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Caregivers

last days
Frank is transitioning quickly and I think he this may be his last week. He stopped eating and drinking yesterday. For the most part, he is without pain, and he is calm. I am so grateful for that. I am just trying to keep him comfortable, and maintain a sense of serenity here. Family calls and I put them on speaker phone…
rash - Caregiver stress symptom?
So, had a tiny, itchy rash pop up over coldest part of winter. Went away with moisturizer and less heater use as weather warmed. Since I went up north to check on dad when his tumors were discovered 5 wks ago, rash came back a bit as we used heater there. Went away when we got to my home (in the south). Stress of all this…
A day in the life...
Woke up Got out of bed Dragged a comb across my head Made it to a meeting at work, and then drove to the other city to the hospital...and walked in on the nurses giving my wife a bath (she had surgery for urethral cancer on Tues Apr 12) [Hey babe, did I say you look great today?] So I left and got some lunch...then came…
My Mother, Myself
I am realizing there is not a good way to prepare ourselves for the road in life we find ourselves on, Oh... I don't care how smart we are or how much we love them, our Mothers. Our blood does not run cold, we can not separate ourselves from them, our hearts beat as one. An emergency call took me back home to the small…
My mom
Hello all. My mom has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer with mets to the brain. She has undergone stereotactic radiation to the brain, 9 radiation treatments to the lung and 1 chemo treatment so far. Well a week ago I went over to her house to help her clean and take her to her treatment. I walk in the door and she…
Very bad day today.
Frank tossed and turned all night, and neither of us slept. He wet himself twice. In the morning I did the laundry and then called hospice for a home health aide (thankfully, starting tomorrow). I helped him take a shower, then he went back to bed. Since his sister was visiting I went to the office for a few hours. When I…
So confused.
Hi, I was hoping maybe somebody here could help me understand what is going on with my mother. My father has stage IV lung cancer, diagnosed 6 months ago, chemo didn't work, and started hospice about a month ago. They told us he probably had around a month, and so far, I'm having a hard time believing that, since he's…
Am I wrong?
First time I've posted on the caregiver site and would like some advice. My mother has limited sclc which was in remission for 7 months and came back in the same lung. Lately she has been crying constantly and is really depressed because she thought the cancer would go away longer. She now takes chemo for the new cancer.…
New to the boards and cancer, need help
Hi to all. I'm new to all this, and have a very complicated situation but hope someone can help or suggest something. My name is Kim, I'm a 27 y/o Navy veteran living in the Cincinnati area of Ohio. My Mom was diagnosed with MS in the late 80's. Since that time she's been diagnosed with diabetes, glaucoma, and had to have…
Pancreatic cancer and/or 5FU treatment
Hi All, new here and completely overwhelmed. My dad (62) is a 2 year survivor of PC who has been on gemzar (gemcidabine) for about a year and a half. His onc just gave us the news that he seems to have stopped responding to the gem and wants to change to the 5FU pump. Any input on what we are looking at side-effect wise?…
The Two Sides of One Coin
The joy that life brings is lost in the cruelty that a slow death brings. This isn't living, it's merely existing. A prisoner to medication. V~V
Stressed out Caregiver
I posted something last week and didn't get any discussion, but, My husband is a Cancer Survior (At least supposed to be) His last surgery was Sept. 20, 2010. He says he is tired and I know he is, but, I am too, and I cannot do his speech therapy exercises for him, or walk to gain strength for him. He says he is just…
Watching my mother cry really sucks
I want her disappointment to be over....its not the physical pain and suffering that I am struggling with...it's her anguish....she's dying and does not want to go. She has put up a huge fight and not gotten any positive results for the effort and pain.....none. not one good CT scan.....ever.........I absolutely hate this…
Major denial and poor choices....Can anyone relate?
Hi everyone. This might be a little long but I have some things that I really need to get some advice on. Hopefully someone can somewhat relate and give me some advice or resources on what to do. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in early febuary of this year. It came as a huge shock to all of us. I live…
How did you handle your fear?
I am extremely frightened at my mom's pending diagnosis, they're pretty sure it's cancer but are doing a biopsy. I can't even type the details at what the doc found on the CT scan. I will breakdown. This past week I haven't slept and literally shivering with fear for my mom. My mom seems to be handling it well and has just…
Guilt?
Hi all, My mom has had cancer on and off for the past 16 years. Over the course of the last 6 months the cancer has spread to various places. She's so delicate they can't give her anymore chemotherapy. So we are just trying to make her "comfortable"; which pretty much means we are just waiting at this point. In addition to…
To visit or not.
My dad has lung cancer. The drs. don't think he will make it another week. I live 10 hrs. from dad. My two sisters are leaving to go see him. I saw him Thanksgiving, and had a great time. We both talked, laughed, and cut up. I knew when I left it would be the last time that I would see him alive. I don't want to see him…
Confused, angry and Tired!
Hello All. My father was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer on Valentines Day this year. It has been a roller coaster. His surgeon attempted to do a whipple surgery but aborted the surgery. He claimed it was because of lymph nodes. Said he couldn't do anything. He took out his gall bladder (pretty normal from what I've read)…
Caregiver Health Checklist
Have you had a physical in the last year? Have you been to your dentist in the last 6 months and your OB/Gyn (if you are female) in the last 2 years? Are you over 50? Have you had a colonoscopy? Had your prostate levels checked (if you are male)in the last year? Had your eyes checked lately? If you answered no to any of…
I Am Just One More Story...
Today I was just looking at the board seeing all the listings and reading over all the titles... I am just one of many stories here. Just another caregiver trying to get by, trying to give comfort to a spouse who doesn't deserve to be treated like this in my opinion. Or... do any of you or your spouses that I see in this…
Bleeding Varices Again?? or what??
We woke up yesterday morning to brother, (stage 4 liver w/spinal mets,varices, acites and edema)coughing up blood and passing it in his stool. It has been around 4 wks. since he was over coagulated for pulmonary embolism and bled profusely from varices. At that time they took him off of all blood thinners and banded…
*Sigh* I FINALLY had to find this place.
Hello- I'm new to the boards, but not new to being a cancer caregiver. My wife was first diagnosed woth breast cancer 6 years ago & the fight really hasn't stopped. We've had primary DX, local reoccurance, mets to bone that caused her to actually break her tibia, and the discovery that mets are in ALL major bones and…
just feeling blah today
Went to get my hair cut today...way overdue, and I finally carved out a little time. It made me feel depressed...so hard to make small talk there about this and that...no one knows what my life is like these days except you all here. So thank you, and I hope you all have a good weekend. Karen
Here's a reminder to take care of yourselves
On an otherwise routine GYN annual checkup, I complained of some pain which resulted in an abdominal CT which revealed a "spot" on my bladder with a biopsy scheduled in three weeks (that old waiting game sounds familiar, doesn't it?). Now, I'm willing to believe this is going to turn out to be scar tissue or something…
Karenbeth......
How are things? I have not been on lately....hope you are doing ok... Be good to yourself, Elysia
rollercoster ride
Well after 9 months of all clear the tumors are back and my wife goes back on chemo. xeloda and temadar. I hope she does as well this 6 month cycle. time will tell.
Just wanted to share this
I found this on another site and thought it would be nice to share. Today is not to be wasted it is a gift. Today I will be grateful for what I have. Today I will take care of myself so that I may be here for others. Today I will do something constructive even if all the energy I can muster will only allow me to pray. I…
Looking for support
My sister was recently diagnosed w/ Stage 3 (bordering on stage 4) cervical cancer. The cancer has already spread to the lymph nodes and they found a spot on her lungs on the PET scan. She's only 42 years old and has a husband and two little boys at home. She's undergoing chemo and radiation at the same time...radiation…
Prayers needed
Hi, my name is Chrissy, I've posted on the lung cancer board before, but never here on caregivers, although, I've read many posts here and it seems there are many wonderful people here. Anyway, my father, 74, was diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC on 10-8-10. They did chemo, which seemed to help for a while, but now there is a…
Coping with a parent's cancer diagnosis
Name: Amanda Wilcher Title: Miss Orange Blossom’s Outstanding Teen Education, Outreach, & Advocacy – Relay For Life About 1.2 million new cancer cases are diagnosed in the U.S. annually and about 564,000 Americans will die of it each year -- more than 1,500 people per day. My dad was fortunately not included in that…

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