Don Wood

Great news, Rich! Celebrate! Don

Welcome! We look forward to your active participations here. Don

Hey, Wendy! Glad to have you aboard. Yep, cancer is certainly life changing and you can never go back to that "safe=seeming" place where you used to be. But you have lots of good company, especially here. Keep us posted. Don

Hi, Melanie! Thanks for sharing your family. My brother also married young and he and his wife had three girls and then a boy. I think you are right that the sibling thing intensifies when cancer is in the family. My "kids" are 37-44 and that dynamic has definitely intensified in our family. We have to keep reminding ourselves because what we expect is for them to understand what their mom and I are going through and to make things easier. But, that doesn't always happen, does it? Yes, I am glad you renamed yourself because I was one who kept thinking you were Melanie's mom. Thanks for doing that clarification for us. Let us hear more. Don

Kel, sounds like a normal excitement to me. Have a great time with you mom. Don

Welcome to our group. Keep us posted on your progress and let us know how we may help. Don

Congratulations, Becky! Our own Snowflake has passed the 2000 posts mark. Thanks for all your warm support of all the people here, Becky. We appreciate it. Don

Prayers comin'.

MJ, it is good for you to express yourself here. We all need to talk out our emotions and frustrations and concerns. If you have a friend you can talk with one-on-one, give it a go -- it will help you release and help them be able to reach out to you. You seem to be a good caregiver for your mom. How are you taking care of yourself? It is so important to do. Are you taking rest breaks, doing some fun things for yourself? Don't neglect yourself. As for you mom, it concerns me that she is not eating and she is sleeping all the time. Chemo plays heck with the tastebuds, but the patient has to eat to have the strength and immune system to fight the disease. Sometimes the caregiver must insist on nourishment for the patient. We have found that something small every two hours is better than three big meals. Try many liquids. And the contstant "snakcs" usually help control the nausea. I would find out from the onc about her sleeping al the time. She may be overmedicated. She has to have a life to fight for her life, so she needs some wake time when she can do something she enjoys. Hope things improve soon. Don

Welcome, Laura! Glad you are posting. Keep us up on yourself and your mom. Don

Obviously an old joke -- gas station attendant? I don't think so!

Thanks, Ry. Hey, GOL! Good to see you back. And glad to hear you are still alive and kicking some butt. Your granddaughter is very wise and certainly a blessing to you. Hang in there. Don

Thanks for keeping us in 2004, doc. Appreciate your clarification. Don

Renee, my heartfelt sympathies to you and family. Glad Scott is in a peaceful place now. Don

Shawn, so sorry you have lost your mom as well as your dad. I lost both my parents when I was in my early 20's. It is difficult, but we can move on to a life of our own. My best to you. Don

Enjoy!

What a beautiful gift! What a man!

When Lucie had bilateral pneumonia a year ago, both lungs were full of fluid, and she was not taken off the morphine. She was put on a bipap (?), which forced oxygen into her lungs. However, she did have a healthy set of lungs. Her onc told us that as long as the morphine was covering the pain and there was not an excessive dose, it was not addictive. So when she got to her "well" period, we reduced the dosage until we hit her pain level. Then we went up a bit, and have maintained that doese ever since. Seems to work well for her. Don

My wife's treatment of chemo and radiation were interrupted after about a month's treatment because she got a staph infection that went systemic. It took her another month to recover and the onc started right where the protocol left off on both chemo and radiation. On the chemo, he debated whether to count the chemo earlier, and the scans done convinced him it had "counted" in the treatment, and he did not add aidditional treatments. I'm sure it depends on the person, the treatment and the circumstances. Don

Joe, I agree that you not tell the patient or family about statistics unless they ask. After all, it is a numbers game and each person is different. If you give statistics when asked, I would preface it with the fact it is just a statistic, an indication of what the "norm" is, but emphasize as you did that it is treatable, and hold out hope. My wife's onc did not mention prognosis until we asked. Then he told us and we moved on from there. We were impressed with him from the start, because he told us that his first priority was to ease her pain. Then the second was to treat the cancer. He did both with expediency, and has been very supportive ever since. We were also impressed that he encouraged us to take a trip to Scotland in May, which he knew we were looking forward to, knowing that something had shown up on a PET in December. When we got back from the trip, then he shared his thoughts and asked for another PET. By comparison, there were three new places, and he began chemo. We were grateful that he did not spoil our trip, since it was not urgent to treat and she was feeling very good at the time. We asked for the prognosis initially because we wanted to get it behind us and move on (besides I would have learned it on the Internet). But I know there are cases where the persons do not want to know, so I would not volunteer it. Please continue to do the excellent caregiving you are doing with your patients. They are fortunate to have you on their team. And my wife and I are fortunate to have the onc we have. Blessings. Don

It is not unusual to be put on morphine if the patient has severe pain. My wife is on 30mg twice a day because her upper spine was heavily damaged by the main tumor migrating from the lung. Don

Lisa, done.

I like it!

Go, Rachel!!! NED is so great! Have a good trip. Don

Sorry about your mom. If she doesn't want to know the prognosis, then I think her wishes should be honored. Besides, no one, not even the docs, know for sure how long any of us has. I know from my wife (she is an only child) how hard it is to lose your mother. I lost both parents when I was in my early 20's, and it is tough. But we can go on and make them proud with a good life of our own. Hang in there. You sound like a great daughter. Don