Donna G

Welcome Mary. I hope your sister is responding well to her chemo. Is she due for a CT to see? Keep us posted. Donna G

Mild! Yes another word that is very nice. Thanks for keeping us posted. Donna G

That was on the news this am. Donna G

Besides the times have changed since your Mom first decided to smoke, did you know that cigarettes and nicotine are more addictive that cocaine? Once they(the tobacco companies) have you "hooked" it is not an easy thing to just quit-- for most people. Add to this that most people start smoking as kids when they believe they are invinsible. Donna G

Prayers going up for Rich. Donna G

Welcome aboard Troy. Radiation and chemo just may do the job! When I had surgery after chemo and radiation they told me all that was left was scar, all tumor dead. Hope it goes as well for your wife. Sounds like you are still near the base. My husband was Navy during the Vietnam era. I have a friend in your area that stayed there after her husband retired. Keep us posted. Donna G

Hi Jan, welcome. Hope we can be of help. Donna G

Very interesting, this site can also be used to view a video discussion . http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/healt ... yt&emc=rss Donna G

I just want to welcome you and tell you that your Mom is so lucky that you are there and hunting for information for her. When we are going through this we need all the help we can get. At appointments it is great to have someone elses ears listening for it is so hard to take it all in. When she starts chemo she may be tired some from the chemo and some just from the stress of it all. Please keep us posted on how she is doing. Donna G

Just got this news in an email from my husband. We lost Mark last evening. PMA-290 Team, it is with very deep sadness that I convey the news of Mark VanReken's passing. I have been in touch with CAPT Rixey. Our office will be there to support his family. Mark passed away last night @ 11:30pm PST in San Diego due to complications from his cancer. Mark put up a very brave battle over the last year and he knew the gravity of his situation when Kris and he left for their west coast trip. CDR Leon Bacon will be the primary POC to interface with Mark's family. We will pass news about the arrangements when we get them. Please keep Mark, Kris and his entire family in your prayers.

Like Connie says we are HOT! Would some of you people that are having rain share it with us? We are also in a drought. Donna G

I also want to welcome you Patches to this website. This is a very difficult time for you , I know been there, done that! Glad you found us. Like Connie I would also welcome you to our face to face group in St. Paul if you live in the twin cities area ( Go Twins !) Keep us posted. Donna G

Connie that signature of yours fits you perfect! You are a true FRIEND. You LIVE well. You LOVE. You CARE. You Speak KINDLY. I am so grateful that I found you and your support group when I needed you so much and you were there. This is a wonderful day to celebrate! Donna G

Welcome. Glad you came out of the dark and shared your Mom's story. I had chemo and radiation before they did surgery. When they did surgery the tumor was dead and all that was left was scar tissue. I hope your Mom's tumor responds the same. Keep us posted. Donna G

I think the doctor ought to bring up this with him. If it does make him upset at least he is upset with the doctor and not with his family. Who knows, maybe this is what he wants but this should be a decision he makes with the doctor. Donna G

The Daffodil Principle: Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren. "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "I was hoping you'd take me! over to the garage to pick up my car." "How far will we have to drive?" "Oh...just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "But I'll drive. I'm used to this." After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!" "We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils." "Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around." "It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road an d I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and it's surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and f lowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers. "Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958." For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificen t thin gs. We can change the world. "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?" Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting..... Until your car or home is paid off Until you get a new car or home Until your kids leave the house Until you go back to school Until you finish school Until you clean the house Until you organize the garage Until you clean off your desk Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs. Until you get married Until you get a divorce Until you have kids Until the kids go to school Until you retire Until summer Until spring Until winter Until fall Until you die... There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's watching. If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to someone special. I just did! Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Golden275, so glad you found us. Welcome. Donna G

Rhonda, that is Happy News! Hope to see you soon and congradulate you in person! Donna G

I also had Cisplatin and Etoposide with daily radiation to my tumor. After I was able to have surgery, and I had another go round of the same chemo's. I finished treatment in April of 98'. It worked for me. Donna G

I can't answer your question but I hope your Mom is on antidepressents. With her polio history problems, loss of her spouse etc sounds like her plate is very full. Donna G

That sounds like good news to me! Donna G

Hi Betty. welcome. Glad to hear you have responded Well so far to your treatment! Good news! boy when I saw your handle I thought of a nurse I know at work. All her scrubs are covered with Betty Boop. She is such a fan! Do you wear Betty Boop clothes also? Keep us posted. Donna G

We don't donate sick time but we can donate our PTO (pain time off or vacation or holiday time ) Donna G

I have a friend in our local group who has SCLC and I believe she had mets to the liver. She is more than 5 yrs and doing well. She also had preventative radiation to her brain. SCLC tends to spread there and this seems to prevent that. I hope your sister responds to chemo as well as my friend here in Minnesota. Keep us posted. Donna G

Wonderful happy news. Keep it coming! Donna G