Latest Support discussions http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/caregivers/support/1,0,122,84.htm Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Hi,My Father has colon cancer, secondary stomach and mets to the liver.  He was diagnosed in September so is now living on borrowed time.  He has had a stent inserted into his stomach to enable him to eat, this is now starting to get over grown with tumor at the top, so sometimes he vomits and sometimes the food stays down.  He had chemo in November/December but it didn't work for him.   He is now reasonably comfortable at home on a syringe driver , with so many medications(too many to name), he is still fighting to stay alive whatever , which I admire because we all deal with things in different ways.  He is just not ready to die just yet.  I  live two hours away but am still going back home to see him every week and  take him out when possible .  He stills wants to eat but his main problem is his horrendous tongue, its red, like sandpaper, split, the mouth is full with ulcers.  He has been given some stuff for thrush in the mouth, sorry I can't remember the name, a mouth wash and something for the ulcers.  He told me today I can't eat or talk much because my tongue  just hurts so much. He goes to Hospice on a Friday and they are trying to help him.  Does anyone know of anything else we could try to help him feel more comfortable.?  It's such a shame , he has spent two weeks in hospital getting his pain relief right and now something else pops up its ugly head.  Ever since he was diagnosed in September, each week or month something else has happened ,to stop him from enjoying some quality of life.I feel my Father has not got long left to live but I would like to be able to take him out and he can at least say "I feel ok today".I have to say I have appreciated the use of this board because I posted a message back in September because I was not coping well with my Fathers diagnosis but I have been given so much support from some lovely people who have themselves suffered either as the patient or the carer.It's the most emotional journey I have ever been on and one which I don't wish to repeat in a hurry.God bless to everyone who is struggling with this disgusting disease. Lets pray for some success stories please. Gail http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23362,0.htm Gaily Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT my daughter age 5 has been treated for all leukemia since dec. 2005. we are in financial difficulty and about to be evicted on the 28th of this month. unable to care for her and work, believe me ive tried, my personal finances have dwindled down to nothing.  do you have any suggestions on where to began to look? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23330,0.htm shaunas Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT I am 26 and my mom was diagnosed with cancer on march 14 2008. The cancer is all over her bones and parts of her brain and liver but the doctors don’t know where the primary source of cancer is so chemo wont do no good. Also her hip was fractured because of the cancer and she had to have a hip surgery.  Well the surgery went well and she started radiation then she was discharged form the hospital to a rehab facility near my house. She was doing well until about a week ago on April 11 2008 she wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t acting like her normal. She went back to the hospital and when I got to the hospital she looked so bad. That night I thought she was going to leave this world. She made it through the night and the following days the doctor told us she had an infection in her blood and her platlets are real low and they are worried about blood clotts. She hasn’t been talking or responding and I have a feeling the end is near and the doctor has told us that he doent think she will live past a month. I keep thinking today is the day or jump at everytime I get  a phone call while I am at work.  Last night I went to the hospital and just poured my heart out to her and prayed that god takes her out of her misery. I have a loving supportive family that has been there for me and my two sisters but I still feel like I am going to blow at any moment. I keep asking myself  how can I say bye to my mom? This has to be the hardest thing I have ever gone threw, seeing her laying there in so much pain knowing that she isnt going to see me get married or see my first child. She isnt going to see her grandson who is only 8 months which she adored with all her might grow up. My mom is the most loving person I know she went out of her way to make sure everyone around her was happy at all times. She loved me and my sister regardless of what we did. I keep asking everyone how do I say goddbye to my mom? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23144,0.htm dee4582 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Good day! I am new to this board. I am on day 7 of my 1x a day Carac trmnt. I am supposed to do both my arms(from elbows to knuckles) and my face. I found this message board and started reading. I did get a little scared so decided to start on my arms first. Today is the first time I noticed anything different. I feel like I have a slight slight sunburn. Not very pink but the feeling you get. My sister is in stage 4 Melanoma so I am very afraid of skin cancer. I have had 2 squamish spots removed but that was a few years ago. I will keep reading and posting. Hope this works.I do use a 55 sunscreen daily on my body and a 45 on my face. Have been doing it for quite a few years. My Dermatologist says my damage has come from past years of living in the sun and not using protection. I am 57 and there was no sunscreen when I was a teenager. I used to get a sunburn before I would go to a party so that I looked Healthy!!!!  gayann  http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23117,0.htm gayann Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT This may sound weird, but I feel a great need to 'nest'.  I don't want to work and I only want to take care of my husband.  He is doing well for the diagnosis for now, he has metastatic prostate cancer........but I don't want to do anything but stay home, clean house and cook nutritional foods so it will go away.  Now, I know it won't go away, but that's how I feel.  Anyone else feel this way?  http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,22622,0.htm KathyfromNC Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,One of my family member is having some health issue since 1 year now, she spits blood from her mouth, We have taken her to various doctors like : General physicians, ENT Specialists & Orthopedics, We also did the test & scans like : Blood test [twice], X-ray, UV-scan [twice] & Endoscopy, all the test result are normal & no doctor as if now is able to explain us from where the blood comes into her mouth & why.She feels the blood smell in her mouth & when she spits the blood comes out, initially the blood was coming along with the spit but from few days it seems to be the pure blood only. During this course she was facing heavy fever & recently she was also having the Joint pains with swelling.Apart from all this we are worried as we think that the blood should not come out the mouth for no reasons but all the doctors are assuring that she is normal & are confident that everything is normal as the Endoscopy result is normal. It is good to hear that she is normal but we would like to make sure we do everything to make sure she is completely fine [test or medicines] & the reason why the blood is coming out of her mouth. We all will be very grateful & thankful if you can help us in giving the right & the best guidance & advice. Thank you once againSaahil      http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,22387,0.htm saakh313 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT I had an ultrasound and they thought that the hypoeachoic filling defect was in my bladder, now they seem to think that this may be between the bladder or uterus and have ordered a pelvic ultrasound.I guess my question is I know that it is a solid tumor, but could the radiologist might have made a mistake and thought it was in the posterior of bladder when it was in uterus or other place? Any advise will be greatful.    http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,22220,0.htm kgirl Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi, My husband has stage IV lung cancer and we have recently signed up with Hospice.    They are so supportive and have their own doctor.My question concerns some doctor appointmens we have with the onocologist and primary care physicians.   Should we just not go any longer?    I feel confident that Hospice will help me take care of my husbands needs.  Does any one have any experince with this problem?Thanks   http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21967,0.htm Connor Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hello, my name is Mark; my daughter was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s two summers ago. My family and I decided to move from FL to NY in order to have our child treated at Sloan Kettering. I must say in my opinion SK is the greatest gift to mankind. My sweet girl is in remission and I owe her life and in turn my life to them.While being treated there for almost 2 years my daughter and I saw so many families that were in major distress about how they would afford treatment. Many other families had to move to NY as we did and were in major financial distress. My daughter said "Dad we must find a way to help them". We came up with the idea of a web site, www.dollarfairy.org where people could tell their story and receive small donations from others, which could add up to amounts that could really help. We decided to add other categories to the site to help a wide range of different people in need. We added categories among others for, wounded soldiers of the war, sick and needy adults as well as kids; college bound kids, inventors, and people down on their luck. We also decided to add an element of fun and good fortune by offering donors one entry into cash and prize give-aways for every $5 donated. Additionally, when a member in need makes a $5 donation to another member in need their own page which tells their story, will benefit by having their story showcased, and having it placed in a better position on the member list. At such time as our membership builds to a significant amount, we will be offering substantial prizes for those who donate. At that point our donors will not only get a warm feeling when giving, they may also receive substantial rewards for doing so. We plan on charging $10 for an annual membership which will help us pay some of the expenses of running the site, advertising our member's requests for help as well as adding funds to our give-aways, but for the time being, membership is free when the coupon code (help me) is used.Please feel free to join and share your story with others who are in a similar situation. Those who join while we are a young and unknown web-site will be given special consideration in the future for helping us to become well known. We want very badly to help to make a very positive difference in this world. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for possibly helping my daughter reach her dream of helping others by simply joining.  http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21879,0.htm Tradeheart Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT I feel kind of silly, but I am getting scared. I have had the feeling of pressure in my tail bone for quite some time now, but at first it was without much pain, just pressure. I thought it was like a buldging disk. I thought there were disks down there. Now I have quite a bit of pain and sitting down is very uncomfortable! Until a few days ago I still thought it could only be my tail bone. I have noticed a change in my bowel movements, but I feel fine. The thing is, I don't know if I could be just imagining the worst things or could I have real problems. Of course anyone would say, Go to the Doctor! My husband has hurt himself at work and is not working. If anyone who knows more about this could tell me if this sounds like I ought to go I will go. I hope someone will be able to tell me something. Thank you so much for your time. http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21690,0.htm daiseysmimi Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT If any of you, are looking for spiritual support, we have an awesome prayer board, online, many with cancer and many survivors, or loved ones with cancer, we would welcome anyone to come for prayer, and to pray for others, I have cancer myself, Waldenstroms Macroglobulinemia, and these folks have helped me through some pretty rough times, the past 3 years, and have been a real blessing to me, and have given me wonderful support there, the web site is www.allin1accord.com, we would love to have you come and visit us, we have some real prayer warriors there to pray with you, or just let you vent, I pray one day,soon, there will be a cure for all of us, Love in Christ, Pat http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21662,0.htm Pat46996 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT I've been reading several messages about Reliv and felt I had to contribute.  I have had miraculous results..... HUH, you say.  This is not a canned speech, not a practiced testimonial for the company or anything like that.   I am being completely honest and sincere when I tell you that I am a walking, talking miracle of sorts.  In May of 2001 I started using the Reliv Supplements and at that time was almost in a wheelchair.  My entire left side was affected to the point of almost being paralyzed.  I could not lift my left leg or foot, bend my knee and was so weak I had to swing my leg from the hip to move it.  My left hand was useless and I could only carry things in the crook of my arm.   After taking Reliv products, I am now walking without a cane and only have a slight limp... when I am tired.  Most of the time I walk normally, with a balance stride.   My left hand is now normal.... I am typing... something I could not do way back when.   I HAVE MY LIFE BACK.... THANKS TO RELIV!!!I tried other products over the years.... took LifeForce for about 6-8 mos but didn't have the energy I get from Reliv.I am telling you all, very sincerely, that there is nothing that works as good as Reliv to repair our bodies.   It is the right nutrition in a balanced, synergistic formula that works at the cellular level.... it keeps our cells from mutating and becoming cancerous or diseased. I wish you all a safe and succesful journey to health.  Try Reliv... using it properly will give you your quality of life back and isn't that worth every dime ?   I think it is.      http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21328,0.htm rota10 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT So short version...I took my wife to a dentist appointment 2 weeks ago for a broken wisdom toth that was bothering her and an irritation on her upper gingiva. The Dentist looked at it and recomended we see an oral surgeon. So the next day we see the OS and he takes a biopsy of the gum and sends it off to find out what the infection is... We return a week after to get the news that no one thought it could be.. My wife is a healthy 31 year old non-smoker light social drinker. No known history of cancer in her family and now she has a tumor that runs from canine to canine and back into the hard pallet...We have 3 small children ages 2 1/2, 7, and 9. We have been told from the looks of it she will have to have the bone and all from the upper jaw and the hard pallet removed as well as having some sort of radiation therapy. We live 1200 miles form our closest family and survive off of my income as she has her hands full as a full time mom. We have good medical insurance but I can't find much info on time lines and how much time I will lose form work... The news has made me all but forget about work as I want to be with her every minute.We had the Initial CT scans done on thursday and have an appointment on wednesday to get the results. I just wish we had a better idea of what we are looking at..Thanks for taking the time to read my post and hopefully it makes since... http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,21029,0.htm SDSully Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT I'm a 51 yr old male diagnosed about 6 months ago with MGUS. Seeing the anxiety expressed in this forum about MGUS, I thought I'd post this entry about a few things I've learned:1. At www.mayoclinic.org/news2006-rst/3302.html, Dr, Kyle indicates that 3.2% of people over age 50 have MGUS. Based on census data (www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2006-sa.html), there about 100 million people or so over age 50; that means over 3 million of us in the U.S. alone have MGUS. That's a lot of people! Of course there are even more if we counted those with MGUS with onset before age 50. Worldwide there are probably 50 million or more of us. MGUS is not rare.2. Since these spike proteins are produced by our immune systems (i.e. are part of defending against disease), I have come to think of MGUS as a bodily "defense alert." MGUS means our bodies are shooting a very specific kind of bullet (an antigen), and in most cases doctors cannot identify a disease state it is shooting at. In any given year, 99% of the time there is no disease, so in most cases MGUS may be simply an overactive defense system. It might be compared to an allergy (an oversensitive immune system), and is the opposite of AIDS (i.e. a damaged immune system). There is usually NOT a "ticking time bomb." 3. The risk of MGUS progressing to a form of cancer is about 1% per year (see A Long Term Study of Prognosis in MGUS, New England Journal of Medicine Feb 21 2002, by Robt Kyle et al -- http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/346/8/564 ).  So the odds of staying healthy are strongly in our favor -- even over 30-40+ years, the  odds of staying healthy are greater than those of getting cancer! Of course, for about 1% of us each year year (30,000 out of that 3 million), an oncoming disease state will rises to the level of being defined as cancer. But most of us will outlive MGUS and die of something else altogether. 4. I try to ignore all uncontrollable risk, de-emphasize 1% risks, and concentrate on 3-5% risks. Since MGUS is a condition of the immune system over which we have little control, let's concentrate on the things we CAN control to extend quality lives -- exercise, nutrition, cutting risky behaviors, etc. Many more lives can be saved, extended or improved this way than by worrying about uncontrollable risk. There are so many other uncontrollable things we could choose to worry about, like terrorism, freak auto accidents, etc etc. to no effect. Let's just act on what we can control and live gratifying lives anyway!   http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,20659,0.htm mdhtn Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hello everyone:My name is Priscilla and my 64 year old Dad has NHL...again. He was first diagnosed with it in October 2006. The problem is, because he suffers from an enlarged heart and also has a diagnosis of congestive heart failure,  he cannot have the newer cancer treatments. His Oncologist had him on Procarbozine. It is a medication from the 1960's which was stopped in the 602's because of causing sterility and worse Luekemia. This medication however, is the only one my Dad can take because it won't affect his heart. He cannot have dairy, avacado, pickled items. bananas, smoked meats, or aged meats, due to them causing severe reactions with the medication. He was in and out of the hospital because of complications of the chemo and his blood pressure and diabetes. Finally, in April of 2007 the Cancer was gone. We were all so happy!January 08, 2008 it's back. Stage 3 and spread all over his chest and esophagus. He is constantly coughing. Again, the Procarbozine is the choice chemo drug. He is so weak and tired. He had only has one treatment so far and he can barely walk. I ravel daily to take care of him. He is too stubborn to move in. He lives by himself so I constantly worry if he is taking all his meds, eating, resting. It is so hard! He has family in Texas that are too involved in their own lives to stop and help. He has one brother that is married and retired. His brother lives minutes away from him yet conveniently always has other stuff to do. I am married and have 2 school age kids and one pre-schooler. I suffer from Fibromyalgia and battle my body each day to move. My Dad is tired and weak and is considering quitting treatment. He doesn't want to suffer. I know that I have to support in whatever he chooses but it is so hard. I love him so much and he means the world to me and my family. I need help on how to do this. I am scared of not being emotionally strong enough for him and my family. I need to prepare myself for the rest os this journey. How? How long does this evil Cancer take to selfishly take my Dad without treatment? How long will he have left to be with us? How do I cope? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,20350,0.htm welovedad Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hello, I'm new here. A few months ago a very far relative of mines had cancer. I'm looking for more information. Elise http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,20073,0.htm elisa8475 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,Can anyone help please?, My father has secondary liver cancer which has come from the upper bowel(no symptoms) and has now spread into the stomach, thus blocking it completely. He has had a stent fitted ,over 10 days ago now.  He was discharged from hospital 5 days after operation but had to be re-admitted with severe pain even though he was dosed up on morphine.  He has spent another 9 days in hospital trying different pain relief.  He has had many other tests, one to make sure stent not blocked or wound infected , chest x-ray etc( I cannot fault his medical treatment), also I think he had a chat with a MacMillan nurse(Its like a hospice nurse), not sure what they have said to him.   He was discharged from hospital yesterday.  I rang him and spoke to him saying "Are you pleased to be home?" and he sounded rather flat.  I have just rung today and my Mother said she had not slept hardly any last night as my Dad  wanted pain relief every two hours and that he now has a pain in the back, (He thinks incurred from the journey home from the hospital, bearing in mind he has no fat on his bones).  He has said to my Mother he is not getting out of bed, not even to sit in his favourite chair.  My Mother sounds down as she thought at least he would be able to just enjoy being at home.  The hospital would not have discharged him if they didn't think he was fit enough.   All he keeps saying is " Look at my thin body" (its heatbreaking to see,  my Dad was a thin man before this disgusting disease got hold)Why do none of the pain relief seem to work on him?  I think he is fighting it has he never likes to go to sleep.He seems like he is more relaxed in hospital.He was diagnosed in September, had two lots of chemo but was too ill with vomitting from the stomach cancer to have any further treatment.Is this normal coming home behaviour ? Has it made it more real to him at home, that he is going to die?I just don't know the answers. Please if anyone has experienced anything like this I would be grateful to hear from them.Gail (England) http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,20032,0.htm Gaily Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT My son, who is only 26 years old now, was diagnosed with thrombocythemia 5 years ago. At that time his platelets were in the 800,000 range. He had a subsequent open splenectomy and after surgery his platelets rose to over 3 million. Six months post surgery his platelets were still in the 2 million range. He then developed a pulmonary embolus and deep vein thrombosis. After that his hematologist started him on Hydrea and he's been on Hydrea for the past four years. His platelets have been somewhat controlled, back down to the 700-800,000 range but he continued to have blood clots in his legs on a fairly regular basis. He was started on Lovenox injections 16 months ago and STILL continues to get blood clots in the legs. The veins in his legs are pretty much destroyed and he has chronic severe pain from this. The last two months his platelet counts have been on the rise again, now being in the 1.3-1.5 million range. What is up with that? Is there anyone else that has had multiple complications such as these from thrombocythemia? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,19334,0.htm bets860 Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT I'm 44 years old and just lost my mother to breast cancer on Dec 26th.  She was first diagnosed in 04 - had mastectomy then was on hormone therapy until Dec 06 when they found it had spread to her lungs.  She fought hard for almost a year until the other day when she passed.  I never go online for help nor am I the type of person to talk about my personal problems, but I just can't seem to get it out of my mind.  The funeral was on Monday and she had he funeral of a Monarch.  I gave her everything she would have wanted.  My mother was very particular. I can't believe she is gone. She was only 66 yrs old.  Right up to the day they released her into Hospice Care she talked about getting better so she could do more chemo.  It wasn't until 2 days before she died that she realized it was hopeless.  She never gave up and fought until her last breath.I was at her side when she died with my daughter (10) and my husband right there.  I never thought she would die.  I thought she would live to be an old woman like my grandmother and her mother before her. The hardest time is the morning when I wake up and realize that she isn't here.  She won't be calling me to talk about nothing.  This is the most difficult thing in my life.  http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,19305,0.htm Linski Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT In november my mother passed away from small cell lung cancer. Her battle went on for over a year and a half. I was 19 and motherless. To put this lightly, my world as it was ceases to exist. I have a job that probably is hating me I was off for over 3 weeks for work around the time of her death and after. Now i cant seem to go a week without calling off because i just cant get myself out of bed. My birthday wasnt even a month after her death and I didnt want to get out of bed and I still dont. I dont know what to do with myself, I am grumpy and crabby at everyone who gets in my way. I am so lost and confused. I do have a sister but we both have our own pain that is way to big to try to help/support the other. I do have a fiance but im not the type of person to cry about ANYTHING in front of people. I cried the day she was diagnosed, the day they told us she had probably 12 hrs left and at her funeral. I cry at random stuff like the fact I couldnt get a can open the other day. Seriously I dont know what to do with myself or with anyone else. My pain is swollowing me whole and my heart is no longer even into shreads. Its gone. Along with her. What do I do? What do I think? How am i suppose to live without my mom? http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,19052,0.htm Super_Sherron Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT My favorite cousin has just been diagnosed with Katskins Tumor.  He is only 56, and the prognosis doesn't look good.  He lives in another state and I want to know what I can do to give him and his wife the support they need during this time.Laurie http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,19030,0.htm Jazzpony Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT Hi. I have developed a big lump on the top left side of my neck, the only way I found it was my voice had changed, it felt like something was against my voice box and my neck felt fuller on the left side, I had a really sore throat that I couldn't relieve with lozengers or antibacterial remedies. I have not been well since last year, developed bruises and rashes, my CBC was normal. This year the rashes progressed, my bruises got worse, I started having fevers, felt like passing out, dillusional, disorientated.. needed maxilon injections to stop the nausea. I had a temp of 38 and also had hot flushes throughout my body. My test results 2 weeks ago, had an increase in WBC, and a huge increase in cellular inflammation. I had the tests done again and my CBC returned to normal.. but the lump is still there.I'm still concerned quite concerned over it, I'm still not well and regularly break out in rashes, and have hot flushes and experience nausea leaving me feeling very drained and fatigued.I'm waiting another month to see what happens.. I have had CFS in the past where i had lots of viruses and bacterial infections.. but never had a increase in my WBC.. Is there any advice you could give me as to what I should do? Any suggestions or thoughts as to what it could be.. Id appreciate any help or advice you could give me. Thank you.   http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,18609,0.htm sunshine2 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT My 24 yo sister has been put in hospice care. The cancer has stopped responding to treatment and has spread everywhere. The hospice nurse thinks she there's not much time left, though of course these things are unpredictable. My other sister and I spent the last few days making funeral preparations, as much as we could ahead of time, because our parents just couldn't handle it. We weren't sure we could handle it after the fact so we took care of it while we still have a couple of brain cells left in our heads. This is the most painful part of the whole trial we have been through with my sister's cancer. She is comfortable with the pain meds and sleeps most of the time, thank God for that. Seeing her suffer on top of all this would just be unbearable. But its now more than any time before that I need support and comfort from friends and family. And yet I haven't heard a peep from any of my friends since Liz was placed on hospice. I am so disappointed, so hurt. It only adds to my pain that I also feel abandoned on top of watching my sister die. I just don't understand and I can't bring myself to call them. I think I'd just be bitter towards them right now for not calling me.  Does this make me a selfish awful person? I think it would only make me angrier for them to show up at the funeral and offer condolences when I really want them to reach out to me now. Oh sure, wait til the funeral, the social easy part for people to attend when Liz is cleaned up and looks peaceful in her casket. Avoid us when she is jerky and confused and dying. Cowards. Oops....my anger is showing. It just sucks that I am watching my baby sister die, SUCKS! Thanks for letting me rant..... http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,18419,0.htm Carin4LittleSis Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT Hello,I'm quite new to this site.  I'm in the UK and I care for my wife who has ovarian cancer (but no ovaries which is quite a clever trick don't you think!). Anyway if there's anyone out there who fancies a chat, then post me...I had a thread on Macmillan for a while but it got broken, take a look here... http://share.macmillan.org.uk/share/Forums/Default.aspx?topi but there's no need to read that if you're busy.Today Porkie (wife) had her three-weekly appointment with the oncologist and it was emotional and rather unsatifactory.  She came home tonight and we discussed her condition (which is not good).  She talks about getting through this round of treatment and wondering when the next one will be; 12 months, 2 years etc..I know it's the last one for her and I'm therefore carrying a guilty secret which makes me unhappy.  Porkie's fine though so no worries I guess.So that does not sound too good but on the other hand, she's not in any pain and we have two great kids (Scooter and Tadpole) who we both love a lot.  We are hoping to go away together sometime soon.  I have it in mind to ask the boys' school for some time off.  Anyway tried that?  I was planning to go to the Grand Canyon but i think that's too complicated.  Maybe we'll go to Woolacombe in Devon (cold but great surfing).So I think if you carry a secret and/or fancy a chat you should post me.  I do not bite and I'm quite a good listener.  I do suffer from a typical male problem of trying to fix every problem that's set, but we can ignore that.David http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,18403,0.htm Was tadpole, now frog... Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT My mom is stage 4 Lung Cancer.  1yr out!!! Metastatic tumors on rib, shoulder, arm, pelvic bone, hip, back T5 T7.  On her 5th line of defense.  Many chemos and also Tarceva pill.  As well as radiation to treat tumors on bone and few in the brain.  The ones in brain are now gone.  Primary is in the Lung and has not taken over.  Some of the treatments have worked for a while but then stoppped.  One step forward Two steps back.  She is 60 and healthy as can be, besides this evil thing.  Starting to feel more pain from the bone tumors.  ANYWAYS.... We are now really considering Gene Therapy!  Going to CHINA for Gendince treatments.  Please I need feedback! http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,18337,0.htm wewillbeatthis Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT