Remembering Dave

welcome, Sandy, you have the best brother and sister in law in Pennsylvania, I do believe. Karen C.

Ginny, we care for The Duke and for YOU very very much. I think about you two every day. thank you so much for the updates. Love, Karen and Dave and Faith

Catching these things early is the best thing possible, well, other than NED of course. I am so sorry it has returned but am glad they got it early and have a good plan of action. Hope the radiation goes well. Just remember--YOU BEAT IT ONCE, YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! David C

Sounds like a rough ride but NED is great. Hope you get your strength back soon and yes, stay out of that hospital!!!!!! David C

Teetaa, what a beautiful vision of Heaven. May the boat never break down, the fish all be big, the bait never run out.......and yes, may the beer always be cold. David C

Ry, I hope you are doing better. I know you and David had a special relationship. I am so glad he made it to the MI Bash and that you got to spend some time together in person. We will all miss David. David C

I am in total shock. I got back from vacation and found out about Davids passing last night. I have been trying to figure out what to so here in my post. My prayers and condolences are with Davids family. We all loved him here. He was always there for me and we had a few laughs comparing our "younger days". David will be missed tremendously. He was taken away from us way too early in his life and in the life of his family. I wish I could have met him in person and shook his hand. He was a good man who loved his family and all of us here. Again, my prayers are with Davids family. David C

thanks everyone. This morning Dave found the post from David A right before he went to have his procedure done where he explained about the rigid bronchoscopy and the stents and the tumors blocking his airways and about how everyone was worried he was going to die but he knew he wouldn't. I must tell you that was so strange to hear that for the first time and he had actually died. but it did help explain to us what must have happened. Sometimes I get very scared that I'm going to lose Dave, it seems that so many people are gone now from this board who seemed to be doing so well, but then so many more of you ARE doing well and continuing the fight. I want Dave to be one who can give hope to others and hopefully so far he is. I will try to get him to post a picture of us at Glacier, maybe he can post a few in the scrapbook forum, even include our very own BeckyCW in the photos, we have plenty with her. His family had a wonderful time and Dave said it was his best birthday ever. I told him I didn't care if everyone had a lousy time, if he had a great time that's all that mattered, but in fact I think everyone did have a good time, maybe our niece and nephew got a little bored at times which is understandable and Faith did says "mommy, home?" about every other minute the whole week (no lie) but I think it was more of a question than a request - she seemed to enjoy herself and especially hanging out with her cousins all week. Love to all, Karen C.

Thank you. Karen and I are totally shocked and ..........................................

This is Karen. hi, all. We're back from the wilds of Glacier National Park. No cell phone service, no TV's in the rooms, not even telephones in the rooms . . . so the first thing I do when we get Faith in bed (at midnight) is see what's going on here at LCHelp and I see that David A passed? I tried back tracking through the posts but I can't see what actually happened . . . I just walked into the living room and told Dave that David A passed away and I think I just ruined the best week of his entire life. I just can't believe it, he was such a strong vibrant guy and I thought doing so well, and he and Dave had become good PM buddies, comparing the wilds of when they were young single and stupid. He was such a great guy and I can't stop thinking about those little boys. Anyway, if someonhe could reply with the story I'd appreciate it. I won't check again until tomorrow, we gotta get some rest . . . Love to you all, Karen C.

We are getting ready to leave fo the Airport!!!!!!! Karens folks are going to come and get us at 3:00 and take us to the Airport. Our plane leaves at 6:00 but we will eat dinner at the airport since they are not serving dinner on the plane. We fly to Menneapolis and then on to Missoula Montana and arrive there at 11:00 at night. We will stay there tonight and tomorrow night and then drive up to Glacier National Park. We will spend a few nights on the west side of the park and then a few nights on the east side of the park and then fly back home on the 14th. We have been looking forward to this trip so much. Just wish Faith was a little older so she would remember more. We will take lots and lots of photo's and will forward them when we get back. There is no TV's or phones at the places we are staying in Glacier. Well better get off here and finish packing g. Have a great week!!! You will all be in my prayers. David, Karen and Faith C

David, Glad you are feeling better and so sorry about the side effects. The side effects really suck but to me that just means that the chemo is doing it's job!!!!!! Enjoy that front porch, I sure wish I had a porch, send your brother in-laws over here so they can build me one!!!!!. David C

TELL HIM TO IGNORE THE STATISTICS, even if that is his life's bread and butter! Say there's a 97% chance of dying in "x" amount of time. WHY CAN'T YOUR FIL BE ONE OF THE 3%!!! My husband has a great article written by a guy who beat the odds on a very rare and deadly form of cancer and it's all about beating the stats. Plus, a positive attitude is KEY. From the patient AND the caregivers - so your husband needs to pull himself out of the funk and be positive and supportive of his Dad. His Dad needs a cheerleader! Here, I found a link to the article - please read it and share it with your husband. you may have to read through it two or three times. http://www.cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html Karen C.

oops, posted this accidentally before I finished it - see my REAL post below . . . Karen

That's awesome! Everything happens for a reason, you know? I hope your parents now have MANY MANY more years together and I bet they are more in love, OR will be more in love, than ever before. Please stick with us and keep us posted, your family is a real inspiration! God Bless, Karen C.

Hi all, David here. I can't wait to get to Montana. I lived there when I was 8 years old. That was 1972 and I remember my sister Becky CW was quite a hippy at the time, wearing multi rainbow collored clothes and all. ( Sorry Becky had, to slip that one in, ha,ha. ). We lived there a little over a year, I think, while my Dad was getting his Masters Degree. It was there that we went to a Trumpet recital at the University and I knew from that moment on that I wanted to be a professional Trumpet Player. I bugged my parents constantly for the next 4 years to buy me a trumpet. I had to wait until we moved to Northern Virginia before I was in a school system that had a music program. I played Lead Trumpet and Solo Coronet in High School and then moved to Richmond VA where I held all the top spots in all the ensembles thereat VCU (one of the top Jazz Programs in the country at the time). I played professionally for 13 years before I got married and settled down. I could have gone to NY or LA but I had decided that dodging the Grim Reaper, being on the road all the time getting home when the birds were getting up was really not the life I wanted for me or my family. Anyway......... I always wanted to go back to Montana but I really did not think there would be much of a demand for Professional Trumpet players in Montana. We are looking forward to this trip so much. Karen really needs a break, she has been through so much in the last month or so and has been so strong but she really needs a break. We really have not had much vacation time since a year before we went to China to adopt Faith. We have gone on little camping trips but have not had a good week long vacation. I love Montana and the Rocky Mountains, If you have never seen the Rockies you owe it to yourself to make a trip to see them. I must admit that I will have Law & Order withdrawals and computer withdrawals also but it will be for the best I believe. I do have to say that we will not be buying any more plane tickets since the last 2 times I did I got cancer shortly after purchasing the tickets, fist my initial Lung Cancer and then the my Metastisis to my noggin, so I have concluded that buying plane tickets causes cancer. Oh well, I better get off here, I had a full morning of running araound and I am beat. Need to lay down and rest before Karen and Faith get home tonight. David C

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DONNA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Nancy, you need to be able to express your feelings, even the not so good ones, to folks, so that's what we're here for. everyone certainly understands. I have lots of those moments and I'm not the cancer victim! Have you tried wrapping a scarf or bandana around your head? I like that look, I think it's cute under a cute hat and may make the hat not so hot on your head. Hang in there, you're going to be OK, I just know it. Karen C.

Hey, Cheryl - this sounds exactly like an episode of Dave and Karen on our boat! Complete with him yelling at me - and then later saying he had a good time. Sounds like heaven to me - nothing like a boat ride to make you forget your troubles! Karen

becky - I sent an email to glacier asking for emergency contact phone numbers and was told they now have phones at the village inn! but still no tv's, thank goodness! but don't tell your dad or dave about the phones in case they try to start hooking up computers to them, OK? Ry - I never got my own sign on name 'cause you had to have a separate email address which I didn't have without getting a hotmail account or something . . . but since dave and I share everything it didn't seem to matter (share to the point of driving each other nuts may I add?) am really looking forward to this - I'm even going to buy a new book to read while the inlaws spoil Faith! Karen

OK, hall pass please, from the Chapmans - all of us - leaving on Friday to meet up in Missoula, Montana and on to Glacier National Park. Need one for BeckyCW, too! A MUCH needed vacation from doctors, hospitals, chemo and - drum roll please - TELEVISION!! Do you hear that David C - no TV!!! No Law and Order reruns - no Discovery Health Channel blood! Karen C. (the other day, for some strange and rare reason, the TV was not on. Faith pointed at the TV a couple of times and said UH OH, like, oh no, it must be broken if it's not on!)

Wow, that's really nice. Really really nice. I wish I knew him! Karen C.

Yipee! I'm a firm believer in being a squeaky wheel. Also in going to your congressional reps for help. Needed some help when INS messed up some immigration stuff for Faith and got results. Took six months, but got the problem solved, after six months of being, literally, told off on the phone by INS workers. Yipee! Karen

Ginny, I check every day for an update from you. I know life must be hectic in some way, slow in other ways. What you wrote was both so very sad and so very beautiful. Beautiful because your love for Earl comes through so clearly. I am learning so much from you. Your neighbor does sound certifiably nutso. Geez. And how heartless to talk to you like that right now. God Bless you and Earl, Karen C.

When Dave had carboplatin and VP-16 he had six rounds. No discussion, no scans until they were done. Six rounds. The oncologist did mention that some folks can only tolerate four rounds but since Dave was/is big, healthy and young, and ASKED from the get-go for the oncologist to throw everything at him he had to fight the cancer, he just proclaimed six rounds at the beginning and that's what Dave had. He's pretty much said the same thing for this time. He's on cisplatin and CPT-11. Six Rounds. Of course, now six rounds is six months and six rounds last year was three months due to a different regime. Karen