arm pain

Lifeisbeautiful

Happy days

Hi GG,

i agree with what Amanda is saying but I also know how hard is to learn how to think of yourself first. Family is so important and anything affecting it, good or bad, it affects us more than we want to. I don't know what's worse chemo treatment or a car accident but you survived your accident and now you'll survive your cancer as well. As long as you have a second chance just hang in there. And I hope you see or talk to someone about your depression because it could become very serious. I suffered from it about 5 years ago after a bad break up and being afraid of my ex and when I sarted getting a glimpse of depression few weeks ago I decided to at least talk to my husband and tell him how I was feeling. I stayed strong for as long as I could but now I'm too tired and I cry from time to time when pain and fatigue are too much to handle but this is nothing compared to what you and Max and I'm sure many others went through. Just remember, it's time for happy days and they always come after the bad once. Your son is only 18 and even tough that doesn't give him the right to make all the mistakes he wants, we all know how is it to be 18 and think you're right and ignore what adults advise you to do. I have a little brother who is 18 years younger than me and he's done some things that shocked me, hurt me and upset me to a point that I went from feeling sorry for him and wanting to help, to being so angry with him that I didn want to see him again. Unfortunately nothing I said or anyone else helped until he decided to help himself (I'm talking about drug use). It took him several years but he is on the right path now and I couldn't be happier. 

I'm glad your arm is better and it was nothing serious. How many more treatments do you have left? 

Stay strong GG and happy days are just around the corner!

Natasha

 

 

givingrace

Lifeisbeautiful said:

Happy days

Hi GG,

i agree with what Amanda is saying but I also know how hard is to learn how to think of yourself first. Family is so important and anything affecting it, good or bad, it affects us more than we want to. I don't know what's worse chemo treatment or a car accident but you survived your accident and now you'll survive your cancer as well. As long as you have a second chance just hang in there. And I hope you see or talk to someone about your depression because it could become very serious. I suffered from it about 5 years ago after a bad break up and being afraid of my ex and when I sarted getting a glimpse of depression few weeks ago I decided to at least talk to my husband and tell him how I was feeling. I stayed strong for as long as I could but now I'm too tired and I cry from time to time when pain and fatigue are too much to handle but this is nothing compared to what you and Max and I'm sure many others went through. Just remember, it's time for happy days and they always come after the bad once. Your son is only 18 and even tough that doesn't give him the right to make all the mistakes he wants, we all know how is it to be 18 and think you're right and ignore what adults advise you to do. I have a little brother who is 18 years younger than me and he's done some things that shocked me, hurt me and upset me to a point that I went from feeling sorry for him and wanting to help, to being so angry with him that I didn want to see him again. Unfortunately nothing I said or anyone else helped until he decided to help himself (I'm talking about drug use). It took him several years but he is on the right path now and I couldn't be happier. 

I'm glad your arm is better and it was nothing serious. How many more treatments do you have left? 

Stay strong GG and happy days are just around the corner!

Natasha

 

 

Thankyou Natasha, 
I'm

Thankyou Natasha, 

I'm praying and trying to stay out of the way so God can do his thing. 

My arm pain is actually back. It came back yesterday and they just told me to keep doing heat.pain has moved to various other spots so they told me I may need to think about a port.

illead

Hi GG

Just wanted to say hi.  I am sorry for what you are going through.  Love your new picture, is that the infamous 18 year old?  I sure hope his problems are like what others have said, related to age and immaturity.  In this day and age, they seem a lot more fearless and sometimes make mistakes that aren't as simple as waiting for time to straighten out.  My thoughts are with you.  Try to take care of yourself first.  I think of the instructions in flight for oxygen masks, "put the mask on yourself first before assisting a child."  The wreck sounds horrific, now the big C.  Just try to take one day at a time, the Bible says "so never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties.  Each day has enough of its own troubles."  I know, it easier said than done, but we are always here for you.  About the arm pain, I didn't think about this until now.  Bill did not have a port because his blood counts were so low when he started, the doc was afraid he wouldn't even make it through that surgery, so everything was through his veins too.  Now although he still has veins nurses love, they have gotten tough, and now it's hard for them to get a needle in.  He doesn't have any pain though, so I don't know if that could be something worth asking about.

Just my thoughts, of which you are in them too,

Becky

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

givingrace said:

Thankyou Natasha, 
I'm

Thankyou Natasha, 

I'm praying and trying to stay out of the way so God can do his thing. 

My arm pain is actually back. It came back yesterday and they just told me to keep doing heat.pain has moved to various other spots so they told me I may need to think about a port.

Port

GG,

I would not do any type of chemo without a port, even the least  toxic drugs .  If the doctors think a port might fix the arm pain, I would have it done immediatley.  It is a very minor proceedure; some centers even do it in a doctor's office. I did not have general anesthesia, but do not recall it being installed or removed.  I do not like getting stuck constantly, especially to have an IV threaded.  And, compared to the cost of the drugs, the cost is  insignificant.  Most centers will not administer some drugs without a port. My center will not give the abvd without it, for instance.  Just my opinion on the subject.

max

givingrace

illead said:

Hi GG

Just wanted to say hi.  I am sorry for what you are going through.  Love your new picture, is that the infamous 18 year old?  I sure hope his problems are like what others have said, related to age and immaturity.  In this day and age, they seem a lot more fearless and sometimes make mistakes that aren't as simple as waiting for time to straighten out.  My thoughts are with you.  Try to take care of yourself first.  I think of the instructions in flight for oxygen masks, "put the mask on yourself first before assisting a child."  The wreck sounds horrific, now the big C.  Just try to take one day at a time, the Bible says "so never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties.  Each day has enough of its own troubles."  I know, it easier said than done, but we are always here for you.  About the arm pain, I didn't think about this until now.  Bill did not have a port because his blood counts were so low when he started, the doc was afraid he wouldn't even make it through that surgery, so everything was through his veins too.  Now although he still has veins nurses love, they have gotten tough, and now it's hard for them to get a needle in.  He doesn't have any pain though, so I don't know if that could be something worth asking about.

Just my thoughts, of which you are in them too,

Becky

I changed my picture because

I changed my picture because I'm smiling really big in this one and it was taken In 2007 when I had a lot of joy in my life . No its not the infamous 18 year old this son is actually my 20 year old who is a medical Corpsman now. I was trying to post a link of a tattoo my infamous 18 year old he had it done right after my car accident. I'll try and put it as a link. I'm struggling learning how to do it with my smartphone because I'm not as smart....lol.

I actually find alot of comfort in that scripture. Thanks for reminding. I know things will get better . Just happy I'm being part of the forum again. ,I also say sometimes "Thank God we only have to do 24 hrs at a time.  " 

I'm so happy for everyone's inputs, it helps a ton.

The only reason I didn't was I was afraid of infection but this pain isn't worth it. 

Much hugs

~GG~

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

givingrace said:

I changed my picture because

I changed my picture because I'm smiling really big in this one and it was taken In 2007 when I had a lot of joy in my life . No its not the infamous 18 year old this son is actually my 20 year old who is a medical Corpsman now. I was trying to post a link of a tattoo my infamous 18 year old he had it done right after my car accident. I'll try and put it as a link. I'm struggling learning how to do it with my smartphone because I'm not as smart....lol.

I actually find alot of comfort in that scripture. Thanks for reminding. I know things will get better . Just happy I'm being part of the forum again. ,I also say sometimes "Thank God we only have to do 24 hrs at a time.  " 

I'm so happy for everyone's inputs, it helps a ton.

The only reason I didn't was I was afraid of infection but this pain isn't worth it. 

Much hugs

~GG~

Navy ?

GG,

Which branch of the military is he in ? I know the Navy calls its medics corpsmen.  In the Navy it is a great job, with many opportunities for relatively independent duty. On subs, for instance, there is only one corpsman on the ship, and they have tremendous responsibility, as you can imagine.  I have been told that the corpsman on a sub has roughly the same training as a Nurse Practicioner in the civilian world.

A cousin's husband was a medic in the Army.  He joined as an E-1, and retired twenty years later as a Captian (0-3 rank). He is a Physician's Assistant in Iowa now, and runs two small town medical clinics by himself.

 

max

givingrace

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 said:

Navy ?

GG,

Which branch of the military is he in ? I know the Navy calls its medics corpsmen.  In the Navy it is a great job, with many opportunities for relatively independent duty. On subs, for instance, there is only one corpsman on the ship, and they have tremendous responsibility, as you can imagine.  I have been told that the corpsman on a sub has roughly the same training as a Nurse Practicioner in the civilian world.

A cousin's husband was a medic in the Army.  He joined as an E-1, and retired twenty years later as a Captian (0-3 rank). He is a Physician's Assistant in Iowa now, and runs two small town medical clinics by himself.

 

max

Hi Max,He is Navy. Been in

Hi Max,

He is Navy. Been in for 3 years and has already served a years tour in Afghanistan. My new son in law just left for boot camp two weeks ago. My daughter was Executive Officer of ROTC and was headed to go in but stalled and took a different career but is now going to spend her life as a military wife and mom in future. He is going Army and also qualified for Ranger School I think. My infamous 18 year old was also going in but had difficulty with asvab test. He gave up too early and went into landscaping and then made a bad bad choice so it was sad because he too was very much military bound. He was armed drill team instructor in ROTC .He was very very good. He will be ok in time, no matter what his future will be i will love and support him and his assets. I'm so proud of all my kids. They sure keep me going. So yes I have alot military  family besides my kids.

 

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

givingrace said:

Hi Max,He is Navy. Been in

Hi Max,

He is Navy. Been in for 3 years and has already served a years tour in Afghanistan. My new son in law just left for boot camp two weeks ago. My daughter was Executive Officer of ROTC and was headed to go in but stalled and took a different career but is now going to spend her life as a military wife and mom in future. He is going Army and also qualified for Ranger School I think. My infamous 18 year old was also going in but had difficulty with asvab test. He gave up too early and went into landscaping and then made a bad bad choice so it was sad because he too was very much military bound. He was armed drill team instructor in ROTC .He was very very good. He will be ok in time, no matter what his future will be i will love and support him and his assets. I'm so proud of all my kids. They sure keep me going. So yes I have alot military  family besides my kids.

 

Impressive

GG,

The war zone time will help your son advance in rank quickly.  I noticed the camo pants, and of course Navy corpsmen provide for the Marine Corps also (all Marine medical care comes from the Navy). My ortho surgeon when I had my wreck in 1986 was a Naval officer, but assigned to the Marines, and he used to come to see me in the hospital (a civilian facility) in his full field (camo) uniform.   I did submarine weapons system electronics and operation, first as Navy and then briefly as a civilian contractor.   Tell him that Corpsman Duty as a submariner is independent and a very fast-track toward becoming a chief (E-7 and above).  No watches or duty time; just sit around eating prime rib or pizza, hoping no one gets hurt. The corpsman also runs RADCON, or radiological controls, monitoring dose limits for radiation among all crewmen, so there is a fair amount of administrative stuff to maintain.  The average sub sailor receives less radiation on a patrol than a civilian gets walking around outside in the sunlight. 

Rangers would be awesome for your son-in-law. We used to carry a SEAL team occasionally, but I never had the honor of working with Rangers. The average SEAL is amazing: multi-lingual, all are specialized in something, and they too have a dedicated corpsman with each team. ASVAB scores up around Venus somewhere.  All are brilliant.  If Rangers are anything similiar, it is something to strive for.  For readers unfamiliar with the military, I will explain that the "ASVAB" (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is a military admissions test quite similiar to the SAT.  The nuclear power guys on my boat had ASVABS that, when converted to an equivalent SAT, would get them into schools like Stanford.

Bless your son and son-in-law on their new careers. It seems you have much to be proud and happy about, despite whatever serious worries and problems remain,

max

.

givingrace

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 said:

Impressive

GG,

The war zone time will help your son advance in rank quickly.  I noticed the camo pants, and of course Navy corpsmen provide for the Marine Corps also (all Marine medical care comes from the Navy). My ortho surgeon when I had my wreck in 1986 was a Naval officer, but assigned to the Marines, and he used to come to see me in the hospital (a civilian facility) in his full field (camo) uniform.   I did submarine weapons system electronics and operation, first as Navy and then briefly as a civilian contractor.   Tell him that Corpsman Duty as a submariner is independent and a very fast-track toward becoming a chief (E-7 and above).  No watches or duty time; just sit around eating prime rib or pizza, hoping no one gets hurt. The corpsman also runs RADCON, or radiological controls, monitoring dose limits for radiation among all crewmen, so there is a fair amount of administrative stuff to maintain.  The average sub sailor receives less radiation on a patrol than a civilian gets walking around outside in the sunlight. 

Rangers would be awesome for your son-in-law. We used to carry a SEAL team occasionally, but I never had the honor of working with Rangers. The average SEAL is amazing: multi-lingual, all are specialized in something, and they too have a dedicated corpsman with each team. ASVAB scores up around Venus somewhere.  All are brilliant.  If Rangers are anything similiar, it is something to strive for.  For readers unfamiliar with the military, I will explain that the "ASVAB" (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is a military admissions test quite similiar to the SAT.  The nuclear power guys on my boat had ASVABS that, when converted to an equivalent SAT, would get them into schools like Stanford.

Bless your son and son-in-law on their new careers. It seems you have much to be proud and happy about, despite whatever serious worries and problems remain,

max

.

Hi Max,
He signeed for 5 yrs

Hi Max,

He signeed for 5 yrs but he is going to school to be a P.A.  so not sure if he is going to sign for more. He is very very very loyal to his marines, in fact I posted a picture of him and I, and he had a baseball cap on with Navy on it and he commented and said "what the hell is that on my head? " My response back was don't forget who signs your checks in a private message of course.I was a bit upset but he was just funning...i think.

Yes I'm very proud of all my kids and have a big respect for all military veterans. By the way,...thank you for your service and sacrifice for our country Max.

My best friend was 101st Screaming Eagles back in the early 70s. Much respect for all you brave men & women.

My son in law will be doing small arms and artillery aswell.

Yep I guess my kids really do keep me going.

What is a ortho surgeon? 

So what was the longest you were under water in the submarine. My daughter was actually going to go in and one of their trips they got to go to San Diego and she went into one of the submarines they had there and well within a few months she ended up deciding not to go in ( little did we realize she actually had a new boyfriend when she backed out. Fast forward 4 years and she just Married him ♡)and that was fine she had a different career in mind. But I will never forget her telling me how the reality of being in a submarine underwater for long periods of time could really mess with her head. 

So my arm hurt so bad about an hour ago I did high heat and I'm not moving for a while. 

~GG~

Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3

givingrace said:

Hi Max,
He signeed for 5 yrs

Hi Max,

He signeed for 5 yrs but he is going to school to be a P.A.  so not sure if he is going to sign for more. He is very very very loyal to his marines, in fact I posted a picture of him and I, and he had a baseball cap on with Navy on it and he commented and said "what the hell is that on my head? " My response back was don't forget who signs your checks in a private message of course.I was a bit upset but he was just funning...i think.

Yes I'm very proud of all my kids and have a big respect for all military veterans. By the way,...thank you for your service and sacrifice for our country Max.

My best friend was 101st Screaming Eagles back in the early 70s. Much respect for all you brave men & women.

My son in law will be doing small arms and artillery aswell.

Yep I guess my kids really do keep me going.

What is a ortho surgeon? 

So what was the longest you were under water in the submarine. My daughter was actually going to go in and one of their trips they got to go to San Diego and she went into one of the submarines they had there and well within a few months she ended up deciding not to go in ( little did we realize she actually had a new boyfriend when she backed out. Fast forward 4 years and she just Married him ♡)and that was fine she had a different career in mind. But I will never forget her telling me how the reality of being in a submarine underwater for long periods of time could really mess with her head. 

So my arm hurt so bad about an hour ago I did high heat and I'm not moving for a while. 

~GG~

"Squid Talk"

GG, I meant "orthopedic" surgeon, the guy who put my knee cap back on, and then a rod in my femur to reconnect it (broken in two near the thigh, and again at the hip socket). Submarine guys are called either "squids" or "bubble heads" by the surface fleet. I don't know our longest submerged period, maybe 80 days. Some boats doing odd stuff have gone three or four months, but that is fairly uncommon. I have heard of boats being gone for five months, but as I said, that was never typical.  The year before I arrived, my boat was underway for 276 days out of 365. Not consecutive days: Out a month, in port for a weekend; out for three months, in for a few weeks -- a routine like that. Totally irregular.

The only limitation on underway time is how much food you can cram on board. We used to have canned goods all throughout the ship in the passage ways. We covered the cans with cardboard and had to walk on the cans for the first month or so while on deployments. Eggs and milk ran out first, then veggies. Eggs are not refrigerated on a sub, European-style, but on a "Northern run" under the Arctic circle, the temp inside the boat never gets up to 60 anyway. Everyone wearing coats to bed, etc.  Most guys "up North" slept fully dressed, some with shoes on.

Sub volunteers (all sub personnel ask for it; the Navy never forces anyone into sub duty) undergo lengthy, severe tests for claustrophobia as soon as they get to Sub School in Groton, CT.  That, and a test for equalizing ears: put in a compression chamber, and they jack the pressure way up.  Failing either tests sends guys packing.  Personality is screened also.  Anyone very irritable or whiny is prohibited. You just have to shut up and deal with the life to remain.  A guy could not be real fastedious either: If the water-making equipment failed, a guy might not be able to shower or wash his clothes for weeks.....

Most guys were just like me: very quiet and easy-going.  All of the subs in a squadron have nick-names. My last boat was the Grayling, and she was referred to by others as the "Gray-Thing."

A photo of the boat:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/12150610@N08/1377517048/

 max