head back to Baltimore, we were instead heading to Florida Hospital - Celebration Village in an ambulance. Chris's pain had increased in combination with him not monitoring a very elaborate pain medication system (12 hour pills, 6 hour pills, 3 hour pills, 5 hour pills - even for the AR-OCD such as me it would have been a bit much!). He was released from the ER that evening and we returned to the hospital where Disney had comped our rooms for free because that is the class-act organization that they are.
We got new flights for the following day, arriving back in Baltimore after midnight. Wednesday I had set the appointment for my brother at Hopkins so that we could get everything checked out and look into a new pain management program as well as determine if it was in fact the cancer pushing on his back causing the problem. Wednesday morning he was in bad shape again so I took him in earlier than planned where he is currently admitted at the Hopkins Weinberg center. The silver lining is that this is probably the best place yet as the team has all of his records and know all of his medicines as they are the ones who have been treating him for the past 18 months. Currently they are trying to set up a new pain management plan - one that does not require "pill-popping" since he is not capable of monitoring that, and one that will actually get him to a comfort level that he can function. The next steps are to determine the source of the pan - if it is in fact cancer as everyone believes, then the next steps will be radiation for in his back. Radiation can not be used overall as his cancer is too wide-spread and the danger to the healthy cells and the side-effects far outweigh the benefits for non-tumor cancer (i.e. his cancer is spread throughout his lymph nodes in his entire abdominal region and he has recently developed nodes within his lungs as well). If the radiation works then it will alleviate the chronic pain and will hopefully boost his spirits to keep fighting harder. Of course, the radiation will eliminate him from some of the clinical trials that we have been researching lately, and will prolong his involvement with any other clinical trials - but having quality of life is more important at the moment.
As always - more questions than answers...but for the interim, he is in the best place possible at the moment, the next steps...manage the pain, find the cause, hopefully treat the cause, re-research the clinical trails for eligibility if radiation is used (he was only eligible for Stage I as it is - which is right out of the labs and into humans), look into Cancer Treatment Centers of America, talk with Jeff and get all legal paperwork resolved.
So, with the end of this post, I promise I will try to send out more updates as they become available - and it is not that I mind the phone calls, but trying to remember everyone that I have told, who need to know what, and still get my other daily tasks done (like actually work!), well, I invariably forget someone along the way - so please don't think that with this blog you can't call, can't ask questions - it's just going to be easier for me to keep everyone updated this way than any other!
And, I would be very remiss if I didn't thank some very special people who helped while we were "stranded in Disney" - first and foremost Peggy and PC for taking care of our "kids" so we had nothing to worry about (PS - we think you spoiled them very much - we have never seen them so mellow!!), Paul for coordinating so much and being there for his brother even just to say hi!, Cia for always being a leader a shoulder and mostly a friend, Kristen for getting the ball rolling with the right connections so that we had so much while in Disney, Katie and Mike for making things happen in Disney, Marie and Jessi for believing and helping the magic happen - and of course for being the women who inspire me and are always there for me, and of course, as always, my firm - for making things happen and understandings when the craziness takes over!
Good night - and never doubt that dreams do come true, sometimes we just need a little pixie dust - and some amazing friends to help us believe along the way!
The Hodorovich - Ray family did what we never thought we would do - go on a real family vacation - not just the overnight trip to Atlantic City where we all slept in the car overnight (when it was still legal) to "shower" by jumping in the ocean the next day! We went on a real honest-to-goodness vacation. And, we all have my husband to thank for the planning (ahh...the irony that he did the planning!), and my own firm for coming through with the funds up front to pay for the trip (though re-payment is looming!!!).
The trip was planned because all my brother has ever wanted was to take a family trip to Disney World - no small task for a family that has never taken real family trips - but my "honey" made it happen. Last Monday, after much doubt since my brother had been in the hospital a week before, we all boarded the airplane. All being a total of 8 - my oldest brother and his wife and two children (almost 2 and 7), my brother Chris, my father, and my husband and I. We were certainly the eclectic group. The trip was great. Except for my brother Chris and my sister-in-law, none of us had been to Disney World (well, my father had stopped by the year it opened when he had a few spare moments in FL between missions - but shhh...I'm probably not supposed to know that!).
Anyway, we headed out on Monday, saw Animal Kingdom that night, and went on our whirlwind tour of Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios, Disney Boardwalk, Downtown Disney, Typhoon Lagoon and the All-Star Resorts over the next 6 days. Being the ever-vigilant amateur photographer as I am (yes Kristen - I was entirely "TOO MUCH" this vacation), don't worry I took nearly 1,000 photos that we will be downloading and opening our home for a cookout / Disney slide show soon (figure August / September!).
While we were there, and thanks to connections through my college friends and Rob's contractor friend - we were able to receive many perks including priority seating at Fantasmic, at Illuminations and a very much sought after Reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table (did you all know that she is my favorite - blue and silver now have a meaning to you - think back a year and a half to a wedding!!).
Anyway, as seems to be the way these days until we can figure out how to get a bigger umbrella to cover ourselves from the cloud, we ended our vacation much as we began it - with uncertainty and a visit to the hospital.
For those unaware - one week prior to leaving, I drove to Waldorf to bring my brother up to Hopkins - however we were not able to make the trip - he was just not in a good enough condition - so we stopped at Southern Maryland Hospital. As I have shared with some close friends from that night- if you ever have a valued possession - I will certainly take care of it for you. See, I was trying to get Chris admitted through the ER as quickly as possible - he was having difficulty breathing and was in pain (the cancer has spread through his abdomen and affected lymph nodes are also in his back which we believe is the route of the pain - if you have ever had a pinched sciatic nerve, imagine that pain tenfold and constant). He did collapse in the ER waiting room and started retching. I got him rolled onto his side, but in the fall, his favorite Baltimore 's hat had fallen off and was now under his mouth - as is the case in situations like this, I focused on the random - all i could think about was moving that hat out from under his mouth - don't worry - I succeeded and saved the hat!
Anyway, after several days in the hospital, some doubt about him making the trip - he convinced all of us that he would make the trip because it was important. Well, all was well for the trip - Chris was able to make it out 6 of the 7 days to hang out at least for a few hours with the family. Sunday into Monday he was having difficulties and on Monday morning, the day we were to head back to Baltimore, we were instead heading to Florida Hospital - Celebration Village in an ambulance. Chris's pain had increased in combination with him not monitoring a very elaborate pain medication system (12 hour pills, 6 hour pills, 3 hour pills, 5 hour pills - even for the AR-OCD such as me it would have been a bit much!). He was released from the ER that evening and we returned to the hospital where Disney had comped our rooms for free because that is the class-act organization that they are.
We got new flights for the following day, arriving back in Baltimore after midnight. Wednesday I had set the appointment for my brother at Hopkins so that we could get everything checked out and look into a new pain management program as well as determine if it was in fact the cancer pushing on his back causing the problem. Wednesday morning he was in bad shape again so I took him in earlier than planned where he is currently admitted at the Hopkins Weinberg center. The silver lining is that this is probably the best place yet as the team has all of his records and know all of his medicines as they are the ones who have been treating him for the past 18 months. Currently they are trying to set up a new pain management plan - one that does not require "pill-popping" since he is not capable of monitoring that, and one that will actually get him to a comfort level that he can function. The next steps are to determine the source of the pan - if it is in fact cancer as everyone believes, then the next steps will be radiation for in his back. Radiation can not be used overall as his cancer is too wide-spread and the danger to the healthy cells and the side-effects far outweigh the benefits for non-tumor cancer (i.e. his cancer is spread throughout his lymph nodes in his entire abdominal region and he has recently developed nodes within his lungs as well). If the radiation works then it will alleviate the chronic pain and will hopefully boost his spirits to keep fighting harder. Of course, the radiation will eliminate him from some of the clinical trials that we have been researching lately, and will prolong his involvement with any other clinical trials - but having quality of life is more important at the moment.
As always - more questions than answers...but for the interim, he is in the best place possible at the moment, the next steps...manage the pain, find the cause, hopefully treat the cause, re-research the clinical trails for eligibility if radiation is used (he was only eligible for Stage I as it is - which is right out of the labs and into humans), look into Cancer Treatment Centers of America, talk with Jeff and get all legal paperwork resolved.
So, with the end of this post, I promise I will try to send out more updates as they become available - and it is not that I mind the phone calls, but trying to remember everyone that I have told, who need to know what, and still get my other daily tasks done (like actually work!), well, I invariably forget someone along the way - so please don't think that with this blog you can't call, can't ask questions - it's just going to be easier for me to keep everyone updated this way than any other!
And, I would be very remiss if I didn't thank some very special people who helped while we were "stranded in Disney" - first and foremost Peggy and PC for taking care of our "kids" so we had nothing to worry about (PS - we think you spoiled them very much - we have never seen them so mellow!!), Paul for coordinating so much and being there for his brother even just to say hi!, Cia for always being a leader a shoulder and mostly a friend, Kristen for getting the ball rolling with the right connections so that we had so much while in Disney, Katie and Mike for making things happen in Disney, Marie and Jessi for believing and helping the magic happen - and of course for being the women who inspire me and are always there for me, and of course, as always, my firm - for making things happen and understandings when the craziness takes over!
Good night - and never doubt that dreams do come true, sometimes we just need a little pixie dust - and some amazing friends to help us believe along the way!
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