Been a while (**Updated pic!)

johnnybegood said:

it is
good to hear from you.i remember you because i was first dx in sept.2008.i believe your husband and i went thru some of the same things together.glad to hear all scans are good.as for me my cat scan in janurary showed 3 spots on my liver and 2 on my lung.so i am stage 4 now doing chemo again.we just dont know what life is going to throw at us.take care and glad to hear from you....Godbless....johnnybegood

Yes, I remember
You were on the same chemo cycle as my husband and I know it was very hard for both of you. I remember your struggles, and told my husband he was not alone! He had a recurrence too and was told stage IV, no cure, all that completely devastating and terrifying stuff. But 15 months after lung surgery he is doing well. He probably needs major hip surgery, they think caused by lack of blood flow due to chemo and steroids but hip surgery seems minor in comparison. After what he's been through, we are just so happy he is NED and we have our son.

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through chemo again. My husband never did make it through Folfox, and didn't actually do chemo again although his onc recommended it. It really is so hard and I wish you the very best!

pete43lost_at_sea said:

thanks for sharing
Hi Emrose,

We need good news stories.
Kids are great, my daugter did a pool scuba dive today, her first.
Its just good for my soul to watch them live.
Enjoy your son and husbands clear scans.

Hugs,
Pete

Good news
Yes, while I don't post much these days I know that good news is very encouraging and it really gave me hope when I used to hear similar stories, so I knew I had to pay back the favor!

Awesome your daughter tried scuba diving! How cool. I often think how amazing it is that my son wouldn't be here if my husband didn't get cancer (we decided to try right after his diagnosis, before chemo). He is our little miracle and has helped us every step of the way, even before birth - being pregnant while he was doing chemo really motivated him to make it through, kids really are amazing!

I love all your posts Pete and you have a great smile!

emrose said:

Thanks everyone!
Good news, miracles, happy ever after - all that good stuff - is possible!! It's not easy, but it's possible. Some of it is out of our hands, but whenever possible you just have to take charge, be proactive, seek alternatives and second opinions, make changes, and keep putting one foot in front of the next. This, of course, coming from the perspective of a caregiver, but i firmly believe this is what saved my husbands life, especially considering the chemo did not...

Good luck everyone, you are all amazing! It's sooo hard, I admire all of you. I very much appreciate the kind words and wish you all the very best. I'll keep checking in here and giving updates from time to time...

One more thing
I, like Craig, am writing a book. It's about the journey of being the caregiver, but also choosing to have a child in the midst of everything, and how much the entire experience as changed my life. I talk about the power of the Internet to unite people around a common experience (such as cancer) and how important it is to have so many people to learn from! I'll definitely post when my book is ready to read! It's just about done and I'm looking for an editor