|
|
|
|
November 2008
November 2001
|
January 2008 I became the web master for Rich's
Carpet Cleaning. I worked on web pages
and flash animations as a hobby. One day I was sitting at a
restaurant enjoying an Italian dinner with Frank. Frank was doing
the web site for Rich and was able to get a page rank of 2 in Google. I
was touched that Rich purchased the meal and I wanted to see if I could
help him increase his page rank. I gave his website a new look and
started to use more backlinks. His rank increased to a 4. I was so happy. Rich wanted to pay me for all my
work. But I told him that I would need a favor one day.
It was a summer evening and my back and stomach was hurting so bad that I wanted to go to the emergency room. Rich had prior appointments to go out with his wife. But his wife and him came to my house within 5 minutes of me calling him and rushed me to the hospital. They did several test but could not find anything. The pain was still there. I went to my private doctor and he had bone scans done. They were clean. About 2 months later I started to have trouble breathing. My lung was filling up with liquid. The hospital drained two litters of liquid from my lungs. And it was determined that I have cancer for the third time. Franks eyes were so sad. They did test on the liquid and more bone scans, x-rays and things I have no idea how to spell. But the day before thanksgiving I was told that I have cancer of the lungs and bones. It is a stage 4. Rich is only 2 minutes away from my house, he checks up on me almost every night to make sure that I am ok. and that I have eaten for the day. This is a sign of a good friend who goes the extra mile for you. Hopefully I will be around for a long period of time. Signed Doris Raia ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 4, 2008 I don't have a ledger of my life. One of my goals is to set up a web page describing what I have done. Having cancer for the third time made me realize that people don't really know who I am. November of 2001, I just graduated from the Chubb Institute. Me and my girlfriend always teased each other that besides graduating with a diploma from Chubb we both gained an additional 20 lbs. But I had my certificates and I was going to look for a new job. Looking in the IT field to work on networks. But no one would hire me because of the lack of college and being in my late forties. Being depressed about the situation I spoke with my sister. She owns a non-profit organization the http://www.msnucleus.org. She was doing a project in Eritria / Africa and needed 20 computers to be connected to a server. I hadn't been close to my sister in decades. She lived in California and I lived in NJ. So basically my dad asked my older sister to hire me to do the project. I was terrified going out of the United States to a country that was poor and did not speak much English. My sister talked me into the adventure. This adventure has changed the way I think and feel toward life. When I arrived there, my sister was busy with meeting and asked one of the girls to keep an eye out for me. She was 18 and what I thought was a little overweight. Not many people are overweight in this country. She was with me helping me set up the computer lab. Moving computers, desks, cleaning the room. She never complained and she always had a wonderful smile on her face. The girl impressed me so much on the last day we had to show everyone the new computer lab. One of the computers failed. The blue screen of death. I was shocked and now I'm nervous that I could not have the system up and running for my sisters presentation which was in 4 hours. Salam did not speak English that well, and told me not worry and she would fix it. She watched me put all the other computers together and took notes. She got the computer up and running for the presentation. I was so impressed with this young girl. I asked her for her email address so I could send her letters when I got back to the states. After returning to the states I sent a few emails to her. But did not receive any replies. About two weeks I received an email from her husband telling me she just had a baby girl. I didn't even know she was pregnant. In their culture she could not leave her house for several months after the baby is born. So her husband - Hagos started to send me emails telling me the progress of the family. We found that we had computers in common. He had a dream one day of owning a computer and maybe even having a internet cafe. We sent emails several times a day. I even sent one of my old lap top to him. Then he started to ask more questions about computers. So I sent more books and other pieces of equipment. Eventually I asked him how much it would cost to get his A plus certification. The price of the classes was more than what he made in a year and he could never save that type of money. I told him that I would loan him the money. He tried so hard he received the best grade in the class and they haven't seen anyone work that hard before. He had the top score. When he graduated I told him that his loan to me was paid, to use his education to better his family. He started to fix computers on the side and he made a name for himself. He saved all the money that he made from the side job. He eventually got a internet cafe and now his dreams have come true. We send emails to each other every day. He is not a rich man, but he helps people who need food. We have been friends for eight years now, and I have never talked or seen him. We only know each other through the internet. Hagos is like a brother to me. From all the emails we have sent over the years it opened my eyes on how lucky I am. Some people would think I was unlucky having cancer for the third time. But I feel that I am luckier than most because I realize if you have done some good being on this earth then life has meaning. December 20, 2008. They will be giving me chemo once a week. It will take several weeks before I start seeing any results. So I basically go to work and just sit at my computer and do my work. December 23, 2008. The doctor advised the lung is starting to clear up and the blood work is looking positive. I told my father and he said it was the best Christmas present he received. Hearing that his daughter is getting better. March 6, 2009. The lung still has liquid in it. But I can breath. All my hair is gone but I'm happy to be alive, being classified as class 4, I will just take each day as a gift. Hopefully the chemo will do its magic. But if it doesn't, I had a good life. Every time I visit my father there is a tear in his eye. I wish he would understand that I was happy for the time I had and not to worry about if I will have time in the future. But he is a father, they always want the best for their children. I'm able to go on short walks now. I'm looking forward to the spring and hearing the birds play in my back yard. Just hope the neighbor cat doesn't look for the same thing. October 2, 2009. I'm still here and working. Have some hair but prefer to wear a baseball cap. Looking on the brighter side of life... enjoy what you have. May 29th, 2010 My friend Doris is battling Cancer Her friends and family will always Love and Support her. Rich
|
