atmywitsend

Yep, I agree. I've seen that "rally" in my Dad. He'd been bed ridden for 6 or seven days and not eating...suddenly one day I went to the nursing home, went to his room and found it empty. I ran to the nurses station and said "what have you done with my Daddy?" They said he's in the dining room having lunch. He was having a grand time, 36 hours later he was gone. But I don't think this is your mom's case here. In my experience it has been when someone is really close to crossing over and it's quite dramatic.... Prayers for your Mom's continued good days! Lots of love & prayers for us all! Joy

We tried several. The best for Mike was Curel Ultra Healing. It actually kept his skin softer for about 24 hours. Good luck! Joy

You said it all. You wrote my book on surviving caregiving. I too lost my much loved husband Michael on 8/18. Other than a few close friends and family members who would sit while I ran the errands or occasionally took him in for a shot or fluids it was on me. And that's what I wanted it to be. I was determined to give him the very best care that I could give. He was so grateful and very often expressed his love to me in ways that he'd never done before.....like every time I walked into the room. While it was difficult, being my husband's caregiver is a role I embraced. Now I find myself wandering around the house wondering what to do. Its empty except for me and the cat and while I'd never ask him to come back from his new Heavenly home I do miss him imensely. Thank you for writing the essay! Joy

Dr. John Powderly at Carolina Biooncology Institute in Huntersville, NC (just outside Charlotte) is also doing the same study. Thanks for all you do, Christine! Joy

Has the onc given him anything for his appetite? Megace or Marinol? I understand that the combination of the two works better than either alone. Will he drink nutritional beverages? Boost or Ensure plus? Our doc had my husband on both meds (when he would take them) but he would never drink the stuff. I hope you get resolution to this issue. Mike was told to schedule eating just like taking medicine and eat several bites of something every 1/2 hour. Praying for you both, Joy

My husband's first indication of any illness was symptoms of stroke. It was brain tumor that later pathology report after crainiotomy indicated as a second from adenocarcinoma. This happened between 12/29/06 and 1/13/07. Radiation slowed things down for a while. Then we did tarceva for 3 months. We thought he had developed gall bladder problems and a ct on 6/1/07 showed liver mets. In his case and hopefully his is a rare circumstance he declined very rapidly once the cancer got into his liver. My resistant to even giving chemo a try husband was willing to try anything. He did 1 cycle of carbo/taxol that ended 7/31. His mind left. Hospice was in place and we immediately went from once weekly visits to daily visits. Last Thursday after giving him 30 mg of morphine and 10 mg haldol and still not being able to keep him in the bed our hospice nurse said "sorry he has to go to the hospital". Once the agitation was resolved he never woke up again. He passed on Saturday morning with all three of his daughters and me by his side. Please don't be frightened by our experience, just be aware that this happened to us. Love him all you can while you have him. Praying for you, Joy

For the last three months I've been sleeping on the sofa...our bed is so full of Michaels "stuff" and he requires too many covers for me to be able to sleep there. Our cat Precious has started sleeping with me on the sofa....every single night. Its a little crowded but I find it comforting to feel her fur on my feet. Oscar's story wierded me out a little and made me think..."why is this cat sleeping with me?" I'm healthy...or at least I think I am! Love & prayers for us all Joy

Wow! Thanks Ellie and Randy! I'll try to keep this short as possible. A lot has happened in the past 6 months. 12/29 doc thought Mike has stroked, sent for MRI. Called before we left diag. ctr and said go straight to hospital.Brain tumor. 1/10 brain tumor removed. Pathology report showed it came from his lungs. 14 WBR, 14 rads to his chest. Adenocarcinoma. Started Tarceva 4/2 and began getting sicker and sicker. Onc had him stop if for a few days, started him on lower does etc. CT scan ordered by pcp for pain we thought could be gall bladder on 6/1 showed liver mets. Onc said no trials. PCP put us in touch with Dr. John Powderly at Carolina Biooncology in Huntersville. He had a trial. During the extensive testing to get into the trial we learned that he in the past two weeks has had a stroke. When we went to the hospital to get his port the ekg shows lateral eschemia. The stroke(?) eliminated him from the trial. This past monday he had his first chemo. Mikes been in bed now for 6 weeks except for the 3 days he was taking predisone 50mg over last weekend. He's lost 55 lbs. Won't eat. I'm discouraged. Hospice has come in. So far...I'm sure they will be of great help when it gets worse. Today he used the oxygen for the first time. It hurts to never get any good news....so many people here have remission or stabilization or "cures". I need to add that Mike is 57 yrs old and worked until Christmas vacation as a conductor on a freight train....very strong, able and hardy. Please share with me how you helped your loved ones during times like these. I feel like I'm failing as a caregiver! Thanks, Joy Since I finally found this site, I am not so sure how you could get my email address unless I put it here. And since Mike has gotten ill we've been getting lots of unsolicited email and snail mail from "buy your house" to funeral directors. Seems like the vultures lurk at every corner. Let me know how to do what we need to do in order for all this not to be public, okay?

Hi! My name is Joy and my husband Michael has stage 4 nsclc with brain and liver mets. Would love to chat....