Some of the strongest people I know!!!

rose20
rose20 Member Posts: 258
edited September 2011 in Esophageal Cancer #1
To all of you fighting this horrible disease...
I was thinking of my brother this morning all that he is going through that only those of you with this disease truly understand.
I'm sure there are many unspoken emotions that you go through.
My brother can not eat!!
To get down creamed soups or a little mashed potatoes to him is eating now.
He is now at the point where he barely wants to drink his vitamin drinks.
This brave soul is such an inspiration to us all.
He handles all of this with such dignity.
He's never once said, "why me?"
HE continues to call my mom almost daily and asks how she is doing and all of us.
He wants me to know he is praying for me. For me? Here he is in this shape and he thinks of me.
I know what it is like to feel so weak, so nauseated, so very dizzy and dehydrated and to end up in the ER with all of this, because I have been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, I know when I am at my worse it feels so unbearable to get through but thank God after some time I do get through but my brother lives with this daily.
To not be able to eat is horrible in itself, but to watch your body that was once so strong just dwindle down to almost nothing, and now be confined to sitting and watching others do what you use to do is heartbreaking, but yet my brother trudges on.
I looked up the word trudge and one meaning is to: to walk or march steadily and usually laboriously.
I looked up laboriously: involving or characterized by hard or toilsome effort
This is all of you, no matter how toilsome the effort you just keep on going.
You are all true fighters.
I know the caregivers have it tough watching their loved ones go through this, and it is such a heavy load to bear, but being the one with this disease only you know the true effects of this ugly cancer.

You are truly our heroes.

You teach us to never give up no matter what comes our way.
To fight to the finish line no matter what that finish line may be.

Never give up hope.

I think of a wild animal when cornered how it will fight for its life, it will fight to the death.
You are all such brave fighters.
I pray in the end you will all be winners!!
God's blessings to each of you!!

Comments

  • chemosmoker
    chemosmoker Member Posts: 501
    #2
    Made my day....made me cry
    Thank you rose.
    You made my day reading that one, and made me cry.
    Thank you for sharing that with us.

    -Eric
  • GerryS
    GerryS Member Posts: 227 Member
    #3
    Beautiful.....
    Thats all I can say, Beautiful...........

    Gerry
  • adube
    adube Member Posts: 63
    #4
    Well Said.
    I'm new to the board this week and you have certainly put in to words everything I've been feeling while reading about everyone's progress these past few days. Bless you, my thoughts are with you all.

    -Alissa
  • BobHaze
    BobHaze Member Posts: 165 Member
    #5
    adube said:

    Well Said.
    I'm new to the board this week and you have certainly put in to words everything I've been feeling while reading about everyone's progress these past few days. Bless you, my thoughts are with you all.

    -Alissa

    Careful of the internet
    Hi Alissa, and welcome to the board. I'm a newbie, too, only been here 2 weeks but I find myself on the board most of the day, refreshing at least every half hour. I think you're going to find a lot of comfort, love and support here.

    When I was first diagnosed neither my wife nor I had even heard of EC, so we went right to Google to read up on what I had gotten into. My Primary Care Physician, who is also a friend, warned us rather sternly not to do that, or at least to be very careful about what we read because much of it would be out of context for us and/or technical medical jargon that we might not understand. But I had to know something about this dreadful disease so I searched anyway.

    Here's my advice, based on my own experience: be very careful about what you read, and be particularly discerning with respect to when each article you find was written. One of the early things I found was on the American Cancer Society website and it quoted some really scary mortality rates for EC, which made my blood go cold. But when I got to the end of the article I found that it was quoting 1998 statistics! For one thing, any statistics are macro numbers and have almost NOTHING to do with any individual case. And SOOO much progress has been made in the 13 years since that was written that I think it's irresponsible for them to even leave it on their site.

    There is of course lots of very useful information online and it's a fabulous resource, but I'd avise being careful what you read. This board is a God send for many of us and is a shining exception to my negative experiences.

    Good luck to you and your father, and God bless.

    Bob
  • TerryV
    TerryV Member Posts: 887
    #6
    Your brother sounds like a winner
    Rose,

    What a wonderful commentary on your brother. He sounds like a remarkable, caring invidual. and what an insightful comment on the membership here. They are brave fighters.

    Thank you for sharing!

    Terry
    Wife to Nick, Stage3
    surgery 09/08 THE
  • adube
    adube Member Posts: 63
    #7
    BobHaze said:

    Careful of the internet
    Hi Alissa, and welcome to the board. I'm a newbie, too, only been here 2 weeks but I find myself on the board most of the day, refreshing at least every half hour. I think you're going to find a lot of comfort, love and support here.

    When I was first diagnosed neither my wife nor I had even heard of EC, so we went right to Google to read up on what I had gotten into. My Primary Care Physician, who is also a friend, warned us rather sternly not to do that, or at least to be very careful about what we read because much of it would be out of context for us and/or technical medical jargon that we might not understand. But I had to know something about this dreadful disease so I searched anyway.

    Here's my advice, based on my own experience: be very careful about what you read, and be particularly discerning with respect to when each article you find was written. One of the early things I found was on the American Cancer Society website and it quoted some really scary mortality rates for EC, which made my blood go cold. But when I got to the end of the article I found that it was quoting 1998 statistics! For one thing, any statistics are macro numbers and have almost NOTHING to do with any individual case. And SOOO much progress has been made in the 13 years since that was written that I think it's irresponsible for them to even leave it on their site.

    There is of course lots of very useful information online and it's a fabulous resource, but I'd avise being careful what you read. This board is a God send for many of us and is a shining exception to my negative experiences.

    Good luck to you and your father, and God bless.

    Bob

    Hi Bob!
    Thanks for the welcome! (and the warning). Initially, after breaking the news, my parents sternly warned us (as his doc had) to NOT go on the internet just like you. However, as most kids, when my parents tell me not to do something-- what do I do? Gah. I soon discovered why. I found myself saying (for the umpteenth time), "Why didn't I listen to my parents?!" My mom told me similar things that you said, that every case deserves a patient-basis and that a lot of the info is out-dated. Thankfully, I can curb that google-voice in my head by telling myself that my father is just 50 (last week), very healthy and never smoked a day in his life. He doesn't even drink at all either (well, maybe one beer every 5 months) -- just a little stupid acid reflux that got us into this mess, I guess. We're hoping that some really aggressive chemo, because he's so healthy and can take it, will really help quell the storm. But geez, it doesn't mean that "stage IV" was any less hard to hear. But I'm with ya, this board, of all the things I've found has been the most helpful. I don't even go anywhere else anymore. I check it at least 3 times a day. I guess I get a lot comfort from the digital age, because man, without you guys I don't know what I'd do.

    My thoughts are with you,
    -Alissa

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