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Home › Lifestyle › Health › Support for families dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses (Part II)

Support for families dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses (Part II)

Started by Angela Wright · · 👁 293 views · 3.6K replies

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Participants Angela WrightTaylor Jackson14Edward Grant3stormytinker4restlessowl3Rachel Wood27silvercanyon7goldencrane3neonheron32Gregory Stewart4Brandon Lopez6copperbison4driftingsurfer14feralsurfer72Sandra Carter50Linda Patel21Maria Hughes67Nicholas MyersLisa Lopez75Bradley Scott2Kyle Lee7velvetmoose9Nancy Leemelloworca6 …
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2141 ·
Robin Diaz4 said:What exactly does "cooking" mean here? :confused:

I'm actually wondering about that too.
Rachel Williams Rachel Williams Member
10 messages
joined Apr 2017
#2142 ·
Here is a bit of good news for once. A friend's mother was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer about 15 months ago, but yesterday they received a completely clear CT scan result. Her tumor markers have stabilized, and the medical prognosis is sitting at around 65% that she will never deal with cancer again. 🙏
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2143 ·
Rachel Williams said:So, here’s a little bit of good news—a friend's mother was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer about 15 months ago, and just yesterday they received a completely clear CT scan. Her tumor markers are stable, and the medical prognosis is sitting at about 65% that she will never have to deal with cancer again.🙏

That is such wonderful news!!
I'm getting goosebumps just reading this.

I honestly wish my mom could have a report like that—just to finally defeat this beast and know it won't ever come back for her.
Dana Martin87 Dana Martin87 Member
24 messages
joined Sep 2013
#2144 ·
Angela Wright said:Glad he finally made it to the "cooking" stage. Honestly, if he had actually pulled it off, I bet Vedran would’ve found some way to call us out on it anyway.

Yeah, maybe his doctors could have stepped up sooner? Either way, the guy was in pain for three whole days.
Dana Martin87 Dana Martin87 Member
24 messages
joined Sep 2013
#2145 ·
Robin Diaz4 said:What exactly do they mean by "cooking"? :confused:
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2146 ·
Dana Martin87 said:

Man, I’ve actually been reading up on this lately...

If I remember correctly, they use this method over in Germany—basically maintaining a body temperature of around 104 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit for a set period.

I really wish this worked for every single type of cancer out there.

I'm definitely going to bring this up with my husband's doctor and see what they think about it.
Angela Wright Angela Wright RegularOP
731 messages
joined Feb 2007
#2147 ·
Dana Martin87 said:Yeah, maybe his doctors could have stepped up sooner? Regardless, he was in pain for 3g.

There was a suggestion made, but if my memory serves me right, he started out with a mountain of metastases. Because of that, they flagged him as high-risk right from the jump. They just didn't want to take the gamble. 😔
Rachel Williams Rachel Williams Member
10 messages
joined Apr 2017
#2148 ·
ruggedfox11 said:That is incredible news!!
Just soak it all in.

How I wish my dad could have had results like these—to finally beat this beast once and for all so it never comes back.

Keep your chin up. We take it one battle at a time until we win—for ourselves and for our children too. 🙂
stormyfalcon68 stormyfalcon68 Member
30 messages
joined Oct 2017
#2149 ·
Rachel Williams said:Hey, I've got some seriously awesome news to share with you all! So, my friend's mom was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer about 15 months ago, but get this—she just got her CT scan results back yesterday and everything came back totally clear... even her tumor markers are looking great now, and the doctors are saying there's about a 65% chance she’ll never have to deal with cancer ever again... isn't that just incredible?! 🙏

Such beautiful news to hear, especially when we're dealing with such a heavy and heartbreaking topic like this one...
Keep your heads up, everyone, and just take it one day at a time...
Robin Diaz4 Robin Diaz4 Active Member
62 messages
joined Jun 2006
#2150 ·
I am genuinely thrilled to hear such wonderful news! Over here, we are just counting down the days until his third cycle begins... My dad actually managed to get some decent sleep last night for once—no racing thoughts, no tossing and turning, no midnight sweats... He even went so far as to claim he’s having a fantastic day today.
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2151 ·
Robin Diaz4 said:I am so incredibly happy to hear some good news! Over here, we are just counting down the days until his third cycle... My dad actually managed to get some decent sleep last night—no racing thoughts, no restless tossing, no night sweats... he even told me himself that he’s feeling pretty great today.

Come on, finally! Let him get the rest he truly needs.
We are waiting on the fourth round this Tuesday.
But the night before last and last night? It was a complete nightmare. If he wasn't on oxygen, we would have had to hook him up to a concentrator. He woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air, hit by this intense coughing fit—it was terrifying.
This morning, we were rushing to see his pulmonologist—which sent my wife into a total panic—and then straight to the primary care doctor. I could barely convince him to even go in, and then she tells me his nose is just congested and she's overreacting. She really was! But he did end up getting seen; it turns out he has an inflamed throat, sinus issues, and bronchitis. He's starting him on some antibiotics now.
Robin Diaz4 Robin Diaz4 Active Member
62 messages
joined Jun 2006
#2152 ·
ruggedfox11, you sound exactly like my dad. He’ll trigger a full-blown panic, but then the moment our doctor pulls up to the house, suddenly everything is just fine. He claims he isn't in any pain at all if you ask him directly, leaving me standing there looking like some Gestapo officer, trying to explain, "He's lying! I called you because he specifically said he was hurting!" And then he'll have this sudden "realization" like, "Oh, that? Yeah, it hurt for a second, but it's gone now!" It’s all just a desperate attempt to avoid us forcing him back to the hospital.
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2153 ·
Robin Diaz4 said:ruggedfox11, you sound exactly like my dad. He starts panicking left and right, but the second our doctor pulls into the driveway, suddenly everything is just fine—he claims he isn't in any pain at all if you ask him. Then there I am, standing off to the side feeling like some sort of Gestapo officer, trying to explain: "No, he's lying, I called because he specifically said he was hurting!" And then he acts like he just "remembered"—as if—"Oh, that? Well, it hurt for a second, but it's gone now!" It’s all just out of fear that we might actually end up sending him back to the hospital.

Come on, such a little rascal...
That's why he insisted on using his nasal spray last night—so he wouldn't end up like he did the night before. :-)
briskskipper71 briskskipper71 Member
27 messages
joined Sep 2008
#2154 ·
Hey everyone, I have a question about chemo for breast cancer. My mom was just diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma, and it looks like she'll need chemo once she's through with her surgery. Here’s the thing—Mom has been dealing with heart issues for a long time now, and I keep reading that chemo can be really hard on the heart. Is it actually safe to give chemo to someone with a heart condition? I’m honestly terrified that we might end up making things worse instead of better.
Robin Diaz4 Robin Diaz4 Active Member
62 messages
joined Jun 2006
#2155 ·
I’m fairly certain a doctor wouldn’t recommend Chemo if the treatment itself posed a greater risk to the patient's life than the illness being treated. My dad has his own history of health issues that have mostly taken a backseat now; while his condition isn't exactly trivial, skipping the chemo would undoubtedly lead to a much worse outcome.

As for my dad, we’re basically just taking things one day at a time. One day he’s doing fine, the next his mental state takes a hit—even if he’s physically feeling a bit better—and honestly, who knows what tomorrow brings? He is incredibly anxious about the third cycle. At the start, the doctors told us that we’d finally be able to see whether the therapy is actually working right after that third round, and now he's absolutely terrified of that realization. Personally, I feel like things are trending in the right direction; if nothing else, the pain seems to be subsiding. For instance, today is the day we change his pain patch, and he only started complaining about feeling physically unwell today, whereas he usually starts flagging a full day in advance... I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see.
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2156 ·
Robin Diaz4,

I know exactly what you're going through. We went through the same thing—both before and after the third round—that constant, heavy sense of anticipation, wondering what the results will show and how much the numbers might have dropped. The night before the fourth session, we didn't sleep a wink; there was just this restless anxiety and that underlying fear regarding the first follow-up check. Honestly, it felt like the first day of school all over again—that specific kind of nervous energy where you're terrified of being late even though you're prepared :-)
But once you see that improvement on the scans, the only question left is really "how much did it shrink?" :-)

We’re actually starting the fourth round tomorrow. He is just so incredibly frustrated with the whole process—everything feels like it's moving at a snail's pace, and he keeps grumbling about wanting to just throw in the towel and be done with it all. He’s still coughing, too, though it does ease up a bit once his nose is clear and he uses his nasal drops. We'll see what the doctor says about the cough tomorrow, though I did mention to them that it might just be one of those lingering side effects from the chemo.

Fingers crossed for us.
Robin Diaz4 Robin Diaz4 Active Member
62 messages
joined Jun 2006
#2157 ·
My dad keeps insisting that everyone around him claims he’s doing better than he actually feels. Honestly, bemti—it’s almost as if he thinks he’s undergoing a spa treatment instead of chemo. I try my best to explain that his side effects are actually incredibly mild compared to how most people react to this kind of treatment. I get it; for a man who has been active his entire life, being completely drained just by trips to the bathroom is exhausting. But on the flip side, he can't seem to ignore the facts: he hasn't felt nauseous once after a session, he isn't losing weight (in fact, he eats more than I do), his pain levels are significantly lower, and his lung X-ray showed no worsening since the first cycle. He acts like none of that counts. He maintains that his progress is just too slow. Unfortunately, this isn't the kind of illness where you stage a miraculous recovery in a week, but just because progress is gradual doesn't mean it's bad. Every single day, I find myself battling his moods, spending up to two hours a day just trying to lift his spirits. And of course, talking to a psychiatrist or psychologist is completely off the table because, in his eyes, "he's not crazy."
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2158 ·
Bas, it’s almost like they’re going in for a spa day or something :-)

I’ve been trying to explain it to him too, but honestly, I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. The other night, I actually suggested he just open up some books or search Google so he can educate himself—you know, read up on his own condition. It really is heartbreaking when you see a naturally active person being broken down by an illness, only to spend all their time staring at nothing but bad news online.
My husband went through something similar a while back after a motorcycle accident—he ended up with a prosthetic knee, spent six months stuck in bed, and then had to grind through endless physical therapy... it took two whole years to get back to his old self. But now, when I try to draw a parallel between that recovery and what he’s facing with this current illness and treatment, all I get is, "That’s not the same thing, just let me be—let me go outside, see what's happening, and leave me in peace." Ughhh.

And don't even get me started on the idea of a psychiatrist—God forbid! He wasn't exactly keen on dealing with any of that paperwork when it came time to file for Social Security, so there's no way he's interested now.
Dealing with those moods and the constant negativity really drains my energy more than anything else, but hey, at least if I can nudge him back onto the right track, it’s worth it. :-)
Angela Wright Angela Wright RegularOP
731 messages
joined Feb 2007
#2159 ·
When you're dealing with stuff like this, nothing beats talking to someone who’s actually been through the ringer and made it out the other side. Ask around your community or just invite someone over for a visit to pick their brain.
ruggedfox11 ruggedfox11 Active Member
239 messages
joined Feb 2017
#2160 ·
Angela Wright said:When dealing with issues like this, nothing works quite as well as talking to someone who has actually walked that path and made it out the other side. Try asking around your circle or even inviting someone over for a visit.

I know, but... honestly, everyone we know who went through microcellular treatment—and I mean both of them—has passed away. My uncle isn't exactly local, and he’s just not the type of guy to open up to strangers. That’s why I actually find his days at the Chemo clinic to be the most helpful; since it's always packed during the day, he ends up listening to people's stories and their struggles, yet somehow, he always comes back feeling energized by all that positivity. It's almost like they all provide this unspoken mutual encouragement for one another.

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