SONNY SILVABy Barbara Silva In 1995 we were just your regular family, husband, wife, two kids (a boy and a girl), owned a small business with a few employees.  In March of 1995, our middle-class world was rocked, Sonny, my husband, and Jessica’s dad, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (stage 4 of 4 stages) at the age of 44.  Our lives were never the same.  Sonny was a loving husband and father, who was full of humor, laughter, physical and emotional strength.  He adored his family, and loved working in construction & Harley Davidsons.  He was an awesome cook. In fact he did most of the cooking for the family. Always cooked the Thankgiving and Christmas turkey and would even cook an extra to donate. He loved to BBQ for family and friends (the photo of Sonny in the t-shirt was at a BBQ party for our daughter, Jessica’s high school graduation ). Always cookin’ and always jokin’  That was Sonny.  In the beginning the cancer treatments weren’t too difficult.  He kept working as an underground contractor, and didn’t lose a single hair, but the cancer would eventually return more aggressively.  Over the course of nearly seven years Sonny received various forms of treatments: Chemotherapy (CVP, CHOP); monoclonal anti-bodies; Rextion; Radiation (on his spine), the list goes on and on…. In late 2002 he agreed to a bone marrow transplant at UCSF as his last chance of survival and possible a cure. He went for it. He faced his fears in hopes of living.   On January 7, 2003 all of our deepest fears came true. Sonny lost his battle with cancer. He died surrounded by the family he loved so dearly, including his 3 sisters who had flown in the day before, joining us in our vigil.    

I thank all of you for continuing the fight to find a cure and improved treatments so other families don’t have to go through what our family did.  While much progress has already been made, still more must be done.