EastCoastLadi

Crystal, Darrells' passing has hit me hard, he fought such a courageous battle, like so, so many others I can't believe he is gone. I know you must be going through such a difficult time right now, please know that you have many people here who care about you and what you are going through. Please don't hesistate to come here any time...we will be here for you. Grace

Karen, I am so very sorry about your dad. I know all too well, cancer robs us of so many wonderful people. My prayers go out to you and your family. Grace

.......don't worry it's not too risque!!!!! Grace www.busybus.co.uk/design/xmas_santa.swf

I'm just reading this....I can't believe it, of so many people I've come to know here, Darrell's fight hit too close to home, someone who fought with the same diagnosis as my husband, I looked to him for strength and encouragement, I believed that if my husband could fight that Darrell would be fighting the same battle along him. I can't cry, I'm too sad to cry....my soul feels less, my hope is that he did not suffer in pain too much or better at all. If God is watching down upon us and all of us who suffer from this aweful disease in whatever way we are, that Darrell is by his side... Darrell....you will be so missed, you were one of a kind.....no one will ever take your place.....now you don't have to fight this monster anymore... love and prayers... Grace

I would like to add also, Flaxseed - ( either oil or meal ) Grape Seed oil - very high in the omega's Grace

..well up here in Mass it was low 50's today, but just like that old New England saying......just wait a minute....so tomorrow it's suppose to be 29.... Grace

JanMarie, I am very sorry about your mom, my condolences go out to you and your family. Grace

Melinda, It's not wrong, in fact we've been in similar circumstances. This year the hospital gave us 2 turkeys and all the trimmings for Thanksgiving! and last year at Christmas, we were so blessed, our daughters' school was part of an organization that helped out needy families at Christmas, my girls got some nice clothes and some toys/games. Also last year a wonderful neighbor and his family "adopted" us last Christmas too and gave us some wonderful gifts. I know how you feel, it is so strange, especially if you're used to giving and not receiving. But know that many people out there that you even don't know that well, want to make it easier and bring some joy for you and your family at Christmas, when you all are going thru such an extremely stressful time. Grace

I don't know how I can across this website, if someone here had mentioned it, thank you..... Grace http://www.wellspouse.org/

Tammy, my husband has had his port for over a year now, and it's the way to go w/ iv chemo treatment. The only thing he hates about it now is that he has to get it flushed once a month and that first insert of the needle is a little painful for him. but when my husband needed it, the port definitely was the way to go. Grace

Shane, I'm very sorry about your dad, please know I am saying my prayers for you and your mom and family. Grace

http://ww12.e-tractions.com/snowglobe/globe.htm happy shakin'! Grace

(((Ellie)))), I'm so sorry about your sister, please know that now she is cancer free, this dreaded disease robs us of so many wonderful people. My prayers go out to you and your sisters' family... Grace

Kim, My heart goes out to you, for what you have gone thru and losing both your son and mother, you are an incredibly strong woman. May God watch over you... Grace

Danica, I am so sorry for your loss, my prayers go out to you... Grace

(((Melinda))), I'm praying that your husband gets better. I personally think that like my husbands' case it can get so so confusing with everyone imputing their opinions, good and or bad. If you haven't already, you may want to pull aside his oncologist and have a private talk. Of course your husbands' relationship w/ his onc. is the number one relationship, but you need to, if you haven't already establish one w/ his onc as well. The reason I say this is that treatment(s) can get overwhelming and complicated. Please PM me if you need to talk or if I can help you out... Grace

I'm very sorry about your mom, I know the difficulties that you had been having over the past several weeks. I hope that you can take some comfort in knowing that your being there for your mom was the best thing that she experienced in her final moments. My prayers go out to you, please know we're here for you.... Grace

My husband also had a bad allergic reaction to taxol, the strangest thing about it was that first, this had happened in his third round of chemo and the first two there was no reaction whatsoever. His reaction was very frightening to me because I was there, he was doing fine, went to the bathroom and came out telling me he felt like someone was crushing his chest and he couldn't breathe. This was one of the first times I can remember seeing my husband so scared. He ended up in the ER for several hours, but finally was fine, and of course, ending his use of taxol. Grace

oh I luv the kitty!!!!!! Grace

Aaron, First of all welcome. I know you must hear this alot, but you are so young to be stricken with this dreaded disease! But you got one powerful thing on your side "YOUTH"! and you better believe that if your dr/s. haven't told you, well they definitely must be thinking about it. Saying that, keep us updated as to what's going on.... Grace

(((Laurey))) Reading your post brings tears to my eyes. It's not fair! It's such a terrible thing for your daughters and you to go thru, I have 2 girls myself 8 and 11 and I know now the difficultly and sadness they are going thru. Please, please know that we are here for support and whatever we can do to help you. It doesn't matter what you say in your posts......you're heartbroken and yet you have to be the "rock" for your girls. I too pray that I won't be in the position that you are in now, but unfortunately my husbands' dr/onc said it is not "if" but "when" and this horrid, dreaded, disease will take another wonderful husband and daddy.......I too feel like where is this "wondeous" God??????? My prayers for you and your girls..... Grace

(((Linda))) I'm so so sorry. I can just imagine what heartache you are going thru. You've done all you can do. Please know I'm here for you.. Grace

Farrah, so sorry about your dad, I know exactly what it feels like to be hit with all of this so quickly. I can tell you some of the reasons that were told to my husband and myself as to the whys? and why nots of treatment of sclc. number one thing to realize... sclc can be very very tricky to treat, I mean that because it is a fast moving cancer you don't want to wait for treatment, yet you can't overload a persons' system because then they could be down and out and not able to have any treatment. What your dad is getting for treatment is what the onc call "the gold standard" - hopefully he will respond well to it...small cell if it has any good things is that it is very receptive to chemo and radiation, but you don't want to do both at the same time...it is too much on the body.... You also need to know that depending on where exactly his tumors are it may be difficult to radiate, as an example if it is to close to major blood vessels. Also, you have to worry about micrometastis ( sorry about spelling ), which means the very very small cancer cells.... Please read my bio...below to see all my husband has gone thru....hopefully it will give you some insight as to what he has gone thru the past year... I wish all the best for your dad Grace

Beth, I hate to hear what your mom is going thru! Understand w/ SCLC it can be very tricky to treat. Due to the fact that it grows so rapidly and in order to give any type of treatment whether it be chemo or radiation you want to make sure that the person receiving treatment is as healthy as he or she can be. Of course, on the other hand, you don't want to delay treatment too long because of the quickness of the growth of sclc. It is very very frustrating. I know my husband hasn't had any chemo for almost 2 months because his platlette counts have been so depleted due to the amount of chemo he had. In almost all cases w/ sclc they don't like to treat with chemo and radiation together.. its' just too much for anyone to handle. Right now my husband is doing IMRT ( radiation for his brain) due to reoccuring mets. but no chemo, the drs. - ( his radiologist and oncologist ) agree for him to do low doseage of this only on the brain, because the brain mets were the number one concern. If you haven't talked with radiological options with your moms' or the staff oncology radiologist I would highly suggest you do so. I wouldn't have thought of this before, but oncologists are not radiologist and vice-verse and they can vary tremendously on type of treatment they think is best for the individual. Please keep us posted....I wish your mom all the best Grace

Beth, I'm only wishing the best for your mom. PCI for her is an option, it's not painful, I know of the various possible side-effects....my husband has done PCI for his initial brain mets and now w/ his reoccurance of more mets is doing a radiation type of IMRT - ( it's more 3D - slower, more accurate). I know it sounds like your mom is just letting things happen on their own, but radiation can help her with her quality of life. Please know I am hoping for the best for your mom. Grace