gerbil runner

Just read this thread after replying to your other post. Prayers going out that your dad continues to improve. I bet you're glad his mind is clearer!

Prayers going out for an uneventful surgery, and a dx of something totally uninteresting.

Berisa, Both my mom and I are thinking of your family during this difficult time.

Actual stories provided by travel agents: 1. I had someone ask for an aisle seat so that their hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. 2. A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost information, she asked, "Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?" 3. I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with "I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Cape Town is in Massachusetts." Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, "Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa." Her response was "click." 4. A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don't lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state." 5. I got a call from a man who asked, "Is it possible to see England from Canada?" I said, "No." He said, "But they look so close on the map." 6. Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had a 1-hour lay over in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, "I heard Dallas was a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time." 7. A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am. I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that! 8. A woman called and asked, "Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to who?" I said, "No, why do you ask?" She replied, "Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?" After putting her on hold for a minute while "I looked into it," (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained that the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage. 9. I just got off the phone with a man who asked, "How do I know which plane to get on?" I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, "I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have numbers on them. 10. "A woman called and said, "I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes." I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, "Yeah, whatever." 11. A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. "Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those." I double-checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express." 12. A woman called to make reservations. "I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York." The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent asked, "Are you sure that's the name of the town?" "Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere." The customer retorted,"Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!" The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?" "That's it! I knew it was a big animal!"

"How did it happen?" the doctor asked the middle-aged farmhand as he set the man's broken leg. "Well, doc, 25 years ago ..." "Never mind the past. Tell me how you broke your leg this morning." "Like I was saying...25 years ago, when I first started working on the farm, that night, right after I'd gone to bed, the farmer's beautiful daughter came into my room. She asked me if there was anything I wanted. I said no, everything is fine. "Are you sure?", she asked. "I'm sure, I said. "Isn't there anything I can do for you?" she wanted to know. "I reckon not" I replied ... "Excuse me," said the doctor, "What does this story have to do with your leg?" "Well, this morning," the farmhand explained, "when it dawned on me what she meant, I fell off the roof!"

VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT A fire started on some grassland near a farm in Indiana. The fire department from the nearby town was called to put the fire out. The fire proved to be more than the small town fire department could handle, so someone suggested that a rural volunteer fire department be called. Though there was doubt that they would be of any assistance, the call was made. The volunteer fire department arrived in a dilapidated old fire truck. They drove straight towards the fire and stopped in the middle of the flames. The volunteer firemen jumped off the truck and frantically started spraying water in all directions. Soon they had snuffed out the center of the fire, breaking the blaze into two easily controllable parts. The farmer was so impressed with the volunteer fire department's work and so grateful that his farm had been spared, that he presented the volunteer fire department with a check for $1000. A local news reporter asked the volunteer fire captain what the department planned to do with the funds. "That should be obvious," he responded, "the first thing we're gonna do is get the brakes fixed on that stupid fire truck."

Duly noted, and with pleasure. His "claim to fame" now reads "film/tv composer – 6 Emmy nominations" (this is in a spreadsheet - not much room). Hope that would be OK with Chris. Anyone who would like a copy of the spreadsheet is welcome. Just pm or email me.

MO, you always amaze me with your attitude and strength. Prayers going out that your dr. is more like a wizard, and that the new chemo blasts the crud out of your unwanted ED guests. WITHOUT the bottom-dwelling blood counts!

Yow. Well, sounds like your body was really inhospitable for the C-bugs! I keep thinking that 50 years from now, people will look back on our cancer treatments and be totally horrified at what cancer patients used to go through. Take care of yourself. Hope your next (excellent) scan is TOTALLY on-schedule !

GREAT news! How is your mom feeling? Side effects manageable? Here's to more good scans!

KellyB, So sorry things look bleak now. Iressa maywork, though, so wait and see. Prayers going out for your family.

Prayers going out that ED takes a powder, and fast!

Don't you know NED is allergic to smoke ? Congrats on the clean scan. May you have many more!

Nausea, in my book, is the worst feeling in the world (except for induced labor ). The idea of being nauseous 24/7...well, we have laws against cruel and unusual punishment. I'm sorry you feel so bad. I sincerely hope the break from chemo will revive your spirits. And since anti-nausea meds work better at preventing nausea rather than curing it, maybe you'll be able to get on top of the problem.

My mother was very itchy due to her pancreas met closing down the bile duct. She was very jaundiced. A stent solved the problem. The dr needs to know any and all symptoms that come up. SCLC moves too fast to let anything pass by.

Andrea, I'm so sorry Iressa is not working. Prayers going out for you and your mom.

Grumpy, only the person who has to endure the treatment can decide if it's "worth" it. That being said, you could try Iressa and toss it if it makes matters worse. Hope you find a dr with more "human" qualities.

My mom had some delusional behavior after being intubated for 4 days. It went away quickly - we laugh about it now. The hospital makes some people have anxiety attacks just by itself. It's no wonder your dad has a harder time in the hospital. Prayers going out for you all.

Sorry, totally ignorant here. Prayers going out that it's non-serious.

Radiation is exhausting. My mom feels very tired all the time, too. Try not to worry about that. Make sure your mom is eating well and getting plenty to drink - dehydration is very common.

Let's see if this works... FIRST NAME LAST NAME AGE DATES CLAIM TO FAME NOTES Stephen Ambrose Ambrose 66 1936-2002 author/historian “Band of Brothers” Chris Andromidas Andromidas 50 singer/songwriter Desi Arnaz Arnaz 69 1917-1986 Actor Mark Belanger Belanger 54 1944-1998 Baseball player, Baltimore Orioles Jack Benny Benny 80 Comedian Some sources claim pancreatic cancer Leonard Bernstein Bernstein 72 1918-1990 Composer, conductor, pianist Bobby Bonds Bonds 57 Baseball player, San Francisco Giants Yul Brynner Brynner 65 Stage actor Eric Carr Carr 41 Drummer for Kiss Lon Cheney Cheney 47 Silent film actor (Phantom of the Opera) Nat “King” Cole Cole 45 singer/songwriter Chuck Connors Connors 71 1921-1992 Actor (The Rifleman) Gary Cooper Cooper 60 Actor Joe DiMaggio DiMaggio 84 Baseball legend, husband of Marylin Monroe Walt Disney Disney 65 Founder of Disney Company Duke Ellington Ellington 75 Musician (It Don't Mean a Thing) Larry Gilbert Gilbert 54 PGA Senior Tour Golfer Arthur Godfrey Godfrey 81 1903-1983 Actor, “Chesterfield” pitch-man Had surgery for LC in 1959 – some sources claim emphysema as cause of death Betty Grable Grable 57 Pin-up girl, actress George Harrison Harrison 57 Musician (The Beatles) Susan Hayward Hayward 55 Actress Mo Howard Howard 77 “Mo” of the Three Stooges Nancy Gore Hunter Hunter 46 Sister to Al Gore Chet Huntley Huntley 62 1911-1974 Journalist, worked with David Brinkley Andy Kaufman Kaufman 35 1949-1984 actor/comedian Non-smoker Eddie Kendrick Kendrick 52 Singer (Temptations) Alan Lerner Lerner 67 1918-1986 Broadway Composer Larry Linville Linville 60 1939-2000 Actor, M*A*S*H* (Frank Burns) Roger Maris Maris 51 Baseball player, New York Yankees Bob Marley Marley 36 Musician, reggae Some say he had melanoma on his toe Wayne McLaren McLaren 51 The Marlboro Man (no kidding!) Doug McLure McLure 56 TV actor (The Virginian) Steve McQueen McQueen 50 Actor Audrey Meadows Meadows 69 1926-1996 “Alice Kramden” (Honeymooners) Robert Mitchum Mitchum 79 1917-1997 Actor (Cape Fear) Agnes Moorehead Moorehead 74 Actress (Bewitched) Henry Morgan Morgan 79 1915-1994 Actor (I've got a secret) Not to be confused with Harry Morgan (M*A*S*H*) Edward R. Murrow Murrow 57 1908-1965 Reporter, radio and tv Patrick O'Neal O'Neal 66 -1994 Actor Jesse Owens Owens 66 1913-1980 Olympian track star, humiliated Hitler Smoked a pack a day George Peppard Peppard 65 1928-1994 Actor, “A-Team” Kim Perrot Perrot 32 1967-1999 WNBA star Non-smoker, declined chemo after surgery, had mets to brain Dick Powell Powell 59 1904-1963 Actor Vincent Price Price 82 Actor Eddie Rabbit Rabbit 56 singer/songwriter Harry Reasoner Reasoner 1923-1991 Reporter Lee Remick Remick 55 1935-1991 Actress Kidney and lung cancer Cal Ripkin Sr. Ripkin 63 Baseball player Ed Sullivan Sullivan 72 Host of “The Ed Sullivan Show” Will Thornbury Thornbury 56 Camel Model Franchot Tone Tone 63 1905-1968 Actor Spencer Tracy Tracy 66 Actor Jim Varney Varney 50 Actor (“Vern”) Sarah Vaughn Vaughn 66 1924-1991 Jazz and bebop singer Nancy Walker Walker 69 1922-1992 Broadway and tv actress John Wayne Wayne 72 Actor Exposed to radiation on movie set Stephen Weiss Weiss -2001 Artist, husband of Donna Karan Carl Wilson Wilson 51 Musician (The Beach Boys) Warren Zevon Zevon 56 singer/songwriter Mesothelioma

Tried 'em all...can't see much difference between subSilver and sub Vereor. Alexis is not for me. I have subSilver on now.

I'm sorry to read of your dad's passing. He must be very proud, hearing your words of strength.

Fear and denial are huge problems. And xrays don't catch everything - my mother had bronchitis and chest xrays last February. Nine months later, sclc extensive stage. Many people underestimate how difficult it is to quit smoking. I've never smoked, but I've watched my mother battle to quit several times. She's finally quit, probably for good this time. I think many smokers buy into the idea that they are responsible for possible LC, and guilt, shame and fear keep them from getting screened. The really scary part is, even if someone quits smoking, the damage may be done already. One of our newer members has a family member with sclc who quit smoking over 20 years ago!

Fay, I think you're onto something... Hoping that ED has a short, miserable existence and leaves to make room for NED. Either way, enjoy your victory dance!