Don Wood

Welcome, Jenn. Your dad's positive attitude will take him far. My wife is also NSCLC, Stage IV, and has survived this disease 28 months now. While your dad is taking chemo, it may be better to feed him small snacks every two hours rather than the three normal larger meals. It will keep him nutritious and also tend to keep the nausea down. Keep us posted. Don

Well, folks, we went to the surgeon today. The tumor on the liver is small and on the surface, so laparoscopic surgery will be performed this Wednesday, 10AM, to remove it. Lucie will be in the hospital a few days and then should be able to return home to normal activities. Prayers requested. We are optimistic. Don

Great news on Joel!

Prayers comin'.

Val, sorry you are having this problem. You are doing just fine. Your mom is tired, scared and trying to gain back some semblance of life. Cancer does that to people. If you are calling every day, it reminds her of her condition that she would probably like to forget some days. If you are giving a lot more attention then you normally would, it reminds her she is not well. It is hard to say in any one case what is enough contact and what is too much. I screened all of my wife's phone calls during her first chemo and radiation treatments, and sometimes I would just let the phone answer and we would return calls later. I did ask the boys to contact her more often since they had a tendency to be infrequent, but I didn't have to tell my daughter -- she keeps in touch quite often. It just may be the time of day when you call, or what mood she is in (which can change by the minute). Just hang in there and not take it personally. She is struggling with an ugly beast. Best to you. Don

Thank you, TAnn, for your kind words for caregivers. We do what we need to do because we love you. And we are thankful we have you to love. Don

Go, Fay!

Whether it is the "female" things or brought on by chemo, sweats might be helped with an antidepressant such as Effexor. Lucie had sweats during the last chemo, and the onc put her on Effexor. It worked pretty well -- didn't completely eliminate, but controlled so much better. Don

Kate, I am so sorry at the loss of your dad. My heartfelt sympathies to you and family. Don

Welcome, Carole! Glad you joined us. Lots of support and info here. Take advantage. Keep a genuinely positive attitude and it will rub off on him, hopefully. Many stories here of survival, so hold onto the hope. Don

Very peaceful and reassuring. Thanks, Joe.

Ella, don't ask the question!!! (What else can happen?) We've learned not to ask that question! Yep, it's a test of patience and trust. Hang in there! We know the feeling. Don

Peggy (stand4hope) to the rescue! She E-Mailed me that she could down size the picture and give me instructions on how to put it in. So I sent her the picture by E-Mail, she downsized it, E-Mailed it back. I went into the profile and followed her instructions. VOILA! New pic! Thanks many bunches, Peggy! Don

Can't help on the brain mets, but the spine we can input on. Lucie, my wife, had the main met on her upper spine, which was very painful and caused some functional loss in her left hand. It was treated with radiation, as well as chemo, two years ago, and it has been fine for far. She does have to take low doses of time-release morphine twice a day because the damage to the spine still causes pain. She drives some, and does most of the things she did before. Good luck. Don

Beth, we can relate to the thoat and what feels good. Lucie's allergies have kicked in and so her sinuses are clogged and draining, leaving the throat not feeling so good. We went out last night and had a Wendy's Frostie, which made the throat feel oh so much better. Hope yours heals real soon. Don

Welcome, Summer! Keep us posted. Don

Above our bed on the wall is a painting Lucie did some time back, with lots of hearts and flowers. In the center is a heart shape containing the quote from I Corinthians 13:7: "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I thought it was appropriate here. The whole chapter of I Corinthians 13 on love is worth reading. Don

Well, folks, I tried to put in a new avatar of Lucie and myself and I woulnd up deleting the old one and not being able to transfer the new one. I have asked Rick to help me here and have sent him the pic. So until then, you'll have to hunt for my posts without a picture. Sorry Don

Lucie had a port installed under her skin just below the collar bone on the breast. Unfortunately, it was used in a hospital stay and she developed a staph infection in it. It had to be removed. After she healed, a port was installed on the left side, and she has had it for over two years now. We were told to only use it for chemo and such, and we have abided by that. No problems. Each time it is used, it must be flushed with saline and with Heperin (blood thinner). Lucie's veins are very small and hard to get to, so this has been a boon. She likes having the port. In your case, it is probably a precaution since veins do collapse with constant use. Good luck. Don

Welcome back, you two.

Yippeeeeeeee!

I think a circus is definitely in order. Enjoy!

Pity parties are fine as long as they have a cut-off time. Go for it. Don

As I sae it, one of the functions of this board is for people to sound off, get things off their chest, so they don't have to take it out on others. So, Beth, continue to sound off all you want -- we are here for you. Don

NED is sooo good! Awesome! Celebrate!