Please remember that these discussion boards are a public forum, which means open to the public (i.e. non-CSN members) and the content can be found via internet search engines. Members are strongly advised not to share personal identifiers such as real names, email address, telephone number, street address, etc. This information can be used to identify you and link you to the content you provide. Other areas of CSN are restricted to members only and cannot be found by search engines.

Caregivers

Archives for October 2009

Something to hopefully lift all spirits.....
John Nimmons (screen name snomminj) Posted this today for all of us in the colorectal cancer thread......It is very exciting to read...I hope you enjoy this....I hope it comes to past to help everyone... October 30, 2009 - 12:01pm About four months ago I had several chunks of my tumor sent off to a new lab for a detailed…
Jack is still fighting
Well Jack still has that fighting spirit, it is getting harder he pretty much stays in bed, but he is still can communicate when he is awake, but he is weak, and tired, his breathing his slowing, we do have the nurse but you have to watch them I get some rest maybe 4 hours a night, I was alittle upset the night before with…
Angry, exhausted, and looking for realistic answers - GBMIV caregiver
My mother-in-law was diagnosed in February of this year with an inoperable GBM, stage IV. She is 60 years old, and is also an insulin dependent diabetic, has advanced COPD, and advanced heart disease. My husband and I drive four hours each way every weekend to provide my father-in-law with respite care, as the medical…
Caregiving alone
I was wondering if anyone else is caregiving without any help and if you might have advice on how to better manage my time. Hospice comes a couple days a week, but they are only here for about an hour. Our children do no live close by, the closest lives 100 miles away and has a job and two young children and a selfish wife…
After the Memorial Service
If caregiving is hard and it is, no longer caregiving is very hard, too. My husband's memorial service was Saturday. It was just what my husband wanted, gospel music and storytelling. One of our daughters-in-law put together a great slide show. As many people commented, it was him. Now I must begin my new normal life. I'm…
help me
My 43 year old husband was diagnosed with stomach and liver cancer this month. The doctor did not give any hope past 10 months. What do I do next---I cry all the time, this is not good for my husband. What do I do next?
I have dibs on the most stubborn partner
Just letting off steam. Hubby was put on dex by the oncologist about a week or so ago and has been having chest pains for the last few days. His left arm has even become numb but he will not go to the doctor. He insists he still has the fight in him i.e. he is not giving up. I have made an appointment for this evening and…
Holding on still
Well Jack is holding his own, His sister took the nite shift so I got some sleep, and it was a very spirtually expeience with the priest an all, and I finally got some sleep last night and all of a sudden I was woken from a dead sleep becasue I heard someone whaling on Jacks drums ( and right now I dont like no one playing…
Can't Post on all the threads...anyone else having problem?
I have been trying to post for hours! It has only went through on a couple of them. I write my reply and when I click on "post comment" it just disappears into cyberspace...anyone else having this problem? Trish
Jack is in the final resting stage
Last night it was so hard,Jack was so agiated so mean to me nothing I did was right and when he woke this morning he was still agiated, then all of a sudden he asked to go outside oe more time, so at first the family did I stayed in the house and he asked for me so I went out there and he wrote on the board Im so sorry to…
I cant do it anymore, Im breaking
I can do this on my own no more Jack has 2 sister and 1 brother and the only help Im getting is from his one sister but she is working 2 jobs and can spend time little time over she is doing her best and his brother is going to send some money so jill can take off and we will reapy him as soon as Jack's policy comes…
Resource
A great resource for caregivers: A Natural History of Family Cancer: Interactional Resources for Managing Illness by Dr. Wayne A. Beach A family. A phone call. A diagnosis . . . One family’s journey through cancer. Family members and cancer patients routinely talk about and through cancer on the telephone. Yet little is…
They Deserve Rest
I think we truly take for granted how much caregivers do for others and often times we forget to say thank you. I live in the Atlanta area and just recently lost a good friend to ovarian cancer. I was so devasted and shut down for 2 weeks. I decided from that day forward to host retreats that include some rest, pampering…
I think that Jack will be going home soon
Well I see the signs of the last stage he sleeps all the time and does not want to eat, he is so onfused at times, I did go to the bookstore and bought 2 books about heaven, I need to know Jack will be at peace where he goes, He woke up last night so worry that I had no money or food and would not be taken care of, I had…
Cancer or the Meds will kill my wife..or me one
I am a 48 year old man who had three wifes already. This one was my last one, and now she has gotten breast cancer in her past and I was told she was over it. well needless to say she was not. since we have been married she has had a Malignant mastisized breast cancer that showed up in her brain as a tumor. Now she has had…
CHAT IS UP!
for the moment anyway.
Peaceful Passing
My husband passed very peacefully in his sleep this morning.
Here but not quite
I know I should be thankful that in spite of a grim prognosis my husband is still around 8 months after diagnosis but I miss the man he used to be. His tumour was in his frontal lobe and that together with him being on dexmethasone has meant all sort of personality changes. I also worry about our girls (aged 9 and 3)…
Decadron
Hello, I have been searching for months for a discussion board like this! My husband was diagnosed December 19, 2008 with Stage IV Adenocarcinoma of Unknown Primary with Metastis to his bones and liver. At that time he was given 3 to 6 months...well he fooled them! His cancer was first detected in his left hip and the…
Caring for a parent with PC
Hi. I'm new to this site but have been reading through many entries. I'm writing because I have been caring for my mother who has stage iv pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed in August after a summer of ER visits to find out the source of the pain and nausea that seemed to come on suddenly. Once we found out the…
transition phase
I THOUGHT I HAD POSTED SOME OF THIS YESTERDAY, BUT CAN'T FIND IT. SORRY IF IT'S A REPEAT. I AM TYPING THIS WITH ONE HAND BECAUSE I'M HOLDING MY HUSBAND'S HAND WITH THE OTHER. MY HUSBAND ENTERED WHAT THE ON-CALL HOSPICE NURSE CALLED THE TRANSITION PHASE. HE SLEEPS MOST OF THE TIME, CAN NO LONGER GET OUT OF BED, AND CAN ONLY…
Quality over Quanity
Well today was a good day for Jack, he even got up and helped his dad make breakfast, I figure it out it takes me a good 3 hours to get Jack started , he got a nice hot shower today and back rub that always makes him feel better, it is just so hard how each day changes from day to day, I told him today I will cherish days…
Final Trip
My husband and I took our final trip to Yosemite Wednesday. We stayed in the Ahwahnee Hotel for two nights. On our trip home from the dr.'s appointment when he told us that there was nothing more they could do, I asked my husband if there was anything he wanted to do. He told me he had always wanted to go the the Ahwahnee…
The first stage of hospice
The final word from the onoclogist today, They told us there is nothing they can do for Jack , all now is to keep him comforable and give him the best quality of what is left of his wonderful live They told us it could be months at the most, It was a very quiet ride home, So we in the first stage of hospice, We have to go…
Mom's degenerative arthritis is as evil as her cancer!
Jest stopping in to vent... I am so jealous for mom, of all the folks living with cancer, that find some of what they need to get through it by working, going to meetings, running in marathons, and being able to maintain that physical fitness. Don't get me wrong, I can imagine that their efforts are not without pain and…
My heart is just breaking
My heart is just breaking, I read the hospice book and I see what is happening, I see him disconnecting from me,they say that is his body way of moving on, He stays away about 6 hours out of a 24 hour period, We have to go the the onoologist to see if there are any other options, or do we just stay on hospice, the…
Excellent Book for both Caregivers and Patients
I just wrote a bit about this in straberriesandcreams thread, but thought it was worth starting a new thread over. The other night I finished reading The Power of Two: Surviving Serious Illness with an Attitude and an Advocate by Gerri and Brian Monaghan. They tell their story together and it's an amazing story of tenacity…
Post Surgery
My husband had colon resection and colostomy three weeks ago. He had some complications with blood clots in his lungs but the surgery went well and he has been home a little over a week. My question is that in the evenings around dinner time 6:00 pm he begins to feel very weak and tired and can barely make it to his bed.…
A Roller Coaster Ride
My husband was diagnosed with lung cancer almost five years ago and is currently on an experimental drug. He has lost 35 pounds since June and appears to be deteriorating both physically and emotionally. Every day there seems to be more and more responsibility put on me to help him with his care and I find myself getting…
since being put on Hospice
Since Jack was put on Hospice it seems like he is giving up, all he does is sleep, His oncologist has not def told him there are no other options just the hospital doctors, so he has been home for 2 days and maybe been up a total of 8 hours, I dont know what to do to get his fighting spirit back, Is this a process they go…

Caregivers

Discussion List