Personal Stories
Elizabeth Clancy
In the words of her father, 23 year-old Elizabeth Clancy was "beautiful inside and out." She took gymnastics from the time she was three years old until she was eleven. A black belt in tae kwan do, she instructed in that martial art. She finished third in her high school class with a 4.0 average. She attended Colorado State University on scholarship and graduated in 1997 with a business degree. She worked 80-hour work weeks at a Houston investment banking firm; she was being groomed "to go places." Tremendous physical stamina fueled her accomplishments.
Elizabeth sought medical treatment in February, 1998 for right-sided chest pain which she associated with a minor traffic accident from the prior October. Her doctors removed approximately 500 ccs of fluid from the right pleural space.
Her condition worsened. Her doctors scheduled surgery to remove "scar tissue", which they believed resulted from trauma, from the right lung. Shortly after surgery began, Elizabeth's surgeon biopsied tissue for intraoperative frozen section analysis. After diagnosing mesothelioma, the surgeon removed Elizabeth's right lung.
Elizabeth and her parents searched for hope, for effective treatment, and found none. Elizabeth tried to work, to fight her disease. But she developed a violent cough, fatigue, and swelling in her abdominal region. Abandoned by an immature husband who could not handle the terrors of mesothelioma, she died in her parents' home at the age of 23.
She leaves her loved ones with unspeakable anguish. Hers is the picture of senseless loss, and a determination that such loss should never recur.
My Angel
By Diana Kuhn Clancy
There's an Angel up in heaven,
Who watches over me;
On earth she was my precious child,
Her spirit's now set free.
Her name's Elizabeth Anna,
My Angel up above;
Though cancer claimed her earthly form,
It could not take her love.
She filled my life with happiness,
And to my heart was dear;
So God now lets her be my guide,
My Angel, always near.
My Angel's smile lit up my world,
Her eyes were deepest blue;
Her beauty shone from in her heart,
A spirit kind and true.
Her faith was strong, she stayed the course,
Despite her growing pain;
She showed me how to live a life,
Where hope and goodness reign.
This child of mine, so sweet, so fair,
On loan from up above,
Expressed no bitterness toward God,
But her abiding love.
With swollen limbs and fading strength,
No longer could she stand;
So pleased to see her Master's face,
She reached to take his hand.
The golden halo she had earned,
Was placed upon her head,
When God leaned down to greet my child,
An Angel, now, instead.
I feel her arms embracing me,
Throughout my daily tasks;
She's by my side to lend a hand,
And in her love I bask.
I wonder why God wanted her,
Before he called for me?
She was so young and innocent,
And only twenty-three.
When grief and sorrow fill my heart,
And tears begin to flow,
My Angel whispers in my ear,
"Don't cry, someday you'll know."
Photograph, poem, and biography on Elizabeth Clancy courtesy of her parents and the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) Copyright © 2003 MARF.
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