stand4hope

Dear Grace, Sometimes it is! Love, Peggy

My husband was diagnosed with Stage IV NCSLC on August 7, 2003, age 55, passed two days short of surviving two years, August 5, 2005, Age 57. The reason his age makes it look like two full years is because his birthday was Aug. 4. So, Aug. 4, 2003 he turned 55 (diagnosed 3 days later) Aug. 4, 2004 he turned 56 Aug. 4, 2005 he turned 57 (died the next day)

Kasey, I guess I'm some sort of weirdo, too. I would LOVE it! I could actually take about seven in a row right now. I think I would sleep the first day.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! May I have your attention please. This post is temporarily being hi-jacked for the following important bulletin: \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \That's a Colts cheerleader! GO COLTS!!!!!!!!! SOON TO BE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS 2007! We now return you to the previously scheduled praise of our special Snowflake!

Expect the best, but prepare for the worst. Love, Peggy

AMEN! Love, Peggy

I pray he/she/they (or their husband, wife, child, mother, father, sister or brother, etc.) don't ever get this horrible disease (which somebody in their family probably will) and they need our support and are blocked from this site........

Two bits! Four bits! Six bits! A Dollar! All for BECKY STAND UP AND HOLLAR! 4,000 posts for my good friend, Becky (Snowflake). I don't know about all of you, but I don't know what I would do without her!!!!

Thanks, Becky!!!! What a beautiful poem! Knowing some of your valleys and crises, it's refreshing to see you posted this. That's kind of the theme of the book I posted about recently. We don't grow when everything is perfect. It's fighting our way around an obstacle, and crawling out of a valley that makes us stronger to face the next inevitable crisis. Being in a valley sometimes causes us to just look at the walls around us and the ground beneath us. I never have been one to believe that God gives us "tests". I do, however, believe that when we are in a valley (crisis) that He wants us to look up because He is the one He wants our eyes on, in faith. One of my favorite quotes is this: We are all either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or going into a crisis. Love you, girlfriend! Peggy

Heather, I sent you a Private Message (PM) with my email address. Send me your picture and I'll shrink it up for you and email it back. Love, Peggy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR VAL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! ............ It's a tradition in my family, too, and it's ok for you to cry. Cry all you want. Love, Peggy

Hi Dee, I'm sorry to hear about your friend. She needs another opinion. My husband had 8 brain mets, was treated with WBR and 2 very tiny mets disappeared, and then had stereotactic radiosurgery (Novalis) (similar to gamma knife) to the remaining 6 mets, and then had it again 1 1/2 yrs. later to multiple tumors (I think 5). He was treated w/Novalis the first time in November 2003 and at that time, the standard was no more than four, however, this doctor said the same thing Trish's said - they can treat as many as they want. It is a very, very long day, though, with so many to be treated this way. I don't know if gamma knife is any quicker, but both times we were at the hospital for 11-12 hours and we were both exhausted, but it was successful. The tumors didn't all completely disappear, but they shrunk significantly and stopped growing for a very long time. About the chemo, I think there is some truth to the fact that most chemos don't get through the blood brain barrier, however, we were told that a little does. I also know there are some chemo pills that are given that have been successful. I think one of them is called something like Tremador. Ginny's husband, Earl, took that, but I don't remember how well it worked for him. I'm guessing this onc isn't up on the latest technology or is considering her age and the odds, something he should not do. The only reason I could ever see that someone would not get GK or SRS would be if they were just in really poor health generally. Oh, one more thing. You said she has had "several treatments", but not how many or how long it's been since they were completed. Sometimes it takes a long time to know the true success of WBR because the radiation keeps working over a period of time. GK and SRS are even more successful because they give a much higher dose to each tumor. Prayers for your friend, Dee! Love, Peggy

Sadly, the competition was fierce, but a winner has been chosen. ..............The winner of the ......"It's Not My Job" Award for 2006 ................goes to ... (scroll down) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thank you, Kasey. I'm sorry I've left and not been here for you lately. You've had some rough times. I have read and wept about them all. I'm afraid I've been all down and out and smothering in my own problems, and just too depressed to help anyone else. Every time I came here, every single bad news report and even good news reports made me cry. I even cried looking at Don Wood's new grandchild. Sometimes I just cried reading the title of a post. I just couldn't write anything positive, helpful, or encouraging. Anyway, my friend, your words here were so sweet and I know your heart, and I know your heart was in every single word you typed. God bless you, sweet Kasey. You know I'm here if you need me. Love, Peggy

I've been away too long. I just now noticed the name of this forum has changed to "Inspirational". Don't tell me - I bet it's been like that for six months....... That's ok, because that's what this post is about - INSPIRATION! I'll save you all the details, but my life has been through hell and back over and over the last year or so. If I told you everything that's been going on, it's so dramatic that I'm sure some would think I was making it up. Anyway, it all changed, after Christmas. The drama hasn't changed one bit, and in fact has become worse each day, but I've changed. My boss and his wife gave me a book for Christmas called "Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can't See His Plan", by Brian Jones. Paperback, approx. $11.00. Since my posts are always too long, I'll just say it short and sweet: this book pulled me out of the pits. Like one of the 5-star reviewers on Amazon.com said, "I will be stronger because I read this book." It's a Christian book written by a Christian pastor. If you're not a Christian, I hope you won't let that stop you from benefiting from the treasures in this book to begin to understand first, and then cope. Love to all, Peggy P.S. If you read it, please come back to this thread and let us know what you thought.

Hey, Pat, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to adopt your phrase, "I miss him like fire" to describe my feelings to friends and family. They don't know that I "stole" it from you, but I bet you I'm not the only one that stole it. :) I did save Don's timeline and I never thought about the fact that it could be helpful to others, so I'm going to find it in my saved files and plop it right back in my profile. Also, I wanted to tell you about a book I got for Christmas that has helped me a lot, but I'll post the name of it in the Spirituality section so that more people can see it and hopefully benefit from it. You hang in there, my friend. You know, I still have your phone number and Tina's and Ginny's and Beth's, Carleen's, Lynne's (I think I have Lynne's), etc. Since I feel like I'm starting to get a grip on life again, hopefully, I can start making some calls and we can all lock arms, heads, hands and hugs and keep on movin' on. Love and hugs, Pat!!!!!!!!!! Peggy

Hey Bill, you know what I was just thinking? When my husband was diagnosed, he had quite advanced NCSLC, including 8 brain mets. In the onc's view and my internet searches, he was a goner in less than 6 months. I searched and searched and searched for ANYTHING that gave him hope and I truly found ASBOLUTELY NOTHING good for about 9 months UNTIL....UNTIL....I found this site. Here is the only place I found any hope. That's why I took the name stand4hope. My precious Don, too, was a "Don't tell me anything bad person", but he was a smart man and he knew it was bad. BUT, he basically told them they could take that prognosis and put it where the sun doesn't shine! Well, he kicked cancer's a** for two years, worked for 20 months, full time, 50 hrs. a week for those two years, took a motorcycle trip from Indiana down through the Smokey's after more than a year of treatment, multiple brain radiations, lung radiation, bone radiations and 6 different chemo cocktails. What a guy, huh? He didn't listen to, and refused to listen to, statistics, too. I truly believe that a combination of good health and a good fighting attitude has the best prognosis for success. I don't think those two things are all-controlling (some do), but I do know for an absolute fact that the ones that are despondent and focused on the statistics and failure are the ones most likely to lose the battle a lot earlier. I still think, though, that it is good to glance at the bad and prepare for it - just in case. My husband didn't do this and it caused him, and myself and family problems and regrets that could have been avoided if he would have at least said, "But, just in case, let me say this . . . ., let me show you how to . . . ., here's where the _____ is, hey son, you're a good kid, I love you no matter what you've done or haven't done......" None of these words were ever spoken because he refused to accept anything but the fact that he was going to beat it and that was final. His death took him and all of us, even everyone here, quite by surprise. You see, the cancer didn't kill him - one of his treatments did and quite suddenly. Anyway, we truly don't see much statistic posting on this web site, but occasionally it does slip through either intentionally or because it's part of an article. If you look at many, many of the responses to newcomers, you will see the seasoned (oldies but goodies as Pat says) members also telling the newcomers to put those statistics where the sun doesn't shine! I LOVE IT! You go, guy! It sounds like you are already on the road to beating this thing, and everytime one more person makes it, it gives everyone else hope, hope, hope! Love, Peggy

OH NO! Oh, Katie, you and Rick and the kids, and ESPECIALLY your mom have my prayers. Love, Peggy

Dear Bill, I, too, don't know what post or search it was that brought you down, but obviously it had a big impact on you since you have now written about it in two posts. Bill, I live by the expression to "Expect the best, but prepare for the worst." Each is equally important. While preparation for the worst is not enough to cushion the worst blows, it at least protects us from a Pollyanna approach to this disease. I have not been very active on this site since my husband passed, but I was quite active during his illness. I can tell you that I soaked up every bit of information, the good, the bad and the ugly that any researcher on this site took the time and effort to post. I didn't always like it and I didn't always agree with it, but I was and continue to be grateful for the information that relates to this disease, no matter how hard it is to hear. This is an ugly disease, and while there is a lot of hope and more and more each day, the fact is that it still remains an ugly disease. Prayers for your continued good reports, Bill. Continue to keep your eyes focused on a great outcome. But I would also suggest that wisdom truly does dictate preparation for the worst, if not for yourself for your family. Love, Peggy

Dear Don, I will definitely include you in my prayers. There's just so much hard stuff sometimes..... but, we just gotta make it through. Here's a book that might help: Second Guessing God by Brian Jones. It was given to me on December 22 by good friends who knew I was literally falling apart because of one crises after another coming at me faster than I could deal with them. It truly brought me out of the depths of despair. Hang in there, big guy! I know how hard all this is. Love, Peggy

Oh, yes, dear Tina. You definitely have my prayers, honey. If you have time, look for that book I PM'd you about. I think it will really help. All my love and prayers, Peggy

Me, too, Pat, and you are one of my "many". I enjoyed reading your post so much, Ginny. I, too, have become a reader and not even every day anymore. But you know, I believe that once we share this walk with others, we all become "one". We are all different, our walks are different, and the end results are different, but "one" we are, and "one" we will remain. Love, Peggy

Some help, some don't. Some can't, some won't. Beth, some even walk way - family and friends. That's just the way it is - in almost all families. We live in an imperfect world with imperfect people. Don't be angry. It's best to just accept people for who they are and not for what they do and don't do. Anger will ruin your life, your love, and your heart, and it will most definitely discourage your mother. Just try thanking and praising every little thing your brother and dad do and forget about what they don't do. If you end up having to do it all - well, it is what it is. For some reason, it sounds like God has picked you for this monumental task of caring for his precious child. Ahhhhh, what an honor this is. I guess he thinks you are the one. Some day you will look back and be blessed beyond your wildest imagination for how special this time you have with your mother will have been. Trust me - been there, done that. The rewards are awesome. Much love, Peggy

Merry Christmas, Ann! God bless you! Love, Peggy

Dear Rochelle, I am so, so, so sorry. Those words seem so shallow, but they are the best I've got. It's always hard to lose our loved ones, but when it happens at Christmastime, it is especialy devastating. May God bless you, comfort you, hold you and give you His strength. Love, Peggy