Colonel now battles cancer (passed away 10-13-06)

pantagram.com ^ | Friday, August 11, 2006 | Brett Nauman

[Jet Jaguar]

Hey SandRat, Ping.

[nuconvert]

pong

[Larry Lucido]

Well done, Colonel. May you beat this and have many prosperous years ahead.

[Dog Gone]

Prayers for him and his family. Life ain't fair, and bad things happen to good people. It makes it all the more tragic.

[Wolfstar]

Within days, the family’s joy turned to sorrow as Spanton was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. Doctors later diagnosed him with cancer of the liver bile ducts and now say he has six months to live.

Oh man. Sometimes there is absolutely no justice in this world. Sigh.

Prayers for Col. Spanton and his family.

[TASMANIANRED]

Prayers offered...

[philetus]

“I feel lucky,” Spanton said this week as he draped an arm around the shoulder of his 9-year-old daughter, Megan. “I could have gotten killed while I was over there (in Iraq) and not gotten to say goodbye to my family."

You are a class act Colonel Spanton SIR.

[The Westerner]

Thank you, Colonel, for giving the best of your life to our country's.

[sten]

as someone that has seen the quality of the VA compared to the better commerical hospitals, my recommendation is get to a real hospital asap. the va docs we dealt with were worse then worthless when dealing with cancer.

personally, with all the va closings they are doing, i don't understand why the government just doesn't push a usservices hmo.. they'd be able to demand better rates and get the best treatment.

oh yea... and for the rest of you vets... if you are a vet, combat or not, you get full lifetime medical from the va regardless of the illness (they have been trying to keep that quiet since the mid 90s)

[butternut_squash_bisque]

(((crisp salute, sir!)))

[Eagles6]

Prayers for him and his loved ones.

[Prokopton]

It seems that the brave and the strong are often given the heaviest crosses to bear. Prayers that this patriot is welcomed home in glory and comfort for his family.

[Obie Wan]

You and your family are my hero's Colonel.God bless and get well !!!

[MamaB]

We just went through liver cancer with hubby who died on July 8th. He was told in May that he had cancer and had 3 months when they said 6-9. Chemo left hubby so exhausted that when we took him to his last doctor's appt., his bp was 66/42. We were told that if the tumor is less than 2cm that it can be cured but any larger, it is much harder. His was 8" x 5" x 5".

I wish him and his family all of God's blessings during this time.

About the same time hubby was diagnosed, a friend's daughter was told she had liver and pancreatic cancer. They have now called in Hospice to help care for her. It seems that liver and pancreatic cancers are the worst to treat. Hubby beat Hodgkin's many years ago. BTW, hubby was the 2nd one on our short street of about 8 or 10 houses to die of liver cancer. Two more had other fatal cancers.

[wizr]

May God bless Col. Spanton, his immediate family, and his service family. Thank you for all you have done. Keep on fighting.

[FairOpinion]

"U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton lived with the possibility of dying every day during the 32 months he served with Special Forces in Iraq. The Bloomington man was shot at by insurgents, sent to minefields to disarm explosives and once had a rocket-propelled grenade come within feet of ending his life.

After three tours of duty in the desert, the 50-year-old former ROTC instructor finally returned home to his wife and five children on Memorial Day.

Within days, the family’s joy turned to sorrow as Spanton was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. Doctors later diagnosed him with cancer of the liver bile ducts and now say he has six months to live. "

Prayers for him and his family. May God see fit to bless him with a miracle.

[jazusamo]

Thank you for your service Colonel Spanton and God Bless you and your family.

[Toidylop]

Well done, Sir. Prayer to our hero and his family.

[Pegita]

Unto You, O Lord, we return with profound gratitude that Col. Spanton can spend these precious days with his beloved family. May it be, Merciful Father, that these days will turn into many more months, for we fervently pray that Your healing hand would be upon him and that You would grant his family's deepest desire ... that he remain with them. Grace his medical team with wisdom beyond themselves, that they might ascribe his wellbeing to You, O Lord. Strengthen him physically, emotionally, and spiritually, that Col. Spanton could continue to minister to his family as husband and father.

We praise You, O God, that Your hand of protection has been upon this family through the hazards of his military career. May they approach each new day with renewed faith and hope, and answered prayer.

In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may it be thus, O Lord, may it be thus, Amen ...