Julie Pinho

I lost my Julie yesterday.  She passed away peacefully in the hospital at 2:57 pm yesterday.  She had a stroke in July of last year, and since then, we've been to the ER, hospital numerous times and many doctor appointments.  She developed many complications that resulted in a few operations for bilateral nephrostomy tubes for her kidneys, a Pacemaker, an internal blood filter, and a long list of medications.  Early on, they discovered five masses and recently was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer, a tumor that had spread into surrounding organs.  It was determined to be Inoperable and incurable.  We were scheduled for chemo treatment next week, hoping to give her some more time.  But it was progressing so aggressively and starting to cause her much pain.  In the past few weeks, it was getting much worse.  Thursday this past week, she was too weak, she couldn't move to get up anymore, and pain meds weren't helping anymore.  So, 911 went back to the ER and into the ICU with serious complications.  They tried treatment to control her condition, but unfortunately, it wasn't working.  It was too much for her body to recover from, and her pain was unbearable.  For the last 24 hrs, they gave her as much pain medication as they could, and finally, the night before, it seemed to relieve most of the pain, and she went to sleep, allowing her to pass comfortably and peacefully.

She did not want a formal funeral or burial.  So I am using this platform to acknowledge her life and her courage to try to push this.  Yes, she was too young (53) to leave so soon.  We have been together for almost 21 years.  We have one daughter together, Rachelann, whom we are very proud of.  She will be 20 on the 10th of this month.  She graduated two years early and has two-plus years of a college education.  Julie was born in Newark, NJ, on November 11, 1969.  Her parents, Anthony and Maureen Pinho of NJ., are deceased.  She has another daughter, Jessica, 30, in  Alabama and a younger brother Thom in NJ.  We met in the Ohio/Michigan area while I cared for my father after he suffered a heart attack.  I loaded them up and brought them both, or I should say all three of them (Rachel was in the oven), here to Amarillo, where we have lived ever since.  We have been through a lot over the years, we lost our house on December 23 this past year to a devastating fire, and we lost everything, barely making out alive.
I was just very thankful at the time to still have her then.  She has been a great mother, and I was very blessed to have her in my life, and we have a lot of great memories together.  She was my best friend; I loved her dearly and will miss her very much.
I love Julie, and I always will.  God bless you, sweetheart, and I promise I will see you when I get there.