eppie

((((((Hugs))))))))))))) hang in there baby. i don;t know how to answer you question but I know someone will know it. So hang tough. Eppie

I understand your worries but what are you gonna do? There is no magic wand for this. In My family I can't get my sister to committ to a weekly phone call just to discuss dad's condition. We're both going to be there for Thanksgiving. I have emailed her my itinerary ( last week) and have not heard a relpy about hers so we can at least coordinate rides. I am type A baby boomer.... she's type gen x. My point is in Families there are some who "get" it and some who don't. There are those who can and those who can't. I think of myself as the person in the family who can and will take action. If you are that person in your family...well continue to do so. If you are a truth teller....tell it. If you are a silent supporter...contine that....if you are the food preparer....do that..if you are the vitamin buyer..... I just make sure I am doing what I need to do to feel good about my contribution. I always ask permission before doing something. I pronounce my desire as wanting to be a positive and not a negative in any given situation. Grousing about who is doing what and who is not doing what to my parents is not allowed. I make sure I have communicated my desires and plans. Then I proceed to do what I say I will do. If anything i make sure I am predictable.

Ok, I'll be brave and tackle BIG C. I am thankful for Cancer because it helps me to wake up every morning and be grateful for a brand new day when I phone my daddy in Texas and find out how he slept the night and how he plans to battle Cancer today. I swallow the lump in my throat and cancel the bile rising in frustration that he even has to deal with this beast. I am glad I can show him the best things about myself. I am glad my brother and sisters and my mom are the people they are and that they put on their game face when they need to and break down when it gets to be too much. I ahate to admit it but cancer is bring ing out the best in everyone and i am not surprised. WE're good people. I am also grateful for the Cannabis plant. I know it is rarely mentioned here but a dear old friend baked some brownies and daddy eats more, listens to his favorite music and feels better at 4:20 pm. after he has chemo. I am glad there is a Cyber Community that accepts me as a person dealing with cancer. I need you guys so much and all of you have been so kind and generous with prayers and suppport. There is a vibrancy here that I believe is healing the pain caused by Cancer. That feeling alone is a blessing for all who post here. Thanks to each and everyone of you and may you all have good cancer fighting day. Eppie

Advising someone is always hard to do. If there is one arguement I want to win it's the one where someone is able to live better or longer. You did good, Ann. I hate second guessing myself. So I think getting a second opiniion is good. Prayers to Dave! Eppie

Today I had to ask uncle if he wanted a priest or a feeding tube. He chose a feeding tube. He was cognizant and told me he had some fight left in him. It was very hard to do but I am glad I did it. My hubs and his mom were glad I did. they were scared of the implications of his choice.

Love those babies! take care of yourself. It is good to kow you're out there in the cyber world praying for us. love Eppie

http://www.toilette-humor.com/computer-at-night.html

Yeah, like a Telly Savalas line: "Who loves ya, baby?" That is prolly dating me but I thought it was cute.

My boy is "Owen Alejandro" and my girl is Anna-Sophia" I love those names. NOt too common, either.

Bahhahhahhhaaa! LOL!

For me, having my dad be stage IIIb-IV NSCLC is doubly frightening because my husband's father died 6 years ago this week of Stage IV adeno with brain mets. This whole scene is unreal and too terribly familiar. However, i take much solace in the fact that the cases are so different. My dad is an optmistic person and willing to do what dr's say. Also in the years that have gone by there is so much more that they can do for our beloved ones than they could do 6 years ago. Also my family has a faith based belief system which even though I have grown away from I still adhere to in times of trouble. NOt to sound superior to my hub's family but too often i find the hand wringing and the fear is based on the fact that they do not have this to fall back on. I don't judge but i do struggle to understand this in our relationship. As much as i find they struggle to undestand me. 6 years ago they said all they could offer my FIL was palliative treatments and within 6 weeks he was gone. He was also a non-compliant patient. He hadn't had so much as a health check up ever! Shocking, i know but true. He would not any follow directions and my MIL never questioned his judgement. He had 8 brain mets. They made him paranoid. He took the decadron but when the pills ran out he wouldn't call the doc for more.This caused much suffering. Any advice I offered him was met with wise cracks/derision. I was amazed when my hubs talked him into going to Dana Farber in Boston for a clinical trial (Carbo/taxol) but they said if he was still around in two months they would see him. He took that poorly. Understandably so. He was too far gone. anyway, long story short: Much of this energy about my dad is causing stress for my hubs and me. In this dynamic, six years ago, I was a pressuring know-it-all and critical of FIL and MIL. I recognized the decline and was quite vocal about it. My urging to see a doctor were met with negativity for months before FIL was diagnosed. In my husband's grieving i have been portrayed as a jerk for fighting with him about seeking treatment and verbalizing my thoughts about his condition. I have learned a lot about keeping my mouth shut in my hubs family concerning health issues. I try to silence the amount of culture shock I feel. (Not easy...BIL has Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and so did my aunt but I have never had a conversation about this with my sister in law. She has Chrohn;s Disease and so do I but we never talk about it--she's treating it "holistically" and I see a Gastro guy) The fact that my dad is sick of the same disease that killed his dad has him spiraling into that pain of loss...not just for Hubs but for other members of his family. I realize I can't do much about the past. I am just weary of handling his burden along with shouldering my own fears about my dad. On top of this all I should mention that my FIL only living brother is in the hospital with broken ribs froma fall in the nursing home. (did I mention the pessimistic mindset pervasive in my hubs family?) Well, hubs is frightened that uncle is on death's door and accuses me of pollyanna-ing Uncle's situation. IMHO Uncle could pull through. He is frail but in stable condition and from what i understand doing as well as a 73 year old guy can do. He doesn't have an infection. I feel pressure from him to predict this outcome and I refuse too. The stress I feel from my husband is very mental and demanding. The wrestling about what if this and what if that are more than I am able to committ to. He views my position as resistant and non-compliant. i wish he had been raised within a religious world view that such things are taken on faith. You can't plan out a death or a life. Tonight when I said he was violating a personal tenet of believe for me he became very offended. "YOu claim you're agnostic!" Exactly. I am brave enough to say I don't know. On the plus side hubs has been very good about allowing me to go to Houston to be with my family. He is bending over backwards. Early Nov. has had me on tenderhooks every since FIL's passing. I should be used to this by now but I am not. No response is needed to this post. I just needed to get this out of my system so it can be done. My hubs relies on my input regarding his uncle. I love the old man and have been his caregiver for over 6 years. It was pointless for us to fight about Uncle tonight. I know my hubs doesn't problem solve in analyical terms but in emotional ones. i should have been smarter and just looked at the calendar to know that when this anniversary comes along I will have to pay my dues to be in this family.

Extremely funny! (Special Ed teacher who predicts she will always be employed because of the joke posted above)

I get my profane mind from my daddy and I am proud of that too. I can't even repeat the jokes we share. It comes from working at the refinery. This one of the best things I read all day.

Whoa! I hate to be late to a good party! Way to go, Frank. Post 3000 more, why doncha?

What is this filter for blood lots I keep noticing? Would someone describe it? Maybe my dad should have one too.

Prayers on the way to CA. Hang in there, guys! We're pulling for ya!

It's been over a week and Dad is home and he has resumed his chemo treatments but using an IV. Carbo-taxol-pamidronate The Gamma knife is still put off. I told dad to put a bug in his radiation onc's ear to not forget about him. He is eating (even gained 4 pounds) and feeling pretty good. I am relieved. Good days are followed by bad. and bad days are followed by good! I guess also losing his hair had a very upsetting effect. Mom, me and my brother all were crying but not in front of dad of course. He's a tough guy and everyday is a new day for fighting this beast. Much love and healing to all cyber friends in this battle. Eppie

Monster poo? I guess I just had to ask.

More prayers and more for your mom. I hope for the best with the surgery. Eppie

This item also can be found at www.zactima.com > Astra drug wins "orphan" status for thyroid cancer > > "Zactima, or ZD6474, is also being assessed as a treatment for lung > cancer -- a much bigger market -- and final Phase III tests in this > indication are due to start in the next few months. > > (...) > > "The once-daily pill combines the action of Iressa and Tarceva -- a > rival product made by Genentech Inc (DNA.N: Quote, Profile, > Research) and Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) -- > with an ability to starve tumours of their blood supply. > > http://tinyurl.com/8pyfx

My dad has completed 2 rounds of Carbo/Taxol/Pamidronate. 10 rounds of WBR. He recently contracted a blood clot in his right arm pit last wednesday. He has been on heparin for 3 days and had two injections to belly ( he doesn't know what but I suspect some other low molecular weight anticoagulants) The right arm was where his PICCt was and now surgeons are advising against installing another in that arm. The left arm is another no-go (not sure why) so the last option is the port. He is receiving conflicting info about whether he can have the port I guess fear of another clot. Also another bummer...he was to have gamma knife procedure last week and now all docs are advising against that becasue of the anticoagulants in his system. so I have two questions: Can taxol/carbo be administered after a round of Topotecan or Etoposide or Tarceva? I am pushing the onc to give my dad some sort of oral chemo agent. My rational is that Dad's chemo has stalled now for two weeks. he has had an incomplete treatment to the brain mets. I feel urgency is needed to halt the growth of this cancer. He tolerated the Taxol/Carbo very well but if he is not able to get a port or a picc...then oral agents are needed. This is only until this clot problem is resolved and he can have either a port or picc placed. I really want to see his treatment----cancer destroying treatment resumed.... Second question: How long after anticoagulants are administered can surgery be performed? I don't want to put off this gamma-knife procedure too long. Is this a common problem whenre patients develop hemologic effects due to chemo treatments and what is a common protocol when this occurs? Thanks, EPpie _________________

I have to wonder whether a whole body scan is being done. In my Uncle's case...SCLC the PET of the trunk showed clean. 9 months later he shows neurological symptoms...brain mets.. I say, do whole body scan. but i am not a doctor. I only play one from the safety of my living room. Again, nothing I guess is 100%. Cancer bites the big one. i hate it with an unfathomable malice. eppie