MsC1210
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Posts posted by MsC1210
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Randy thank you for that piece. I tracked it down hoping to learn more but was not successful. If you have more informaiton I would really appreciate it. I did print that bit out and will give it to Mom to discuss with the doctors.
Carole. the reason we are looking for information about a feeding tube is that the weight loss issue is severe at this point. Jerry is not opposed to the idea as he is aware he needs to get his strength up in order to be able to fight this with any degree of success. It is only a temporary thing to help get him back on his feet. I know there had been a couple of members a while back that had this done and they were very, very glad they did as it gave them the edge so to speak.
Everyone.... today is the day. And, it almost got lost in the frenzy, today is Jerry's actual 71st birthday. Praying so hard that he gets some good news and some serious relief for the breathing issues,as there could be no greater or better gift. As I type this, the procedure SHOULD be ongoing. I will post more later when I hear from Mom. In the meantime thank you all for your replies. I am really still hoping to hear from those who have done the feeding tube.. Will do a search and see if I can find those memnbers.
Chris
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Hello again.
I spoke to Mom this morning and Jerry is doing "ok". We are in the northeast and being blanketed with the incredibly hot and humid air, so I was almost surprised when she said he was doing "ok". She said she has the A/C on and fans going and he is on the sofa watching tv and sipping Gatorade. A simple solution to his dislike of plain water!
Mom asked me to post and get some ideas from all of you about what type of things she can do after the bronchoscopy tomorrow. One thing I mentioned to her was to ask about a feeding tube since he is not able to eat much and his weight is continuing to decrease. Right now he is hovering somewhere around 100lbs. I know there have been a couple of members who have had the feeding tube inserted on a short term basis and I'd love to be able to share those stories with her and Jerry.
One new development, not too surprising really, is that he started coughing up some blood Friday. This is the first noticeable blood he has had. I am so glad that they are doing the procedure tomorrow.
It was mentioned in one of my other posts that Jerry should qualify for palliative care. I did some research on that before I mentioned it to Mom as I did NOT want to toss out the Hospice word to her and get her mind going in that direction. This morning I was able to introduce that thought to her, mentioning that he may benefit from having a nurse make home visits to check on his hydration, etc and be able to set up an IV if needed. I pointed out to her that this service would make things so much easier for her AND Jerry as it would potentially eliminate the need to drive to Albany in a crises. She agreed and said she would talk to the local doctor about this. We DID talk about hospice, too and she is aware of the services they provide. I have to be so careful bringing ANY of this up as I don't want to put the wrong idea in her head. It is such a stressful time as this is Mom's first time actually dealing with any type of cancer. I had the whole experience of going through this with Brad, but never shared all of his ordeal with her. I have a bit of an idea of what we have ahead, she is clueless.
So, I guess the whole point of this post is to get advice and input that I can print out and share with Mom. I am so grateful, in advance for all of your help.
Hugs to all,
Chris
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Thank you all so much for the words of support and the many prayers. I have been relaying all of the messages to Mom and Jerry and they are so very grateful for all of you!
I am so blessed to be a member of such a wonderful community.
Much love and many hugs to you all,
Chris
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update....
Mom called around 5pm and she and Jerry are back home. As unbelievable as this is, they did not keep him in the hospital! HOWEVER... they did determine that he was severely dehydrated, his blood pressure was very low (89/60) and, now I found this to be the statement of the day.. they were SHOCKED at how much he had deteriorated since he was there last.
After close to 4 bags of fluids and being monitored all day the doctor discharged him, WITH AN APPOINTMENT FOR MONDAY MORNING AT 9am to FINALLY have the broncoscopy/biopsy!!!!
Although we are all still quite unhappy, more like disgusted and pi**ed off beyond words at how this whole situation has been handled, we finally have some hope that we may get things moving now and get a treatment plan in place and better yet, started!
Thank you all so much for the prayers and well wishes.. Keep them coming please as we still have a long road ahead of us but HOPEFULLY it will become a smoother journey now.
Hugs to all
Chris
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Thank you Muriel.
Right now the main concern is simply to get some help for him but yes we are definitely not going to let this episode go without making A LOT OF NOISE about it.
For the servicemen and women who have risked their lives for this country to be treated so poorly is just unacceptable! For ALL of us, the high cost of simply getting treatment, medication etc simply to LIVE to fight is insane.
I am just so saddened to think that this is how so many veterans are treated. It is sickening.
Hugs
Chris
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Mom called me this morning around 8am and said she has had it. She and Jerry's son who is here from Oregon were taking him to Albany and going to the ER at the VA hospital and DEMANDING that they do something to help this man. Mom said he had another really bad night, is having more pain in his back and the respiratory distress has become unbearable.
I am absolutely shocked and completely amazed by the lack of action the VA has taken. I wish so very much that Jerry had something other than this crap for health insurance as then he could have at least gone somewhere else and perhaps had something done before this. Being that he does not have other insurance and is not in any position to afford the cost of seeking treatment anywhere else, we are stuck with this nightmare. My heart is just breaking watching this poor man struggle just to live... This whole thing is just cruel, heartless and WRONG!!!!
Please keep the thoughts and prayers going as we certainly can use all the help we can get at this point.
My sincere thanks to all of you...
Chris
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Thank you all so much for the replies. I went down to see Mom today and drop off some of the left overs from the graduation party yesterday. Jerry was sleeping as he had a horrible day yesterday just sitting in a chair and trying to breathe.
Today Mom said he was complaining about his back being in pain. I asked her to please phone the VA hospital and tell them that we really NEED to get this man some relief NOW. Mom was going to phone them and I did tell her that she needs to continue to call over there and badger the hell out of them until they get the hint that we are NOT going to just go away. This man is dying in front of our eyes and there is literally NOTHING we can do to help him and the wonderful VA hospital, the place that is supposed to take care of those men and women who risked their very lives for this country just turns their backs on them?? I am so sickened by this whole system. I pray to God my son is never called into active duty, and heaven forbid he is, that he NEVER needs the help of the VA.
Sorry about the ranting. I am exhausted, I am sick to my stomach seeing my Mom so torn up and distraught, I am heartbroken seeing what was once a vibrant, active, and healthy man reduced to needing someone to help him walk across a room, he needs help to simply bathe, he cannot even be left alone for any length of time right now as he just needs someone to help with the simplest of things. It is so damned hard!!
Thanks for listening and thanks for understanding...
Hugs
Chris
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Thank you all for your congrats wishes and prayers. Meghan officially graduated (with honours!!) yesterday and it was a wonderful ceremony and party. Mom (and Jerry) were not able to be with us though as Jerry is not really able to be left alone. Their absence was strongly felt.
I am back, to some extent but am still tying up loose ends and getting life back to somewhat normal.
Again, thanks so much to all who have been in touch and sent congrats and well wishes!!
Hugs and Love
Chris
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Hi
more set backs. The bronchoscopy that had been scheduled for today to do the biopsies has been postponed due to an "emergency". I have to tell you, I am so unimpressed with the VA system!!! Jerry is so SOB that simply walking across a room is nearly impossible, there is a blockage in the airway that is creating this situation and is most likely a tumor, but they had an EMERGENCY on Friday of LAST week that caused them to postpone this procedure scheduled for today?? ugh arghhhhhhhhh
Now we are waiting to find out when the procedure will be done. It is supposed to be later this week. In the meantime one of the doctors has finally given him megace to try and stimulate his appetite and hopefully get some food into him and get his weight going up instead of down.
Not a very positive update. I am really scared and Mom is doing her best to keep it together but the stress and the fear is taking such a toll on her. This just sucks...
Please, keep us in your prayers.....
Hugs and love to you all
Chris
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Hi
I am going to be sort of away for the next week. My daughter is graduating from high school, we have out of town guests coming and Jerry is going to Albany for his biopsies on Monday, June 2.
I will try and check in and keep things updated. Just going to be hard to spend much time here for a week or so.
Any spare prayers are welcome... this is absolutely hell.
Thank you...
Chris
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Hi
Well something of an update. Mom had to take Jerry to the emergency room on Friday of last week as he was so short of breath and in distress.
Mom called the primary doctor with the VA to inquire about oxygen but they said his evaluation was not poor enough to qualify him for at home oxygen. I don't begin to understand the logic behind that but..
ANYWAY.. while at the hospital, the ER doctors did more blood work, EKG's and gave him a breathing treatment. The blood tests showed that his white cell count was pretty high so they put him on an antibiotic. He had a fairly ok weekend but Mom said today he is not good again, not able to or wanting to eat and just in his chair.
Now we are waiting to hear from the VA hospital in Albany about the time for the biopsies on Monday.
I really hate this.
I will do my best to keep things updated and check in here. In between trying to do all I can for Mom and Jerry, my daughter is graduating from high school this weekend and we are having a party for her. I am having out of town house guests, too so I may be among the missing here for a while.. Guess I better ask for a hall pass in case someone notices I am AWOL.. haha
Thanks for listening....
Hugs
Chris
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Hi
Well the news continues to be grim at best. The consultation with the Albany Veterans Hospital was today and the doctor had more x rays and blood work done as well as an EKG. He told Mom and Jerry that he is quite certain that the mass in the right lung is cancer and then he told them that there is also something of concern in the left lung as well as on the vocal cord (Jerry has had no voice since his stay in the hospital for the heart issue). Also of concern are the ribs around the right lung and it appears that there is lymph node involvement too. Definitely not how we had hoped this appointment would go.
Tomorrow is the appointment with the nutritionist. Hopefully this will provide some ideas to get him to eat and get his strength up some before the biopsy, which will be a broncoscopy on June 2. The doctor told Mom that he is planning on chemo and perhaps radiation once they know whether this is SC or NSCLC and how advanced it is etc.
This is truly a nightmare. I know you all understand that. I am reliving the whole ordeal with Brad over again and it is so hard. I am holding it together for Mom and Jerry but dammit, this is so hard. I lay awake at night and can still remember, in vivid detail, the night Brad called us to tell us he had lung cancer and I can remember the phone calls with him crying, a grown man, crying because he was so scared and so sick. I can remember the anger I had then and the fear, but mostly the anger. I have that anger back and it feels so foreign. I had come to terms with losing Brad, at least as best I could and that is how and why my web site came to be. It was my therapy and was such a great way to channel all of those feelings into something positive.
Please, please, keep us in your prayers.. and thank you all so much...
Love
Christine
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Hi Again,
Mom called me this morning with the latest news/update.
Jerry will be going to Albany, NY Veterans Hospital on Monday. She was able to speak to the doctor yesterday when the arrangements were made and got some additional information. The initial scan shows a 2.6 cm lesion in the bottom portion of the right lung. There is also concern about the pleura and the rib(s). This is really sounding worse and worse as more information is coming out.
The doctor indicated that he will be recommending another CT scan when Jerry gets to Albany in order to have a good baseline between the scan from 2 weeks ago and a new one. I have given Mom the standard, "get a notebook, take notes, ask questions, ask again if you don't understand, etc etc, but most importantly WRITE IT ALL DOWN". She also has been great about asking for copies of the tests, etc and has just about everything in hand now.
I am so glad I have learned so much from my time here prior to this. Thank you ALL for being so wonderful about sharing your experiences and advice. I don't even have words to express what you all mean to me right now.
Please keep us in your prayers as I have a gut feeling this may well be the beginning of a very difficult fight. And, I am really, really scared.
My love and thanks and huge hugs to all
Chris
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((((Barb))))
Just hugs and prayers for you... I wish I had magic words to make things easier.
As for this woman, perhaps it would be a good idea to do as Randy suggested and check into a restraining order AND check into the laws in your state regarding stalking. This is just so much additional stress that you do not need and I feel that there must be some legal way to end it once and for all and restore your peace of mind at least as far as this issue goes.
Again, hugs and prayers,
Warmly
Christine
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Thank you all so much for the encouragement and the prayers and the concern. It is funny as I was thinking over the past couple of weeks that I was not sure I was going to stay here much longer. I was feeling like I was not able to contribute as much as I would like to, had been feeling out of place over some comments I had read and well I thought maybe it was time for me to move on. Then this...... I hate cancer so much. There are just no words to even express how much I hate it..... Sorry I did not mean to get off on a tirade there.. Just so much in my head right now that I cannot even function...
I spoke to Mom and the latest word is confusing to say the least. Originally we had been told all of the biospies would be done in Boston and then a plan of treatment etc would be discussed and put into place. NOW, however the doctors are thinking more toward sending Jerry out to Albany, NY VA hospital as it IS closer to us here and would sure make things easier travel~wise for Mom and the rest of us. BUT.. (isn't there always a but??) of course there is no way of knowing when they can take him in Albany.
So we have the appt still with Boston for Tuesday but that is completely tentative and up in the air. This waiting is torture. I just continue to pray that this stupid spot is nothing more than scar tissue or some stupid infection. This not knowing is so damn hard.
This is like reliving a nightmare that I had finally awoken from and begun to move away from. AARRGHHHHHHHHHHHH..... Thank god I have this site. I wish Mom was computer literate but she is scared to even turn a computer on never mind go on the INTERNET lol.. So, it will be me gaining strength, hope and information and advice from you all here and sharing it with her. I need you guys!!!
Thanks for listening...
Hugs
Chris
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Hi Everyone
I am not sure where to post this so if the General forum is not where it fits best, please move it.
When I first joined this board it was mere months after the loss of my best friend to a very aggressive form of lung cancer. I joined in hopes of finding peace of mind in helping others who are facing this horrific disease. I have been so blessed to have met so many wonderful, caring and good people here and I have sincerely gotten so much out of knowing that even the few simple words of support that I can offer, DO make a difference.
Now I am here hoping to find that same support and compassion as I learned yesterday that my 71 year old step father may well be facing the fight of his life. He had been in and out of the hospital recently for what we all thought was a minor heart issue. His doctors at the V.A. sent him for a CAT scan and the results show at least one spot on his right lung. He had been having pain and shortness of breath but due to the fact he had only recently quit smoking it was thought that he had pulled a muscle or something similar.
Mom is a wreck of course but she is doing her best to remain positive and I am doing my best to help her keep that outlook. We do NOT know for certain that this is a malignancy, but the doctors are feeling fairly confident that it is. We are now waiting on word from the veterans administration on when he will be sent out to Boston to have the biopsy done and from there we will know more.
Please say a prayer and I will post as we know more.
Thanks guys. I am so glad to be among friends who "get it".
Love and hugs
Christine
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Dina
I am so sorry about your Dad. Please accept my deepest sympathies and condolences. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
Warmly
Christine
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((((Teri))))
I don't have any words of wisdom to help make this any easier but you are in my thoughts and prayers and I am sending you lots of hugs...
Christine
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Hello Marie and welcome
I am glad you have joined us.
Warmly,
Christine
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I am so sorry. Please accept my heartfelt condolences and know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
Warmly
Christine
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Hello David and welcome
So sorry you had reason to find a site like this but I am glad you joined this one.
Please let us know how we can help you as you fight this and know that we are always here for you. And always, ALWAYS feel free to vent. We are excellent listeners and we understand.
Warmly
Christine
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Hi Pup
Congrats on one year~ Keep fighting my friend. We are all here with you~
Hugs
Christine
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Hello and welcome
Sending prayers and positive thoughts for good results and of course best of luck with the walk. Thank you for all that you are doing to help the cause~
Warmly
Christine
My Intro...
in INTRODUCE YOURSELF!
Posted
Hello Robin and welcome.
I am so very sorry about hebbie and am hoping that your mother in law is doing well.
Christine