REST IN PEACE MICHAEL

IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART THAT I AM WRITING THIS POST, MY HUSBAND MICHAEL LEFT US ON JULY 25 HE IS NOW WITH HIS MAKER AND WE HAVE AN ANGEL WATCHING OVER US.  WITH MICHAEL HE WOULD WANT US TO CELEBRATE HIS LIFE.  YES WE DO FEEL THE LOSS GREATLY BUT BOOT AS WE CALLED EACH OTHER WAS SO HAPPY THAT HE WAS ABLE TO SEE SOME MANY FIRST HIS SON'S WEDDING THE BIRTH OF HIS TWO GRANDCHILDREN MICHAEL AND NICHOLAS.  HE WAS ALSO HAPPY THAT HE WAS ABLE TO TOUCH AND HELP MANY PEOPLE,  THANK YOU FOR MAKING HIM SO SPECIAL IN YOUR LIFE AS YOU WERE ALL SPECIAL IN HIS. 

 WHO WAS

MICHAEL HEBRANKO JR

 

Born in Brooklyn he became a very successful business man where he employed many local residents, he was an enrolled agent with the IRS, H&R Block tax preparer and instructor, Weight loss motivator, Eucharistic Minister and Religious Education Instructor at Our Lady of Miracles.

Michael was an advocate for the Obese and founded OPIN a not for profit organization dedicated to teaching and helping people that suffered from this disease and also educating the public on the disease.  His whole life he suffered from this disease and he still went out every day into the word helping others.  There is a fund being set up in Michael’s name donations can be made to the Obesity Research Center for care and research specifically for people like Michael.  Donors may go to:
https://supportstlukesroosevelt.org/support-us
The online donation form includes an area where the donor can indicate who the gift is in memory of.  In the "Comments" box, donors should state that their gift is for the Obesity Research Center.

To make a gift by mail, donors can make out a check to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.   They should include a note stating that it is for the Obesity Research Center, in memory of Michael J Hebranko Jr. 

 Checks should be mailed to:
St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center
Development Department
555 West 57th Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10019

A funeral mass was held on July 30 at Holy Child Church in Staten Island and a burial followed at Resurrection Cemetery.

love you all stay strong and keep fighting

YOU ARE ALL WORTH IT

MADELAINE

ILOST A DAY…

” I LOST A DAY’’, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST A DAY?”…”I LOST A DAY!  THIS PAST TUESDAY DID THE SUN COME UP?  DID IT SET” WAS THERE HISTORY?  WHAT ABOUT MY FAMIY?  WAS I COLD?  DID I CRY?  OR LAUGH!

WELL I LOST THE DAY, I KNOW IT HAPPENED BECAUSE I REMEMBER WEDNESDAY, I HAVE PROFF OF WENESDAY.  UNREAL, I THINK THEY ARE KIDDING ME.

THEY MOVED ME MY SON AND GRANDSON SAT AND WATCHED ME ALL DAY AND SPOKE TO ME, BUT ME I WAS IN LA, LA LAND.

THE BODY HAS AN AMAING WAY TO DEFEND ITSELF, ME I AM GOING ALONG FOR THE RIDE.  BETWEEEN THE HOSPITAL AND NURSING HOME I HAVE BEEN HEAR MORE TIME THAN HOME.   ALL I CAN SAN SAY IS I AM HEAR AND SOME DAYS I AM I ON THE COMPUTER.

PUSH AHEAD, NO REASON TO GIVE UP.  YOU HAVE TIME, YOU ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTINITY.  THERE WILL BE PAIN, CONFUSION, AND QUESTIONING THE FUTURE, TAKE THE SHOT SEE WHAT ELSE THERE IS!

AS LONG AS THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW THEN WHY NOT YOU COME OUT TOO!

I’LL BE THERE AND I HOPE ARE THERE TOO!!

HANG IN THERE LOVE YOU……

MIKE!!!!!!!!

DID YOU KNOW ANGEL’S HAVE BIRTHDAY’S?? …..WELL THEY DO?

I MAY SOUND CRAZY BUT THAT IS OKAY. I KNOW THIS ANGEL. I HAVE KNOWN HER FOR OVER 40 PLUS YEARS FOR ALL I KNOW SHE COULD HAVE BEEN AROUND FOREVER. LET ME TRY TO TELL YOU CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT HER. SHE IS NO “CLARENCE” FROM IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. AND SHE IS NO “CARY GRANTS” CHARACTER IN THE BISHOP’S WIFE. REMEMBER DAVID NIVEN WAS THE BISHOP AND LORETTA YOUNG THE WIFE AND GRANT WAS ANGEL. NO MY ANGEL IS VERY VERY SPECIAL. SHE IS CLEAVER; FIRST SHE WAS MY FRIEND THEN BEST FRIEND THEN LOVER INTO A SOULMATE I HOPE FOREVER. MY ANGEL STARTED OFF PLAYING WITH ME AND MY FRIENDS. NOW AS MY SOUL MATE, MY BUDDY, SHE HAS BEEN THROUGH MANY UPS AND SOME CRAZY DOWNS AND THEN I LOOK TO MY LEFT, OR TO MY RIGHT, SOMEWHERE SHE IS THERE. SHE KNOWS JUST WHEN TO SQUEEZE MY HAND, SMILES A LITTLE OR GOES INTO THE PROTECTIVE MODE. I HAD TWO BIG SITUATIONS RECENTLY. ONE WAS I WAS IN ICU AND SHE STOOD BY MY SIDE ALONG WITH MY SON. AS THINGS WERE A LITTLE SCARY, SHE KNEW JUST WHEN TO SQUEEZE MY HAND. JUST THEN I KNEW I REALLY KNEW GOD WAS WORKING THROUGH HER. I COULD FEEL THIS BURST OF ENERGY GO THROUGH MY BATTLE BEATEN BODY. THE POWER THAT SHE TRANSMITTED WAS FOR ME TO HANG ON! I WANTED TO RAISE FROM THAT BED AND DANCE AROUND THE ICU. MY ANGEL KNOWS WHEN TO TELL ME SHUT UP ALREADY AND THEN WIPE A TEAR OFF MY CHEEK. THE OTHER DAY I WAS SICK SUDDENLY, MY SUGAR WENT SKY HIGH, TEMPERTURE ARISING ALL I COULD DO WAS SLEEP I WAS IN A-FIB AND THE PULSE WAS OFF THE GRAFT. WELL I WAS SLEEPING AFTER I HEAR STRANGERS CALLING MY NAME… IT WAS “911”, THERE WERE PEOPLE (EMT) WAKING TO TELL ME I WAS GOING TO THE HOSPITAL. WHAT WAS UP WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE WAS MY ANGEL…? ALL OF A SUDDEN IN THE BACK ROW I HEARD HER ANGELIC VOICE. IT WAS GOING TO BE OKAY! A FEW MINUTES LATER I FELT HER TOUCH, I WENT TO SLEEP SHE TOOK OVER. WHEN I AWOKE ALL WAS BEING TAKING CARE OF AND IT WAS MY ANGEL WHO WAS IN CHARGE. SO TO MY ANGEL, I WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND YOU NEVER SEEM TO AGE… TOO MANY OF YOU…I URGE YOU TO LOOK A LITTLE FURTHER A LITTLE PAST YOUR NOSE AND MAYBE YOUR ANGEL TOO HAS A BIRTHDAY TO CELECBRATE. I WANT TO SEND YOU MY LOVE AND STRENGTH. THROUGH TRIBULATIONS IS WHEN WE JUST FEEL STRONGER. EVEN STRONGER TO GO ON AND EVEN STRONGER TO FACE REALITY. HAVE A GOOD DAY TODAY… TOMORROW IS THERE WAITING WITH YOU AND YOUR ANGEL …! LOVE YA ALL SMILE AND HAVE A GREAT DAY MIKE

HOWDY

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE AND I AM GLAD TO BE TALKING TO YOU FOR NOW. I AM NOT GOING TO DRAG YOUR HEAD OR FOCUS MY THOUGHTS ON THE FACT THAT I HAVE BEEN IN A HOSPITAL 205 DAYS THIS YEAR AND THIS LAST STAY INCLUDED A STAY IN “ICU” WITH 19 BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS. I AM CURRENTLY HOME AND COMPLETELY BED BOUND…..POOR ME!!! OR REJOICE, REFOICE! I AM HERE TODAY AND GET TO SHARE A FEW THINGS. TO ALL AND ANY WHO ARE OR ARE NOT SPIRITUAL …GOD LIVES!! HE HANGS OUT IN OUR HEARTS AND IF WE ALLOW HIM TO SPREAD HIS GRACE WITHIN US AND THEN WE SHARE IT. HE LIVES IN ALL THOSE CHURCHS (HEY IT IS GOD) AND HE HANGS OUT IN HOSPITALS. WHETHER THOSE DOCTORS AND NURSES BELIEVE OR NOT... IT DOES NOT MATTER. HE WORKS MIRACLES THROUGH MANY OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. I SAID IT AND THAT’S IT! I AM HOME NOW AND I AM LOOKING GOOD, FOR ME. TO GET TO SEE MY GRANDCHILDREN’S FACES ON CHRISTMAS. MY WELCOME HOME HUGS AND KISSES WERE THE BEST MEDICINE. AM I PHYSICALLY CURED? IS IT OVER UNTIL IT IS OVER! AM I CURED? NOT EVEN CLOSE! BUTHAT IS TOMORROW…..!!! TODAY, TODAY IS THE ONE THAT COUNTS, THERE IS GREAT PAIN, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY BUT I AM NOT SITTING IN A LONELY HOSPITAL WONDERING IF ANYONE WILL BE COMING THROUGH THAT DOOR TO VISIR ME. I GET TO SEE MY WIFE, SON AND HIS GREAT FAMILY. A FRIEND OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBER MAY STOP IN. MY FRIENDS IT IS IMPORTANT TO FOCUS AS SOON AS YOU CAN ON WHAT WORKS IN YOUR LIFE. FIRST WE ARE ALIVE!!! THEN THERE MAY BE ONE FAMILY MEMBER WHO RESPECTS YOU AND LOVES YOU. YOU ARE ROYALTY. IT COULD BE A CARETAKER WHETHER THEY WORK FOR MONEY OR IT IS THE LOVE FOR YOU IT IS DONE AND THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING. YOU HAVE DONE GOOD IN YOUR LIFE. YOU MAY BE WILLING TO ADMIT IT OR NOT! IT IS NOW WE NEED TO STILL DO GOOD…….FOR YOU! YOURSELF! PUSH YOURSELF TODAY TO BE A PLAYER: THAT EXERCISE OR THERAPY IS WORTH IT THAT WATER LOOKS GOOD IT HAS ALL THE “RIGHT STUFF” WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT CIGARETTE? IS THAT EXTRA DRINK NEEDED; TURN YOUR BACK ON THE THAT ILLEGAL DRUG THEN THE TUFF (TOUGH) ONE THE… “FOOD”. THE HOLIDAY’S - IS 5000 CALORIES REALLY THAT IMPORTANT? THEN AFRER THE HOLIDAYS WE ARE THE GENERAL AND FOOT SOLDIER IN THIS BATTLE…MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES AND EATING HEALTHY! NOT EASY BUT YOU CAN DO IT! YOU KNOW WE CAN NOT ALL BE THE “BIGGEST LOSER” WE CAN BE THE BIGGEST WINNER. YOU DID GOOD FOR YOURSELF TODAY. IT MAY NOT BE PERFECT BUT IT IS ONE LESS DRINK, ONE DAY NO SMOKING, AND YOU ARE THE BEST WITH FOOD TODAY THAN YOU HAVE BEEN IN SIX MONTHS! WO! WINNER! THERE IS BEAUTY IN TODAY; THERE IS BEAUTY IN YOUR LIFE! ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE ….YOU JUST GOTTA BELIEVE! BELIEVE IN A HIGER SPIRIT….BELIEVE IN YOU! WE ALL HAVE TALES OF WOE AND OFTEN THE “DEVIL” IS IN THE DETAILS B U T! WHO CARES ABOUT THE DETAILS? IT DRAGS YOU, OTHERS AROUND YOU, AND THE DAY IS UGLY OR YOUR DAY IS. I AM WORKING ON MY SILVER LINING, ARE YOU? I WANT TO WISH YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES A JOYUS AND HEALTHY HOLIDAY SEASON! I AM ON A GREAT RIDE …MY BODY MAY BE CONFINDE TO BED BUT MY HEART, MIND AND SPIRIT ARE AS FREE AS I REACH OUT AND I LET THEM GO! LET GO OF THE PAIN, SUFFERING, AND TROUBLES (EVEN IF ONLY A MOMENT AT FIRST) AND ENJOY YOUR BLESSINGS. LAUGH TODAY OR AT LEASE SMILE. I BELIEVE IN ME, I BELIEVE IN YOU, I BELIEVE THERE IS BETTER IF WE LET IT! I AM WITH YOU….. HAVE A GREAT DAY LOVE MIKE

WHAT A ROLLER COASTER RIDE…

Weeeeeee! I remember those days so well. I was one of those who loved to go on rides and I did. The rule was “if I fit then that ride I hit”! Many were different Roller Coasters. Living in Brooklyn my whole life we had one of the most famous Roller Coaster in the world, “The Cyclone” in Coney Island.
If you study a Roller Coaster you will find that life is very similar to the ride itself. There are hills and bumps; at times it seems faster than other times. Some of the highs are very high and real scary and then you go along and when you least expect it you plunge into the unknown.
Sound familiar? This can be any of our lives and any time. Throughout life we have our ups and downs, with a few bumps thrown in for good measure. But rather than keep us down we have to keep the ride moving forward because soon the car will climb once again and so will our situations.
Believe me I know when things seem to be the darkest and there seems as if there is no hope, it is hard to keep moving forward. Those are the times when as the song says “you want to roll yourself up in a big ball and die”! “That’s Life”!
True there are times you could feel this way, I have been in that spot often enough to know it. What do you do?
You hang on, you believe and believe hard. There are highs ahead. There is light at the end of that tunnel. The key thing is you have to be here to reap the benefits. You have to not give up, not give up on yourself, on life, on the reality that things can and do change!
You have to believe in yourself even though people have lost faith in you, especially when people have lost faith in you. When those who you love and love you the most have reached their end and have given up on you that is no easy thing to face. That is a low of low.
Here are your greatest support people and they can’t hide their hurt, frustration, fear and overall tiredness. Their lack of belief in you.
This is when it is most important for you to hang on the most. This is where it is the hardest, not only have you given up on you but those who supported you when times were the worse seem to have quit. The pain becomes so bad, the loneliness overcomes you, and the emptiness drains your everything. This is when all you want to do is eat your way through the house….NO, this is when you have to hang on and do the opposite.
You have to fight, try different things, you must survive. We must survive!
There is no answer in the food we stuff in our mouth. The only thing that food does is have the same effect as my Grandson’s Binky (Pacifier). That binky amazes me, it is just a nipple with no reward coming through it yet it quits him down, puts him to sleep and makes him feel good!
Well the food we eat may taste okay for the moment but the overall harm it does…ask yourself. Is it worth it?
We all have an untapped strength inside of us. We really can be stronger than we think we are.
Each and every one of us have to pick our heads up high, throw our shoulders back, deep breath, and say these simple words…”I AM WORTH IT”!
You are worth it! You are worth every try out there. As long as you have breath inside of you, then you are worth the effort. When those who are the ones nearest to us get tired and lose faith in us, we need to be worth it even more.
My brother and sister in battle, no one knows pain we go through, no one knows the Roller Coaster Ride we are on individually, no, not until they ride in our car or walk in our shoes.
There is no room in your shoes for anyone else, walk forward, move on and enjoy the ride because you are worth it!
Really you are!

Good Luck and have a great day…
Love,
Mike

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Tomorrow May 14TH I will celebrate the completion of 58 full years of life and begin down the road of my 59th year. What that holds for me, I am not sure. For some reason this birthday is one of reflection. I think it might be because this has been a year where my mortality has become a reality and not something that is just blindly talked about.

What I mean is that since I was eighteen years of age, I have had doctors and others tell me that “If you do not lose weight, you are going to die”! I have heard this so many times over the years, that death was just become another word to me. A word with no personal individual meaning. Oh I have experienced death in my life as I am sure many of you. I have lost friends and family very close to me. I also have been ill, enough times and badly enough to be knocking at those doors of eternity. Yet when I was suffering with those illnesses, I seemed to have youth on my side and I would hear “Mike thank God you have a good heart”!

Well this all changed this year. Let’s face it first of all I am 58 years old. Even if I were the healthiest person walking this earth, I am still 58 years old. Oh and yes, I can still have another 20, 30 years ahead of me but there is a finite number of those years.

Oh I know the 50’s are the new 40’s and the 40’s the new 30’s etc. but is anyone telling the Big Guy in the sky that we humans have decided to push back time by 10 years?

Another thing that has happened this year is that I am beginning to have “Heart” problems and other medical problems that I have been warned about for many years that were going to catch up with me!

Therefore this birthday is one of real reflection, celebration, and gratefulness.
I am grateful to my “Maker” for giving me all this time so far. I am grateful for those who care for me and have followed God’s guidance to see me through some real tough times. I am thankful for those who love me. Needless to say at the top of that list is my wife. Then my son and his family. Then there is my extended family and friends who love me and have stuck by me through “thick and thin”.

I reflect on how lucky I have been. Though my battle has been rough and there have been some close times both medically and emotionally, I am still here to talk about them. I remain to be the luckiest man on earth.

I love the life that has been given to me, would I change some things if I could? Of course I would. Yet I desire. A “Hunger” to live, to carry on and believe me it is a fight sometimes. One that is worth it.

I love opening my eyes each morning to see that I am included in another day. Then by the end of the day, I love to put my head on my pillow and focus on the beauty of the miracle that I just privileged to live. The day, the events, the people I got to interact with was a thing of beauty!

That is why I sit here May 13th the day before my birthday and I make my plans. Plans for the day, the week, the next three months, the next 12 months, 60 months and yes I am taking bets that I will be around for the next 30 years.
Life and I have a deal. It goes like this… I don’t waste a moment of life and appreciate all of those moments, both good and bad, and in return, life will continue to give itself to me for many years to come.

Life is a bowl of cherries and yes sometimes you get a pit or two. When you do get those pits, what do you do? You spit them right out and dig right back in for another cherry. Life can be fun even at it most worse moments. Those would be the times to hang on the hardest and use the tools that you have gathered through your journey to help you get through it. Maybe it is a friend, a call, a book a professional or a prayer. Whatever it takes, fight to survive and live to enjoy another moment.

Even at my darkest moments if I looked real hard and opened up my eyes I saw light at the end of that tunnel (and still do)!

As a gift for my birthday that I give from me to you, I give you my love. I give you my hope. I give you my “Hunger” for this life.

May you never starve of hope and dreams, may you hunger for another day and may you be happy to be who you are and then from there….

we can start…!

Smile, Love
Mike

Health is Number One

How many times, when I was growing up would I hear my father say, “Money ain’t nuttin, (he was a true Brooklynite) what is important is that you got your health”! Time and time again I would hear those words, even in my early twenties when money was no object for me, you would hear him saying. “Big deal, pray for your health foist”! I actually would get a pain in the pit of my stomach when I heard him say that, especially because he said it so much!

Well, who said “Father knows best”? Guess what? He does! I can now attest to the fact, when you have your health there is nothing that is impossible. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that “All things are possible, if you believe”, but when you have good health, the possible is a little more doable.

Now some of us will use a medical situation as an excuse for not reaching a goal that we feel we really want. I say medical situation because not all medical problems equal poor health. I won’t begin to mention some conditions that some of us may have, that may not really be a reason, not to make a healthy choice for food that day or for doing a little physical activity or just getting something done that you have been putting off.

Everyone needs to take a personal inventory of themselves occasionally. You need to have that talk with yourself and say, “self, am I just clowning around? Am I really that sick, that I cannot do____X”? When you have this talk, this honest talk, you may realize that you, are your biggest barrier to getting things done, to living your life. Your life, the way it is meant to be. Not as a victim but as a winner! A human being, a living force in this universe. One that deserves to achieve and receive!

It is when you are seriously ill and have physical challenges that this becomes a little more difficult task. Not impossible but little more difficult. One of the reasons I believe that it is a little more difficult is because there is a lot of physical hours in a day dedicated to taking care of your health. Either with the assistance of others, managing medications, coordinating care, therapy of all kinds, all this and more takes up a lot of real time.

I for one, (in the past almost a year now) have been battling with my health. I say battling because it is a war and I refuse to surrender! I will not say that there are days I truly feel battle fatigued but hopeless? Never! I fight for the physical assistance I need from others just to get me well. Then I push and pray and believe that there will be a tomorrow for me!

I may have been sicker back in the early 1990s but I was a lot younger. Now there are several organs involved and we seem to get one in balance and another one acts up. All those years of putting such unbelievable pressures on my body have taken its toll.

Oh but as the song in “Bye-Bye Birdie” says, “I’ve Got a Lot of Living to Do”! You know what the fact is I may go before finishing this writing…, it’s possible! I don’t believe it but some day it will be. I cannot live that way. I have to believe that there will be a tomorrow for me.

I want to make the best of this day, live for this day, do for today but I want to be able to lift my head and see in the horizon my tomorrow. Do I look forward to the pain and suffering that I will probably have? I believe eventually it will get better and if I have to suffer a bit tomorrow then I will. Because hidden in that deep screaming, darkness of pain and suffering there are those moments. Moments when I get to see my wife, my boys (son and his son’s), and my daughter in law, my family and friends. I read and email or two, a blog message, my both young guys want their Ga Ga’s (that’s me) attention. That makes the pain a little more manageable, the heart beat a little stronger and things are in sync.

What better force is there than the force of life itself? I believe in life. I believe in living. If I can make a healthy choice today, drink a little extra water (that is a difficult one for me), use little less or no salt at all then I was proactive in helping myself. I keep moving, even if to some it may not seem that way, but me keeping my legs moving doing ankle pumps helps my circulation and that is very important. I do what I can and try to do little more each day.

Sometimes it seems like I am back to square one but those are the days I have to remind myself, I am not bed bound, I say to myself it could be worse. There are moments I want to feel sorry for myself. I allow that moment to linger for a minute or two then I say enough is enough “Hebranko” there are people worse off than you. You were worse off than you!

The glass is half full and soon to run over. I could look at life as “man I am almost sixty, which is really old…”! or “wow cool almost sixty, not bad for a guy who was suppose to be dead since he was 21, 33, 40, 48, 53…”! Sixty is not that old it is just a state of mind.

As long as in your head you feel right about yourself it will be then that the body will start to react! Change comes from within first. You have to want it; you have to believe in it! You have to fight for it!

My friends, many of you have emailed me or blogged asking how I am. I will sum it up this way. My body is not that great but my mind is having a ball!

I hope that you, yes you, are doing well. I hope that you are not losing faith and if you are it is time to re-charge! I want you, me and all of us right now take a deep breath and while letting it out say this one thing……..”I am okay, I am worth it”!

Dad, I know you can hear me saying this….Health is the most important, including your spiritual and emotional health also.

Good luck, Good health and have a great rest of today!

Love
Mike