As many of you know by now, our father Paul Ludwig III, found out he has Stage 4 Adenocarcenoma cancer in May of this year. There is a lot of information that only immediate family members are aware of, but this information needs to be passed onto friends, family and anyone whose life has been touched by Dad.
Dad had a slight cough that he suspected was bronchitis back in May. After a PT scan, they found cancer throughout his body. The Oncologist explained that this is irreversible, terminal, and chemotherapy will not stop this cancer. Dr. Sherwood put his head down in a meeting with our family and said, “I’m sorry.”
Mom and Dad were run over by a train.
Mom and Dad were run over by a train.
What many of you do not know is approximately three years ago, Dad's retirement pension from Metro Transit Police Department in Washington, D.C. was reduced from $2800.00 a month down to only $770.00 a month because of a flaw in the disability pension. This flaw in the retirement was addressed years ago by my father who questioned the department. The senior benefits representative of the department wrote a letter to my father stating, “Your retirement will never be reduced, you will keep your pension along with cost of living increases for the rest of your life. Don’t believe what you are hearing, I’m the one who disperses the pension checks each month and you will never be reduced.” Needless to say, his pension was still dramatically reduced, and the benefits department stated, “Sorry, but we made a mistake.” He immediately took this letter to the department and demanded his retirement be reinstated. They agreed this was wrong and was a major flaw in the pension plan, but said there is nothing they can do. He demanded the department reinstate his pension or he would contact a lawyer and take legal action against them to correct their mistake. The department replied “Sue us.” This pending lawsuit has been going on for over two years now, and for almost the last three years, he has been receiving only a $770 pension check per month. This was the first train that crushed my parents.
They were forced to sell their home of 16 years in Deep Creek Lake under market value so they would not have to lose it to foreclosure. They moved into Paulie's basement so they could survive this financial crisis. Six months ago, Mom and Dad went from never making a late payment, to filing Bankruptcy. They were devastated.
After finding out about his illness, he contacted his lawyer to ask the department to speed up their civil case, taking into account the terminal prognosis of his disease. After this request, they received a letter in early July from the department that stated the mediation hearing is set March of 2011 (Next Spring!!!). They are delaying on purpose knowing how dire his situation is. As you can sense we are infuriated with what the department has done to him.
Within a month of reducing his pension, our father met with the Chief of Police who became irate when he was enlightened to what happened to Dad's pension and stated, “No! That’s not right! We will take care of this right now!” It wasn't something that could be taken care of then. The Chief's hands were tied since it was a contractual issue. That meeting was two and a half years ago. NOTHING was ever taken care of by Metro. The FOP Union was also contacted and all parties agreed that this is a major “Wrong” in the pension, unfortunately their hands were also tied at that point. Metro is dragging its feet hoping that my dad will just go away. Paulie still has to work for this department, and it makes us sick that they will let “one of their own” suffer like this. And on top of this ongoing financial injustice, they found out he may only be on this earth for a few more months, and are still dragging this on instead of rectifying the situation. This entire situation has left our family shocked in disbelief.
Our father has always been a very proud man and would give the shirt off his back to even a stranger. This financial stress and discovered illness has just about killed him. He does not want to die. He does not want to leave his loved ones. But he is in tremendous pain at different times throughout the day. He is fighting and wants to fight. He told us the other day the he does not want to let anyone down if he cannot fight this fight any longer. He is more concerned with his family and friends and how they are dealing with this than he is for his own well being.
In mid-June he could barely breathe and was passing out from pressure in his chest. He was suffering from a pericardial effusion (fluid around his heart) which would not allow him to get sufficient oxygen. This triggered a 911 call which eventually sent him into emergency surgery. A chest tube was inserted to relieve the fluid from around his heart. He was intubated and sedated and kept alive on a ventilator for 5 days. Dad survived this trauma when most would have not. Doctors were amazed that he came off the vent and was able to come home after going through these medical procedures. The family and friends that came to the hospital were amazing. There were so many people that came to see him and many stayed during the nights to hope to get to talk to him one more time. It was extremely emotional and moving for our Mom and us. Dad has been home with Paulie trying to get his strength up and trying to enjoy every moment that he has left.
After Mom and Dad got back from their consult in North Carolina, Dad seemed to be doing well. He was taking supplements and had altered his diet in order to push fresh fruits and vegetables that would help to detoxify his body. Things were okay for a few days, but then Dad's heart started beating erratically and very rapidly.
This caused another trip back to Mary Washington where they were able to identify the problem and put Dad on a new heart medication that would regulate his heart beat. He will have to be on this medication for the rest of his life.
Because of that complication, Dad delayed his "official" start of treatments for about a week. After being home and resting, they felt strong enough to take Dad back to North Carolina. Starting July 26, he was supposed to go for 2 weeks, and then rotate a schedule 2 weeks on, 1 week off for a total of about 10 weeks. He was only able to do the first week.
On Tuesday (July 27) of that week, Dad had another episode where he stopped breathing. He had not had one of these "fits" in weeks. The week was very hard for him and by week's end he had several more episodes. Paulie was on his way down there in order to stay a few days and then bring our Aunt Terry home with him. After seeing Dad, and being there for many of the episodes, Paulie made the decision to bring Dad back to Mary Washington Hospital to be treated.
Dad was in the hospital being monitored from Saturday, July 31 to this past Thursday, August 5. While in the hospital, Dad had many breathing treatments to help open his airways because his cough has gotten so persistent. He has not been sleeping well and the pain and discomfort from coughing and not being able to move around gives him pain in his back. On top of that, Dad has gotten jaundice and he has been retaining fluid which has been very uncomfortable.
On Thursday, August 5, Dad was released from the hospital. As far as the doctor's are concerned he is stable. There didn't seem to be any further spread of the cancer and the fluid around his heart has been at a minimum based on various tests they took while Dad was there. Mom has set up Hospice care for Dad and he has been resting and taking it easy ever since he returned home.
He is still in pain, but we are helping him to regulate it with medications and rest. There have been many visitors to the house, and many more to come. That brings us to today, August 8, 2010. We want Dad and Mom to enjoy their time together and take everything in. Dad gets very emotional when he hears how he meant so much to someone or how he influenced someone in their life. The outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, and strangers has been truly amazing. We know he has touched the hearts of so many in his lifetime we believe that he really is one of the richest people in this world.
Every day going forward will be taken one at a time. We will continue to fight with Dad as long as he fights.
God bless.
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UPDATE: As many of you know, Officer Ludwig passed away Tuesday August 10. He was surrounded by his family. He was in no pain and peacefully drifted off to sleep. All of his afflictions and ailments are no more, and he is with God.
On Monday August 16, we laid Dad to rest at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton, MD. It was a wonderful couple of days seeing everyone pour out their love and thoughts for Dad. We had a large family wake at Paulie's house and it was truly a celebration of life!
Our work is not done, our promise to Dad not fulfilled. Thank you all for your love and support.
God bless you all!
