Ann

Be sure and wish your Dad a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY from all of us here on the message board. I know special days can be tough to get through after you have lost a spouse. I am praying that he will find new joy and meaning in today as he begins a new year of his life.

No, I haven't seen any posts from him either. Funny thing, I was just thinking of him the other day.

Great picture of both your dad and daughter! Don't you just love digital cameras? I sometimes don't know what we did before them? Although I don't have grandchildren yet, my sons are always emailing me pictures of my grand dogs. Thanks so much for sharing your family with us!

Hi Karen. I live just a few miles from you, in Palm Bay. Please PM me your telephone number if you would like to talk. Have you talked to anyone from MD Anderson in Orlando? That would be a bit closer for you than Moffit. Dr. Kayaleh at Anderson is absolutely wonderful. I would love to get together with you, since we're so close. Please let me know if you need anything.

I know this is a hard decision to make. Sometimes caregivers need a well deserved break. It's only normal to have mixed feelings about this. Maybe you should talk this over with your Dad and see what he thinks. I'll bet he would tell you to take a break. But, remember, you can only listen to what your heart is telling you to do! Good luck with your decision.

Glad you like your doctor. I am wondering if the info about Kayaleh was a misprint. I know he handles a a lot of lung cancer patients. I will try and give you a call tommorrow!!!!!

ROFLMAO at this one!!!!!

I'm from the hills of Tennessee and just love to hear all these redneck jokes!!!!! Thanks so much for this one. I am going to pass this one around!

Loved this one Frank!!!! Keep 'em coming!!!!

Too funny!!!! Thanks.

Looks like I'm going to definitely keep on drinking Green Tea. So far, I have read nothing but good things!

Glad to hear the Marinol is working so well for your mom. Dennis was prescribed Marinol but it never seemed to do much to stimulate his appetite. But...I think it helped to relax him at times. He always got such a kick from telling people he was taking "pot pills." Of course, this was coming from a true child of the late 60's and 70's. He got more laughs from this than anything else. Those laughs were worth it all!!!!

Just beautiful, Connie. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I think I can find a lot of comfort in those words.

Lil...that was so well said. Nothing makes any rhyme or reason after we lose someone that means the world to us. The stages are truly there but as you said, in no order. Some days we may have one feeling of grief and on the very next day every emotion known to man may roll right in...all at the same minute! I keep thinking I should lose some weight for all the tears I have cried.

Piermarie, I am so very sorry to hear of your mother's passing. Please accept my sincere sympathy. I am keeping you in my prayers!

Hebbie, I am so very sorry to read of the loss of your good friend, Peggy. She sounds like such a wonderful person. So very sorry!

God bless you and your Dad. This is such one of those bittersweet stories that really makes me cry. Like you, I was not raised by my Dad. At birth, I was adopted by a loving couple that loved me with all their heart. When I was 20, I met my biological mom and dad for the very first time. I found out that my Dad had spent his life just watching me grow up from a distance. He would park down the road and watch me play. He attended a lot of my school functions and basketball games. Thank God that we were able to gain some closeness between us before he passed away three years ago. There are times that I look at his picture and can feel the bond that will always exist between us. Please know that you are very fortunate to have made this bond with your father in time. Squeeze in every single minute you possibly can spend with him. Sometimes we don't understand the way things happen. I am sure your Dad is very glad to have this time with you, his beautiful and loving daughter. Treasure today and trust God to take care of tommorrow. I am keeping you and your Dad in my most heartfelt prayers!

Thanks for sharing this with us, Paddy. This is truly incredible. I really love the music, too.

When Dennis was in a clinical trial our insurance (Blue Cross) paid for all the meds and the bills for the doctor. I was always a bit confused with this, as everything I had read about clinical trials indicated that the drugs were provided at no charge to the patient in return for trial participation.

Hi Muriel. Welcome to the sunny (but cold) Sunshine State. Hope you are getting all settled in. I don't make it to Orlando often but would love to meet you the next time I visit my sons that live there. I'm about an hour and a half east of you. So, what oncologist did you settle on? Are you going to MD Anderson? If so, maybe you could see Dr. Omar Kayaleh. He was Dennis's doctor and in addition to being an excellent doctor he is also an extremely knic and caring man. Everyone at Anderson refers to him as the "Big Teddy Bear."

Like Katie, I used the envelope method. I would put the date and the time to take the pills on each envelope. I also agree with Katie that maybe someone else should be managing the meds. Some of the pain meds that Dennis would take would make him a little "loopy" and I'm not sure how clear he was some of the time.

Sharyn, this is a wonderful picture. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful memory with us. These last pictures are so important. Almost a year after Dennis died, I found a roll of film that I hadn't had developed. When I picked the film up after developing, I was so surprised! There was a beautiful picture of Dennis fishing off a friend's dock. It was taken about 3 months before he died. That was the last picture taken of him. I will always cherish that picture and the memories that accompany it.

Shelly, both you and Nick are a true source of inspiration for us all! My prayers are with you both!!!

The songs on the radio are what do it to me. I can be off to a great starting day and then hear a song while driving to work that just brings me to tears. The past four days, I have heard the Diamond Rio song "I Believe" and have totally broken down. We just never seem to know what will set these emotions into high gear!!!

Thanks for this posting, Becky. I shared this site with a friend that just lost her husband in an automobile accident.