47 posts shown.
feralsurfer72 said:My dad still doesn't have a definitive diagnosis. The abdominal CT showed stomach cancer, enlarged lymph nodes near the pancreas, and multiple liver metastases—the largest one is about 80mm. I tried to make sense of the reports while we were waiting over at the surgical wing, but... I can barely understand half of this medical jargon. All I could grasp was that his heart and kidneys are functioning okay...
They’ve been running us in circles through this hospital from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM.
He had blood work done again on Monday, provided urine samples, another scan, and they’ve scheduled him for yet another endoscopy. And the last one was back on March 5th.
In the interim—between the CT, the colonoscopy, and the endoscopy and before we even got these results—he spent the weekend vomiting what looked like coffee grounds. Massive amounts of it. It wasn't until later that I realized it was actually blood.
At first, they didn't want to admit him, but since he lost so much blood, he's been stuck in the internal medicine ward since Monday.
He's on an IV drip and receiving transfusions... He can't eat, can't drink anything... I cornered the doctor today. She told me they still aren't certain where the primary tumor is located.
They initially thought it was the pancreas, then they thought it was the duodenum. But after that bleeding episode, nobody is sure anymore.
They took a biopsy during the endoscopy; we should have the results in a week.
I asked the doctor if surgery would even be an option if it turns out to be stomach cancer.
She said no, because of the multiple liver metastases.
Today marks exactly two months since my father fell on the ice. Since then, it’s just been one frantic dash from one department to another... And then they have the nerve to say, "Oh, if only you had come in a month earlier..."
Just when I thought I finally "wrapped my head around" everything regarding the pancreas, now they're bringing up the stomach (though they don't even know for sure if that's it, or if it's something else entirely, or maybe a perforated ulcer...).
I feel like I've stepped into some twisted, horror version of Alice in Wonderland. I honestly have no idea what to hope for.
Angela Wright said:To start a non-profit, you only need three people. You can find more info here.
As someone who dove headfirst into this with nothing but pure altruism and massive enthusiasm—only to end up having a pretty miserable experience, to put it mildly—I have to warn you right now: this is an incredibly tricky and thankless game. You need a circle of people you can actually trust, a rock-solid legal foundation from day one, someone who knows how to handle the financial and bureaucratic nightmare, and someone capable of writing grants. Otherwise, the organization won't last a month. Unfortunately, when it comes to cancer support groups, people usually only show up when they have a crisis. They expect you to solve their problems for them, but the moment you need actual help with the organization—or even just ask them to show up for the annual meeting required to keep things running—they flake. Everyone screams for help when they need it, but once their issue is resolved, the noise stops completely. And don't even get me started on the sheer amount of stress you endure, only to have some member act entitled because they think membership gives them the right to harass you at all hours of the night... it’s endless. In reality, most non-profits end up being carried by two or three exhausted people while everyone else just offers "thoughts and prayers." On top of that, you're constantly being circled by corporate vultures from all sides. There are some organizations with legitimate strategies for partnering with non-profits, but there are others that will literally devour you and spit you out. You have to know how to handle them, but the problem is, you can't avoid them. There are even people who prey on brand-new non-profits; they join, worm their way into leadership, and then run everything for their own benefit or the benefit of some third party.
So, seriously, think long and hard before you jump in. For me, running an association brought almost nothing but grief. It cost me nearly the loss of my own child because of how much I stressed myself out, and it left me with a massive amount of disappointment in people in general, not to mention my own self-confidence. I swore off joining or running any organization ever again. There are other ways to help people, and posting here is one of them.