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My cousin the cancer patient (many pics, long story)
My cousin Patrick found out a couple of weeks ago that he has developed ASPS, or Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_soft_part_sarcoma
Fortunatly Patrick has an excellent support system and we have wonderful family and friends that have been extremely supportive of Patrick. He will soon begin treatment at M.D. Anderson in Houston, which is one of the finest cancer care units in the world.
Mother's day weekend, my mom (patrick's aunt) flew down to Savannah where he lives and I rode down from augusta. Patrick was (and still is) in recovery from a very invasive biopsy, but he managed to get up on stage in Loco's in downtown savannah and play with his band. I took a bunch of shots of him playing and of my mom and his mom tearing up the dance floor, and everyone had just a wonderful time. Our family really needed to cut loose and let out some of the stresses that comes with facing the hard road of cancer treatment.
1. Here's Patrick doing his thing on stage:
For me, it is the first time I have truly faced my own mortality. Patrick is 28 years old and I am 30, we grew up together and he and my other cousins that age are my brothers and sisters, seeing as how my mom and dad had no more kids. While we have lost other older family members in the past to cancer (my grandmother and my oldest aunt), this has really hit home because it's our generation of the family and we are all very, very close.
2.
Me, Patrick and his girlfriend Anna (who has just been so inspirational and otherwise wonderful throughout this ordeal) have been discussing an idea that involves donating any profit that I make off of his prints toward a cancer patient care foundation in Savannah, one that helps out with patients that can't do things for themselves like drive to the doctor and whatnot. Pat and Anna are currently checking on local agencies in savannah that do this type of thing and as soon as she finishes her research i will update his gallery (and this post) with the info and the print pricing. It's amazing that he's still thinking about helping people even when his own life at risk. Any suggestions would be welcome. (note: this is not in place yet, so if you'd like to order and contribute to the cause, please hold off until we have the details worked out, thanks)
3.
Patrick has a CaringBridge page. If you feel so inclined, please stop by and read his story. http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewHome.do
You may show your support for him there or you may visit the guestbook on my website and leave him words of encouragement if you wish. www.gpphotos.net is my smuggy site.
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Full gallery here:
http://gpphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/4950528_6kCTC#P-1-15
so far I have only finished with about half of the pics that i took, so i'll post some more when i finished with all the post processing.
thank you very much for reading folks. As a side note, i'm not really interested in any constructive criticism of these photos. the lighting was REALLY awful in that bar and I did the best i could. Feel free to post comments about the photos if you wish...tell me what you like or dislike but honestly i'm too busy to go back and do any heavy reworking currently. thanks.
most of these were shot with the nikon D50, sigma 18-50 f2.8, nikon 105 f1.8 AI-S and the nikon 70-200 VR. the VR really helped after i had a few to drink that night
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_soft_part_sarcoma
Fortunatly Patrick has an excellent support system and we have wonderful family and friends that have been extremely supportive of Patrick. He will soon begin treatment at M.D. Anderson in Houston, which is one of the finest cancer care units in the world.
Mother's day weekend, my mom (patrick's aunt) flew down to Savannah where he lives and I rode down from augusta. Patrick was (and still is) in recovery from a very invasive biopsy, but he managed to get up on stage in Loco's in downtown savannah and play with his band. I took a bunch of shots of him playing and of my mom and his mom tearing up the dance floor, and everyone had just a wonderful time. Our family really needed to cut loose and let out some of the stresses that comes with facing the hard road of cancer treatment.
1. Here's Patrick doing his thing on stage:
For me, it is the first time I have truly faced my own mortality. Patrick is 28 years old and I am 30, we grew up together and he and my other cousins that age are my brothers and sisters, seeing as how my mom and dad had no more kids. While we have lost other older family members in the past to cancer (my grandmother and my oldest aunt), this has really hit home because it's our generation of the family and we are all very, very close.
2.
Me, Patrick and his girlfriend Anna (who has just been so inspirational and otherwise wonderful throughout this ordeal) have been discussing an idea that involves donating any profit that I make off of his prints toward a cancer patient care foundation in Savannah, one that helps out with patients that can't do things for themselves like drive to the doctor and whatnot. Pat and Anna are currently checking on local agencies in savannah that do this type of thing and as soon as she finishes her research i will update his gallery (and this post) with the info and the print pricing. It's amazing that he's still thinking about helping people even when his own life at risk. Any suggestions would be welcome. (note: this is not in place yet, so if you'd like to order and contribute to the cause, please hold off until we have the details worked out, thanks)
3.
Patrick has a CaringBridge page. If you feel so inclined, please stop by and read his story. http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewHome.do
You may show your support for him there or you may visit the guestbook on my website and leave him words of encouragement if you wish. www.gpphotos.net is my smuggy site.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Full gallery here:
http://gpphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/4950528_6kCTC#P-1-15
so far I have only finished with about half of the pics that i took, so i'll post some more when i finished with all the post processing.
thank you very much for reading folks. As a side note, i'm not really interested in any constructive criticism of these photos. the lighting was REALLY awful in that bar and I did the best i could. Feel free to post comments about the photos if you wish...tell me what you like or dislike but honestly i'm too busy to go back and do any heavy reworking currently. thanks.
most of these were shot with the nikon D50, sigma 18-50 f2.8, nikon 105 f1.8 AI-S and the nikon 70-200 VR. the VR really helped after i had a few to drink that night
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My Gallery
Canon Digital Rebel XTI, 430ex, sigma 24-70 f2.8 macro, a crummy kit lens, 4gb cf, and tons of batteries.
www.heatonphotography.net
http://picasaweb.google.com/heatonphotography
www.myspace.com/heatonphotography
Good luck with your project and my best wishes on a successful treatment for Patrick. May he play on and for a long time.
C.
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check out my (sports) pics: ColleenBonney.smugmug.com
*Thanks to Boolsacho for the avatar photo (from the dgrin portrait project)