stand4hope

OH NO! OH NO! OH NO!!!! Oh, dear, Elaine. There is nothing I can say to make this feel any better. You are my friend, I love you, and I am so upset for you. Dear Father in Heaven, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, help Elaine and her husband!! PLEASE! Take away their fear, remove their pain, give them solutions to their problems, and cover them with your love and protection. In Jesus name, Amen The answers are on their way! Love, Peggy

I haven't heard anything, Beth. I wish I had her phone number. Lisa, if you pop in and see this, PM me your phone number and what times of the day might be good to call. I hope things are going better for you. We are all worry warts. Love, Peggy

Karen, I am so sorry and so sad. I'm sitting at my desk at work with tears. I am just brokenhearted to get this news, and I am so sorry for you, your mom and the rest of your family. I hope that David is comfortable and not having any pain. Please tell your mom that I love her and I am praying for all of you. May God help you all to be strong. Love, Peggy

Nell, I am so sorry that your dear friend, Bob, is having so much pain. I just hate it when I hear that people are having pain. I pray the radiation will give him a ton of relief. Love, Peggy

Tom, I am so sorry to hear about this loss. Please accept my sincere condolences. Peggy

YAY!!! Rich, this is terrific news. So glad to hear it, but probably not as happy as you are! Love, Peggy

Margaret (Countrygirl), ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peggy

I finally got it done. I voted at 6:01 p.m. Never had that happen before. It took exactly 1 hr. and 46 min. in line, plus another 20 minutes waiting for a spot to park, but by golly, I got my vote in!!!! Our precinct even made the local news for one of the longest waiting spots. When I got in line, I counted 10 rows (snaked like in a bank line) with 20 to 23 people in a row, so there were 200 to 230 people in front of me. They only had four booths, and apparently earlier in the day, there was a 3-hour wait when they finally got the 4th booth. A man they interviewed at our site said there was good news and bad news. The good news is everybody came out to vote. The bad news is everybody came out to vote! LOL! People were so nice and patient and there was lots of chatter amongst us. It was really refreshing to see so many people that care! Peggy

Dear Angie, You have my prayer for hope and comfort for your wonderful dad. I admire your fighting spirit. You are quite an impressive and enthusiastic young lady. How old is your dad, by the way? I don't think I see it in his profile. I am optimistic that the radiation will help tremendously with the pain. It may take a week or so of treatments for him to see a big difference, but when some of that pain is gone, he will probably get back a lot of fight, too. It's hard to be optimistic when you are in so much pain. Take care of yourself, too, and those beautiful daughters and loving husband, and don't forget to breathe!!! Love, Peggy

OH MY GOSH! Look at Addie's crossed eyes in that last picture! TOO FUNNY!

Well, I tried, but haven't got it accomplished yet. At 8:00 this a.m., there was a 2-hour wait. I squeezed into the parking area, no place to park, cars parked in the surrounding fields stuck in the mud, and then I couldn't get out because cars had the exit/entrance blocked. Our son tried at 10:00 and again at noon - still the same. Planning to leave work at 3:00 and will wait in that line no matter what. There are probably 8 to 10 new housing editions/condo editions in our precinct, so I think that's part of the problem. On the positive side, I'm thrilled to see such a great turnout. Peggy

Your post about your "best mom" was just beautiful and it brought tears to my eyes. She was so beautiful and her obit reflected that beauty. I'm so sorry for you, your dad, her mom and the rest of your family. This is always just a very hard thing to get through. May God be with you during this difficult time. Love, Peggy

Hi Cheryl, Did the bride of Frankenstein have numb feet? I think I only watched Frankstein one time in my youth, and that was enough for me. Your colt, Baby, is cute, cute, cute! My in-laws had a little colt many years ago and it was the meanest little thing. They never broke him to ride, just used him for a stud and he STAYED mean. I liked him when he was little, but was scared to death of him when he grew up. Is that you in the picture with Baby? You are cute, too!! Best of luck with your chemo, Cheryl. Hope you get a new keyboard soon. Lots of love and hugs, Peggy

I hear you, Beth, because I've been where you are, and I'm not the one with cancer. I've pulled away and was even going to quit at least twice because I've been so overcome with emotion. It does help to pull away for a little bit, at least it's helped me in the past. I read bbypookins' post today at work and had to log off because I started crying, and I still haven't written to her. I will, but I had to get a grip first. You hang in there, sweetie. You are going to be ok. We will be here when you are ready to come back. Please keep us posted how you're doing when you can. Love and prayers, Peggy

Kim, that recipe sounds wonderful. I have some ground turkey but don't have the taco mix or hidden valley mix, so I'll get the stuff and make that soon. I love things like that and they are really easy to take for lunch to work and heat in the microwave. (By the way, to everybody that didn't already know, Kim's recipe is only 2 points because Weight Watchers knocks off points for that yummy fiber since it isn't absorbed by your body - goes straight through). Ry, Muahahaha! (Becky taught me how to do that!) You probably need 3 or 4 months before I'm small enough for you to take me on, though. I'm pretty short, but right now, I could just sit on you and squash you like a bug. LOL! Margaret and Ry - no slinking allowed! I've been bad for 30 years, so I know ALL ABOUT slinking around. Most of the time, though, I don't slink, just hide behind a "big shirt". Betty: Don't have to report your weight unless you just want to. We're not (at least I'M NOT - EVER) giving weight, just weight lost, and nobody can make me tell, not even with extreme torture! Only my doctor "knows for sure." Unless somebody has a HIPPA for my medical records, they are SOL! Teehee! Becky: Going for 3 more workouts! YOU CAN DO IT!! Swing that torso, doe-see-doe!! Where the heck is everybody else that signed up for this shindig? If I don't start seeing some more posts, I'm going to do a loud ROLL CALL! Loveya all, Peggy

GOOD MORNING! It’s a new month and time for another fresh start. It’s also time to report in (good or bad). I have lost another 4 lbs. this month, bringing me to being to a total of 20 lbs. SMALLER! My food tip for this month is to eat lots of fiber. Fiber helps make you feel full, and also helps to offset the effect of carbs and calories, and even help prevent colon cancer. Some of my favorite fiber foods are black beans, bran flakes, oatmeal and potatoes. Here’s a link to some high fiber foods that you can print and take shopping with you: http://www.dietsite.com/dt/diets/eating ... hfiber.asp As the holidays approach, my personal advice would be to not be too strict. Go ahead and eat some of the wonderful foods during the holidays, just cut down on quantities. If you don’t get SMALLER during the holidays, it’s pretty easy to not gain if we are just sensible about quantities. Ok, now it’s your turn. Please report how much SMALLER you are this month, and even if you aren’t SMALLER yet, please go ahead and share a good food, exercise or other weight loss tip. If you haven’t joined us so far, please do so. Here are the links to the previous GETTING SMALLER CLUB threads: 8/21/2004 Discussion: http://www.lchelp.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=10256 9/1/04 Getting Started Getting SMALLER: http://www.lchelp.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=10597 10/1/04 GETTING SMALLER: http://lchelp.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=11364

Dear Paddy, This just really stinks - David in the hospital and you sleeping on a cot! My heart just goes out to you both in the biggest way! I am praying daily and hope that your next post will say that you are both at home and comfortable. Thanks for thinking of us and sending us this update. I know that I am praying, as well as many others, and watching for posts from you and Karen to see how things are going. All my love, Peggy

Dear Karen, There is ALWAYS hope, but I am still holding back tears, here. I'm sending as much love, hope, prayers and hugs that the cyber world can handle that hospice won't be necessary. Thank you so much for keeping us up-to-date. Love, Peggy

Angie, I'm really sorry to hear this latest news and even more sorry that your dad is having such a rough time. I'm hoping they will get radiation on his spine as soon as possible. My husband got complete relief after radiation to his shoulder met that had actually caused a hole in the bone, and he had severe pain. It was his left shoulder and he is left-handed. He is now back to using that arm almost 100%. I do think he now uses his right arm to start the lawn mower since that activity brought him to his knees in excruciating pain before he had the radiation. I pray that radiation will happen soon for your dad and he will experience the same type of relief. You're a good daughter to take such good care of your dad. Love, Peggy

Dave, That was a terrific article. I, too, hope it gets ready by thousands of people - especially the ones that can and will do something to help. Peggy

Dear Joni, I, too, think of you often. Your post really touched my heart. Thank GOD for Alex. He sounds like such a good, dear, sweet little boy. I'm sure he is because he certainly has a good, dear, sweet mommy. You have both been blessed with each other, and the two of you will heal together. All my love, Peggy

Oh, Becky, you are so incredibly thoughtful. How kind and understanding of you to ask for prayers for Mr. Max the Builder, even though your garage isn't going to get built as fast as you need it to. You are a remarkable young lady! Max has my heartfelt prayers. Love, Peggy

Kitkathi, I hope and pray that this evening finds your pops doing better than last night! Please keep us posted. Prayers always! Love, Peggy

Gosh, Fay, I guess this sounds like good news. I know that no cancer is always good news, but there are other things that can be just as serious. I'm not too excited to hear that you have to have part of your liver removed. Can you tell us why that has to be done? I guess my opening paragraph was a bit of a downer, but I'm not sure from your original post how you are actually feeling about this. Of course, I know you're glad there's no cancer, but how are you feeling about the rest of it? I've been around enough, that I'm sure you know that you always have my love, support, encouragement, hurrahs, and atta girls, and you've got them now as well, oh, and of course, my prayers! Love, Peggy

Sharlene, I understand the treatment for SCLC is quite a bit different from NSCLC, but I have repeatedly heard both here and from three different oncologists that it is very difficult for chemo to cross the blood brain barrier to prevent or shrink brain mets. One oncologist told us that some of it gets through, but not enough to impact the mets. I agree with the others that the standard number of brain mets that are usually treated with gamma knife is 4 or less. I've also heard that it depends on the location of the mets if gamma knife can be used. My husband started with 8 brain mets, 2 disappeared with WBR, and 6 were treated with Novalis (similar to gamma knife). It took from 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to get it all done, but they did it and two more mets disappeared. The 4 remaining mets were shrunk by 30%. The WBR was done last fall (Aug. 2003) and the Novalis was done a year ago (Nov. 2003). He has no ill effects from the WBR or Novalis and, even though 4 mets are still there, they were sufficiently stymied to prevent any further symptoms to this date. I understand that SCLC is quite a bit different and grows a lot faster. Since your lung tumor has begun to grow again, my vote would be to get the WBR and then follow up with gamma knife. I guess I feel that way since you have 4 mets now, and if it's true that SCLC grows rapidly, there's a good chance there are other critters up there waiting to make their presence known. WBR does a good job of destroying small ones that can be seen and ones that are so small that they can't be seen. Just my two cents! You have to do what is right for you. Love, Peggy