Mike Pleshek
August 16, 1959 - December 4, 2010
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| Mike and Annette, as DeeDee and Bullmoose from Li'l Abner |
Mike is the husband of my sister's friend, Annette.
Annette had these words to say about Mike:
Mike had been having pains in
his spine area. We thought it might be
another disk - he had back surgery about 10 years earlier, and so he talked with
doctors. They originally thought the
same. Unfortunately, one pain management doctor told Mike that some of the problem may be emotional rather than
physical. Mike had an MRI and the person
looking at the results thought he "saw something that should be looked at
further". We then had an appointment
made with a doctor in Appleton and another scan was done. The scan showed a mass attached to his
pancreas in a very dangerous area. The
mass was lying across a main artery that cannot be moved or operated on. We then got a referral to see a doctor at the
University of Wisconsin Madison Hospital.
This doctor looked at the scans and told us Mike was not eligible
for surgery unless the mass was shrunk.
Then it would be a possibility, but not a guarantee.
Mike started chemotherapy in
June of 2010. The first round did not
shrink the tumor. Another round was
tried. Again, the tumor did not shrink
and eventually there was spreading of the cancer into his liver. Mike’s kidneys began to fail in
October, so he was put on dialysis. The
Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, we found out his kidneys were working on their own. We were thrilled. Mike was able to go deer hunting and see Jenna, our daughter, shoot her first deer on her first day of being eligible to hunt, with having been in the woods about 5 minutes. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Mike’s health deteriorated quickly. Mike died, December 4th, on his sister’s/only sibling’s 50th birthday with family with him.Mike had a very good sense of humor and was one who could and would befriend any person. When asked “How’s it going?” He would put his fingers on the pulse of one wrist and answer, “It’s still ticking!” He was a great musician and he played FREEBIRD as well/or better than professional guitarists. He wrote lyrics and music. Loved the 60’s and 70’s music – Led Zepplin; AC/DC; Lynard Skynard; etc. His favorite guitarist/singer/song-writer was John Prine. Mike used to say, “he sings in my key.”
Annette chose Mile 16 for Mike for his birthday, August 16th, and their anniversary, June 16th.
Make a donation in memory of Mike and others we have lost, those still fighting, and those who may one day be spared this fight because of what we‘re doing.
Give to make yourself a part of this historical effort.
Absolutely Beautiful!! Thank you for doing this Andrea!
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