Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Granby man finds solace by helping others It was in 1999, when Ames was between jobs and on a beautification project in Santa Monica Beach, that he hurt his back. He said he had parked his truck just outside a construction zone and, after he climbed out to open the gate, somehow the transmission slipped. The truck rolled forward, pinning him against the gate and fracturing his back.
After several surgeries and intense physical therapy, Ames said, he regained the use of his legs. Almost 10 years later, he said he only occasionally has pains in his legs and requires the use of a cane. He credits his wife with being “the rock of the family” during his recovery, citing her radiant smile and high spirits as what kept the family’s spirits afloat. It was in early 2002 that Laura found out she was pregnant again. The couple made an appointment to see a doctor. The doctor confirmed that Laura was pregnant. The doctor also said she had found a tumor attached to Laura’s pelvic bone. ‘She never lost faith’ Laura Ames was diagnosed with liposarcoma in the abdomen, a rare form of cancer. Her husband said that by the time she died in October 2007, she was basically “carrying 30 pounds of tumors.” She had to lose their unborn baby, he said. The child could not withstand the aggressive radiation and chemotherapy to come. Laura would undergo surgeries and months of treatment. For a time, the cancer retreated. That was when the family decided to move from California to Granby, near Frank Ames’ godmother, in early 2005. But shortly after their arrival, Laura was summoned back to California. Tests taken just before the family’s departure showed a new tumor the size of a small watermelon growing on the left side of her body. Despite another surgery, her cancer was diagnosed as terminal. Over the next two years, family and new friends would rally to their support. They found a new church in what would become New River Family Fellowship, of Wentworth, and a guide in the Rev. Charlie Brown. Brown said that as a pastor, he has been around a number of people facing death, and he has never met anyone like Laura Ames. “(Cancer) is not a very forgiving illness,” he said. “She was able to conduct herself without complaining, without wavering in her faith in God.” Led and inspired by her, the Ames family would go on. When Laura began to lose her hair again from the chemotherapy, she had the hair plucked from the back of her head to form a smiley face. When Frank Ames would become “too negative,” Laura would cut him off. She kept working — this time in the student loan department at Ozark Christian College — up until a few days before she died. The family took in foster children. They remained involved in the church. 
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