Donna G

Prayers coming. Boy, Friday night! It could be a long weekend. Donna G

2570 of us now! Ginny hope you guys have more things in common. Donna G

Welcome Martha, my prayers are also offered for you and your Mom during this most difficult time. Please keep us posted. Donna G

I am so sorry. I want to offer my prayers for you and the family for peace. Donna G

Eppie you should see the Halloween pictures at our dog park! Look under special events. Donna G http://alimagnetdogpark.org/

Prayers for ((((((((((Fay)))))))))))) Donna G

Continuing to pray for a smooth surgery and quick recovery for Connie. Donna G

Party, Party, Party ! It is a great day to celebrate. We also celebrate your friendship and caring for all of those here. You are a joy. Donna G

Welcome. We all know what waiting for test results is all about. Hope it is only a mucous plug but it is good that your Doc is doing more tests. Let us know. Donna G

AMEN. Donna G

Great News! Donna G

Wow, Shirley! When is the big day! I know there is someone in heaven that is so happy that you are happy! Keep us posted on your plans. Donna G

Jamie, Great Job! Donna G

Welcome. Your Dad sure has been through a lot! I have survived more that 5 years, although my circumstances were not the same as your Dad. I say I am not a statistic. I am a person and so is your Dad. He is already a survivor! Please keep us posted. Donna G

In todays paper Rev. Alphonse Kubat, born in Czechoslovakia, survived the Nazi work camp, imprisoned by the communist, had come to Minnesota - died recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Posted on Wed, Jan. 04, 2006 Priest endured Europe's worst Czech's Nazi, communist detentions preceded his flight to freedom in America BY STEVE SCOTT Pioneer Press His struggles paralleled the early life of the late pope. The Rev. Alphonse Kubat survived a Nazi work camp and communist imprisonment in his native Czechoslovakia before finding his way to Minnesota, where he served 36 years as a Catholic priest. Friends Tuesday called Kubat a genuinely holy man, "an example of someone whose faith was so deep he could have joy in the midst of suffering,'' said the Rev. Michael Miller, a priest whom Kubat mentored. "He really was the most joyful person I've ever known. You'd never know he'd been through such terrible things in his life.'' Kubat died Monday of recently diagnosed lung cancer at Our Lady of Good Counsel Home in St. Paul. He was 89. Kubat's strife was known to those close to him, though he seldom volunteered information of the life he endured before immigrating to Minnesota in 1969. "It wasn't that it was such a painful memory for him, but that he didn't want to draw attention to himself that he had suffered or that anyone would feel sorry for him,'' said Miller of Delano, Minn. At 22, Kubat was forced into a Nazi labor camp, where two years later he lost three fingers in an accident while making barracks. Upon release, he finished his education and was ordained a priest in 1942. But following the Soviet communist invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1948, hundreds of priests, including Kubat, eventually were incarcerated in a former monastery turned into a prison. Seldom could the priests say Mass, and then only secretly. "They used raisins for wine,'' said Dr. Ray Bonnabeau, a surgeon at the VA Medical Center at Fort Snelling who befriended Kubat while the priest served there as a chaplain the past several years. At the prison, "Somebody would send a cake with raisins in it to the cook, who was a Franciscan. The cook would take the raisins out and give it to the fellows, and they put them in water and used that for wine.'' Other friends said Kubat recalled using a spoon as the Communion chalice and whispering the words by memory. Small particles of the Communion host were wrapped in cigarette paper to elude the guards. Released in 1955, Kubat was assigned to construction and steel-factory work. For the next 13 years, any priestly work was done underground. A Soviet invasion in 1968 convinced Kubat that conditions would only worsen, so he crossed the border to Austria and in 1969 came to Minnesota, where his mother had come to keep house for his uncle, a priest in Veseli, Minn. "With the death of John Paul II and the coverage of all he had gone through, here was a man — Father Kubat — going through the same thing, just in the next country,'' said Miller, who began hearing about "the priest with the accent" in his own childhood after Kubat had settled in New Prague, Minn. Kubat, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, also served parishes in New Market, Minn., and Veseli, the latter for 15 years until he "retired" in 1989. He remained active, assisting at many area parishes and serving at the VA Medical Center until September. Miller and another longtime friend, the Rev. Michael Creagan of Robbinsdale, each spent time with Kubat in recent weeks recording and taking notes of the priest's recollections. Kubat was mentally sharp until the end, friends said. "We told him we had to hear these things and encouraged him to share the stories,'' Creagan said. "We can't forget how people suffered. It's part of our world history that's neglected in some ways.'' Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Veseli. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague. Burial will be at St. Scholastica Cemetery in Heidelberg, Minn. http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincitie ... 543264.htm

Today you leave and go down to Rochester. My prayers are with you for smooth sailing throught the surgery and a speedy return. Donna G

I am so sorry for your loss. My prayers are offered for you and the family for peace. Donna G

Melinda, welcome aboard. So sorry to hear about your husband. How is your child taking it? So young. Do they have new plans as you say the Tarceva isn't making it? Keep us posted. Donna G

Patti welcome. I also feel your sister is blessed to have you as an advocate. In my personal opinion most all of those labeled "slow" are way ahead of most all of us "normal" people in kindness, love, caring, gentleness. I think their strengths are much more important to have. Donna G

I agree with Leslie and Donna. I wish as the old song goes- "All We Need is Love" and a church song goes- "God is love , and all who live in love , live in God"

I went back to work about a month after my last chemo. I had applied for a job and was suppose to start working in December when I found out about the lung cancer. I showed up for orientation in May! That was May 1998! I still am working at the same job- I am an RN working on the floor which includes about 8 hours of running up and down the halls, helping lifting and turning patients , etc. Its tiring work, always was, but I figure I am not 21yrs old any more! I do only work 2/3rds time also instead of full time. Best wishes, you do what you can. Things do get better. Donna G

Mine can be used also. Donna G

Prayers for you and Ron's family and friends for peace. Donna G

Hi Beth and welcome. I started with chemo and daily radiation. Lots of Boost! Your Dad needs good nutrition to help his body tolerate all the treatment. Please keep us posted on how he is doing. Donna G

I hear that helps. I have Neuropathy mostly in my feet. I don't need any med. I was falling down when I first noticed it during chemo. Missed the last chemo because of it. Once I stopped chemo it started getting better but mine never completely healed. Now my feet are just very fussy. They like the same shoes, no changes. They REALLY complain if I have a grain of sand in my shoe, feels like a piece of glass! No more bare feet! On the whole though it is not a big problem now. Do hope your nerves heal back to normal. Best Wishes. Donna G