Teh One Who Knocks
10-14-2013, 11:23 AM
By Tom Feran, The Plain Dealer
http://i.imgur.com/Rgfk4VS.jpg
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Scott Nagy thought a dad's promise ought to be kept. He kept his.
The cancer invading his body doesn't give him much time. A volunteer team of medical professionals gave him enough on Saturday to keep a vow to his daughter on her wedding day.
He made the crosstown trip by ambulance, from an intensive-care bed at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center to First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Strongsville. Monitor cords ran from under his charcoal tuxedo, and a tracheal tube loosened his tie.
His wife, Jean, fastened a boutonniere to his lapel at the church and gave him a kiss. Bride Sarah Nagy met him in the vestibule, burst into tears and told him she loved him.
"We did it," Nagy said with a reassuring smile, telling his daughter he was just a small part of her day and warning she'd streak her makeup.
Jacky Uljanic, the UH nurse practioner who turned wedding planner for the occasion, passed around tissues. Nagy kissed a rambunctious ringbearing grandson and gave a thumbs up.
"It was a promise I made in March, to walk her down the aisle," he said. "She's my princess. This is my definition of walking down the aisle."
Then, lying raised up on the gurney that carried him from the hospital, his gleaming black dress shoes pointing the way, he escorted Sarah to the altar to meet her groom, Angelo Salvatore.
"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" asked Pastor Chuck Knerem.
We do, Nagy responded, her father and her mother.
Family and friends who filled the church reddened their hands with clapping and their eyes with tears.
"There are no guarantees in life," Nagy said at the hospital. "This is a bonus."
Nagy, 56, of Brunswick, was diagnosed last November with metastatic urethral cancer, said his wife, herself a nurse practitioner. Chemotherapy slowed the cancer's growth, and Nagy was able to work full-time as an insurance claims adjuster until August.
The wedding, originally set for next year, was moved up last March.
"Somehow everything just fell into place for this date," Jean said. "It's almost like it was just meant to be. The first night at the hospital, Scott said, 'Just remember, I have to be at my daughter's wedding in October.' He was a big part of this. He was at the bridal shower. He went shopping for her dress. There was no way he was not going to finish this out."
Moving the date for a big wedding was a struggle, said Sarah, 24, who teaches at Brunswick High School. "But it is what I wanted since I was a little girl, for my father to escort me down the aisle. My future husband said, 'You will get your wish.' "
Nagy has been at UH since late August. Doctors were uncertain he'd have strength enough to make the wedding. But he was determined.
"After Scott told us his goal, he was our inspiration," Uljanic said. "It makes it all worth it."
She put him through daily therapy to build his strength for the event. She went to the church and met with the pastor to measure dimensions and plan logistics.
She and nurse practitioner Julie Ray, both volunteering their time, stayed with Nagy through the day, monitoring his condition and handling details down to fastening his shirt studs. With nurse Brigitte Gaspar-Smith and Dr. Nick Pesa, they rode with him to the church. Paramedics Andrew Gorman and Melissa Powell volunteered their services for the ride donated by Physicians Medical Transport.
So many details. His barber came to the hospital last week to trim Nagy's beard and hair.
"It's taken a lot of people," head nurse Laurie Joyce said. "He's done great."
"I love them all," Nagy said. "I'm very excited we're able to make this happen."
He stayed to the end of the afternoon service, watching much from the back of the church. Outside afterward, next to the idling ambulance, he received guests and posed for pictures with the family that includes sons Ryan and Brad.
"Kissing, kissing, kissing, kissing," a photographer said, giving unneeded instruction. "Nice."
Saturday night's reception would have been too much for him to attempt, so arrangements were made for him to deliver the traditional toast via Skype from his hospital bed.
Before his gurney was lifted into the ambulance for the ride back, Sarah asked what he planned to say.
"You'll find out," he said with a grin, his promise kept.
http://i.imgur.com/Rgfk4VS.jpg
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Scott Nagy thought a dad's promise ought to be kept. He kept his.
The cancer invading his body doesn't give him much time. A volunteer team of medical professionals gave him enough on Saturday to keep a vow to his daughter on her wedding day.
He made the crosstown trip by ambulance, from an intensive-care bed at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center to First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Strongsville. Monitor cords ran from under his charcoal tuxedo, and a tracheal tube loosened his tie.
His wife, Jean, fastened a boutonniere to his lapel at the church and gave him a kiss. Bride Sarah Nagy met him in the vestibule, burst into tears and told him she loved him.
"We did it," Nagy said with a reassuring smile, telling his daughter he was just a small part of her day and warning she'd streak her makeup.
Jacky Uljanic, the UH nurse practioner who turned wedding planner for the occasion, passed around tissues. Nagy kissed a rambunctious ringbearing grandson and gave a thumbs up.
"It was a promise I made in March, to walk her down the aisle," he said. "She's my princess. This is my definition of walking down the aisle."
Then, lying raised up on the gurney that carried him from the hospital, his gleaming black dress shoes pointing the way, he escorted Sarah to the altar to meet her groom, Angelo Salvatore.
"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" asked Pastor Chuck Knerem.
We do, Nagy responded, her father and her mother.
Family and friends who filled the church reddened their hands with clapping and their eyes with tears.
"There are no guarantees in life," Nagy said at the hospital. "This is a bonus."
Nagy, 56, of Brunswick, was diagnosed last November with metastatic urethral cancer, said his wife, herself a nurse practitioner. Chemotherapy slowed the cancer's growth, and Nagy was able to work full-time as an insurance claims adjuster until August.
The wedding, originally set for next year, was moved up last March.
"Somehow everything just fell into place for this date," Jean said. "It's almost like it was just meant to be. The first night at the hospital, Scott said, 'Just remember, I have to be at my daughter's wedding in October.' He was a big part of this. He was at the bridal shower. He went shopping for her dress. There was no way he was not going to finish this out."
Moving the date for a big wedding was a struggle, said Sarah, 24, who teaches at Brunswick High School. "But it is what I wanted since I was a little girl, for my father to escort me down the aisle. My future husband said, 'You will get your wish.' "
Nagy has been at UH since late August. Doctors were uncertain he'd have strength enough to make the wedding. But he was determined.
"After Scott told us his goal, he was our inspiration," Uljanic said. "It makes it all worth it."
She put him through daily therapy to build his strength for the event. She went to the church and met with the pastor to measure dimensions and plan logistics.
She and nurse practitioner Julie Ray, both volunteering their time, stayed with Nagy through the day, monitoring his condition and handling details down to fastening his shirt studs. With nurse Brigitte Gaspar-Smith and Dr. Nick Pesa, they rode with him to the church. Paramedics Andrew Gorman and Melissa Powell volunteered their services for the ride donated by Physicians Medical Transport.
So many details. His barber came to the hospital last week to trim Nagy's beard and hair.
"It's taken a lot of people," head nurse Laurie Joyce said. "He's done great."
"I love them all," Nagy said. "I'm very excited we're able to make this happen."
He stayed to the end of the afternoon service, watching much from the back of the church. Outside afterward, next to the idling ambulance, he received guests and posed for pictures with the family that includes sons Ryan and Brad.
"Kissing, kissing, kissing, kissing," a photographer said, giving unneeded instruction. "Nice."
Saturday night's reception would have been too much for him to attempt, so arrangements were made for him to deliver the traditional toast via Skype from his hospital bed.
Before his gurney was lifted into the ambulance for the ride back, Sarah asked what he planned to say.
"You'll find out," he said with a grin, his promise kept.