shineladysue

Don and Lucie, Sorry to be late. I guess my hubby's hospital stay put me a bit behind. I'm so happy to hear your news. Sorry Lucie still has pain in her leg, but glad to hear it is feeling a bit better. You two are a real inspiration. Thank you for sharing. Love and Prayers, Sue

Carol, That's wonderful news. You will do just fine. We will all be there with you in spirit. You have my prayers for a successful surgery, recovery and many years ahead. Love and Prayers, Sue

Cyndy, I just want you to know that I appreciate you being here with us.I know it must be hard at times, but your presence is a comfort. You have done wonderfully well and you've given the best part of yourself to us during this most difficult time. Thank you. Love and Prayers, Sue

Prayers that things continue to go well for Sandy. Will be waiting for the path report. Love, Sue

Cindi, I'm so glad to see your update. It sounds like you have found a comfort zone for now. It's good to hear you say you can breathe a bit better and that you are getting settled in your new home. You are such an inspiration to me. Ya know, things have been really sad around the board lately. Too many of our friends are grieving or going through hard times, do you think you could open the pub just for us to gather and share a few hugs? It would be good. Take care and your friend and her sister are so fortunate to have you . If they come here, I hope they know they will be welcomed with open arms. Waiting for the pub to open so I can give you a hug. Love and Prayers, Sue

Val, Haven't heard of Perifosine, but just wanted to remind you that your family is in my prayers, ALWAYS. Love and Prayers, Sue

Beth, Want you to know that you have my prayers, as well. Love, Sue

Nancy, I am so very sorry about your loss. I will always remember the picture of Mike dancing with Nicole on her wedding day. God Bless him. Mike is at peace now. I'm praying for strength for you and your family to carry you through this painful time. Love and Prayers, Sue

Millie, You have my prayers for everything to go well. When I read posts like yours, I think of how all of us have to take such an active role in deciding the timing and what is right for those we love. It's such a big responsibility and stressful to say the least. I'm speaking from my own experience here, as well. I can relate. Wishing you the very best and sending prayers your way. Love and Prayers, Sue

Hi Becky, I just wanted to welcome you and thank you for sharing your inspirational story. That's what this site is about. It's about sharing and caring. There is a lot of support , love, humor and prayers here to carry all of us through our days. Glad you found us. Love and Prayers, Sue

Kathi, You have my prayers for your family . I pray you have some quality time together. God be with you . Love and Prayers, Sue

Peggy, Know that when Don goes in for treatment there are lots of prayers going with him. Love and Prayers, Sue

Becky, Congrats on 3000 and thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've given so much of yourself to others here. I love your posts and I want you to know that you have helped me more than you will ever know. Love and Prayers, Sue

Sandy, Sending prayers for your surgery and quick recovery. Just keep focusing on your future and your boyfriend Paul. You are going to do great. Love and Prayers, Sue

Thank you to Bill and Ry for your information and words of wisdom. It helps to have others input. Thank you Cindi for sharing what must have been a horrific experience for you , but look at you now.... sharp as a tack and most folks would have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one up on you.. Besides, you run one hell of a good pub. Thank you to everyone else that has shared your experiences, sent well wishes, hugs and prayers. They helped so much.

Carole, I'm sorry to be late, but I want you to know that you and your family are in my prayers. I am so sorry to hear about your husband. May God be with you. Love and Prayers, Sue

Nancy, I just want you to know that you and Mike have my prayers , as well. God be with you during this difficult time. Love and Prayers, Sue

Peggy, I'm sorry to be so late responding to your post, but with my hubby in the hospital, I got a bit behind . Now that I am here, I don't know what to say. Is it okay if I cry a little with you? It hurts to see you and your hubby going through all this. I wish I had some encouraging or magic words I could say to you, but sometimes there just don't seem to be any . I hope you find strength in knowing so many of us here are with you in spirit and keep you in our prayers daily. It's a good thing that you could release some of those tears. It always helps me to have a good cry. I have to admit that there are days that I can't hide my tears from anyone, not even Mike. We love our loved ones that are ill and we can't bear watching them suffer nor can we bear thinking of life without them. It's ok Peggy. We all have those times. Sending many many prayers your way, as well as many tissues and a virtual shoulder to cry on. Love, Sue

Ry, I am going to put this in ask the experts later. It was the pulmonologist (the one that we have trusted for 4 years) that made the diagnosis. He was quick to say that this is not his field of expertice and he cannot know how it will end up. These events started to happen after medication he had prescribed for shingles and Mike had been on large doses of steroids for his pneumonitis. The pulmonologist did make us appointments with a psychiatrist and a neurologist, but we can't get in until July and August. In the meantime, we are hoping that by stepping down the prednisone (he was once on 60 mg and now on 7mg) and taking the antipsychotic meds he will improve. He did say that he seemed 25% better in the two days of treatment and he felt encouraged by that.

Hi Berisa, The doctor is stepping down his steroids and has him on an antipsychotic medicine. It is strongly suspected that this is caused by the steroids. He is taking Risperdal -two small doses in the daytime and a larger dose at bedtime. Mike is fine and then out of the blue he forgets what he is doing and almost how to use untensils or how to walk right. It's like I have to think for him for a while and then he comes back. In the meantime he will tell me that he knows exactly what is going on , but he doesn't . I give him his medicines and a bit later he tells me to bring them to him. It's hard to convince him that we already did that. At times he talks to someone not there and 10 minutes later he can give accurate answers to questions. It's hard to describe, but it sounds like you may understand. Thank you for sharing.

Mike is home from the hospital now. They did an MRI of the brain and still found all to be normal. That is good news , but he is still confused and at times totally irrational . We don't know if he will get better. The doctor's diagnosis is Metabolic Encephalopathy. My understanding of this is zilch except it was probably brought on by drugs in the system over time and triggered by something, possibly steroids that has caused a chemical imbalance. The doctor is reluctant to say whether this can be reversed or not. He talks about waxing and waning with brain function diminishing. I'm really devastated over this. My hubby goes in and out of confusion and now sleeps a lot due to antipsychotic drugs being given to help. The hardest thing to handle is that his cancer is stable, his breathing better, the pneumonitis cleared up, the shingles cleared up and now his mind is affected from all the treatments. If anyone has knowledge or has had someone experience this diagnosis, I would appreciate your input. It seems that this is another sad note on this board. It is hard to write posts like this, but somehow we hope to help each other by doing it. I'm not giving up on my hubby. I'm asking for prayers from you that he will recover from this. All of you are in my prayers. Thank you for being here. Love, Sue

Karen, I can't find the words to express the sadness I feel right now. David was such a special person and he will be missed so very much. May God be with you and your family in the days ahead. Love and Prayers, Sue

I am so very very sorry. May God be with all the family and friends of David. I will never forget him. Love and Prayers, Sue

Saying many Prayers for the Chapmans. Love, Sue

Thank you everyone, You have no idea what strength that I get from all of you. I need all of it now and that's for sure. We put Mike in the hospital today. He became so much worse and I called the doctor and said , now what do I do and we ended up at the hospital. Under the circumstances, it is the best move, I believe. He just went in this afternoon and they have done chest xray, blood tests, urinalysis, and MRI of the brain was done tonight. The doctor is also cutting back on most of his drugs. He is cutting the prednisone back to around 10mg soon. It's down to 30 now. So, I feel better knowing that progress is being made to get to the bottom of everything. Will let you know how it ends up. Again, thank you everyone. Love and prayers to you all. Love, Sue