Here we come again
 

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...-year-0982.gif

Wishing y'all a great year.

Glad to hear things are going well! Are you up and about? Off all pain meds, or where are things with that?

Happy 2012 all :)

So the last week has been a pretty startling change...with mom doing better and feeling stronger every day.

She is now hungry virtually all the time...snacking and drinking constantly...and is gaining a rather amazing half a pound a day.

Hope you all have a wonderful year....and thank you all for the amazing support you've given me through this rough time.

Hugs to you all.

We kicked Cancer's Ass.........
 

Glad to hear you are doing so well, Clay. I wonder how they decide who they will stitch and who they will staple? Doctor's preference, maybe? I was stitiched.

+1 on the thoughts for Julie's and Jo's moms.

Hey, Clay.

Yeah, they took my appendix, too. He said it as a By the way, while we were in there we figured we might as well take your appendix out.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that. I felt almost violated or something. I mean, I understand the appendix has been found to have no real use, but if it is a standard procedure type of thing, while not mention it before the surgery? I thought it was kind of strange.

Did you ask the doc about the pain?

hey DAPPER:
I had asked them to please repair a hernia from my gallbladder surg from March 2010 (I have a 12 inch scar from that...since he was going to be right in the area...to possibly save me a further surgery at some point..and he said NO. I asked the gynie if she would remove the appendix while she was there...she said she would BUT according to the operative report/path report I got yesterday, HE did remove my appendix. I wasn't aware of it while in hosp and they did not tell county they took them when each surgeon came out and spoke to her post op.
As for the pain, it has beent here since post op..and I mentioned it to both surgeons every day...I get anything from "it's where they had to dig deep to get ovary & fallopian tube, to it's where they stitched you up inside after surgery to "it's a pulled muscle"...anyway, when I told Dr. Camp yesterday, he said to call him ASAP if I develop and nausea/vomiting, chills, or fever OR if pain worsens....sooo.....
I am going to ask the gynie oncol Fri to do an US of the area....it is like a burning, searing, stabbing kind of pain that is almost constant, and at times feels like the area is "swollen"...
Anyway I am afebrile (without fever) and NO n/v/c/f....and it is no worse..it actually "eased up" some today...feels best when I am lying wiht legs outstretched and NOT sitting....
I am sure it is all within normal for this type of surgery and will abate eventually....smiles...
Thanks for the words and your support my friend..and that tip about me lying on left side to get the bowels going post op...county remembered it, and made sure I did it..smiles...
Have an awesome day my friend...hugs..Clay

Got it. Ok, hang in there. Keep on keeping on. One day at a time.

Hello Everyone! My Mom, like Jo's, is an eating machine. She saw the nurse practitioner today and all her tests look great. She has lost all her hair and she is pretty bummed about that. We got her a bunch of hats and she is playing with her scarves so she will be stylish as usual.

Next week she starts the second round of chemotherapy. I am taking next Friday off to clean and help out. She was happy to hear that.

So happy to hear everyone is feeling so well. Here is to a healthy 2012! Thank you very much for all the prayers and well wishes.

Julie, you and your Mom are in my thoughts and prayers. Great to hear she is doing so well. Jean

Clay, Julie, Jo...all of this wonderful news is inspiring and, like Jean, I am so happy to hear how well everyone is responding to their current situations. Let's keep it up!! XOXO, Novela <3

Wow I had some reading to catch up on.

Jo and Julie - so glad to hear your mom's are doing so well! :) They are blessed to have you. :bunchflowers:

So glad to hear everyone is doing so great.

So far 2012 has sucked. My grandma lost her battle with lung cancer Jan 1. I went to the Dr on Tuesday. He sent me Wednesday for a endoscopy and colonoscopy. He was worried about some issues I am having and stomach cancer. The Dr took a biopsy from my esophagus and removed 3 polyps and now the 7-10 day wait begins. On a good note: I have lost 16 pds since Thanksgiving. :)

Julie, so happy to hear your mom is feeling better, enjoy.

Deb, gotcha in my prayers kid. Hit me up if you need to talk...

I'm sorry you lost your grandmother and some other scary stuff is happening. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Congratulations on the weight loss. I personally gained weight after my treatment stopped (I needed to gain after surgery, but not after my 6 months of chemo). I think I had gotten so used to eating high caloric food, as it only every other week that I did have mouth sores, that when I could eat again, this time I just didn't stop!

The 25 lbs I lost due to surgery was too much, but it would have been nice to have not gained all of it back. The last 10 came back on after chemo (which is the amount I would like to not have put back on).

Debby, Keeping you in my bestest thoughts and prayers--I know how agonizing it is to wait for results. Jean

I wouldn't be so nervous about the results, even with him saying all 3 are precancerous, if he hadn't tagged one site and after everything else that has happened in the last year.

Here's to the good stuff and out with the yucky stuff..Big hugs sent your way Debby...
http://lowbagger.org/treehuggers.jpg

from another tree hugger, Tommi

My grandma has stage 4 colon cancer. She didn't know about it until the tumor "erupted" and she had emergency surgery and most of her colon was removed. The cancer has also spread to her abdomen and liver. They suspect brain also. She has a pet(?) scan this week. U saw her over Christmas and she looks good. Way better than before her surgery. She was not responding to Chemo, so she just started a new anti body treatment. It is extremely expensive, and she is on a very fixed income and Medicare. Not sure how many more treatments it will cover.

It's been a seriously hard journey with my grandma. She is an alcoholic, so we were dealing with that before this. She tried to commit suicide.... Now this. I want to be there for her and support her but I am so scared I tend to just look away. It feels horrible saying that. I am tying to be stronger and be there for her. I told myself I was going to call her once a week... I'm going to try to stick to that.

Grieving sucks :-(

{{{{{Debby}}}}}} Big hugs for you. Isn't tagging normal protocol? They did that with all of my precancerous polyps as well. But, you sure have had a full year, so I understand the fear. My mom will keep your nana company in heaven. (f) Hang in there, love!

Hugs to you starryeyes.

Please, call her and you don't need to talk about her cancer. I called my grandma everyday and most of the time we didn't talk about either of us having cancer.

I don't know if it is. lol They only tagged the one and the Dr said it was so a surgeon could find it, if needed. I am just a bundle of nerves anymore. I do feel better about it now, then I did this morning.

Let your mom know, my nana will be the little old lady cracking the whip in the corner with everyone's to-do lists.

Love the tree huggers lol :)

thank you...its gonna get better here on out!

Ok, so am I to assume that my tumor wasn't marked in any way b/c it was so big no one could miss it? :|

Seriously, though, it was. It was very visible to a layperson (me, partner, mother) when the surgeon pulled up the film on the computer.

It was the initial shock of hearing the damn 'C' word. The dr removed all three, so the marker was to find where he removed it.

This made me crazier:

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012...ore/?mobile=nc

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I just wanted to share with you guys that tantalizingfemme and I got some wonderful new yesterday.

Her son made it into the college of his choice! We are especially thrilled for him because we were not certain he would get in, so it is especially sweet.

He wasn't Mr. Studious so we (and he) are really thanking his lucky stars!!!!!


:happyjump::pile:

:goodluck::goodluck::goodluck::goodluck::goodluck: :readfineprint::glasses:

Yeahh..

What a difference a month makes....

A month ago my mother arrived....about 105 lbs., shaky, barely walking, pale as death, dehydrated, unable to tolerate cold, exhausted, able to eat 1 or maybe 2 cartons of yogurt and nothing else in a day, taking morphine 4 or 5 times a day, and essentially waiting to die.

Today...she weighs 117, is not at all dehydrated, her color is good, goes for a walk every day with my son, walked 3500 steps with me on the beach on Sunday, eats normal meals (and then some), and is antsy to go home and dig in her garden. She is off morphine, and takes a single Lortab a day for pain...before bed, so her sleep is not disturbed.

Today was an eye opener....her menu....

Breakfast....two slices toast with butter and peanut butter, cup of tea
Mid-morning snack...carton of yogurt, juice with pedialyte
Lunch....salad bar at Ruby Tuesday's, iced tea
Mid-afternoon snack...can of Campbell's brand canned spaghetti, juice with pedialyte
Late-afternoon snack...Dove ice cream bar
Dinner...Chicken leg (big one, from a roasting hen), corn, broccoli, and juice with pedialyte
Evening snack....who knows....but there has been one every night lately
Overnight....12 hours of TPN

Is it any wonder she's gaining half a pound a day?

XOXOXOX To the Caretakers.
 

It is amazing.. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Just maybe JustJo you and yours are a sweet spoonful for your Mom.

Just piggy-bagging on Tommi's post. Jo, thanks for sharing this joyfull news.

Another piggy back...amazing how some love makes things better.

YEEHAW...all the biopsies came back benign!!!! I cried out of joy. :) I am not ready to do this crap again. So, surgery next month or so to even out my tits and then its just playing 'where's waldo' for the next 5 years, but as long I take ownership of my body (get tests and eat right), there is NO reason I can't live as long as my grandma did.

Jagg, thank you for sending your angels. :)

My angels said you are one awesome and incredible woman. And that cancer knows not to mess with you, they don't ever want to face your wrath again! :-) I'm so happy, that 2 peeps in a row now. I'm shooting for 1000 in a row. Its my year !

It is your year! I truly feel this this is going to be a great year. :)


Cancer must know it wasn't on my to-do list for this year.

1. siding and painting house
2. plant hummingbird garden for nana
3. go to burning man - new decorations for the bike for the trip
4. add to raised garden beds
5. mosaic front porch

Nope, not on the list. lol.

Hello All! I spent the day with my Mom today. It was the last day of her second round of chemo. She is doing well. Next week she is preparing for radiation. She has a small lesion in the frontal cortex of her brain. It has shrunk from the chemo but they want to try to get rid of it with radiation. She is a little scared about that and so am I.

They will be tapering her off the steroids they have had her on for the brain lesion. She is very worried about this and thinks that it means she will then experience some side effects from the chemo. She has not talked to the doctor about this so she does not have any real facts. Does anyone know about this? I don't know what the results will be of her going off the steroids. The main thing I worry about is the pain coming back.

She has to have 6 rounds of chemo instead of the 3 she initially thought. She is not super happy about that. She will be done in May.

In general she is doing really well and is in good spirits. We just don't know what is coming next and that is anxiety producing!!

I am sending refuah shelimah (complete healing) to you all.