Our Hearts Are Broken

Regrettably our brother Phil succumbed to cancer on 8/20/2008 AT 7 PM. The disease broke his body but never his spirit. He was a fighter right up to his last breath, and he bravely crossed the threshold of pain and suffering to go home to God. Though our brother is gone from our presence he will always occupy a place in our hearts. His quiet humor and gentle smile have left an indelible mark on our lives, for which we are truly blessed. We love you Phil and will miss you terribly.

Phil is resting more comfortably

Phil has contracted pneumonia. He had fluid drained off of his lungs and is on antibiotics. He is resting more comfortably but remains in intensive care. Hang in there Phil. You can beat this!

Pray for Phil

Phil is currently in distress and has been admitted to intensive care. We ask God to be with him and get him through this moment.

Phil, we are all with you in our thoughts. God bless you.

Strength in Numbers

Often in life we are a witness to some terrible tragedy or hardship that we, despite our best intentions and desires, can do nothing to change. We are left feeling completely helpless. Our family is faced with one of those situations now, with our brother Phil’s recent diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer. Compounding his diagnosis is a lack of health insurance. Despite how hard he has worked, Phil was put in the difficult position of having to make an economic choice of insuring himself or providing for the needs of his family. As a dedicated husband and father he chose the latter. He made sure to provide health coverage for his wife JoAnn and their three kids who are 7, 11 and 14 but neglected himself in order to meet the needs of his family.

This is truly one of those life experiences that we feel helpless to change. But then we got to thinking about “strength in numbers.” Individually there may be very little we can do for Phil. But collectively we can make a real difference! Phil is one of 8 children, each of whom has their own extended families consisting of a spouse, children, in-laws, friends, co-workers etc. When we try to visualize the web of people who know Phil, either directly or indirectly, the image is staggering in scale.

It's likely that if you are reading this then you are a component of that vast composite image. You are part of Phil’s network of strength – a link in the chain that bonds us all. As a part of that chain we are asking that you focus your thoughts for just a few moments on Phil’s healing. Prayer is very powerful and made even more so when done collectively behind a common cause. We ask that you please make Phil’s healing a cause in your life for just a moment, and then pass this on to the other members of Phil’s network – your family, friends, and co-workers and encourage them to comment here so so we can pass this support on to Phil. We know that he will be extremely grateful and strengthened by your prayerful thoughts.

Phil’s healing is our primary concern. The cost of his treatment and how to pay for it is secondary at best. If you are in a position to help with Phil’s medical costs we know that he would be grateful for any contribution.

Many Blessings to all!
written by: Joe McGinnis

Fightin' Phil McGinnis

This is a sample entry for the Fightin' Phil blog. Phil is fighting lung cancer that has metastasized into his spine and organs. We remain optimistic that he will beat this! You can do it Phil! God Bless!