Dear Sheila:
I am so sorry for your father's diagnosis. It sounds serious. I am sorry to report to you that my wonderful husband of 15 years, Dale, passed away August 1, 2005 after being on three different protocols of chemo. From diagnosis to death, it was just short of 5 months. Of course, we are at a loss without him, and yet I think all of us were prepared for the worse and lived every moment we had with him to the fullest! Dale was 57 when he died this summer, but he lived to see his son graduate from the 8th grade, get accepted to the high school of his choice, and spend quality time with his other three children, including a family trip to Hawaii in July. We thought the tumor was shrinking at one point, but it is very agressive, and we took Dale off chemo for four weeks so he could feel better (the chemo is sooo hard to handle) - and the cancer just came back so fast and so much that we knew we had precious little time. Dale was home on hospice (my choice, not his) for one week before he left us. He never gave in, but in the end, there just wasn't anything we could do. (Dale was also on a pic line since mid-April - it was the only way he could truly receive some nutrition.) My only regret - that I didn't have him record or videotape a special "something" for each of his kids. Sheila - you and your family are in my prayers. I'm not sure how old you are (your father is awfully young at 47 to have this disease), but maybe you could help your mom fight and stay strong, but also face reality and prepare the family for what likely will happen. Once the cancer has metastisized to other organs, it is very hard to gain control, but miracles can happen. Please e-mail me anytime. Have you checked out www.PanCan.org? There is lots of helpful information on the site. Karen --- Message edited by CancerCompass staff: for personal protection, email address removed. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at
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