Papaw's Story

The following story is the first of several to come about people's stories of cancer. Some of these stories are from survivors, others are about those who fought but succumbed to the disease. All of these people had different battles, meaning some dealt with the disease for years, for others the outcome was very decisive. Some are still fighting today.

Again, I am doing this two month campaign before I compete in the Ironman Longhorn triathlon on October 25th in Austin, TX. It is my intention to encourage hope, honor those families who have fought or are fighting cancer, and raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. You can make a donation at: http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/paulaslinlonghorn09

This is the story of my grandfather, Tom Aslin, or Papaw as I called him.

My Papaw was a big man, not physically, but rather, in his personality. (I am 5'9, 150 lbs., and he made me look big.) He always had an enthusiastic greeting for everyone he talked to and he had a special gift of making you feel like you were the most important person in the world. One of the things I remember most about his cancer fight was how this gift was prevalent even up to his death. Papaw was diagnosed with lung cancer in early December of 1997. The cancer was the result of asbestos exposure after years of working for a manufacturing company. This type of cancer is very hard to detect and it's almost always fatal. Papaw was told he had less than 6 months to live.

I remember going to visit him to pick onions from his garden with my brother. He came outside to talk with us while we picked onions. Granny tried to get him to come back inside and he said "No, I want to stay out here with these boys." He made us forget he had cancer that day and we felt like the most important people in the world.

Papaw was always cold-natured. (He was probably the one who gave me the idea of sleeping with an electric blanket on my bed jacked up to the highest setting in the middle of summer.) I had bought him one of those "World's Greatest Grandpa" sweatshirts to give to him, but I never got the chance. Papaw died on a Monday, March 10th, at 10AM. He came home, told my Granny to call 911 because he has having a heart attack, sat down in his chair, and then he died.


I could tell 100 stories about my Papaw. Not only did we live with them for a while, we also visited all the time, went on vacations with him and Granny, and I have special memories of spending time with my Papaw in the mornings before he would take me to footbal practice. My Dad would drop me off on his way to work. I spent about 30 minutes each morning at the guardhouse where my Papaw worked before football practice was to start. He would tell me stories, play games with me, and deliver his big greetings, making everyone he came into contact with feel like they were the most important people in the world. I could tell 100 stories, but I chose to tell this one.


I asked my Dad to share how he coped and to give any advice for those dealing with cancer right now.

Here is what he said:

"After we knew he had cancer we spent many days talking with him about his life and if he had any unresolved issues he wanted to talk about. We gave him as much time and support as we could during this time. We had a hospice nurse who would come by and check on him and mother, and she was so kind and insightful about the end of life. We coped with this by lots of prayer and being open with our feelings with each other.

My advice for someone who is facing any cancer disease is to remain hopeful and prayerful. Make peace with yourself, God, and your family. Fight the disease with all available tools both medical and spiritual."


Please continue to check back to read training updates and more cancer stories. Thank you to my Dad for his words of advice and information on this post. Thank you to Granny for being right there with Papaw for over 50 years.