Norm Cabana, Founder of HeadOnPhotos Passes Away
MILPITAS, CA (July 22, 2008) —



Norm Cabana, founder of HeadOnPhotos, official track photographer for NorCal NASA, died in his home July 22, 2008 of cancer. Following is an e-mail sent out by Norm's son Paul about Norm and his courageous fight against his illness. Norm will be missed by all especially the family of NASA members he so faithfully served with his trackside photography. Click here for a heartfelt testimonial about Norm from Gary Faules. Click here for NASA's farewell to Norm.








"Hi Everyone,

It's with tears in my eyes that I write this update on Norm. As some of you know from my last post on the NASA List, Norm Cabana, owner of Head-On-Photos, has fallen ill. He has been diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer known as Cholangiocarcinoma, which is, simply, a cancer of the Gall and Liver bile ducts. This cancer, especially when detected as late as my father's was, is almost always lethal.

My father has fought a battle that no one should ever have to fight. I wanted anything to trade places with him lying in that hospital bed. The scariest part to all of us has been how fast it came on. June 1st, less than 2 months ago, we took him to the hospital because he was eating dinner and suddenly threw up. After weeks at Stanford Hospital, all of his medical options exhausted, my father was left with a choice. Keep on fighting and get maybe a month longer in time, but never, ever leave the hospital, or come home now, and have maybe a week. It was the one of the worst choices in the world to ask anyone to make. He would have done it, fought on longer, if anyone in my family had asked him to, but he did all anyone could have asked him to go through. It's such a testimonial to Norm's character that even as he signed the paperwork releasing him to Hospice care, he took the time to give his heartfelt thanks to his doctors and nurses who have taken care of him over this last month and was comforting THEM for not being able to cure him.

He's home with us now, resting comfortably. He got to take a bath, something he has always luxuriated in, gotten to eat some of his favorite home cooked food, and sleep in his own bed. We've all had some long heart to heart talks with him and everyone is thankful to have had that chance to commune with him, say things that we've never said, been too embarrassed to say, too proud to say. I woke him up today and asked him how he was doing, and he gave me a goofy smile and a huge thumbs up, and it was like the sun rising in my eyes. That's a memory I'll cherish always.

My dad wants to tell everyone in NASA, especially in Northern and Southern California, thank you for bringing him into the family, for making him feel welcome, for standing by him in the rough times and in the good. He asks those of you in the Cal regions to continue to make my brother welcome as he takes over full responsibility for Head-On Photos, and to look out for him in these trying times ahead.

If you have any messages you'd like me to read to Norm, please send them my way and I will do my best to get them read to him ASAP.

Best Regards,

Paul Cabana"