Debi

Okay, only someone who has had a teenager can figure out what the post was about not even halfway through! Within the first 3 sentences, I knew. How sad!

HAHAHAHHAHAH Good one Connie!!

Peggy, I saw your post yesterday and didn't respond because it was later in the day, and all turned out well. I'm sorry that this is all going on with Don right now. I can relate SO totally with how he is feeling, as I am a bit "head-strong" myself (I prefer THAT word to stubborn jackass ). Actually, the incident with walking to the truck afterward instead of waiting is definitely me!! Your husband has been SO strong, I couldn't believe he was still working up until a short time ago, with all the treatments he had been undergoing!! This must be so difficult for him (and YOU)! You seem to be getting things under control though. (use duct tape rather than rope)! Perhaps if you keep stressing to him that this is just for today, and he doesn't look at it as a permanent thing, he will be able to relinquish some of his 'stubborness' about showing that he can still do things. I think that works on me in certain situations, oh, okay, I guess I can let someone else do it TODAY. Anyway Peggy, my thoughts are with you. Keep hanging in there!

Since it's summer and the Board is a bit slow, I thought I'd try something a bit different that someone told me about. This is how it goes: I just started the post. Now someone has to post below me, and say something nice, something they like about me or something I did, it doesn't necessarily have to be in book form . Then, someone has to post something nice about the person that posted to me, etc etc. SO basically, the end result is a string of posts saying nice things about the person that posted directly before them. (Example: My post, then Jane Doe posting about me, John Smith posting about Jane Doe, Mr. Jones posting about John Smith.) And make sure you keep checking back in case that person you really want to say something nice about happens to post, you want to be able to be the next one!! Of course, the only glitch in the whole thing is if no one can think of anything nice to post about me to start this thing off; we will be sort of stalled at the gate so to speak. (We need a silent scream emoticon, this is stressful!) Okay, ready, set....

Jeesh you guys are a tough audience for crying out loud! And Don, can you google "LIVE CHICKENS"??? Don't worry, the crate of chickens on your porch is an "untrue rumour"!!

Val, My sympathies are with you and your family. I'm so sorry.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BUT PROBABLY DONT............ 1 . Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton. 2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper. 3. The dot over the letter i is called a "tittle". 4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top. 5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller. 6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals. 7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled. 8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino. 9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily. 10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister. 11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog. 12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode. 13. Most lipstick contains fish scales (eeww). 14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants. 15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine. 16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters. 17. Leonardo DA Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time ... (hence, multi-tasking was invented.) 18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood. 19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas 000 casinos. 20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before! 21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver! 22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips. 23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death. 24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white. 25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.) 26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.) 27. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. 28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola. 29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples! 30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying! 31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher. 32. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries. 33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it

Caryl, My heart goes out to you and your family. I am glad that she had the comfort of all of you with her. Cathy's spirit will always be remembered.

Don, I just saw your post, I apologize for answering late... Congratulations on the end of your chemo. That cake was probably the most earned cake you ever had, huh? Here's to only a smooth road ahead....

Mare, Wow, you have had so many good responses!!! Isn't it totally amazing how strong the power of nicotine addiction is? I can relate to what you are saying. Its 2 years and a month for me, and some days the urge to smoke just seems to grab a hold of me. On at least 2 seperate occasions I actually thought out stopping at the store and buying a pack (NO, I am NOT going to smoke)! There have been times at work, I will go outside to talk to someone smoking just to smell the smoke (there I said it!!) What helps me is realizing that the feeling will pass and not just reacting to it. I try to think it through, yeah, I really WANT a cigarette but how will I feel after I smoke it? And it took me 30 years to quit, and only AFTER losing 2/3 of my lung, I know that if I start smoking again, I will never be able to stop. I guess that's what stops me from starting again, I know that basically this is IT, this is my one shot, my ONLY chance to not smoke. To tell you the God's honest truth..if I thought I could have one and stop, I would have smoked by now. I hope your day gets easier for you..sometimes walking or some type of exercise works for me... I know these days "ain't" easy!!

Ry, Sorry I'm late to the party. What an adorable picture, Happy Arrival Day to the family. Who knew how important a wristband could be, huh?

Kathi, You were there every step of the way and that must have been a real comfort to your dad. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Jim, Wow, your post hit close to home for me! I, too, had dental difficulties this week and ended up getting a tooth pulled. People at work were telling me 'stories' about tooth extractions and how they heard so and so had their tooth pulled and their eyeball came out also, etc etc . I think people have a horror story for everything, I swear! SO, I was all stressed out before the procedure until I remembered that I had 2 lobes of lung extracted from my body, a mere tooth is no longer something to lose sleep over! Tooth? I SPIT on tooth!! Also, at work we are having our usual summer dress code debacle. We don't allow flip flops and employees will come in with flip flops that are dressed up to look like something else but are still flip flops. One person came in with this new "sandal" (she brought the package proclaiming it so) which is actually a sole, glued to the bottom of your foot with nothing on the top. While I sat and talked to the "shoeless" employee and debated the definition of "shoe" , the ridiculousness of the situation hit me hard. I wanted SO bad to say to her, do you know, I might have a tumor growing in my lung while I sit here in the middle of this stupid conversation?! I mean, it must be nice to have nothing else to worry about except how to push the flip flop envelope and talk about how unfair it is that you can't wear beach shoes to work!! But, I guess falling back into the "mundane" is good and as my mom always used to say, life goes on.... Good luck with your tooth and hang onto your eyeballs Jim !!!

Elaine, I'm thinking this is rather good news myself.. Congrats!!

Wow Tiny..you are so amazing!! Congratulations on your 3+!!!!!!!!!! My GP, the doctor who found my cancer recently left his medical practice to work for the hospital. I am at a loss as to where to go now, it bothers me that I have to "start over" somewhere with a medical file the size of a phone book. But he also had sent a letter, so that it isn't a total shock. Am glad that your new Onc looks like he will work out for you. Congrats again!!!

Don't make this a habit Nina!

Bruce, I'm glad that you were there to walk the survivor's lap. And I'm glad that you posted, I wanted to share something and didn't know how to, but I'm going to put it on here because I know that you'll be one to understand.. I went to my first Relay for Life last night but it was after the Survivor's walk. The reason I went was because I was on a mission, and wanted to buy 2 luminaries in memory of BobMc and DavidA. I had planned on doing this since their deaths .. I lit the luminaries in remembrance of them, but it ended up being for me in some way. Writing their names down on the list broke my heart. I thought that I would be upset when their names were read but instead, surprisingly, I found myself smiling. All the times Bob and David ragged me about living here, all of a sudden I couldn't help but think what they would be saying to me for having their names read out loud in the middle of friggin Oklahoma. I would never hear the end of it, it still makes me laugh thinking of what they would say. It was nice, once again, to feel their humor, if that makes any sense. I think I'll do it again next year!

Everyone has spoken so eloquently and I cannot add one single sentence..well, maybe... I know that this website is for support and not about the debate over cigarette smoking. However,the door was opened. For those of you that are annoyed with the tobacco industry or for those who think that tobacco companies and the government have no "blame", I wanted to post a few websites. This first is a recent article from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00691.html. This is about the current racketeering case against the tobacco industry and the fact that there are accusations that a Justice Department official threatened to remove a witness from their list if he didn't lighten up on his recommended penalties for the tobacco industry. Oh, and here's another excerpt The Justice Department stunned anti-smoking activists and members of Congress two weeks ago by announcing in the closing days of the eight-month trial that the government would cut its demand for an industry-funded smoking-cessation program from $130 billion to $10 billion. Conspiracy theory anyone? Also, courtesy of our own BobMc who I miss regularly, I have found interesting reading at www.tobaccodocuments.org. You could actually spend a month there and not make a dent. Please don't assume that because I don't post about smoking on THIS website, that I am ignorant about it. I do what I can to spread awareness in MY way. Honestly, I could go up to a young person every week and tell them I got lung cancer from smoking (who knows if I would've gotten cancer somewhere else if I didn't smoke?) and I would not make a bit of difference. They would look at this old hag and think, well, she's old, who cares if I have lung cancer when I'm that old. Young people are infallible, being 48 is hundreds of years away, it will have the same impact as telling your kid that they can find a better boyfriend/girlfriend. NONE! I suggest that if someone is angry at smokers, they educate themselves, channel their anger and get involved at a larger level. We have companies making BILLIONS of dollars off of selling a product that is addictive (KEY word here) to everyone that uses it, and it eventually kills them. Oh, and they spend some of those BILLIONS on marketing and figuring ways to get "replacement smokers" (their word) to take the place of those who have died. And the government does nothing or very little (when forced to). This is just MY opinion on smoking in simple form (I am trying to stop typing, I get worked up ) and I am posting this basically for informative purposes, not to argue anything that has been said. The "blame" thing is sort of like what came first, the chicken or the egg? With smoking its, who is to blame, the smoker or the tobacco company? Everyone has their own opinion and we could go round and round. My anger is directed toward the people that continue to sell this poison... Las, I hope you keep posting and find your way to the peace you are looking for..

Elaine, I so feel your pain. Especially the part where you describe the kind of scared you felt, where the legs go weak and the hair on your arms stands up. How well I know that feeling... I know that you have not had the best results with your doctors, and you know I identify with that also. I'm not sure how you can get the results the way you need to, your doctor doesn't sound the type who will actually listen to your emotional needs. When I go for my normal tests every 3 months, I have them on Monday with my Oncologist appointment scheduled on Tuesday. That is the way I need to do it for my stress level, I need to find out quickly. Maybe you can try something like that, making an appt for a follow up right after the test (after all, I doubt any doctor waits an entire damn week to receive a test result). It still doesn't allow you to walk in "prepared" but at least you don't have the huge gap of waiting. This works for ME, I can sort of categorize it in my mind, test Monday, doctor Tuesday and it takes away the stress. You would just need to coordinate the appointments ahead of time, that should be something they can do for you with little effort on their part. Anyway, I feel for you Elaine. And don't think that your unique on the not handling stress well. You have plenty of company and I'm ahead of you. I turn into a total lunatic (and I DO mean lunatic ) when I need to wait for results of anything..

Hi Artloft: I really don't have any emotional answers for you since I'm not a caregiver. I'm sure some others will be along soon to post to your concerns. In the meantime, I was wondering if there was any way for your friend to get a home health care worker or hospice involved? I'm assuming if you need to help her bathe and that the cancer is "all over her body" that these options would be available to her. This would give you some slack and you would have time to be her friend again instead of her nurse. My one suggestion would probably be to vent either here or with other people, rather than with your friend. I'm sure she is just as sorry that you have been thrust in this role as you are.. That said, I respect and appreciate your honesty in your post. I understand what you are saying and hope that you will continue to come here. Hang in there....

I'm thinking that its a pretty good update. You are sounding good, Cindi. Am glad that you have settled into the apartment and into new slacks. OH, and shopping is always good.

Pat, Glad to see everything has at least been explained and is being worked on. That's half the battle, not knowing what is wrong is scary. Thinking of you both, and how amazing that one little word can mean so much! Onward sums it all up so well!!

Thanks all for your input. I actually went to the ER tonight because besides the burning feet, my leg where I have had problems was really hurting. Everything is fine, but I had to share the doctor's comments. Picture Woody Harrelson .. He asked me if I had ever smoked after I told him I had lung cancer surgery 2 years ago and I told him, that yes I had at one time. (I really have stopped holding the smoking question thing against people). He followed that up with "ya see, some people just gotta haf a come to jesus meetin to quit their ways". At least he left out 'wicked' ways. As I was trying to digest this statement, he went on to ask me who my neurologist appointment was with. I told him who it was and he told me that he was good, just a wierdo. I told him that I heard he had no bedside manner and he said, "sweetie, it don't matter none what his bedside manner is, you ain't gonna be sleepin with him". There were a couple of other gems said, but you all get the drift. ANd the funny thing is he was clueless that anything said may be considered offensive. Sometimes I am amazed at the ignorance of those who should know better.... Anyway, keep those burning feet ideas coming becasue as you can see, I am on my own over here until I see the "wierdo" next week.. !

Okay, now that I have your attention with THAT heading .... Has anyone ever had problems with pain and burning in your toes and in the tops and bottoms of your feet? I have had problems with numbness in my hands, arms and feet since surgery and occasional other areas. The last few weeks I have been getting the bad pain in my feet and toes. Last night I woke up from really painful stabbing in several of my toes. I had been putting off going to a neurologist for the last year for the loss of feeling, but have an appointment for next week. I always assumed it was neuropathy from something (I never had chemo and am not diabetic) and I would live with it but it is getting unbearable. Just thought I'd ask in the meantime if anyone has had this... my feet are burning all day today so its on my mind...

Eileen, I am so sorry to hear of your sister's health and of your cats. I know what you mean about Bo-Bo being more of a dog than a cat, I felt the same way about Casey, my cat I lost this year. Its' not easy and sometimes it amazes me that I still get choked up when I think about him not being here.. On the positive side, 5 YEARS, Eileen, you have made it to 5 YEARS!!!!! You are amazing, and without your friendship, I don't know if I would have made it this far. You have always been a power of example to me, first of all because you actually commute every day, that alone is the bravest of persons!! Secondly, because you have always been so real. Anyway, I am GLAD you are here, and that you have stayed here. You have helped me from day one.. (I also stole the .... thing from you )