Andrea

Nope, this is just me unfortunately

Tbone, 60mg of Prozac, xanax as needed (usually a couple of times a week), amidrine for migraines when needed (a few times a month), lovastatin for cholestoral and zyrtec for allergies. You can go to any doctor and ask for these :) However, you won't get the lovastatin unless your lipids are high You know what is funny--I was just told that when I want to have a baby I have to stop ALL of those meds EXCEPT prozac, the one I don't mind stopping. I am not depressed as much as I am ANXIOUS and NEUROTIC. G-D BLESS XANAX, my favorite drug of choice

I know in reality that the rat/mouse/rodent thing is most likely not going to lunge at me, but I have a fear of them I don't like little critters. As for the blood, I need to first understand how blood can be a maintence emergency or even a maintence issue I think I want to call back and have that explained to me. If it is just regular blood, I have no problem pricking my finger anytime of the day I need service in my apt. Heeheee. Turns out this is the first rodent spotting they have had in this complex. I kept hearing the thing run back and forth when it was trapped in the bathroom. Too bad the darn thing escaped I want to catch it alive and bring it to the lab for cancer drug testing and then watch PETA run after me and then ask PETA people if they would change their mind if it were their mom or dad or husband or wife or sister or brother that the testing was helping

Becky, You crack me up I did think of telling them there was a murder or something b/c I asked what constitutes an emergency for maintence and the answering service said "flood, fire, or blood" and I could not comprehend how blood was a maintence issue. To me blood would be a 911 call The mouse rat rodent thing got away, so I will listen to scurrying at night. I am a fraidy cat of animals

oy vey I am so sorry, but still hoping for remission again

I always have said that I can relate anything to lung cancer. I live in a really nice apartment complex where I thought for sure I would be taken care of. Brian wakes me at 6:30am. We have a RAT!!!!!!!!! G-d only knows how it got in here. Ring ring ring, we call emergency maintence FOUR times now. They do not have a RAT on their list of emergencies. I said of course you do not, this is not a RAT area!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is an answering service and they are refusing to call. So I get to a supervisor and I said "you know, you do not have a list for everythihg. Did you ever cough? Well if you go to thet doctor with a minor cough you never suspect you will walk out with lung cancer, right? It is the same situatin here, a RAT is not on your list of emergencies to be able to contact the office b/c it is NOT the norm of the calls you get." I was arguing and arguing and arguing. I got their name and I was so frustrated. These IDIOTS at the answering service are taking it upon themselves to refuse to pass the message along b/c it is not on their list. Then I realized duh, just call the gatehouse, there is always someone there But anyway, I am all mad and then suddenly Brian says "Uh Andrea, do you realize that you told them that a rat is rare the same way a cough could be lung cancer? How in the world can you manage to always do that?" and I just cracked up. It just came out Everything relates back to cancer. I was advocating early detection and informing someone a cough could be lung cancer without even knowing it And I am off to work, Brian gets to babysit the rat. I offered but he said I would be no use standing on the sofa screaming

We need to buy stock in kleenexes. I cannot help but ask WHY does this happen. There are no answers.

I am so sorry for your loss

Fay, You said something that was on my mind the entire trip--getting cancer care in certain areas. We got to Solvang Thurs night, saw Solvang Fri for a little; drove to Sam Simeon and took a Hearst Castle Tour on Fri and then down to San Louis Obispo; Sat we saw Santa Barbara, lots of rural area and spent the night in Carpenteria and came home today. The rural areas were BEAUTIFUL. I was in awe! And I saw the new homes in those areas and was wondering the prices But I did think about how hard it would be for cancer patients in even more rural areas, not within even an hour of a major center. That was on my mind the entire time b/c we drove through so much of it. I think everyone here should come to California for a vacation so we can all meet I know, easier said than done As for my grandfather, thank you. I really can't be sad. I am more sad of the losses here only b/c 95 years old is a GREAT age to live to without ever having any major medical problems. I got into a debate four months ago with someone at work about that----she said a loss at any age is equally hard. While I agree loss of a parent at anytime is hard, anyone who makes it to their 90s is blessed

Becky, You are too funny. Did I tell you that they offered for us to save money and they would pay for a suite hotel room and we could sleep on the sofa bed??? Brian and I were like nah, a sofa bed is not comfortable. We got our own room Although sometimes it was like they were in the room. We stayed at 3 different places, a different place each night and at the first place I heard my father in law sneeze three times through the wall I asked him the next morning if he sneezed at such and such a time and we cracked up

Hi. My dad has a ct scan April 16, a colonoscopy and endoscopy April 19, and a cystoscope after that. They found pus in the urine on a routine exam, hence CT and cystoscope. Colonscopy and endoscopy is good to get every 5 years and he is going on 6. We all know that cancer is silent, so who knows what any test will bring. If you can, please include him in your prayers. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I just got back. It was hard to be away from the board for that long! My mom just told me that my grandfather passed away yest. When she said "a bit of sad new" I almost died myself thinking it was her. There was a family decision not to call me and "ruin" my weekend b/c there was nothing I could do. He was 95 and while I was sooo close and loved him sooo much, it is hard for me to mourn him because my heart is just breaking and mourning for for dear Andrea B, Stephanie, Natalie, and so many others who are way too young. When we were driving through Santa Barbara I said in the car "oh, my friend Fay lives here, I wonder if she is a regular person or lives in one of these $11million homes"....I was telling my inlaws that even though I never met anyone from here, I consider everyone a true friend. It is so hard to explain Anyway I had a good time, for those thinking of a vacation, California is truly beautiful. I saw the "country" side of CA which I never really knew existed. I bought the perfect wall plaque in Solvang for me and my mom. It says "Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair...it passes the time, but gets you nowhere". It was appropriate :)

I am soooo glad it went well!

Fay, My mom also just got the tatoos and marking (hers is turquoise). They didn't ask her to redraw it at home, but they do redraw it on her each and every day when she goes. She is supposed to try to keep that area dry, but she has a hard time showering and keeping the top of her chest dry It kind of fades and they retrace it.

Elaine, Ok, I made it home from work. I had to say goodbye like I was going away for ever. I was told not to think of the "C" word. I said ok, no carrots on this trip, I will start the diet after heehee I am in my jeans, my shirt, I am getting my last fix of checking out the board and my e-mail and I am now shutting down and walking to the door. It probably is best I don't have internet roamer on my cells Hugs and kisses and cancer cure wishes to one and all

I agree completely Snowflake. I was TEASING about preaching, I meant it in a funny way. Also, I will be getting additional info to hand out about Lung Cancer from the Cancer Society. I just want to at the same time push this place. I want to do everything at once

Ry, I asked Brian and my mom how I am supposed to be away from the internet for so long, 3 days. They told me it will be great therapy and I can give everyone a break from me. Heeheee. Clearly I am not that busy today at work either and am just sitting here waiting to go

Peoples, I need some help. I will be away this weekend. AAAAHHHHHH. But that's ok. I got a call from the Relay for Life Team Liason. Apparently they are looking for teams to be a type of cancer. I said I am lung cancer!!! So I am supposed to have a Lung Cancer booth of sorts. I will be able to hand out anything about lung cancer I want I will print out Rick's official LCSC flyers in color. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I want to push LCSC as much as I can. I also am going to sell the totes that will have www.lchelp.com on them. Wait till I tell my mom that I am the official Lung Cancer advocate of the race!! I get to preech to people and tell them about awareness and early detection!!!!!!!!!! How much fun is it to REALLY say what's on your mind to someone without it being personal. I am ONLY trying to help out by informing people of this disease. One more step forward and I am outta here.

Karen, I was laughing when I read your post and showed it to my secretary. I am so atypical in all senses of the word If you like to dish out advice, tell someone to calm down, fix their clothing if it looks crooked, care more about personal life than work, like to laugh and be silly, then we'd be a match If you prefer to be like my husband and keep work and personal life seperate, it would be hard. I do my work, I work hard, I am reliable, I have a pet peeve for people who are late, etc, but because I am not a partner, I don't have any final say and I don't get high strung about it b/c it is just work, not life or death. Instead I am high strung b/c my mom just called and my dad is getting a colonoscopy AND endoscopy That SCARES me. I will be in the rush of preparing a huge motion and meeting deadlines, yet I always have my cell phone next to me and if I see it is my mom or a dr office, I pick up and talk while working, even if I am in with my boss. That is why I don't leave this job. Most places won't let you do that. My boss on the other hand, her husband has been in a coma for over a year. She takes it out on us and she will be b--chy to us and snap and become unglued to the point that she has lost staff over it. Yet she cried when my mom got diagnosed and found us the best doctors. It is rare for her to talk about her sadness unless it is late at night and no one is around. I on the other hand just whine about how nervous and stressed I am and make jokes about it, but never ever snapped or got cranky at work about work. I only snap when someone does something stupid unwork related :) Like putting off a pap for 6 months now due to busy schedule. I snapped and yelled at a co-worker for that. People need to realize cancer is the devil and yearly exams are good for you

Thank you Rich Now I get it! There are subtypes of adenocarcinoma. I knew that, I was just testing you Heehee. So when I read "highly undifferentiated", that is how it is different from BAC which is "differentiated". I sometimes feel like I am in a movie when the oncologist talks and uses big words I am all ready to leave. I am at work in my suit, yet carrying my vacation backpack instead of my regular purse (in NY they are pocketbooks, in CA they are purses. Again, who knew ) Slowly waiting for the clock to go by, tick, tick, tick.

I am crying. See I cry when happy and sad. I just received the following e-mail from my mom's friend at work. I had sent a flyer to a few people about the Relay for Life (Thanks to Natalie for the idea and format for an e-mail flyer to send around). Allstate is great I just got the following back and I was so touched! It also started teh brain going, there are fun ways to fundraise. We could probably do something similar to this for LCSC too sometime. Here is what I received: Good Morning Everyone, The helping hands committee will be hosting a Cinco De Mayo lunch on Weds. May 5th. The cost will be $5.00 a person. Please mark your calendars. All proceeds will be going to the American Cancer Society to show our support for Pat, Marsha and all families that have been faced with cancer. We will forward all proceeds to Marsha's daughter to turn in at her event. More to follow. Thank you. Lori

I was always taught in school that if I have a question, others probably have a similar question, so I should not be shy to ask. I used to be REALLY shy and would not be the one to ask. But I became bolder in my later years and I want to know what is going to seem elementary to most, but I bet others wonder too WHAT IS BAC????? I read in so many posts "BAC--adenocarcinoma". I know what adenocarcinoma is, that is my mom's kind of tumor, but I have not come across BAC yet. The only thing I can think of is "Being Against Cancer", which I know is not accurate And in return I will share something I learned yest and did not know. When you start counting months of NED and "survivorship" to hope to get to the 2 year anniversary of no recurrance, you start counting from date of diagnosis, not date of surgery or chemo ending. The oncologist taught me that yest, so my mom is 5 months in Ok, 3 more hours of work till I hit the road Although I did find something new to worry about, my dad has not had a colonoscopy in 6 years and is going to gastro today, so I bet he will need one See, no worries, I always find a way to worry heeheeheheeeheee

Go Heather go!!!!!!!! I admire you.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT. It is so good to hear stories like that.

Well my mom is IIIA, not early stage, but she exercises. She is fluffy like me and needs to lose weight too. On the first oncologist visit he basically said he would not treat her if she did not start taking care of herself and exercising. Every day now for 30 minutes, sometimes she does it in 2 15 minute intervals, she is on the treadmill at 2.0 She even forced herself during chemo and on the really bad days pushed to 5 minutes. She also forced herself back on the treadmill as soon as she was allowed after the surgery and I think it is helping. The only breathing complaint was when she went to the movies and walked all the way to the top. Now I need to follow in her exercise footsteps