Andrea

:) you are adorable!

Ginny I am praying through the tears. I am so sorry.

I thought General II was a to be replacement for General which may have been getting too long and getting ready for archives. I could be wrong

Many prayers coming! What happened? Did the oxygen tank fall on her? When was she admitted? When did they do CT? When will you know results?

I can barely type between the tears, but I want you to know how beautiful that was

I ditto what was said in general Could he possibility go on disability? I understand your fear, you just want what is best for your loved one.

Congrats! Happy Anniversary and many many more!

Beth, For my mom it got better, worse, better, etc. The chemo was like a cycle, after awhile we could predict when bad days would be. Hang in there, you have gone through so much, you are almost done!

I was so glad to see you post. Tell Cheryl we all love her and can't wait to have her back

Ginny i am sending lots of love and prayers. I am so sorry

Curtis, That is a tough one. I don't really h ave any advice, I never believe in saying anyone should do one thing or another b/c you never know until you are in the exact same shoes so to speak. Is there another family member you can talk to about your dad, who you trust and who you know won't say antyhign to your dad? It is possible that your dad just did not realize what he was doing in his eulogy and maybe he thought he was doing good. I know that throughout my life, up until my mom got diagnosed, if I was in a bad mood or upset about something, I often took it out on my parents b/c I could. LIke I would never lash out at co-workers like others do, I'd take my frustrations out on someone close. And maybe that is what you are feeling with your dad, you are comfortable with him and he is a target. Please don't hide for the reunion, if he upsets you, tell him bluntly what is wrong and see what he says. That is just my two cents worth. I am so sorry you are going throuh this

Oy oy oy, too much stuff. I do hope you were able to enjjoy soem of today and I am glad your husband is coming home!

My mom's small tiny pimples (so minor) came about 1 1/2 weeks in. Her stomach acted up around that time too. Hopefully your husband will get 0 side effects and 100% benefit

Lots of love to you and Katie

Ditto the tears and so hoping and praying no cancer cells Please keep the updates coming

I need to rephrase, at first I was just writing to be silly. But then it all came out and I actually surprised myself. It felt good to be able to express myself

I never write, I am not into poetry or anything, but I wrote this the other night when I could not sleep just to be silly. I am sending it to cancer publications just in case someone is crazy enough to publish it in the "from the reader" section so I can plug LCSC Just wanted to share. Life Changes By Andrea F. Scheff Cancer was always such a scary thought I always prayed for those who fought I never thought it would touch my life Especially at a time when I was months away from becoming a wife The timing for my mom to have cancer was bad I had no time to be sad Wasn't I supposed to be planning a wedding? I thought the only stress I was supposed to have was to choose a type of bedding! Cancer happened to others not me. My mom looked so healthy. How could it be? John Lennon said "Life is what happens when you are making other plans" The reality sunk in as I waited for the results of my mom's ct-scans Deep down I always thought if I worried about cancer it could not happen to me Oh my gosh, how naive I could be! Cancer reared its ugly head "It is advanced lung cancer" is what the doctor said I walked out of the doctor's office and someone smiled I wanted to shout: "don't smile, cancer could be lurking in you or your little child!" I never thought I would ever feel safe or happy Especially when the treatment made my mom feel so crappy! I cried myself to sleep every night With cancer growing in my mom's lung, how could anything be alright? How on earth could there be cheer When my life was now full of fear? One night I must have had a dream I woke up and I didn't cry and scream I decided to live life And thank g-d for having the good fortune to be Brian's wife I suddenly had an unexplainable urge to fight! And dedicated myself to help fight cancer with all my might. Flowers, card, phone calls and prayers came rushing in I could not help it, with each act of kindness I had to grin So many people cared and loved us! We were overwhelmed by all the fuss! Some people disappointed me, but that was fine Others surprised me and it was simply divine Cancer gives you a gift few people receive You learn who loves you and those who deceive My heart is full of love for so many who showed they care Truly learning who loves us in life is rare I now view life with a different eye Sure there are plenty of days where I still cry But I realize how important it is to enjoy each day And how vital it is to take pride in things I do and say I wish I could erase some things I have done in my past Why did I ever allow myself to be unhappy when life goes so fast? I now refuse to worry about the small stuff After 32 years of being a worry wart I have had enough! Nothing is more important in life than health Although with the cost of cancer drugs, it can't hurt to also have wealth

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry,. I missed the o the rpost Sending lots of prayers and I hope she is on her horse really soon!

Dolly, My mom just called the dr today about her tummy problems. She described it as severe gas pain and at times diahrea. They told her to take something called Protonix, a prescription she was taking for tummy problems while on chemo and also told her she can take a GasX as needed. THey said they expect the side effects to last only a mo nth until the body gets used to it. ' As for the rash, we got lucky there. Last Sat my mom had like two little red dots on the side of her face, really tiny and I said "I think Iressa rash is starting". Later that day, three dots on the other side. Nothing else. So when the onc asked her if she had a rash, she said no. He pointed to the spots and said that was an Iressa rash, so in her case, the rash so far is nothing. My office manager's brother in law has been on it for over a year now, I think he started it with the clinical trials, and his only side effect ever was a rash on his face that comes and goes. He NEVER took a day off of work Keep us posted.

So I am helping out with the Anaheim Relay for Life in August and I decided to try to get raffle prizes. Oh my goodness, it was easier than I thought! I mean it took time to get phone numbers, make the calls, etc. But in one day I sent letters, faxes, made a few calls and got: 1. Tony Roma's $40 gift certificate 2. Yardhouse $40 gift certificate 3. 25 block buster free rentals 4. 1 hour free massage gift certificate from a spa 5. $25 Mimi's cafe gift certificate 6. $25 Dave n Buster's gift certificate. And that was from just one day of work and doing it while actually working I am just sharting to let people know that if they want to hold an event to raise money for cancer and need raffle prizes, just call local businesses, ask away, and you shall receive!!!! I know, I know, I focused on getting prizes that I personally want. However, I guess I need to think of the general audience and call even more

Welcome to the board and please post and become part of our family! Brian and I went to Disneyland California Adventure today, we stopped at Denny's before hand, and I was dressed in my Disney attire: denim shorts with zippered pockets so I did not need to carry a pocketbook (east coast term for purse)/purse (west coast term for pocketbook) and of course my T-shirt from the LCSC Store. (Did I ever mention how much I love wearing those shirts on the weekend? I do understand it might be better suited for caregivers, my mom doesn't want to wear it, but I like to as a cheerleader advocate) A lovely girl stopped me in the restroom and told me that her mom was just diagnosed and I invited her here.

Nancy, Good luck on the new job. As for the mental status, well besides cancer, stress can do it too. How else can I explain my episode of driving away from the gas station with the hose in my car and ripping it out right after my mom got diagnosed?

Not quite sure what the post was about, I gather it was about possiblity of surgery. Just to chime in on the CEA, that does make sense to me In my mom's situation, her CEA at diagnosis was 3.3 and it gradually decreased with chemo and after surgery went down to like 0.9 which is normal. Now they keep monitoring it every couple of months. Her surgery was March, I guess they did scan for radiation in May as a positioning tool (not diagnostic). And she has not been scanned since, she will be scanned in August. If her CEA had gone up, the scan would be sooner.

Jamie, want to move to CA and be my trainer? I have heard about Tae Boe. Do you use the tapes? Someone I know here does good with that

Peggy, I totally understand where you are coming from. Here is a suggestion from my recent break where I lurked--if I saw a post that I felt I could give input to by responding, I would PM the person. I felt that was sticking to my rules of limiting my time and not being as obsessed. And they say cigarettes are addicting, they should try LCSC. Brian laughs at me, he is like what could ahve changed in 5 minutes. I said who knows! Thinking of yuo!