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Jephkay23

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Jephkay23 last won the day on September 7 2017

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  • City
    Beech Grove
  • US State (if applicable)
    INDIANA
  • Country
    USA
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    Not a patient

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  1. Oh, we shall, Tom! We shall. Dr. Ragavendra says we're on Keytruda for 2 years. SO BE IT.
  2. Brace yourselves... Dawn's PET scan showed 100% remission in her lymph nodes, 50% shrinkage in her lungs and sacral tumors. We are winning.
  3. Thanks for the kind words. She has a CT on the 27th, so we'll see how it goes. I'm obviously hoping for good news. Suppose the Keytruda didn't kill it off (I find it unlikely that it did, even with her 100% PDL-1 expression) they say if the growth of her tumors past a certain percentage means stopping the immunotherapy and choosing a new method of palliative care. What is the next step typically? Some forn of Chemo?
  4. I know I've not posted in a while. Thought I'd let some time pass and see how I felt about sharing. Dawn had an MRI yesterday. The tumors in her brain have nearly vanished. Her doctor suggests that the shadows we see may be dead cancer cells that haven't been washed away just yet. Next up is a CT scan to look into the cancers in her lungs, lymph nodes and sacrum. My baby is going to be okay.
  5. I'm a caregiver. My wife has Stage IV LC with multiple metastatic brain tumors. Very sudden. She had a seizure last Monday, and my son rushed her to the hospital via a quick call to 911. They stabilized her. They explained to us what happened, and we are facing a long dark road into the unknown. Statistically, I understand the odds. I know what we might face, and I've promised her that I will fight for every second. I will try to care for myself in all of this, but she is my focus. She is the one that matters. I think I'm out of the denial stage, ready to face reality of all of this. Anyway, I wrote letters to her, myself and my son. They explain my feelings, my plan and what I believe the future holds. When I read them to myself, its like my pain doubles. I can't care for her, if all I do is sit and cry, THIS HURTS SO MUCH. I know she wants to fight. She has plans. I want her to keep them. One thing that keeps coming to me is the odd behavior of everyone else on the planet. It genuinely seems weird that the rest of the world is just going on with their lives as if the kindest and most understanding person that ever lived is in danger. How can they go on like that? There is an army of people ready to care for her. She wants to work this out, then call in the cavalry. It will be epic. How do you caregivers get through the day?
  6. Tom,

    I see your name all over this board.. seems like every thread has your name in it. You dispense wisdom and hope, never seeming to hold back. We need that. Thanks for being you.

  7. I find that now that I have her home, I never want to leave this place. I never want to let her out of my sight. I woke up just now, rolled over and hugged her so tightly. I came in here, to the "Marvel Room" (we are such geeks) to cry and type away from her, lest I wake her up. Look at all of those sentences that begin with 'I' Getting support for myself feels selfish. I know it isn't, and that if I'm exhausted, or insane with grief, she can't get the help she needs. Ultimately, support for myself means helping her.
  8. I'm really feeling the support from you folks. I'll start posting in other areas now.
  9. Thanks everyone for the replies. I have a feeling you folks and I are going to get very acquainted going forward. Dawn and I learned yesterday that she might not be able to go back to work immediately, but her boss (Dr. Shelly) has promised to hold her job for her. I set up a gofundme page for her lost wages only (if there are bigger bills that insurance won't cover, there might be another!). I won't share the link here, you all have been through enough. I remember her holding my hand just before my bladder cancer surgery back in 2008. I can't compare my run of cancer to hers. I went to Westview twice... cancer gone. However, the look in her eyes during those visits and the ones following can't have been any different than the way I look at her now. She's the center of my universe. I will find the strength to dig into this and help her go on. I'll lean on you guys a bit in the process and I encourage you to dump on me when you need it. Maybe she's coming home today. I'm taking clean clothes to Franciscan just in case. She was taken to the hospital in her laying about attire; a too-big t-shirt a pair of sweatpants that have seen so many better days. That woman does love to recline, covered in cats and stared at by an adoring hound. (I myself have been exiled to the loveseat by the animals. That will change.) We have a battle cry. It is based on the notion that everyone dies, but Dawn? NOT TODAY!
  10. My wife, the most supportive person I have ever known, has been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. It has only been two days since the discovery. She shows no symptoms aside from a couple of seizures the other day, and has 5cm mass in her left lung. Multiple tumors in her brain. To me, she has always been a source of strength, a pillar on which I could lean. Just months ago, I started a drug for my personality disorder. Aside from this, we were happy for the first time in years. Truly happy, without the spectre of my emotions haunting our every interaction. I have read the statistics, raged at the irony. She was so busy caring for me, she never took care of herself. My future without her looms, and I find myself facing the single most stressful moments of my life and I feel alone. I feel trapped.
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