Ronald Sams lost his battle with NF on August 17, 2003. He came down with it after surgery, for a GI peg tube on July 31, 2003. It wasn't discovered until August 7, and a debridement immediately followed. He underwent another debridement on the 11th, and by the 13th his right lung collapsed, and by the 17th he was gone.

He was admitted to the hospital following a biopsy for throat cancer. The peg tube was ordered for nutrition, as the plan was to do surgery on the throat. That was cancelled after a consult with oncology, and chemo was decided on. The irony of all of this is, the peg tube wasn't even needed, as the throat surgery was cancelled, and he was eating, until the NF was discovered. He never received anything by the way of the GI peg tube, except for the infection that set in, followed by NF. He ran a fever for a week before the NF was discovered. The cancer quickly became a minute problem as one doctor put it. If the (not called for) GI tube hadn't been put in, he would still be alive. He would of had to battle the throat cancer, but at least he would have had a chance.

I had heard of NF on TV, but never could I have prepared myself, my children, or my grandchildren, for this devastating a disease. Once it starts, there is no stopping it. Perhaps if he was in the Bay Area, where doctors are a little more familiar with it? I don't know. If it was caught when the fever first started, and antibiotics were given, maybe it wouldn't have developed into NF. If an infectious disease doctor would have been called in sooner, not 4 days before he died??? So many questions? How could this have happened, in a hospital, in 2003????