Sundance as Guest Speaker at Cancer Seminar TODAY - UTSW Hospital
Comments
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Hi Dasspearsdasspears said:Which UTSW?
I go to the cancer center at George Bush Highway & Renner in Richardson. It's a new center so I was wondering if that is where you were.
I was down at the UTSW campus down on I-35 @ Inwood. They've got alot of buildings down there. I was at the Simmons Cancer Center building of their campus.
Thanks for asking...Craig0 -
Proud of you!
Darn it. I wish you would have known sooner. I would've made the trip to hear you speak. Like someone else said - you - shy???? You have been such a tremendous source of encouragement, inspiration, and insight for me that I just can't quite believe that. I'm so happy that you accepted the opportunity to share yourself like that. I know it must have been a little challenging. I tried to stand up in church and talk about my mom and forget it, I couldn't even do that. I am so proud of you, proud to know you, and inspired by you. Keep it up, you really have a wealth of things to share.
Janet0 -
WoW!Janet3 said:Proud of you!
Darn it. I wish you would have known sooner. I would've made the trip to hear you speak. Like someone else said - you - shy???? You have been such a tremendous source of encouragement, inspiration, and insight for me that I just can't quite believe that. I'm so happy that you accepted the opportunity to share yourself like that. I know it must have been a little challenging. I tried to stand up in church and talk about my mom and forget it, I couldn't even do that. I am so proud of you, proud to know you, and inspired by you. Keep it up, you really have a wealth of things to share.
Janet
If anyone can be a guest speaker at ANYTHING, it would have to be you, you are such a eloquent, inspiring person, and so glad you have came to this board, I am very proud to call you a friend, a brother, and a fan of your posts here.
I wish I could see you there, maybe you can tape it, and upload it for all of us to see? that would be so cool!
Did you like your new doctor?
Hugssss!
~Donna0 -
I know the locale...Sundanceh said:Hi Dasspears
I was down at the UTSW campus down on I-35 @ Inwood. They've got alot of buildings down there. I was at the Simmons Cancer Center building of their campus.
Thanks for asking...Craig
I had a CT Scan there. Wish I could have heard you speak - I'm sure it was very good.0 -
Depression
Hey Craig,
Great job!
I have been invited to speak to other Cancer Patients on several occasions and have always been able to discuss openly and freely all the Fear, Anger, Resentment, and self pity that accompany a diagnosis of a life threatening disease, most of which I've handled very well with my own condition and remained very positive throughout the two Cancers I've successfully fought with, including a difficult BMT/Stem Cell transplant which the BMT Unit Doctors were reluctant to perform because of my very Uncooperative Bone Marrow that refused to produce and give up a suffient number of cells for the procedure even after 3 attempts to harvest.
I insisted that they perform the procedure with what they had and in the end amazed the Doctors in my quick recovery, in less than a week my marrow began to accept the graft and produced new cells rapidly and I was on my way home in 30 days. Practically unheard of in the BMT Ward, the graft normally takes 3 weeks just for the marrow to begin to accept and produce new cells.
My depression seems to be caused by the loss of so many close, personal friends and close relatives that have died in the past year and with whom I was in contact with daily and sharing all our hopes, dreams, plans, encouragements, and support as only fellow Cancer Patients can.
Now I find myself without any support group, or person to whom I'm close and am reluctant to connect with anyone else for fear of just more disappointment and despair. At a time in my life when I should feel the most grateful and happy, I'm probably at the lowest ebb of my life, any joy I express is mostly just because I think I should, I really don't seem able to really feel it and in fact, I don't even want to. I've always had deep beliefs and am usually very spiritual, but I now find myself doubting everything, and questioning why I'm even here an searching for some clue as to what the Lord wants me to do now. To make matters worse, I'm embarrassed by the way I feel and have to literally force myself to even talk about it, it all seems so selfish and foreign to me, yet I don't feel apprehensive or fearful about my own condition, I've overcome cancer twice and I'll do it again if I have to, it's just an overwhelming feeling of tremendous loss of others that I loved that have not survived, fifteen souls in all, including two close family members, all in the past 12 months. My recently deceased (July 25, 2009) Sister in law expressed it quite well just before she died, saying, "It's like 10 little Indians", as she spoke to her friends and siblings in anticipation of her iminent death.
Not to fear though, Craig, this too shall pass and I'll wind up a stronger and more determined and wiser and hopefully a more helpful to others person because of it.
DennisR0 -
Hey Dennis....DennisR said:Depression
Hey Craig,
Great job!
I have been invited to speak to other Cancer Patients on several occasions and have always been able to discuss openly and freely all the Fear, Anger, Resentment, and self pity that accompany a diagnosis of a life threatening disease, most of which I've handled very well with my own condition and remained very positive throughout the two Cancers I've successfully fought with, including a difficult BMT/Stem Cell transplant which the BMT Unit Doctors were reluctant to perform because of my very Uncooperative Bone Marrow that refused to produce and give up a suffient number of cells for the procedure even after 3 attempts to harvest.
I insisted that they perform the procedure with what they had and in the end amazed the Doctors in my quick recovery, in less than a week my marrow began to accept the graft and produced new cells rapidly and I was on my way home in 30 days. Practically unheard of in the BMT Ward, the graft normally takes 3 weeks just for the marrow to begin to accept and produce new cells.
My depression seems to be caused by the loss of so many close, personal friends and close relatives that have died in the past year and with whom I was in contact with daily and sharing all our hopes, dreams, plans, encouragements, and support as only fellow Cancer Patients can.
Now I find myself without any support group, or person to whom I'm close and am reluctant to connect with anyone else for fear of just more disappointment and despair. At a time in my life when I should feel the most grateful and happy, I'm probably at the lowest ebb of my life, any joy I express is mostly just because I think I should, I really don't seem able to really feel it and in fact, I don't even want to. I've always had deep beliefs and am usually very spiritual, but I now find myself doubting everything, and questioning why I'm even here an searching for some clue as to what the Lord wants me to do now. To make matters worse, I'm embarrassed by the way I feel and have to literally force myself to even talk about it, it all seems so selfish and foreign to me, yet I don't feel apprehensive or fearful about my own condition, I've overcome cancer twice and I'll do it again if I have to, it's just an overwhelming feeling of tremendous loss of others that I loved that have not survived, fifteen souls in all, including two close family members, all in the past 12 months. My recently deceased (July 25, 2009) Sister in law expressed it quite well just before she died, saying, "It's like 10 little Indians", as she spoke to her friends and siblings in anticipation of her iminent death.
Not to fear though, Craig, this too shall pass and I'll wind up a stronger and more determined and wiser and hopefully a more helpful to others person because of it.
DennisR
...Don't ever feel embarrassed about your feelings, I am so sorry for what you're going through, alot of us have lost loved ones to cancer, I lost both my parents within 4 years of each other when I was 16 to the dreaded C word, my aunts, uncle, and friends, and now I have it, I never knew anyone who actually survived it, once they got it, in fact, I think I'm the one who's had it longest and still here, they all died so quickly, it was devastating, and still is. Not one day has ever gone by that I don't think of them all. I then have to stop and think that wow, there are still people out there who are suffering with this disease, even worse then me, and then try to focus on that when I feel the negativity and despair coming on...it's very sad to lose people, and to feel alone..but, you aren't alone! we're here for you to talk too, and we're all scared, I wouldn't believe anyone who said they weren't afraid. I think the ones who aren't afraid are the ones who take their own precious lives.
You have beat this disease before, and you'll do it again, just keep the faith, and remember, we're all on this journey together, and we're here whenever you need us, just please focus on more pleasant, happy things, get out and take a nice twilight stroll, maybe some coffee in a cafe, read a good book, see a movie, just get out more, and be around friends, don't be afraid to be around people, you are special, and everyone needs someone, are you on any anti-depressants? I am on Zoloft, and it works pretty well, I'm not as weepy as I used to be, but I also try not to think of the past, and try to move forward, and to be strong so I can fight this stupid disease.
I wish you well, and please keep in touch with us, we're here for you!
Hugsss!
~Donna0 -
Hey Donna,Shayenne said:Hey Dennis....
...Don't ever feel embarrassed about your feelings, I am so sorry for what you're going through, alot of us have lost loved ones to cancer, I lost both my parents within 4 years of each other when I was 16 to the dreaded C word, my aunts, uncle, and friends, and now I have it, I never knew anyone who actually survived it, once they got it, in fact, I think I'm the one who's had it longest and still here, they all died so quickly, it was devastating, and still is. Not one day has ever gone by that I don't think of them all. I then have to stop and think that wow, there are still people out there who are suffering with this disease, even worse then me, and then try to focus on that when I feel the negativity and despair coming on...it's very sad to lose people, and to feel alone..but, you aren't alone! we're here for you to talk too, and we're all scared, I wouldn't believe anyone who said they weren't afraid. I think the ones who aren't afraid are the ones who take their own precious lives.
You have beat this disease before, and you'll do it again, just keep the faith, and remember, we're all on this journey together, and we're here whenever you need us, just please focus on more pleasant, happy things, get out and take a nice twilight stroll, maybe some coffee in a cafe, read a good book, see a movie, just get out more, and be around friends, don't be afraid to be around people, you are special, and everyone needs someone, are you on any anti-depressants? I am on Zoloft, and it works pretty well, I'm not as weepy as I used to be, but I also try not to think of the past, and try to move forward, and to be strong so I can fight this stupid disease.
I wish you well, and please keep in touch with us, we're here for you!
Hugsss!
~Donna
What a
Hey Donna,
What a wonderful and thoughtful post, I appreciate your kind and intuitive advice. How did someone so young get to be so darn smart?
My Counselor prescribed a couple of different drugs I can take, one is Lorazapan which can be taken every 6 hours and sort of takes the edge off things without a lot of side effect, I don't recall the other one, but I took a grand total of 2 of the Lorazapan and got through my sister in law's funeral and several days of visiting with the family without being overly emotional, which is what I was worried about at the time. I'm not a big drug user, though I'm not exactly a faith healer either, I'll take them if I have to.
I've never allowed myself to go through the grieving process before and have always found a way to just isolate myself from the loss and sort of put things in a bag that I lugged around, or at least that's the way the Psychologist described it. Lyn's death was the proverbial Straw that broke the camel's back for me, and all my pent up grief came spilling out at once.
I am finally beginning to accept and deal with things a lot better, I can recall memories of much better and happier times with those that I've lost, and am able to find comfort from them instead of just overwhelming sadness.
I am so sorry to hear of all your family members passing, I hope everything continues to work well for you, and again, Thank you so much for your encouraging post. Please keep in touch.
DennisR0 -
Heyas Dennis!DennisR said:Hey Donna,
What a
Hey Donna,
What a wonderful and thoughtful post, I appreciate your kind and intuitive advice. How did someone so young get to be so darn smart?
My Counselor prescribed a couple of different drugs I can take, one is Lorazapan which can be taken every 6 hours and sort of takes the edge off things without a lot of side effect, I don't recall the other one, but I took a grand total of 2 of the Lorazapan and got through my sister in law's funeral and several days of visiting with the family without being overly emotional, which is what I was worried about at the time. I'm not a big drug user, though I'm not exactly a faith healer either, I'll take them if I have to.
I've never allowed myself to go through the grieving process before and have always found a way to just isolate myself from the loss and sort of put things in a bag that I lugged around, or at least that's the way the Psychologist described it. Lyn's death was the proverbial Straw that broke the camel's back for me, and all my pent up grief came spilling out at once.
I am finally beginning to accept and deal with things a lot better, I can recall memories of much better and happier times with those that I've lost, and am able to find comfort from them instead of just overwhelming sadness.
I am so sorry to hear of all your family members passing, I hope everything continues to work well for you, and again, Thank you so much for your encouraging post. Please keep in touch.
DennisR
I'm sorry Craig, I hope you don't feel like I'm hijacking this thread, I should open a new one, but this is probably it for Dennis before I do open a new one.....
Lorezapam only pretty much makes me feel relaxed, where I can sleep, and it's good for nausea, I don't think of it as much as a anti-depressant, but more for anxiety, I think maybe if you try something else you'd feel much better. Maybe try the Zoloft, talk to your doctor about your feelings, it takes a month to kick into your system, but it has helped.
And, please, take some time out to grieve, it's ok, and it makes you feel better, now you know your loved ones would not want you to be living like this, and would want you to move on and be happy, and so do we all... we're with you, and if you ever want to chat, just pm me, I even have a facebook and myspace should you want to play some apps, keep in touch, whatever
Hugssss and talk soon!
~Donna0 -
EDITED>>>>>DennisR said:Hey Donna,
What a
Hey Donna,
What a wonderful and thoughtful post, I appreciate your kind and intuitive advice. How did someone so young get to be so darn smart?
My Counselor prescribed a couple of different drugs I can take, one is Lorazapan which can be taken every 6 hours and sort of takes the edge off things without a lot of side effect, I don't recall the other one, but I took a grand total of 2 of the Lorazapan and got through my sister in law's funeral and several days of visiting with the family without being overly emotional, which is what I was worried about at the time. I'm not a big drug user, though I'm not exactly a faith healer either, I'll take them if I have to.
I've never allowed myself to go through the grieving process before and have always found a way to just isolate myself from the loss and sort of put things in a bag that I lugged around, or at least that's the way the Psychologist described it. Lyn's death was the proverbial Straw that broke the camel's back for me, and all my pent up grief came spilling out at once.
I am finally beginning to accept and deal with things a lot better, I can recall memories of much better and happier times with those that I've lost, and am able to find comfort from them instead of just overwhelming sadness.
I am so sorry to hear of all your family members passing, I hope everything continues to work well for you, and again, Thank you so much for your encouraging post. Please keep in touch.
DennisR
For the double post....site was lagging I guess! 0
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