Remembering Dave

Cindy, good to hear from you. Best wishes and good luck with the computer. David C

Sorry you are having a problem with the chemo. Like Don said try many small meals. My prayers are with you. David C

Looks as if you and I may be the only ones who had a good 4th!!! Good for us. Congatulations. David C

Oh My!!!

thanks, Connie. I, personally, am feeling a bit of anger at this stupid disease for making our dear Cheryl feeling so bad, emotionally and physically. God Bless, Karen

Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a good 3rd of July. My sister, her husband and 2 kids got here around 4:00 yesterday and the kids played in the sprinkler for a while and then we cooked out steaks and hot dogs and generally gorged ourselves. When it finally got dark we shot off some fireworks. I have always wanted to shoot off fireworks in our field but just never have. I vowed to do it this year. One thing cancer does to you is that you learn t live for today. Oh, I still plan and work for tomorrow but I am not going to put off doing the things I really want to do. Karen started giving me greif (lovingly.....of course) about spending money on fireworks and seemed a little taken back when I said I might not be around next year to do it so I wanted to make sure I did it this year. We are all going to go out on the pontoon boat this morning whenever everybody gets up and then later tonight we will go to Tappahannock VA to see an Old Timers Softball game and then fireworks. We will probably take our mini grill and cook out hamburgers and Dogs. Tappahannock is a historic little town with lots of Antique shops on the Rappahannock River approx 60 miles northeast of Richmond. The Rappahannock is referred to as "The Rivuh" even though the James River runs right through the City of Richmond. We live 1/2 way between Richmond and Tappahannock on the Mattaponi River, a smaller, but more picturesque river than the James or the Rappahannock Rivers. The Mattaponi river becomes the York River and flows into the Chesapeake bay at Yorktown VA.. Well better start getting breakfast ready for everyone. Have a Safe and a Happy 4th of July, Happy Independence Day!!!! David C

Cathy, I know you will be glad to get this last chemo regime behind you. I know I sure was. Was nice you got to spend time with your daughter. I thik a trip to Europe is a great thing to do. HAPPY 4TH!!

Connie please tell Cheryl and Jack both that my prayers are with them. I hope she is better inb the morning. David C

Great news and what a wonderful thing to do. My folks are on the way to LA CA right now, they are full time RVers and love it. Tell your sis we will be in Glacier National Park in Montana in August if they are in that part of the country maybe we can hook up. I would love to meet another survivor. David C

Oops, Rick, you are correct, thanks. David C

Jen, good to hear from you. I remember coughing a lot also. I was coughing up a lot of crap from my lungs and honestly think it was not only part of the tumor breaking apart but also the crap built up from years of smoking. I had little black flecks in my phlem and It had to be the tar built up in my lungs breaking up and coming out. Hows that for a testimonial about why you should not smoke??!?!?!?!?!!!! It seems as if chemo effects everyone a little differently. Hang in there and keep the positive thinking going. Don't let the differences in feeling get you down, remember you are getting GOOD THINGS DONE to you which is going to make you feel a little odd. Be happy you are feeling odd because it means the chemo is working!!!! You need to go read this article http://cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html The Median Isn't the Message by Stephen Jay Gould This is an article my sister, Becky CW, sent me which really helped me out. Have a happy and joyous 4th of July weekend. The ball is rolling on your cure so get out and enjoy life as much as you can. Hamburgers have good protein and there is a lot of holiday beverages to keep you hydrated. Remember to keep hydrated. My prayers will be with you. David C

Elaine, belive me, I thought the exct same thing, especially when I requested the Procrit not once but on multiple occasions and was told they don't use it any more. Pi**ed me off to tell you they truth. I also wonder if the insurance companies have something to do with it since Procrit was given once a week and these others are once a cycle, costs them less David C

Mike, sorry so late in responding. Hope all is beeter with your wife. Let her know that we are here as living proof that a diagnosis like this is not the end of the world. We are all here for her and you as well. David C

I still get dizzy sometimes when I am reayy tired and I stand up too fast. Let us know what the dac says/said. David C

THREE YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!! That is awesome. Watch out, we are all right on your heels. 3 cheers to you, Hip, Hip, Hip Hooray. David C

Procrit worked best for me. I had it throught the first 2 cycles and then they switched me over to Neoprogen (sp?) I could deffinitely tell the difference and resguested the procrit several times but they never went back to it. Don't forget to update us on day 3......orohave I missed it in my pain pill filled bliss? David C

Wow, I must say that your husband has got the strongest will I have ever heard, I can't imagine dragging himself to that wedding in his condition. When he said he wouldn't miss it for the world he wasn't kidding. Well, good for him. I hope your daughter's stuff goes OK. must be some reason for doing it again, thyroid stuff is very weird. We will pray for the best for that. I do think that thyroid cancer are fairly easily cured but hope like heck that's not it at all. I sure hope you're able to keep yourself rested and taking good care of yourself through all of this. God Bless, Karen C.

(come everybody SING) life is good on percoset, mix it with some versed, then you don't care whats said!!!! OK, Karen is nagging me to gwt off the computer and stop posting so I will let her finish here. Yeah, well, I go upstairs to put Faith to bed and come downstairs and there he sits, hunched over the computer, typing, and he only has one good eye, the other one is swollen and black and blue and has a nice bloody incision running along the top of his eyelid - should he be typing? I don't think so! anyway, took him in for his bonkitis surgery today. It took almost four hours. I think the surgeon was running behind on the patient before Dave and then with Dave I think she really ran behind. We got there at 9:00 and they didn't take him back until 12:30. I asked the nurse how long it would take and she said the OR was booked for 3.5 hours. Huh? Fo some silly reason I thought this would only take an hour. The doc didn't call me in the waiting area until 5:00. No way to tell what the bonkitis is until we get pathology in 7 days, but she did a real number on Dave's face, hopefully the infection will all be cleared out and that's all it is. Right now it's just wait and see. She said to come see her on Wednesday next week so hopefully she'll have the pathology by then. Not much else to say except Dave is pretty miserable, thank you God for narcotics. He's got to take predisone for a week or so, I am NOT looking forward to that since steroids and Dave don't mix and he becomes a psycho, but I can deal with him for a week like that I guess! Well, thanks for everyone's prayers. My mom is home and doing GREAT. I think all the docs were very surprised by how well she is doing overall. OH, BIG NEWS ON THAT, I almost forgot - her pathology came back and her lymph nodes were CLEAR, so the colon cancer physically jumped from her colon to her liver, which happens but is rare, so her prognosis just improved dramatically. OK, now I'm thinking I've already reported that, I can't keep anything straight these days, I have too many cancer patients in my family to keep up with right now . . . anyway, thanks everyone for your prayers and support. Will keep you posted on the bonkitis pathology. Karen and Dave

Jen!! there is no getting close to quiting!!!! Just do it. Do not keep any anywhere near you. Do whatever you have to do to keep away from them. You have a chance to beat this thing, do not ruin that chance by not quiting smoking. I smoked for 20 years and when I was diagnosed my doctor looked at me and said If you quit smoking you have a chance of being cured, if you continue to smoke you WILL die. Yes it is hard but believe me you can do it. It's that pesky mind over matter thing again. Please reply with a post that says you have quit. Please, please, please, please. David C

Prayers coming your way. I hope your dad responds to the radiation and chemo. David C

Good news!! Congrats on day 2. See it's not that bad. You can make it, I know it. That decadron is wicked stuff, I hate it. And yes, by the way, a good looking brood you have there. Beautiful photo. Day 3 to come and after that it will be old news. Chemo days were special to me because I knew that what they were putting in my veins was killing the cancer, I helped it along with Shostakovich's 5th Symphony through my headphones as I was getting my chemo. Kill the cancer, kill the cancer. Hope you sleep better tonight. David C

laberl, Great news indeed!!!!!! I am sooooooooo happy for you and your mom. I know what you mean, there have been several people here who's passing has had a great impact on me personally and on my posting habits. I try and post as much as possible but with going back to work full time and a 2 year old it is hard to get the time to get on the computer much less reply with my lightening fast dial up connection and 2 finger style of typing. Please keep us updated. David C

HAPPY 45TH ANNIVERSARY!! I sincerely hope that Dave and I make it to that milestone - you're an inspiration! God Bless, Karen C.

I carry an Inhaler with me everywhere I go and use it almost once a day, sometimes more depending on how active I am and if I am working outside. I also use the Advair Diskus which helps as well. David C

Oh, yeah, did we mention the potty training? Mandatory for the two almost three year olds at Faith's "school", it's potty training boot camp. The put a diaper on them for nap time so Faith's new trick (this kid has gotta outsmart you whenever possible, I think it's how she survived in the orphanage), anyway, her trick is to hold her bladder until nap time, then when they put the diaper on her she empties her bladder into her diaper. Yesterday she had one accident, filled her diaper at nap time, but never pee'd in the potty despite numerous times sitting her down on it. We have so much other stuff going on right now I'm just keeping her in pull-ups at home, I don't have time for this, and they understand that at daycare. I just had a two hour code of conduct training and my lack of sleep became noticeable in there. The room was hot, the subject was boring (although the instructor is a friend so I felt her pain in teaching the class) and I nodded off several times. Karen C.