CancerCompass message board discussion started by Cookie on 2/19/2006 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,4567,0.htm Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Hi Dawn, It's me Sabina, I would like to thank you so for for all of your responses and prayers so far. I had to start in a new spot here becasue someone else who wrote me when I responded back, went through too many times. rather than scroll through all that I thought I'd restart here. I just want to tell you that I really like to hear from you, and consider you a very caring person, and I thank you for that as well. As you know, on Tuesday, I get to know alot more about where I'm at after meeting my Oncologist. I will let you know the outcome of the visit that day. I pray to god, and certainly hope I have promising news that I have a good prognosis I am so afraid of all this. When you mentioned about your surgery, having been opened up from your navel to breat, around back etc.. Is that common for this type of surgery? Is that when the cancer is at the upper part of the stomach?? I just can't imagine how scary and painful that must have been. You are such a survivor! How you got through all your ordeal, all I can say to you is go live life you deserve it! Anyway, talk to you on Tuesday, after I know more about my situation.. Till then God bless kindest regards, Sabina Cookie Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, Thank you for your kind words. I firmly believe that God has spared me so that I can share my story and offier inspiration that you can survive. The surgery that I had was called the Ivor-Lewis procedure. You can look it up on the internet and it will give you all of the details. My cancer was at the top of my stomach where the esophagus and stomach meet. They call it the esophageal juncture. Once I was diagnosed and had all of the tests (MRI,CT SCAN,UPPER GI SERIES,CHEST XRAY)I gathered all of the results and headed to the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. I was so sick by that point, that they had to wheel me in a wheelchair to meet my surgeon. At that time, he scheduled an exploratory operation. On 2/15/04 I was admitted into the hospital. He cut me from my breasts down to my belly button. While he was in there, he biopsied my tumor and took several lymph nodes. This also gave him the opportunity to look at my liver, lungs, etc. After the opperation, he told my family that he saw no other signs of cancer. But that I did have a sizable tumor at the GE Juncture (where the stomach and esophagus meet). He recommended that I begin radiation and chemotherapy immediately. The surgery was no picnic, but I knew that the worse was yet to come so I made the best of it. One word of advice, if you have this same procedure, becareful of hernias. DO NOT do any heaving lifting. I have had two hernia in six months in my little stomach and it required major surgery to repair them. Each time they had to cut me from by breasts to belly button again. Its getting to the point where I am going to ask them to put in a zipper and save us all some trouble. To be perfectly honest I was very scared when I went for the BIG surgery. I knew this was it and I asked God to help me make it through, I just wanted to wake up. When my family was finally allowed in to see me, I gave them the thumbs up and then went to sleep. The doctors keep you well medicated so the pain is not the bad. But I knew I wanted to survive so I took it one day and a time and eventually things did become easier. Well enough about me, Where do you live? Do you have family to help you through this? What hospital are you going to? And where will you have your surgery? Please make sure that the surgeon who is going to perform your operation has done many of these types of surgeries. The surgeon in my hometown wanted to cut me all up and then could not gaurantee the results would be good. Make sure you have a doctor that will go everything with you each step of the way. And if you have a choice, seek out a Cancer Hospital who specializes in nothing but cancer. They know all the latest treatments and will take very good care of you. Remember right now you are the one in charge. Make your decisions now while you still well enough to make the right decisions. Once you start treatment that will all change, you will be too sick to make any decisions. Also something I found out after my surgery, you can never be an organ donor. Once you have had cancer they cannot take any organs from your body. This broke my heart as I always wanted to donate mine. And you should also designate someone in your family to become your voice while all this is going on. Whoever you designate, make sure they know exactly how you want things handled with your oncologist, radiologist and surgeon. That way if you become too sick to care, your voice can be there with you to ensure you are getting the best care available. I hope all of this makes sense to you. Well you only have two days until you see your doctor. Keep up the positive attitude the worst is about to come. If you ever need to speak with me privately, my email address is --- Message edited by CancerCompass staff: for personal protection, email address removed. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at http://www.cancercompass.com/common/guidelines.html ---- I always here for you. I will thinking and praying for you and can hardly wait to hear from you on Tuesday. Dawn Anewdawn Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Hi Dawn, I tried you private email but it go sent back to me. Is there an error in that address?? It would be great to email back and forth on our own email addresses.. could you please send it again?? yours very truly,Sabina.... Cookie Mon, 20 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I checked the email address that I gave you and it looks correct. But here is is again. --- Message edited by CancerCompass staff: for personal protection, email address removed. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at http://www.cancercompass.com/common/guidelines.html ---- If it does not work when you try it again, post me your email address and I will try contacting you. What time is your appointment tomorrow? I am a nervous wreck waiting for you to go to the doctor. I am hoping and praying for positive results. I hope that you are able to get through on the email so that we can talk directly. I will talk to you soon. Dawn Anewdawn Mon, 20 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Hello Dawn, Well, not only was today my birthday, but as you know the day I had met with my oncologist. She was very nice, professional. I am confident in her that she knows what she is doing. Heres what is going to happen: I am going to have another CT scan done, because she also would like to see my lungs. Another endoscopy with a couple more biopsies to make sure things are the same, and then a a laproscopy to look inside around my stomach. Then finally if all has checked out ok and hasn't metastisized, I go for surgery. It looks like if all this goes ok I can anticipate having surgery done around mid-march. They don't tell you what stage of cancer it is until after the surgery. I hope it is early. They said that there is a chance if after surgery they are satisfied that they got all the cancer, I may not even need chemo or radiation. That would obviously be ideal, but the key is to get all of the cancer. I guess I have to continue to be strong and think positive. I pray that I can survive all of this. Wow, It's amazing how much we can endure. But if it depends on life, I guess we'll do just about anyth Cookie Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I am so glad that you have finally had your appointment with your oncologist. Do you know when you will be having the next CT Scan, Endoscopy and Laproscopy? Hopefully they will be soon so that you will finally know what your next step will be. What hospital will you have your surgery? Have they refered you to a surgeon? I am just guessing, but I assume the surgeon will review the type of operation that will be performed. I hope and pray that you will not need chemotherapy. Radiation is not bad, at least not for me. It was just like getting an xray. It was a pain in the butt going everyday but was not painful nor did it make me sick. The chemotherapy was another story. I hated it....It made me so sick and I did lose all of my hair. But I had a friend who had colon cancer and she received chemo everyday and did not get sick at all. As a matter of fact, she was able to continue working while having her treatments. So I guess it depends on the type of chemo treatment you receive. If you should have to have chemo, I have a web address for all of the different types of chemo available. It explains each of them and the side effects associated with them. But I don't want to send it to you and scare you unless it is necessary. I guess I am surprised that your oncologist did not suggest a PET scan. I was told that it was the most definitive way to diagnose where your cancer was located and to stage it. It is a totally painless test and you might want to ask your doctor about having one. How are you feeling physically? How is your appetetite? Are you mainting your weight? Please continue to keep in touch with me and let me know how you are doing. Keep up the faith and I just know you are going to make it through this. Dawn Anewdawn Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Hi Dawn, Just me Sabina. Thank you for your response. My oncologist is also my surgeon, she is very nice. I asked about a PET scan and they don't use them here in Canada. They claim that not enough research has been done proving them that they are of any benefit. Could be some more political stuff. Nothing new, always politics involved. I am anxious to get the testing done, and get things going. Surgery seems like it won't be so painful. They put an epidural in your back with a pain med pump. Did they do that with you?? because my cancer is located at the top of my stomach, it seems like I will more than likely have a complete gastrectomy. No stomach. They make a small one out of your intestine. Anyway, it has been such a long day today. I will be going to bed very soon. I live in a small town outside of Toronto, Canada time here is 12:40 a.m. This message thing never lets me write long enough it always cuts me off, do you know why?? It seems to only let me write so many words. Anyway, Dawn... talk to you soon (write). Cookie Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, Send me your email address. I want to send you some pictures and information that I have. Sorry this is going to be short tonight. I have the flu and I am very sick. My grandson is in the hospital with pneumonia and I think I got sick from being around him. Anyway, please try and send me your email address or try emailing me again at --- Message edited by CancerCompass staff: for personal protection, email address removed. Please review CancerCompass Member Guidelines at http://www.cancercompass.com/common/guidelines.html ---- I will talk to you tomorrow. Dawn Anewdawn Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT It's me Sabina. I hope you are getting over your flu bug. Sorry that you are ill. As for me, well, I have been doing pretty bad. On Friday afternoon I went into the hospital. I felt so much pain and nausea I could't eat or drink. As soon as I got to the hospital, they put me on an IV for hydration. They had also done a CT scan. They gave me a really strong acid blocking prescription called "pantaloc" 40 mg 2 x daily. Yesterday, I was in so much pain in my upper abdommin that my fingertips were tingling. I thought I was going to have a heart attack I also had diarrhea all day. I am having so much difficulty trying to eat anything. It is such a vicious cycle, feeling so ill and trying to eat. I don't know how much longer I can take this. I feel so down and discouraged. I know this isn't going to get any easier anytime soon. What a mess. Did you get any medication for nausea, and or do you know of anything that can help? I definately need something for the pain as well. I thought I'd call my family doctor tomorrow on that. I wonder if stomach cancer is one of the more painful ones to get. I know they say they are one of the more difficult cancers to treat. I've also read the average survival rate for a stomach cancer survivor is only 3-5 yrs. That's not that long, pretty scary. I am trying so hard to find the strength and not give up hope, but I guess I will have take it day by day. It's amazing all the thoughts and mood swings one day can bring. You can be fine one minute and a mess and crying the next. I am also so worried about my daughter (7 yr old) what she must be feeling. I was thinking that maybe if we can somehow contact cancer compass directly we can somehow connect via phone or email, I would really love to actually talk to you. You are a great support and inspiration for me to keep the faith and fight. I pray to god everyday to help give me the strength to keep on going... .....Sabina Cookie Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Hi Sabina, my name is Les, I have stomach cancer also. I take Emend for nausea when I'm on chemo, it stops it for me. I only take it three days which is a good thing, it's pretty costly. I take it the first day of chemo then 2 more days....it's by prescription..they say to take it before nausea starts...hang in there, hope things get better!! Les Beatcancer Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I am so sorry to hear you are not feeling well. I too suffered from nausea and vomiting and because my cancer was located in the esophagus as well it made vomiting very hard. I can recommend a few things that hopefully they have in Canada. The first thing can be purchased over the counter at the pharmacy. It is Coca-Cola syrup. You pour a couple of teaspoons over crushed ice and slowly sip at it. It will help to calm your stomach. The next thing that might work is compazine 10mg if you cannot take it by mouth, I believe there is a suppository you can use. The third thing that I can recommend will require a prescription from your doctor and that is Kytril. I looked it up on the internet and it says it is available in Canada. My doctor prescribed this for me when I was in the hospital and dehydrated because I could not eat/drink because of the vomiting. I also suffered terrible bouts of depression. At times the diagnosis and everything that you know you are going to go through becomes overwhelming. There were days when I would lay and do nothing but cry and feel sorry for myself and what I was going through. Please talk to your doctor about this. My doctor put me on antidepressants of which I still take today. It really helped me. I know the pain is AWFUL. It is a pain that cannot be explained to someone who has not gone through it. You must speak with your doctor about this. There are many medications that can help you with the pain. It may be trial and error until you find the right combination of drugs, but there is medicine that will help you. I wore morphine patches, and I also had liquid morphine. I cannot tell you how much pain medicine was needed to help me get through the day and now in hindsight, I wonder how I even functioned. I also used a heating pad, and you might want to try one of those mattress pads that look like a egg crate. Eventually, I had to get a hospital bed because the pain was so bad I could not get comfortable. As far as eating is concerned, you must try your best to keep eating. My family would beg me to just take one bite of food, but I felt too weak/sick to even try. And that is why I had to have a feeding tube. If you do not eat, you may have to have one inserted. I hated it. It made me so sick with diarrhea and stomach cramps. I would hate to see you have to go through that. So please try your best to keep yourself hydrated and eat as best you can. I do not know if I told you this before, but Ensure, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Boost, Baby Food, Pudding, Milkshakes and Yogurt are very good for you and easy to eat/swallow. I hope that you have family to help you with daily activities and your daughter. I cannot imagine going through this with a small child. Thank God my sons were 20 and 26 when I was diagnosed. I could not take care of myself let alone a small child. Here in the states there are support groups for family members, maybe this is something that might benefit your family and to help them understand what you are going through. Do not concern yourself with the survival rate for this type of cancer. I know of people that have beat those odds and are still going stong after 5 years. Right now you must take it one day at a time and concentrate on getting through this. DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE!! That is what the beast wants you to do. It counts on you giving up so it can take hold of you and make you suffer even more. Look the monster in the eye and tell it is not going to get you. You have a family that is counting on you to SURVIVE. Start a journal. Everyday, write down everything that you are going through. Every test you have, every doctors visit and how you are feeling. It is very important that you do this. If you cannot write have someone do it for you. When you are recouperating from your surgery document everything. Write thoughts to your family,children and parents. It is very important that you NEVER FORGET that you are a fighter. And someday down the road you can look back on this horrible time and thank God you made it through. Please know that I am here for you anytime. I think of you daily and send prayers your way for strength and guidance and most of all a life with no pain and good health. God Bless you Sabrina Anewdawn Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Thank you for the drug suggestion for nausea. I have been having a few rough days. Very down and teary eyed. Just really afraid of all the unknown. It is so difficult to cope sometimes that you feel like your in a big trap. I'm sure you know what I mean. With all the support and stories of real courage here, it always seems to lift me up again. We can all use that lift, going through this ordeal of total shock and fear. Thank you for responding to me.. sabina And Les, I hope you are feeling better every day! Cookie Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dawn, I love to hear from you because I know you have gone through so much, just as I will, and you never said you couldn't do it. I find you an amazingly strong an inspirational woman. The courage and faith you had is astounding. I guess it's all about how strong ones will to not give up and fight has so much to do with the outcome no matter the stage of cancer. I believe in miracles. As hard as this gets the fears are so real. the what ifs, the hows, the whens, the will I make it. I honestly never thought in a million years would I ever be so afraid of something. It's hard not knowing or being in control when that was how your life was before this "monster" decided to become part of my body. Your encouraging words really help me Dawn, and I thank you like you are my little angel looking out for me. God bless your kind compassionate heart. You are my help for all the questions nobody else can answer,because you've been exactly where I will be going. The toughest journey by far that life will throw me. I will try my best to get through this day by day.I think I get down when I go ahead of myself and try to analyze too much too soon before all the test still to be done etc. I have to try to take some deep breaths and keep telling myself I'll do this! I'll make it! I have to get your phone number somehow, and I'd like to give you mine. It would be so nice to talk to my new friend. I will have to ask cancer compass people if this could be possible. They took out my email as well. I had a big crying day today, but I feel a little better now, especially after reading your message. It really helps me. I hope you are well again (no flu) talk to you soon Dawn! .......your friend Sabina Cookie Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I Said A Prayer for You today and know God must have heard. I felt the answer in my heart although He spoke no word. I didn't ask for wealth or fame, I knew you wouldn't mind. I asked Him to send treasures of a far more lasting kind. I asked that He'd be near you at the start of each new day, to grant you health and blessings and friends to share your way. I asked for happiness for you in all things great and small, but it was for His loving care I prayed for you most of all. Anewdawn Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I hope you are feeling a little better today. I am sure that now March is upon us you are becoming nervous about your upcoming tests and surgery. I know you are afraid and scared about the outcome. These are all normal feelings that all people with Cancer have gone through at one time or another. You would not be normal if you were not feeling so many different emotions. Believe me, I was not always strong. As a matter of fact I was a basket case right up until my surgery. And even now two years later, I can still not believe that I am here and surviving day by day. Now more than ever you need to rely on family and friends to see you through. The week before my surgery, I had a small party. I invited all of my friends and family that had been there for me during my chemo and radiation. There was about 20 of us. We all went out for dinner at a local restaurant. I could not eat very well and was bald as a cue ball. My husband took pictures of me with every guest. I then had pictures taken with just my husband and sons. And then we found someone kind enough to take a group picture of all of us together. I thanked everyone for being there for me and we celebrated life and us being together. Each person there gave me a "Goodluck Charm" for me to carry with me for the upcoming surgery. We cried and hugged and shared happy stories of our times together. It is something I will never forget and knowing that everyone was counting on me made me stronger to face my upcoming surgery and difficult recovery. Maybe this is something that you could do to get you through these next few weeks. I wish that I lived close to you that I could physically be there for you. Please know that I am here for you and pray that you will make it through this difficult time. Dawn Anewdawn Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dearest Dawn, Thank you for the lovely prayer, and words or strength and hope. I had to go into the hospital/emergency department today. I have been having a lot of problems lately with severe nausea and upper abdominnal pain. When I can get no relief I freak out because I can't eat or drink anything. It scares thehell out of me because I know how important it is to try and keep up my strengh. It's too bad that ensure, boost etc. gives me the runs, and more stomach discomfort. Anyway, they put me on an IV again to get up my fluids, and prescribed some meds for pain-low dose morphine, and something stronger than gravol for nausea. Hopefully that may help. It is so weird that I seem to be feeling more symptoms now in the last couple of weeks. It seems like I can barely make it through each day. I tell my husband I'd rather die than go through this everyday. He gets quite upset when I say this, and reminds me to be strong and keep fighting. He has been an incredible support for me. I am so lucky I have him. His parents have been wonderful too. Did you feel like this before your surgery? Did you have the pain in your upper abdominals, and severe nausea? What did you do to control it? I hope they get the las testing done soon. I just want to keep moving forward. Little steps each day to fight this ugly miserable monster! Have you given it any thought as to how we might be able to connect personally through the help of this cancer compass? I'm not sure how we could go about it, are you? Anyway, once again I must sign off for now. Luv Sabina Cookie Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I have contacted CancerCompass and they have agreed to let us share information. They should be contacting you shortly with my email address. This will give us an opportunity to talk privately. Hope you are having a better day. Will talk with you this evening. Dawn Anewdawn Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabina and Dawn I have been reading your posts with interest and hope you don't take your discussions totally off the board. I am awaiting results from 2 scopes and am still having symptoms. Please tell me what exactly your symptoms were like when you were diagnosed...I know I shouldn't worry until I have something to worry about but it's hard when I was told growths were removed from my stomach and sent to biopsy. Thnaks so much for listening Golfmum Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Melissa, I am sorry to hear that you are not well. Please tell me what is happening with you? What type of Cancer do they think you have? What symptoms are you having? When will you have your results? I had Cancer of the Esophagus and Stomach. I will be glad to share any information with you that I can. My sypmtoms included, difficulty swallowing, food getting stuck in my esophagus, vomiting, vomiting blood, terrible pain in my back, weight loss and loss of appetite. Please contact me so that we can talk. Sabrina/Cookie and I will continue speaking through CancerCompass, we just wanted the opportunity to discuss some things in private. I am here every night and will be more than happy to talk with you. Dawn Anewdawn Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I did not hear from you today. Are you okay? I am hoping you are not back in the hospital being hydrated. I just wanted to check in with you to see if the new medicines you had been given were helping you with the nausea and pain. I am still suffering from the flu and brochittis. I also have a thrush infection on my tongue. But I am slowly beginning to feel better. I miss not talking with you and worry when I do not hear from you that something might be wrong. Please contact me tomorrow if you can and update me on your situation. DAwn Anewdawn Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I have not heard from you in a few days. Is everything okay? I know when we spoke last you were very sick. I am hoping that you are not back in the hospital. Please let me know how you are doing. I hope to speak with you tomorrow. Dawn Anewdawn Sat, 04 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Hi Dawn, it's me Sabina, I sent you personal emails, did you get them? I've been doing better the last 2 days. I hope I can go on a good streak from now until operation which I haven't even gotten a date yet. Very frustrating! the waiting. How are you doing? Tomorrow I have 2 apts. in the hospital one is for pre admit blood work, and the other is for chemo. I don't know if i'll get chemo yet but I guess it's just to discuss it. Tell me something Dawn, how do you feel now after your whole ordeal. I mean general health? Do you have to take any daily medication? Let me know if you ever received my 2 personal emails to your email address. Luv Sabina Cookie Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, Yes, I did receive your emails and I responded. Did you receive mine? I sent you pictures of me before and after my surgery. But when I did not hear back from you I thought maybe it did not go through. I am glad to hear you are feeling a little better. I am also glad to hear that you will be talking with the doctor about chemo and getting your blood work completed. To answer your question about how I feel now. It took a good year from completion of my chemo for me to begin to feel like my old self. I will never be what I was before the "Cancer" but every day it gets a little better. Eating was hard after the surgery. I still had problems with food getting stuck. But that has gotten better now and I can eat just about anything I want to as long as I eat small bites and take it slow. My energy level is not great, but I am able to keep up with my housework and prepare meals, grocery shop, etc. I tire very easily, but I know my limits and I try to nap during the day. I can honestly say I have more good days than bad. As far as medication is concerned, before the surgery I was taking 27 pills a day. Now I only take Zoloft 25 mg once a day and Nexium 40mg once a day, and Ambien 10mg at night to help me sleep. I have pills for pain, diarrhea and nausea if I need them, but most days I do not have to take them. I also take a multi-vitamin. But considering what I was taking, this is great!!! Oh and I forgot that I sometimes babysit my grandson. Which for me is a real accomplishment, since there was a time I could not doing anything for myself let alone someone else. By no means am I suffering and I do not regret being alive. My only fear is that the Cancer will someday return and that I wont be so lucky next time. I try to keep myself busy so that I do not dwell on it. Please contact me tomorrow and let me know how things go for you. I am praying that things begin to move quickly for you and that the waiting will soon be over. Stay strong and know that I am sending positive thoughts your way. Love, Dawn Anewdawn Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Dawn, I never received any emails from you, and I looked everyday. I don't know if you got my last ones. I finally had my endoscopy done yesterday. It went ok, Today I met with my oncologist, and she explained what is to happen next. Monday I will have a laperoscopy to have a look around the outside of my stomach, and then I will be kept in the hospital for 7-10days because she wants to put a feeding tube in my stomach so my nutrition can get built up. I am down to 100lbs, very thin,and malnurished. I've been having so much trouble eating etc. The oncologist did say it was more than likely that I'd have a complete gastrectomy (my entire stomach removed). It just scares me to death. She said that my tumour is in the more advanced stages, but cannot prperly stage me until after surgery. I just pray I survive. It is so difficult to be positive with all this going on. I am such a mess emotionally. Cry all the time.Please email me Dawn, you are my biggest inspiration. Sabina..... Cookie Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dear Sabrina, I have emailed you everyday. I am not sure why you are not receiving them. I have received yours and responded to each of them. I am so sorry that you continue to feel poorly. But I am glad that your doctor is finally going to do something to help you. Even though feeding tubes are a pain in the butt, it will definetly help you regain some of your weight. One word of advice, do not purchase alot of the nutritional supplement until you are sure your body will tolerate it. I tried two or three different supplements until I could find one that did not give me diarrhea and nauseate me. Meanwhile, we had purchased cases of it and had to throw it away. I cannot believe that they are going to keep you in the hospital for 7-10 days. Did your doctor say when they would give you the results for your laprascopy? Will they perform the gastrectomy while you are there? Or will they send you home and then schedule the surgery? I know you are scared. You would not be normal if you weren't. Just remember, my cancer was also advanced and they gave me little chance for survival. Keep telling yourself that. It is perfectly understandable that you are worried about surviving and that you are an emotional wreck. I can not emphasize enough that you have to be strong. The battle is about to begin and you have to be ready to fight this war. Remember, the Cancer is the devil and you are fighting for your life. Do not let the devil win. The devil(cancer) wants you to doubt yourself, it wants you to give up. DO NOT GIVE UP!!! You must win this battle for you and your family. Every time you look in the mirror, tell yourself I WILL SURVIVE!!! I know that your surgery is going to be tough. You will never be the same but that does not have to be a bad thing. You will adapt to a new life. You will learn to eat again and your weight will bouce back. It has taken me two years but I have gained 20 pounds and have learned to eat again. We take eating for granted until we can't do it anymore. You will have a new appreciation for food. The most important thing you can do is to take baby steps in reclaiming your life. This is how you MUST approach your upcoming surgery and hospitalization. Think of your FUTURE!!! Please email me your address and the name of the hospital you are going to be admitted into. Please ask your husband to keep me updated on your condition on this message board. I will pray for God to give you strength and to watch over you and your family. I know you are going to make it!!! Dawn Anewdawn Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dawn S, you had the exact same symptoms I had when the doctors told me I had Gastroparesis. The burning esophagus, the bloody stools, etc. I got to where I was totally unable to keep any solid food down, and would vomit 3 to 8 times a day...I also had terrible diarrhea, which caused my electrolytes to bottom out. I went from 117# down to 79, and was starting to shut down, when a new doctor finally gave me a capsule endoscopy (camera that you swallow). When I failed to pass the camera, my surgeon went in and had to remove it. That is when they found the tumor, wrapped so tightly around my small bowel that I couldn't even keep liquids down...But that cancer turned out to be a blessing....After 20 months of NO food (all I lived off was my "mega malts, Boost, broth,jello, and flavored crushed ice.), I was thrilled when I woke up two days after surgery and was brought a tray of REAL FOOD! It was my favorite meal too! Everyone told me how well I had handled not being able to eat, and believe me, it was a tough call...I love to cook, and had a husband that loved to eat...Well, I did too...I lost my husband before he ever got to see that my cancer had returned, but that it wasn't really a paralized stomach..He would be happy for me, seeing me back to my normal weight again. You have to be aggressive in your treatments. If I hadn't pushed my doctors, I would not be here today...Learn everything you can, and talk to everyone you think can help...most of all, God. Hugs, Donna Bullecious Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 GMT Dawn, It sounds like you are a wonderful person. I think I left a message on one of the other subject pages also, but wanted to give you my personal email address in case you could write me there about my daughter-in-law having surgery to remove her stomach. She desparately needs someone to talk to that's been through this and we can't find anyone who is positive influence. Thank you in advance for any help you could give. diane.sale@pfsfhq.com Motherinlaw Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT Sabrina, I've read your messages and Dawn's responses to you until this last one. My daughter-in-law just had complete stomach removal this week and I've been trying to find some people out there who are doing well, so that I can tell her. So far, I've only talked to one person. I put a message earlier trying to get Dawn to respond since she sounded like such a positive person, but no response so far. I hope you've gotten over your surgery and I hope you're doing well. Thanks, Diane Motherinlaw Fri, 20 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT