Remembering Dave

Karen aznd I saw Jesus in Hazard KY!!! We were there for a ralatives wedding (Karens side) and when we got there we had to drive up a small mountain to get to the Hotel. It was a small windy road and on the way up we passed this guy wearing long flowing white robes and sandles with long black hair and a beard. We saw many interesting things while in Hazard, Like the Pampas'Trees along the stream and the his and her houses where the wedding was held. I will let Kareb elaborate if she feels so inclined. As for the 80's I don't remember much about TV, I was in school at Va. Commonwealth University or on the road playing music going up and down the east coast, I went out on Cruise ships to play music in the late 80's. Did not watch much TV during this time. David C David C

Jamie, for the life of me I can't remember either the character or actor names of the two "hunks" on the show, I do remember that Daisy is Catherine Bach. I think there is a wealth of information on this great piece of American culture on the internet. Go to www.cootersplace.com for everything Cooter related and I bet there's links to other wonderful Dukes websites. We never did visit the Virginia Cooters Place. It is not far from a beautiful farm called Graves Mountain, which is primarily, I think, an apple orchard. Every fall they have an apple harvest festival and my folks go every year and my brother and his family go sometimes because it's not far from University of Virginia and they are rabid fans so they'll go up to a football game then swing by the farm the next day. we've gone twice, last year Dave's folks were here, we took our travel trailer and they took theirs, Graves Mountain also is a big place for horse back riding they let people camp near the stables for free (dry camp, no hookups) so we did that which was good for Dave since he had just finished PCI so he could rest in the trailer when he got tired. It is big time Good Clean Fun. Ok, I digress and ramble . . . . go to www.gravesmountain.com. ANYWAY, Cooters Place was not far from there and we meant to go last year before ole' Ben closed it down but Dave did not have enough energy for the festival and a breathtaking visit to such a cultural hot spot. but the next time we're near Gaitlinburg TN it will be on our top ten list of things to do there. Fay: I would LOVE to at least drive by Boss Hogg Ranch. I can't tell you how much I love cheesey stuff like that! that sounds great! wonder if he has a website with a photo? like I have time for this, geez. this is fun. karen

Nuts, Ry, Nuts in the brownies!!!!!!!! jeeze. Wish we could be there but I'm allergic to nuts. David C

Connie - Dave said he's going on the trip to Glacier even if I have to push him on the airplane in a wheelchair. I'll let you push that wheelchair at the Minneapolis airport from gate to the next, how about that for bonding? His first chemo got moved up from Friday in the oncologist's office to tomorrow in the hospital. No room at the oncologist Inn, so to speak, but the hospital is better, he'll probably be in a room by himself, he'll be able to stretch out in bed and nap, he'll have a TV, and he might even be able to plug the laptop in the phone line there. How about that for a day of pampered luxury? Karen

Ok, ya'll - the red dodge charger on the Dukes of Hazzard was called the General Lee. Cooter - or rather the actor that played him, Ben Jones, was a congressman from Georgia in the late 80's until Newt Gingrich beat him. Then he and his wife moved to rural Virginia, just an hour or two from D.C., and opened up a Cooters museum (no lie). They closed it recently to devote more of their time to the Cooters Place museum in Tennessee. Somehow I am thinking that a Cooters place museum in TN might get more traffic than one stuck in the middle of Virginia horse country. Anyway, just thought I'd add my two cents worth for '80's TV trivia. Karen

Jane, I'm so sorry for you. I had a cousin I was very very close to. We were the same age and for a while sorta the black sheep of the family (the only two cousins out of 16 who didn't have a college degree - then he bested me and went back to school while working and got his degree). Anyway, he and I shared depression which probably explained alot of things, like our black-sheep-ness and our struggles that made us bond - and he took his life two years ago this past Easter. Our relationship was so much like a close brother and sister and my heart ached for months and months, but with time it got better and now I think, and write, about him with a smile. take care, Karen C.

I don't blame you, I'd feel awfully violated if that happened to us. Your home is literally your sanctuary, how dare someone do that. We have two big barking choc. labs and there's no better security system in the whole world. I will never ever again live without dogs. they can be a pain to take care of and tie you down a bit, but they're great companions and the best security ever. these two usually can hear anything that doesn't sound right outside the house, sometimes down to a footstep. it just depends on how loud they are snoring . . . best, Karen

You're pretty funny, I like your style! glad you're back! Karen C.

Yipee! I thought I had learned about all I wanted to know about colons through my mom's colon cancer (we just saw her colon and rectal surgeon this morning, now what would make a person pick THAT speciality?) but this beats all - nerve damage? So glad he's eating, hip hip hip hooray as Faith would say! Karen

Ellen, losing my hair was a pretty traumatic experience to tell you the truth. It signalled that YES I do have cancer. When I had hair I could just pretend I had the flu or something. Actually it was a big step fowad in my attitude because then I could really concentrate all my might on fighting. IK would look in the mirr6r and see 0y d60e sh5n5ng and say Yes have cancer and YES I am going to beat it....and keeping it shaved and looking nice instead of all stubby and brittle signalled to me that I was in controll not this d@mn disease. All things are possible through the power of positive thinking, that along with many prayers!!!!!!! David C

Renee, big prayers coming your way> David C

Nancy glad to se you are doing better. I never had your problem, in fact I gained A LOT of weight while on chemo. I have to echo everyone else who said to make sure you are drinking. I kept a quart bottle full of water with me everywhere I went and made it a point to drink at least once every 5 minutes. I visited the little boys room a lot but did not have any problems with dehydration or kidneys. You are in my prayers David C

Jen, I am so sorry you have had this kind of a side effect. I was on Carbo and VP=16 last yea and the only side effects I had was Fatigue which got progressively worse and loss of hair. I am starting Cisplatin and CPT-11 tomorrow and am scared of te possible hearing loss associated with this drug but would rather be alive than have perfect hearing so will go through with it. I have been wondering how you have been doing. This explains why you have not been on the board much. Let us know how you are doing, you have many people here who care about you. You are in my prayers. David C

Jen, I had a hot spot show up in my groin on one of my PET Scans. I had the scan shortly after I had a proceedure to retrieve my catheter from my port which had floated up into my neck. They went into a vein in my groin with a wire all the way up into my neck and "fished" and pulled the catheter back into place. I think a PET scan will pick up any area with trauma to it. David C

Ellen, great news indeed. Enjoy the time. I found that the side effects were cumulative but gradual. A also got my head shaved and am going to get it shaved again here probably in a week or so. Bald is beautiful and a lot less trouble. Do you have an electric shaver. My hair continued to grow out even after it fell out but I did not want it to since while on treatment it would probably not grow right. The electric shaver worked great in keeping the dome shining!!! David C

If this house is rockin'!!!!!!!!Sure wish we could come, sounds like a blast. We will have our own little party here an the banks of the mighty Mattapony river and toast you all. David C

Cheryl, glad to see you are at home!!!!!! I bet you are happy. You know, we live in VA close to the chesapeake bay, where seafood is a very regular part of our diets and the very best lobste I have ever had I had in Dallas!! Sounds like you have things planned and under way as fa as the plan of action. I hope all works out and that you get back to 100% soon. Say hi to Jack fo me. You are in my prayers. David C

Ha,ha,ha. Thank you all. I thought I was funny with the re-ported thing but you guys take the cake. I needed that. I was released from th hospital around 11:00 am and we went to get my pain prescription filled and had lunch at the "counter in the drug store. It is like an old timey drug store with a lunch counter. There are a bunch of old ladies working it and the regulars just get up, go behing the counter and pretty much help themselves. The drug store is great they always have my drugs no mattter how obscure. Anyway the surgeon gave me a prescription for Lortab which is the same as Hydrocodone evidently, well that stuff does not work but my surgury area was starting to hurt pretty bad after finished eating so I took a couple around noon, we were still approx. 25 minutes from home. Now I have to wait until 4:00 before I can take some Percocett which I still have a couple left. Karen and I came home and we both had a little nap, in in fact Karen is still asleep. We had to get up at 4:30 am to get me to the hospital. We had a note to our Onc. we were going to tape to the door of thier office on our way to the hospital this morning but we were running late so Karen faxed it to them while I was getting re-ported. After we got home Karen called and they are going to move my chemo up to this Wed. and I will have it in the hospital. I was scheduled to start on Friday so this is nice to get it a few days early. They also will give me more Percocetts which Karen will pick up this evening when she goes in to pick up Faith. The people who kept Faith overnight are fixing us dinner which Karen will pick up tonight as well. They are such nice people. We dropped of Faith last night and then Karen and I went out to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. On the was home Karen called to see how Faith was doing and they Thanked us for sharing Faith with them, thaey were having so much fun with her (she is really fun....most of the time) and that she was doing great and was behaving herself. The thing that gets me, actually makes me madder than H#LL is the fact that I am not going to be able to play with Faith as much as I have been when this chemo starts, well actually starting today since my port was put in. Grrrrr!!!!!!!!! Well enough rambling. Thank you all for your support and prayers. PS Jamie a port is a Port-a-cath which is a button with a catheter (small tube) attached to it. It gets surgically implanted in you chest with the catheter installed into an Artery (vein or artery, can't remember which) which goes down into your heart. When you get chemo or IV's or have blood drawn they can just access the port by sticking the needle into the botton under your skin on your chest instead of sticking you in your veins, which can get to the point where they are usless if they ae stuck too much. I have heard stories of not being able to find a vein in peoples arms because they have been stuck so many times. I really don't understand why some people elect not to have a port installed. I absolutely love mine (don't get any wierd ideas now) After going through last year I could not imagine getting everything through my veins in my arms. Plus when they access your port receiving chemo for hours at a time you have full use of both arms because everything is hooked up to you port in your chest. David C

Ha,ha,ha. Thank you all. I thought I was funny with the re-ported thing but you guys take the cake. I needed that. I was released from th hospital around 11:00 am and we went to get my pain prescription filled and had lunch at the "counter in the drug store. It is like an old timey drug store with a lunch counter. There are a bunch of old ladies working it and the regulars just get up, go behing the counter and pretty much help themselves. The drug store is great they always have my drugs no mattter how obscure. Anyway the surgeon gave me a prescription for Lortab which is the same as Hydrocodone evidently, well that stuff does not work but my surgury area was starting to hurt pretty bad after finished eating so I took a couple around noon. Now I have to wait until 4:00 before I can take some Percocett which I still have a couple left. Karen and I came home and we both had a little nap, in in fact Karen is still asleep. We had to get up at 4:30 am to get me to the hospital. We had a note to our Onc. we were going to tape to the door of thier office on our way to the hospital this morning but we were running late so Karen faxed it to them while I was getting re-ported. After we got home Karen called and they are going to move my chemo up to this Wed. and I will have it in the hospital. I was scheduled to start on Friday so this is nice to get it a few days early. They also will give me more Percocetts which Karen will pick up this evening when she goes in to pick up Faith. The people who kept Faith overnight are fixing us dinner which Karen will pick up tonight as well. They are such nice people. We dropped of Faith last night and then Karen and I went out to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. On the was home Karen called to see how Faith was doing and they Thanked us for sharing Faith with them, thaey were having so much fun with her (she is really fun....most of the time) and that she was doing great and was behaving herself. The thing that gets me, actually makes me madder than H#LL is the fact that I am not going to be able to play with Faith as much as I have been when this chemo starts, well actually starting today since my port was put in. Grrrrr!!!!!!!!! Well enough rambling. Thank you all for your support and prayers. PS Jamie a port is a Port-a-cath which is a button with a catheter (small tube) attached to it. It gets surgically implanted in you chest with the catheter installed into an Artery (vein or artery, can't remember which) which goes down into your heart. When you get chemo or IV's or have blood drawn they can just access the port by sticking the needle into the botton under your skin on your chest instead of sticking you in your veins, which can get to the point where they are usless if they ae stuck too much. I have heard stories of not being able to find a vein in peoples arms because they have been stuck so many times. I really don't understand why some people elect not to have a port installed. I absolutely love mine (don't get any wierd ideas now) After going through last year I could not imagine getting everything through my veins in my arms. Plus when they access your port receiving chemo for hours at a time you have full use of both arms because everything is hooked up to you port in your chest. David C

I am getting my Port-a-cath RE-INSTALLED in the morning......... We will be dropping off a note to my Onc. on the way to the hospital in the morning because they scheduled a Dr appt and a chemo round for the week we will be going to Montana for a family reunion. I am sure either Karen or I will update you all on how the surgury went. I should be home by noon or so, my surgury is scheduled for 7:30 am. David C

Denise, the other David C post was from my wife. Having been a part of this board for over a year know I believe that in some ways this crummy disease is harder on the caregivers than it is on us who actually have it. I can tell Karen has a hard time trying to help me and it hurts me to have to see her going through this. I can't tell you what to do, I don't think anyone can be in your shoes and tell you what you should do although you haved recvd some of the best advice possible from the other posts here. We are all here for you. You and your mom will be in my prayers. She is lucky to have someone in her life like you. David C

Ok, ya'll - it's getting a little hard but I'm hanging in there. Dave is a little anxious I think and also has been on percoset for over a week now (his brow bone really hurts where the ENT doc took out a little piece of bone for the biopsy) and he snaps really easy - short tempered - yelling at both Faith and I, snipping at me for every little thing, then when I tell him he's making me nervous or anxious and to please calm down then he harps on how I can't handle this and I need to see our doc and get some valium or something. geesh, anyone would need valium if they're getting yelled at all day long, no kidding. Then I realized I needed to just ignore him, I asked him for permission to ignore him and he granted it - so there's my valium, ignoring him. This is getting hard and I'm not sure how I'm going to hold up though this on my own, my mom is laid up with the colon cancer so my parents can't really help, but I have to continue working full time with my two hour daily commute, taking Faith to daycare, then take care of her and Dave every evening. Gosh, I completely FORGOt to give her a bath this week after we got the bad news. I gave her a bath Monday and then meant to on Wednesday but then the bomb got dropped and I forgot, then Thursday we went to see my folks and I forgot, then it was Friday and I said heck with it, she'll just get dirty over the weekend, guess I'll give her one tomorrow before we take her to her little teacher's house to spend the night (so I can get Dave to the hospital by 6 am on Monday). Ok, thanks for allowing me to vent and ramble. I needed that. Karen C. p.s. did you know that if someone is yelling at you, if you close your eyes and pray you can't hear them?

Prayers are with you and your Mom, but they should be taking good care of her there in the hospital. Keep us posted. God Bless, Karen C.

Shirley, waiting is hard. I hope they can get you in soon and that everything is OK. My prayers are with you. David C

that was so sweet. it sounds like something from the Bible as a matter of fact. God Bless, Karen C.