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Copyright 2002 Sarah Wenstrand-Moore "To Mike, he loved & was loved." March 23 , 2007 As most of you know by now, Mike died on Tuesday, March 6. He was 36 years old. Below is the article that my wonderful friend and journalism mentor, Jan Haag, helped put together after listening to us talk about and remember just Mike two days after he died. It's long, so just keep on truckin' through it! (There will be a PDF version once my computer cooperates.) Michael C. Moore Calling himself a “professional cancer patient for now,” but always hoping to become a police officer, former Army M.P. Michael C. Moore died in Sacramento March 6 after an 11-year battle with Hodgkin's Disease. He was 36. Moore was born Aug. 24, 1970 , in Oakland , Calif. , and grew up in El Cerrito and San Leandro . He became a Boy Scout in 1981 and spent three weeks at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 1988 where he completed a 50-mile hike that led to his Eagle Scout award. His Eagle Scout project remains in use today at Lake Chabot Park in San Leandro —a picnic area Moore designed and constructed. A lifelong basketball fan, he played basketball for San Leandro High School , including a stint on a championship team in 1988. He graduated from San Leandro High in 1989. Moore entered the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 1991 . He worked as a military police officer and was stationed in Manheim , Germany , for two years. He was also stationed in Fort Bragg , N.C. , and served in Haiti . He was honorably discharged in 1996. Moore was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1995. He underwent his first bone marrow transplant at Stanford Medical Center the following year where his treatment continued throughout his life. “After the bone marrow transplant, we jokingly referred to him as the $6 million man because we figured that's what it cost—even though he didn't become better, stronger or faster,” said his wife, Sarah Wenstrand-Moore. Moore met Sarah Wenstrand through mutual friend Jeffrey Tudor in 1994. The couple exchanged letters for a year before Wenstrand moved to Fort Bragg , N.C. “He found out that he was diagnosed with cancer, and I graduated [from college] the same week,” she recalled. The couple married Nov. 27, 1995 , on Fort Bragg at the main post chapel. Wenstrand-Moore recalled her husband's perseverance, optimism and integrity. “He was always willing to test a new drug or be in drug trials anywhere in the country,” she said, noting that they had traveled to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York , among other places. “In Mike, his doctors had a brave, trusting patient, and he knew he had the best team of doctors. He was willing to undertake any painful, frightening, annoying, debilitating treatment in hopes of spending more time with us,” she said. His sister Molly Moore Reem noted his contribution to cancer survivorship. “What he did through nearly 12 years is more profound than any other job he could've ever done or any career that any of us could've had. He sacrificed himself for the betterment of his fellow diagnosed who were going to come after him and the treatments they are going to have to go through,” she said. Between treatments Moore enjoyed camping, fishing, running remote control cars, visiting friends and family. An article and photo about an RC car modified by Moore and his father will be published in the May 2007 issue of RC Car Action magazine. He was an avid Oakland Raiders fan and a Cal Bears football and basketball enthusiast who enjoyed teasing Stanford Cancer Center staff by wearing his UC Berkeley shirts and hats to the hospital. Moore sported a large biohazard tattoo between his shoulder blades, a testament to all the chemo, radiation and other toxic therapies he endured. Moore Reem called her brother a dandelion. “They tried to kill him, and then he'd come back. He'd blossom again. And he was loved by kids, too.” The Moores were involved with Planet Cancer, an Austin-based nonprofit organization for young adults with cancer. Last month, the Moores traveled to Texas to take part in the inaugural Planet Cancer young couple's retreat. Wenstrand-Moore hopes to continue her involvement with the organization. “He didn't like being known as the guy with cancer, but he had a lot of respect for others who also were affected,” she said. “It meant so much to Mike to be at that retreat.” Wenstrand-Moore said that her husband considered cancer his fulltime job. “I'd say from time to time, ‘You're not doing your job very well,' if he wasn't taking his medicine or being active enough. He'd approach his treatments at the infusion center with the attitude, ‘I may be having a bad day and this may be hard for me, but I'm not going to make anybody's job harder or day worse.' He was well liked there. The doctors and nurses were his extended social circle.” Wenstrand-Moore said she is thankful for the wonderful support of the many medical professionals, especially at Stanford and UC Davis Medical Centers. She added, “Even with all the medical and personal support he had, much of Mike's battle was fought by himself with sheer willpower and determination to live.” “A friend who served in the military with Mike in Germany said Mike did a lot of things none of us would consider because we would think them too difficult,” Wenstrand-Moore said. “Duane Bryant Willett, who we just visited in San Antonio , told me that Mike would have done his most recent job in Iraq much better than Duane had.” In addition to his wife, Moore is survived by his parents, Judy Moore and Harry Moore of Star, Idaho , and his sister, Molly Moore Reem of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Other survivors include brother-in-law Brett, niece Olivia and nephew Michael Reem of Minneapolis , Minnesota ; great-aunt Clare Day of Oakland ; mother-in-law Jackie Wenstrand of Turlock ; father-in-law Everett Wenstrand and Beverly Wenstrand of Hilmar , Calif. ; grandmother-in-law Della Boehnlein of Hughson , Calif. ; brother-in-law Michael Wenstrand, sister–in-law Helen Kamali and niece Lola Wenstrand of Los Gatos . A memorial gathering will be held in May. Donations may be made in Moore's name to Stanford Cancer Center (“Sandra Horning, M.D. research fund”) and Planet Cancer. -------------------------------------------------- A note from Sarah -------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone's asking me how I am doing and rightly so! My default answer has been, "better than I thought I would be, but also worse in some ways." Since Mike's body was in a compromised state for so long, I have previously gone through the emotions surrounding thoughts of him dying. But...he had come out of the hospital all the other times, so I learned not to write him off. Now it's been hard because he didn't get out of the hospital or return home to laugh with me, have Maggie in his lap, and sit in his chair (which was my Grandpa Wenstrand's chair, by the way). I miss him immensely. That's the toughest thing for me right now. It used to be that when we were apart if I missed him, I also would be missing his medical routine since I felt like one was intrinsically bonded with the other. Now, I just miss him. And I miss him deeply. All the time, not just when he crosses my conscious mind, or when I catch myself thinking of him as still alive. I know you all understand since you are missing him, too. He made me a better person. More easy to laugh, more creative, more loving. I'm thankful to have had over 12 years knowing & loving him, but it wasn't enough. It never would have been enough. Love, Sarah
Hope all of you are well. You can click a link on the left to email either Mike or myself. (If you don't want me to read what you send to Mike's address...just put "private" in the subject line somewhere.) |
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