Remembering Dr. Tosetti

For nearly two years, we were privileged to run Dr. Jim Tosetti’s column, Rx for Healthy RVing, in the pages of this magazine. Unfortunately, those columns have come to an end with the death of Dr. Tosetti at the age of 70 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

We received the news in an e-mail from his wife, Cappy. “With great sadness, I must tell you that Jim died on July 9th,” she wrote. “He left us peacefully in his sleep as birds chirped and greeted the dawn.”

Dr. Tosetti had a history of diabetes, but was otherwise in good health almost all of his life. In fact, he prided himself on never missing a day of work, even going to his office during Colorado blizzards.

But eventually, diabetes began to take its toll, and he encountered a growing number of health issues.

In February 2004, he wrote about feeling fatigued, and hoping the symptoms would go away. When he sought treatment, doctors diagnosed a “silent” heart attack, congestive heart failure and kidney problems. As he wrote at the time:

“You’re probably wondering how a doctor could have a heart attack and not know it. What about all the training and experience? Shouldn’t you know better? Don’t you take care of yourself? We’ve heard all these questions, and my wife, Cappy, is quick to point out that I’m human first and a doctor after that. I’m just like everyone else—afraid of the inevitable and hopeful that the symptoms I did experience would go away or be attributed to something else not quite so serious.”

Cappy said her husband was reluctant to write about his own medical problems, but did so to help others undergoing similar experiences. As he said in his column in reference to his own illness:

“Talking about this isn’t easy. I’ve always been healthy and the one taking care of others. But, I know in my heart it’s important to share this experience, understanding we all have fears about disease and the complications that affect the body. It’s perfectly natural to feel that way. Just don’t let those fears keep you away from getting the help you need and deserve.”

Medical Training
Dr. Tosetti was born in Illinois, attended Southern Illinois University and went to medical school at the University of Illinois–College of Medicine at Chicago, graduating in 1959 with a degree in medicine, education and zoology. He served as a medical officer for the Air Force in Colorado Springs before moving to Tehachapi, California, where he worked with a team of four other physicians for five years, serving as doctor, pathologist and medical examiner in that rural community.

He returned to Colorado Springs and opened a family medical practice, which he maintained until he retired in 1992. He and Cappy then moved to Gleneden Beach, Oregon, but he returned to Colorado Springs from time to time to substitute for vacationing doctors. He also created and taught an Elderhostel course on aging, health and wellness, urging people to take charge of their own health and talk frankly with their doctors.

About five years ago, Cappy and Jim began spending their winters at Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise, Arizona, where they bought a “vacation villa”—a cabin where Roy Rogers and Dale Evans had stayed when they were helping the resort get started.

Cappy said she and Jim enjoyed the RV lifestyle at the resort, but never bought an RV. Her husband was a notoriously bad driver, she said, and the thought of him behind the wheel of a big RV would have horrified his children.

Column Initiated
In 2003, Cappy wrote a freelance article for RV Life and that led to the suggestion that her husband start a medical column geared to RVers.

Jim relished the opportunity. He compiled a list of story ideas and notes that he put in a three-ring binder. He and Cappy would talk over ideas for the column, and then she would type it up from a rough draft that Jim wrote by hand.

As Jim’s health problems grew, they sold their house in Oregon, and planned to divide their time between Arizona and Colorado Springs. Shortly after they arrived in Colorado for the summer, Jim suffered another heart attack. The outlook was grim. He was hospitalized with heart problems and serious liver and kidney damage. Finally, his family brought him home, knowing that the end was near. He died at the home of his youngest daughter just two weeks shy of his 71st birthday.

In addition to his wife, Jim is survived by four children and seven grandchildren. A memorial service was held at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs July 16, followed by a reception at the church and then a celebration of his life at home.

Cappy said she has received hundreds of notes from former patients offering their condolences, even though it has been 13 years since Jim sold his practice. His concern for his patients built him a loyal clientele. “He was a really wonderful country doctor,” she said.

Through his final illness, Jim never lost his optimism. Cappy said, “He kept his sharp mind, sense of humor and positive attitude to the very end.”

During the final days, the family had the assistance of Pikes Peak Hospice. One day while talking with Cappy and the pastor from the hospice, Jim offered this thought:

“Life is like a chainlink fence, woven together with generations of family and friends. My link is just a little closer to heaven.”

Write to Mike Ward, editor at RV Life Magazine, 18717 76th Avenue West, Suite B, Lynnwood, WA 98037 or e-mail editor@rvlife.com. Find First Glance online at rvlife.com.

Write to Mike Ward, editor at RV Life Magazine, 18717 76th Avenue West, Suite B, Lynnwood, WA 98037 or e-mail editor@rvlife.com. Find First Glance on-line at rvlife.com