On December 06, 1980 Candi and David Espinoza were married. Candi was nineteen and David was twenty one. Candi was the sole supporter of the family until David completed his college degree in computer science. When he landed a job in Salem, Oregon, as a computer programmer they were financially stable and decided to buy a house in Salem.
Early on in their marraige the couple decided they wanted to have children. On November 6, 1982 Candi gave birth to a healthy boy, Jacob. During December of 1983 Candi had a miscarriage and lost the baby -- sad day for the family. On December 22, 1984 Candi gave birth to another healthy boy, Matthew. The family was doing well -- everything was wonderful and full of promises.
David's side of the family lived in Gervais, Oregon -- a small town about eight miles north of Salem. His parents, brothers, and sisters all lived there as well except for one brother who was serving in the Air Force. Candi's side of the family, parents, one brother and sister, lived in Salem. The other sister was teaching in Oakridge, Oregon.
In the month of January 1987 while David, Candi, and their kids were visiting Richard and Julie in Gervais, David's dad wanted help remodeling his house. Candi and the kids stayed at Julie's house and David and Richard went to help their dad. Late in the evening about 6:00 p.m., Candi called David and complained about seeing double vision. Right away he drove over as fast as he could to pick her up. They headed to Salem Hospital Emergency Room.
Candi was really afraid and worried. Most of her lifetime she experienced headaches, but every time her mom, Elaine, would take her to the doctor, he would say the same thing over and over, "It's just a migraine take some Tylenol." This time there was a symptom that gave the doctor a reason to give Candi a brain scan. I, David, was worried sick and scared. On the way to the hospital I kept asking Candi, "Are you okay?" She kept responding, "Well, I'm still seeing double and my head is hurting." It was like falling off of a cliff and not landing yet.
We arrived at the hospital in about thirty minutes. We had to fill out information -- just normal emergency procedures, good grief. Candi and I both went in when the ER doctor examined her. He immediately said, "I think there's something going on in your head, I'll have to order a brain scan." I went back out to the waiting room while they took Candi back to the scan room. I waited nervously and many things went through my head, I didn't have any spit in my mouth and my breathing was shallow ... I knew I had to remain strong.
I waited for about an hour until finally the doctor came out and handed me the bad news. Candi had a growth that was pushing on her right eye's optic nerve. Candi was admitted to the hospital right away. The doctor explained to us that this growth had to come out as soon as possible. Our family doctor arrived at the hospital that night to examine Candi and to talk to us. He was quite honest and informed us that Candi could die.
The following day the neurosurgeon came and talked to us. He explained that he would remove as much of this brain tumor as he could without harming any delicate brain organs. We had heard that Dr. Buza was one of the best surgeons around and very successful. This made me feel a little better but not much better. It was very difficult and confusing for Candi to accept what was happening to her. She was very emotional and continued to be for the rest of the night. She kept saying, "God is with us ... I don't want to die." We had always been Christians, we went to church on Sundays, prayed regularly, and in general we were always nice to people ... especially Candi. She would bend herself out of the way to do things for relatives and friends.
As I lied there on the hospital bed holding Candi while she was crying, I kept saying to myself, why? You see these kind of things happen in movies and to other people, but never to us. We had everything going in life with our kids and our house and activities -- life was so much fun. It was one of the longest waits of our lives, waiting for the surgery to take place in a few days.
--- To be continued in Part II ---