Debaroo

very sweet. Deb

I confess that I had to think about it for a minute to get the punchline . Then it hit me Good one! Deb

Barbara, I am glad to see your post, and that you are enjoying the holiday season. As far as the quitting smoking, you do what you can. Depression, I believe, can be just as harmful. I think that just wanting to stop is a big step in the right direction. I wish you the best of luck with your CT results, and hope that you enjoy your party in D.C.. LIVE! LOVE! LAUGH! Enjoy...and try to keep us posted. Take care, Deb

Annie, I am so sorry for what you and your mother and your whole family are going through. I agree so much with Katie, make your decisions through love-it will not steer you the wrong way. You know your mother, and noone has any right to judge what you and your family are doing. It is difficult enough to go through all of this-people must understand that what you need right now is support. We are here for you. Deb

I can't believe that Greg is gone...I will miss his posts, I am so sorry. Please know that you and your children are in my thoughts and prayers. I just cant believe this...Deb

Wow, makes you think. Since I was a kid, I have always been a HUGE FAN of 2 people...#1. Jim Henson (creator of sesame street and the muppets) #2. Charles Schultz I cried when Jim Henson died and I cried when Charles Schultz died, I have never been one to cry openly when someone famous died-but these two special men were the acception-OH-make it 3 and add Mr. Rodgers to that list (whom I have grown to appreciate his gentle way with children-the way he treated them with dignity and respect as well as love and care. Something that I think these three amazing men did better than anyone else. Fine examples of humanity...if only the world could have been scripted by these men...'what a wonderful world this would be." Take care, Deb

Becky, the Springer show has actually added identifying traits to checklist used to determine the 'redneck' factor... for example, if you ever say the phrase "my babies father..." in a sentence...as in "I want to get with my boyfriend, but 'my babies father' keeps showin' up." You might be a redneck, or just trash... LOL. Take car...I mean CARE Deb

Kelly, I am so sorry for your loss, please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers...Deb

OK, I think we are all in need of a group hug, so I'm gonna do my best so, here goes..."GROUP HUG!!!" (((((((((((((((LCSfC family))))))))))))))) I love you guys... Deb

Karen, so sorry to hear about Faith having the flu, it is so hard to watch our little ones when they are not well. Glad you found out what has been making her so clingy, and it is being taken care of. Keep us posted, and know that you're in my thoughts and prayers. Take care, Deb

Great news Sandy, I am so glad to see that you not only LOOK GOOD, but you FEEL GOOD- GRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEAAAATTTTTTTT!!! (as Tony the Tiger would say!) Take care, Deb

Carleen, let me begin by telling you that the picture of you and Keith is absolutly beautiful. What a nice looking couple you are!!! And you look very much in love, too. I am so glad to see your post, you have been greatly missed, as you can see by the great number of hits and responses your post has gotten. I am also glad that you took a break from work, a much needed one, and that you are enjoying this holiday season!!! What type of clinical trials are you looking into? I have contacted Yale University Medical Center regarding the transimmunization trial they are looking to start up. I spoke with a spokeswoman for the hospital and was told to fax (but I had to mail) my fathers medical records to them-so they may be reviewed. I know it is a long shot (I believe they are only doing a trial on about 20 lung cancer patients-to start), but I HAD TO TRY, or else wonder "what if"-and that would be torture. If you (or anyone else here) would like more info as to whom to contact, just let me know...who knows, maybe the more people that show and INTEREST AND DESIRE to give this thing a try-the more they will realize how necessary it is-and they will include more people. I wish you and Keith the best of luck and hope that you truly enjoy this holiday season-with your families (sounds like a huge one!). Take care, my friend, Deb

I, too, have been thinking of Norme and Buddy alot. Thank you, Ry, for the update. Norme-you and Buddy are always in my prayers. We miss you. Deb

Michelle, I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am that your mother has passed. I think that that is exactly what she did, she passed into the next phase-and I hope that you find comfort in that. I found your post about what your moms experience was to be of comfort to me, and I thank you for sharing those final, beautiful moments with us. You are in my thoughts and prayers, Deb

Gene, I was very fond of your son...you must be very proud-you raised a great man. I am so sorry for your loss, and for the loss that Lennys wife and children...You are all in my prayers. We are here if you need us. Deb

Andrea, thank you for the reminder of all that we have IN SPITE of the cancer...I needed that. Take care, Deb

Laurie, I am, too, am shocked and so very saddened by the news of lennys passing. I really liked him, I loved reading his posts. He fought such a good fight. Please know that you and your children are in my thoughts and prayers. We will miss Lenny here. If you need anything or just need to 'talk', we are here for you. You are part of our family. Deb

Hello Adam and Rick. I am so glad that you found this board-I know that it has been a Godsend for me for the past-well-almost two years now. In January 2004 my Daddy will celebrate his two year anniversary since his diagnosis with extensive NSCLC...thats right, I said celebrate!! He has surpassed the statistics, and continues to amaze his family and his doctors-both of which think he is a pretty incredable man. I have to say that Daddys attitude has much to do with how he has fared during this battle. And this message board has been an intrigal part of his fight-the information and support that I have recieved here have been INVALUABLE!! PRICELESS!! I hope that you know that there are alot of people here that will be praying for you and looking for you posts to see how everything is going. If you have any questions, this is a great place to get some answers-advice-and just good old support. Take care, Deb

Cathy, you must be very proud of you insightful son-I am sure that he has learned this important life lesson from you, in the way that you raised him. I hope that you were able to create some nice memories this Thanksgiving, even through your grief. I thought of you and Katie and my other friends here that have been going through the process of getting used to life without someone that was so important to you being there. But I do believe that the spirit of our loved ones that have passed lives on through us. I remember when my Grandmother died thinking that we would never laugh again. How could we, she was so intrigal in our lives, especially in the holiday festivities. I think my main feeling was that we were somehow betraying her by enjoying our lives despite her physical absence. But I realized that this was not the case at all. I could feel her presence. Just remembering her and feeling the love that I will always have for her-and she for me... I realized that she was with us, she still is. Your father will always be with you, the love you had for eachother will always exist. However you are feeling, just please know that there are alot of people here that care, and we want to help you through this-even if it is just to listen. Take care, Cathy, Deb

Thank you all!! And I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. I realize that my asthma attack was from a chemical that I was using to remove a wallpaper border from my older daughters room (combined with the paint fumes and the dust from my husband spackeling-man-I don't know WHAT I was thinking! I am scheduling a doctors appt. this week, though, and I think I'll ask him for a refferal to an allergy doctor-since I havent really been taking care of all my allergy problems as I should/and have in the past. Gail, yes, my older daughter-Gwyneth-started kindergarden in Sept.. As you know, I was very nervous about it. But I am proud and happy to report that she is doing very well, and she absolutly LOVES it! I was the one that was apprehensive, fortunatly I was able to hide it from her. Thank you for asking. I am feeling a bit more re-energized since my last post. We had a really nice Thanksgiving at my house yesterday, Daddy actually stayed the whole time, he took a little nap, and we were all glad that he felt comfortable enough to take a nap with everyone there. I hope everyone on the board had a nice holiday. Thanks again, Take care, Deb

Tammy, let me begin by welcoming you. There is a wealth of information and support here-make use of it-for you and for your moms sake. Now, my dad was diagnosed in January 2002 with NSCLC. In January 2003 he was diagnosed with brain mets (three of them), I was scared as anything and thought-well this is it...but was so wrong. There is ALOT to be done for brain mets-my dad had Gamma Knife on the three tumors, and it was done in ONE session-and was successful. Gamma knife is radiation therapy that is pinpoined to the tumors and leave the remaning healthy brain tissue unharmed. THere is alot of information about brain mets here, many experiences, so keep searching. I hope this was of some help to you. As my dads oncologist told me upon the findings of the brain mets-don't worry-brain mets will NOT kill you father. Please take care and keep us posted. Deb

all I kept thinking was that this is how terrible my dad feels. I've never had an asthma attack before, it was awful. It felt like someone set an anvil on my chest. I couldn't get enough air, and when I'd get upset it would get worse. All I kept thinking was "this is how daddy feels much of the time." and remembering how he looked in June when he had the fluid drained from his lungs. I just kept thinking how awful it must be, I mean, I hated how I was feeling from the attack-and I was scared-but I KNEW THAT THE ATTACK WOULD STOP; Daddys won't. My mom came over last night to help me out, I couldn't breathe and really didn't realize what had been happening to me all day until my mom told me that I was having an asthma attack (she used to get them as a kid). I started crying and saying "this is how Daddy feels" and I couldn't stop crying and that made the attack worse. I havn't been around here much lately. I've been checking in and reading posts, but I feel like I don't know where to start when I go to reply to any of the posts. I hope you guys know that I do keep up on you all, and think about you all each and every day. I want to reply to posts, but just feel overwhelmed and useless. I feel terrible about not responding. My heart wants to, but my mind won't allow the words to come-I just can't articulate to you all how much I care, and that I am here for you all and you are in my thoughts and prayers each day and night. Just trying to get back into the swing of things. I'm just not myself lately. Take care, everyone, love-Deb

I'm speechless...Deb

I'm speechless...Deb

Susan, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish there were something I could say or do to help make things easier. Please know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Deb