gSx-LeX
10-16-2009, 01:31 PM
Fellow DSMTalk member and long-time DSMer Wendy Pate, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In true DSM community fashion, help has been pouring in throughout the community to help her finish her vision and realize her dream of a 10 second pass (FWD). Here is some background information of her situation, written by her husband, Brad Pate......
Official "Get Wendy into the 10's " Thread (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217628)
DSMTalk Raffle for Wendy (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2195927)
There is a lot to be said about Wendy. She has been down a long rough road. I would never discount anyone else's lives but I will tell her story.
Wendy was born December of 1973. Grew up in the little town of Wilmington, NC and lived center of the city. She enjoyed the automobile from a young age. Wendy's father showed their customized van. That was big back then. When she was 13 years of age she lost her father. At this point in her life she was devastated. Like most girls, she considered herself "Daddy's Little Girl." Wendy truly loved her Dad. At this point, Wendy and her mother were broke. After several months of grievance, Wendy's mom "Susie" decided that she needs to be the backbone of the family. Susie put herself in college when Wendy was still in High School. Wendy's mom beat the statistics to become a Registered Nurse and has been for many years. There is also a lot to say about Wendy's mom. If you get the opportunity to meet her. You will love her, she is just as pleasant and funny. Wendy was lucky to have her as a Mother!
Wendy and I met at an early age, we have a 18 year old. You do the math. heh. We have always been in the car scene! It started as show cars that transformed into a true passion for a fast car to beat the other GUY. We have owned many cars to include a lowrider truck with a dump bed, 93 Dodge Avenger ( show car), 99 Dodge Neon ( show car), 95 eclipse GST in 95. It was the hotness!!! We hated the idea of voiding a warranty so we moved to cars that were paid for. Then the TRUE DSM LOVE came about. Wendy got her own 91 eclipse GST. It was alittle rough around the edges but that's why she wanted it even more. RIDICULE??? FWD??? What are you thinking? She was asked. She just smiled. I went off and bought a 90 Eagle Talon AWD..replaced the 3 bolt and it was on. This car was beautiful. It was bought for her.She didn't want to hurt my feelings so she raced it and did a best of 11.8 @ 115 , 1.56 60'. Oh, I was impressed. This was back in 2003-2004. She had a true love for her FWD so we sold the car. Her best was 12.1 @114, 1.69 60' in her FWD. These times for both the AWD and FWD were on big 16g turbo's. She CAN drive!
Here is where it all starts to change. Wendy got pregnant and we were so excited to have our 3rd and final child. Late in her pregnancy we found out that our baby had cleft lip and would need surgery. After Brayden was born we have made numerous trips to UNC Chapel Hill for his consults. His surgery went exceptionally well. After months we noticed his head was flat in the back, "Plagiocephaly". Bray wore a helmet for 6 months, each week going to Chapel Hill to have areas scraped out of the helmet so his head would grow in that direction. This was draining us!!!
After I was going through a buy/sale of the dealership I ran, I was laid off. At this point we lost all health insurance. This is where our treatment and doctors visits started to deteriorate. For some time before Wendy was diagnosed with cervical B1 she had lots of pain but no one could find out what it was. We didn't have insurance! This remarkable doctor at the community health center really showed Wendy compassion. Dr. Bajnah sent Wendy to have a MRI, this lead to a CT scan which lead to detection. The tumor was the size of a softball. Treatment started at the Zimmer Cancer Center in February of this year. She was treated with chemo and radiation. We thought everything was fine, until our trip to Jersey. She was in a lot of pain and didn't tell anyone other than me. Wendy wanted to enjoy the Showdown at Englishtown and didn't want to ruin it for anyone else. Our trip home was excruciating for her. Pain, throwing up, feeling horrible. We went to the hospital on return to find out that it had traveled through her lymph nodes to her liver. During this time between the new cancer she was working to get the car back together. It was pulled out of the garage and panel were pulled, replaced, sanded. She was working toward a clean car this go round. You guys will make that happen. Thank you!!!
Official "Get Wendy into the 10's " Thread (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217628)
DSMTalk Raffle for Wendy (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2195927)
There is a lot to be said about Wendy. She has been down a long rough road. I would never discount anyone else's lives but I will tell her story.
Wendy was born December of 1973. Grew up in the little town of Wilmington, NC and lived center of the city. She enjoyed the automobile from a young age. Wendy's father showed their customized van. That was big back then. When she was 13 years of age she lost her father. At this point in her life she was devastated. Like most girls, she considered herself "Daddy's Little Girl." Wendy truly loved her Dad. At this point, Wendy and her mother were broke. After several months of grievance, Wendy's mom "Susie" decided that she needs to be the backbone of the family. Susie put herself in college when Wendy was still in High School. Wendy's mom beat the statistics to become a Registered Nurse and has been for many years. There is also a lot to say about Wendy's mom. If you get the opportunity to meet her. You will love her, she is just as pleasant and funny. Wendy was lucky to have her as a Mother!
Wendy and I met at an early age, we have a 18 year old. You do the math. heh. We have always been in the car scene! It started as show cars that transformed into a true passion for a fast car to beat the other GUY. We have owned many cars to include a lowrider truck with a dump bed, 93 Dodge Avenger ( show car), 99 Dodge Neon ( show car), 95 eclipse GST in 95. It was the hotness!!! We hated the idea of voiding a warranty so we moved to cars that were paid for. Then the TRUE DSM LOVE came about. Wendy got her own 91 eclipse GST. It was alittle rough around the edges but that's why she wanted it even more. RIDICULE??? FWD??? What are you thinking? She was asked. She just smiled. I went off and bought a 90 Eagle Talon AWD..replaced the 3 bolt and it was on. This car was beautiful. It was bought for her.She didn't want to hurt my feelings so she raced it and did a best of 11.8 @ 115 , 1.56 60'. Oh, I was impressed. This was back in 2003-2004. She had a true love for her FWD so we sold the car. Her best was 12.1 @114, 1.69 60' in her FWD. These times for both the AWD and FWD were on big 16g turbo's. She CAN drive!
Here is where it all starts to change. Wendy got pregnant and we were so excited to have our 3rd and final child. Late in her pregnancy we found out that our baby had cleft lip and would need surgery. After Brayden was born we have made numerous trips to UNC Chapel Hill for his consults. His surgery went exceptionally well. After months we noticed his head was flat in the back, "Plagiocephaly". Bray wore a helmet for 6 months, each week going to Chapel Hill to have areas scraped out of the helmet so his head would grow in that direction. This was draining us!!!
After I was going through a buy/sale of the dealership I ran, I was laid off. At this point we lost all health insurance. This is where our treatment and doctors visits started to deteriorate. For some time before Wendy was diagnosed with cervical B1 she had lots of pain but no one could find out what it was. We didn't have insurance! This remarkable doctor at the community health center really showed Wendy compassion. Dr. Bajnah sent Wendy to have a MRI, this lead to a CT scan which lead to detection. The tumor was the size of a softball. Treatment started at the Zimmer Cancer Center in February of this year. She was treated with chemo and radiation. We thought everything was fine, until our trip to Jersey. She was in a lot of pain and didn't tell anyone other than me. Wendy wanted to enjoy the Showdown at Englishtown and didn't want to ruin it for anyone else. Our trip home was excruciating for her. Pain, throwing up, feeling horrible. We went to the hospital on return to find out that it had traveled through her lymph nodes to her liver. During this time between the new cancer she was working to get the car back together. It was pulled out of the garage and panel were pulled, replaced, sanded. She was working toward a clean car this go round. You guys will make that happen. Thank you!!!