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Love
“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen" I don't know who said that, I found it and thought I would share it.
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saying
I love that say "marriage is a challenge cancer is the test
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Taking care of Jack
My name's Alicia. I have been helping my mom care for our friend Jack for about two years. In the beginning he wouldn't say much about what was wrong with him, but we knew it was more than the Hep C he's had for years and years (he got that from a blood transfusion after a motorcycle accident when he was much younger). We…
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Exhausted
Roby had his APR surgery on Monday and had to have another surgery yesterday to repair part of the incision. I think he's doing better of course he's "Mr. Gloom and Doom". I've been with him everyday all day, I was going home at night (35 miles away) now I'm staying in a motel a block away so I could stay with him longer.…
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Feeling run down :/
My mom's cancer is growing in many different places now. Since a hospitalization in October of 2010 she has been in one institution or the other. Her doctor finally said she needs to be at a skilled nursing facility for the time being as I alone cannot provide the kind of care she needs. Dealing with her cancer is hard…
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So Tired And So Many Questions
Im the caregiver to my father he is 57, Been diagnosed with stomach cancer/moved to esophagus. Im trying to do everything esentially on my own. Im so wore out physically and emotionally. He's Stage IV. Today we have two different appointments I've had no sleep yet again due to my unruly schedule. Im really hoping today…
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Entering a new season
Hi, everyone: My wife had surgery for urethral cancer over three weeks ago, and is healing at home these days. We have a long road in front of us and there are still a lot of unknowns in our near future: what will the tumor board say? how do we incorporate so many changes into our lives? how do we make the best choices…
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So many good people on chat
You know I am not great with words, or fancy ones at that. I will tell you I have meet some amazing people on the chat site. Some people I have grown to love and care about. They are a great group. I treasure every one . I try to go on to help them but the en up helping me. I don't ask for anything except friendship. That…
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Keeping vigil and lighting the candle
Today Steve moved towards the end of his journey here, the house was lit with candles for when those that wanted to come and pay their last respects, would find the peaceful atmosphere that we have in these past days. Seizures continue and he floats between two worlds now. Many times they wanted me to put him in the unit,…
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New here & husband starting chemo May 16th
Hi, all. I've been scouring the Web, searching for support groups/boards for spouses and caregivers. This one seems to be THE ONE. My husband was diagnosed with CLL about 4.5 years ago. We met 2 years ago and have been married almost a year and a half. During his 3-month check-up w/ his oncologist two days ago, we were…
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Hospice versus "giving up"
I was sad to read the news: "Harmon Killebrew announced Friday that he no longer plans to fight his esophageal cancer and has settled in for the final days of his life, saddening friends and fans of the 74-year-old Hall of Fame slugger." But sadder to read the Yahoo link for it: "Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew gives up…
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New here, feeling sad
My husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 6 years ago. We’ve had a long fight with chemo, spinal cord injury and surgery, kidney failure and stem cell replacement. It is so tiring and so sad. We have 2 boys that are 16 and 11. Their dad doesn’t work now so they get to have more of him in their lives, for this I am…
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How do you begin to think about the beginning of the end...
How does one even start thinking about the beginning of the end. I talked to my wife's onc at length this evening and since she has cancer cells in the brain (mets cells in the csf), there are parts of her brain that will probably be permanently affected. She told me she has what they call the 'flat affect'. She is very…
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Could really use a miracle, a hug, and some advice (in that order)
Hi there: I'm a thirty-year-old who is caregiving for my mom. She was diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer, with Brain Mets, in July 2010. It was very unexpected. She went through emergency brain tumor removal surgery and treatment that was so aggressive (whole head radiation, followed by simultaneous chest radiation plus…
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Dirty Dozen
we've all seen that, or similar movies. The folks who are on the fringe of society that suddenly become useful, a team, even, when duty calls. Anyone know of a bridge or a dam that needs blowing up? That's how I feel right now. I was fairly useless before my husband was diagnosed - I even thought he was working himself up…
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My mom and hospice....
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in May ’09, she had a mastectomy and reconstruction that summer. Followed by chemo and rounds of radiation. In October ’10 the doctor advised us that she had mets to her liver and we started the whole process again. All the different chemos we tried always made her very ill. I know…
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A day off!
I have a day off, all to myself! Hallelujah! (My FIL took my dad out for a day trip before his chemo starts tonight.) Now, what do I do for fun again? Where do I begin???
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Depressed
I have not been on here in a while, just been reading posts that others have written. Just "lurking" as others have said they so sometimes. Yesterday I was at a meeting, and I looked around the room at all the other people and wondered what it was like when things were so called "normal"? I feel like an alien from another…
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Frank passed this morning...
...at around 5:25am. His breathing had been steady all night. I suddenly woke up and heard silence. At the same time the aide got up and looked at him, then called my name, and said he is going, talk to him now. I didn't get to see his last breath but I told him I loved hm and that we would always be together in spirit. He…
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My dad's battle is over
My father passed away Sunday night at 10:29. I spent his last 5 days taking care of him along with my sister in law and mother. Maybe the hardest days of my life, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
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Feel like I'm going to explode.
So, my dad has been on hospice for about 6 wks now, after a 6 month battle with stage IV NSCLC. I posted a while back about my mom fighting with him about smoking a few cigarettes, and me talking to him more than her lately, which she still argues about, but we all just take it with a grain of salt and try to comfort her.…
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I'm a wreck////
ok...i'm in tears as I write this....streamimg down my face...Mom seemed to be doing really well until last week and she has just nose dived....She has CT scan tomorrow and results Friday....I am convinced they are going to say hospice...She has OVCA and been on taxol..her CA-125 has gone way down, yet the last round of…
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two long years become longer
My first time here. My wife (been together 6 years, married almost 3) was dx with lung cancer 4/2009 at 47, less than a year after getting our son at 6 months who was premature with a lot of medical issues) Since then: lower left lobe removed, 6 months of treacherous chemo, on vaccine trial for about 9 months until 9…
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Seizures
Hi everyone, Just checking in with a catch up on our hospice at home situation. Steve had major seizures late afternoon and evening yesterday, he was unconscious for twenty minutes or so and had a rattle. I thought it was *the rattle*- you know the one-so that was a bad bad time. Irony is -we have been having some great…
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Heroes...
Mariah Cary There's a hero If you look inside your heart You don't have to be afraid Of what you are There's an answer If you reach into your soul And the sorrow that you know Will melt away Chorus And then a hero comes along With the strength to carry on And you cast your fears aside And you know you can survive So when…
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Happy Mother's Day?
Hello everyone. This is new to me (cancer and the website!) so I am hoping this is a good place to start. First, my mother has the cancer, not me. That is what brings me here. As I read thru the subject lines of most of these posts, I see that what I intended to write about has apparently already been written about several…
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Looking for that desert island
So, I have to look for a new job - our county is cutting back on education funds and (having entered teaching really late in life) I have too few years as a teacher to not be cut. I might get picked up by another school, but I'm also looking for jobs back in the "real" world (the one in which you only have to work about 10…
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any info would be great
i am new to the board an just need some suport. i am the caregiver for my mother who has cancer on unknown primary that has sperad to liver an lungs. i dont know what to do. first let me say my mother has allways beed a depressed person she has hated the world since my father died in 1989. i have been there for her the…
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Spousal Support
I don't know if it's just me, or if what I'm sensing is real. I have RCC. Thankfully, it's stage 1, we hope. (no biopsy yet). I'm scheduled for a LPN next month. The problem is my wife and our relationship. This week, I took a pre-op stress test, and the EKG showed abnormalities. So, they did a angiogram, and thankfully…
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Don't read if you need to stay positive
I'm at a pretty low point - on the plus side, my husband survived to the NED stage and my family is healthy. Why do I still want to go get my favorite knife and open a vein, then? I did lose my job and had to go into the "pool" of folks who had to be considered for jobs in the system before anyone from the outside could be…