Support resources for families dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses

Emily Edwards19 said:My friend passed away this morning around 6:00 AM.🙂🙂🙂🙂

Oh God, I am so incredibly sorry, that is absolutely devastating. 😢 Please accept my deepest condolences.
She was lucky to have such a loyal friend by her side like you.
Sadly, sometimes illness just takes its toll until there's simply nothing left to fight with.
Hang in there.

Angela Wright said:Oh my God, I am just so incredibly sorry, this is honestly devastating 😢 Please accept my deepest condolences.
She was so lucky to have had such an amazing friend like you by her side.
It’s just one of those tragic things—sometimes illness just takes everything out of a person until there's nothing left.
Hang in there.

Thank you, truly... and on her behalf, too 😢 😢

Mom's been sleeping all afternoon, and when she does drift awake for a second, she can barely even get a word out... she hasn't touched any food or water all day, aside from some Voltaren at noon.
She’s been losing her sense of time lately, and sometimes she isn't even aware of what's happening around her—she hasn't left her bed in a week and already has a catheter. She had an episode earlier this evening involving some dark, foul-smelling bleeding from her colon (it was a bit lighter yesterday), and even though she has an ostomy bag, the ER doctor gave her some saline fluids, and she's been using a 175 patch for a while now.
She isn't complaining of pain today, but we have no idea how we're supposed to give her anything if she wakes up hurting, since she won't take anything by mouth... especially since she's been dealing with indescribable pain for months despite the patches, Sevredol, and Voltaren.

Two weeks ago, she had her fifth round of chemo and a CT scan, which showed the spread has actually stabilized compared to the June scan, so they've scheduled surgery to reduce the pain by removing the tumors in her abdomen and pelvis... she's just too weak to handle more chemo, so now we're all just wondering if she'll even make it to the surgery date.

Emily Edwards19 said:My friend passed away early this morning around 6 AM.🙂🙂🙂🙂

Emily Edwards19, I am so incredibly sorry. 😢
Please accept my deepest condolences.

redridge13 said:Emily Edwards19, I'm so sorry 😢
just take my condolences

thanks so much.....

My dad has been stuck at the ER since this morning. They’re being incredibly hesitant about performing a paracentesis—you know, draining the fluid—because they’re worried about "hitting something" critical. On top of that, they're flagging his low platelet count, even though he's dealt with low levels before without much fuss. I honestly don't quite grasp the sudden hesitation—if they've handled this procedure for him in the past, what has changed? He hasn't even had an ultrasound yet to clarify things. For now, he’s just sitting there hooked up to an IV drip...

Hannah James76 said:My dad’s been stuck in the ER since this morning. They’re refusing to drain the fluid because they're terrified of "hitting something," plus his platelet count is low—though it was already on the lower side. I honestly don't get the hesitation; they used to do this for him all the time without any drama. He hasn't even seen a specialist yet. Right now, he's just sitting there hooked up to an IV...

It’s better to hold off and do nothing until they have a complete picture of what's actually going on.

Quick update: my mom had her brain scanned after some weird symptoms popped up, and honestly, nobody knows what's going on yet... she's currently in a coma.

Robert Grant84 said:Quick update: my mom’s brain scan results came back from the CT, and they still don't know what caused it. She’s in a coma now.

Man, 😢
I'm terrified that some metastasis finally migrated to her brain.😢😢😢
There isn't much I can say that's actually helpful or positive, other than you just have to hang in there and dig deep to find every ounce of strength you've got.

Robert Grant84 said:Quick update: my mom's brain is a mess. She had a CT scan, they don't know what happened yet, and now she's in a coma...

😢

And apparently even that wasn't enough damage for her liver and lungs... 😢
Her condition shifted so fast in just a few days; she was still talking and lucid enough last week, but now there’s nothing left 😢, and they've already moved her onto a feeding tube.
She had a massive blood pressure spike yesterday—190/120—so they wouldn't even let them give her an IV...??

Robert Grant84 said:And on top of that... wasn't that enough damage to her liver and lungs? 😢
Her condition shifted so drastically in just a few days. Last week she was still talking and thinking normally, and now? Nothing at all 😢. They’ve had to put in a feeding tube.
Yesterday her blood pressure spiked (190/120), so they wouldn't give her an IV???

It's entirely possible she suffered a stroke, or maybe some kind of brain bleed caused by an aneurysm. Either way, the CT scan results will be the final word.
The whole thing about the IV doesn't quite add up to me. I remember being at 210/110 when I ended up in emergency C-section surgery, and they were administering Ebrantil intravenously to bring my pressure down. My guess is they just don't know the root cause yet, so they can't treat it properly—because what helps in one scenario might actually make things worse in another. One thing I do know is that they can perform mechanical decompression, basically releasing CSF through a small opening in the skull to lower intracranial pressure caused by brain swelling.
Again, this is all just my amateur speculation. I have no clue; maybe Harvey will have something more intelligent to say about it.

Robert Grant84 said:And that's not even all of it... weren't those levels already bad enough for her liver and lungs? 😢
Her condition shifted so drastically in just a few days. Last week she was still talking normally, thinking clearly, and now? Nothing. Just silence. 😢 She’s even had to be put on a feeding tube.
Then yesterday her blood pressure spiked—we're talking 190/120—and they told them they couldn't even administer an IV because of it???

So, what's the bottom line here?

Today's CT scan—non-contrast, they didn't do it in New York City—shows some old scarring, and we should probably figure out what's actually causing this within the next couple of days, though the paramedics refused to transport me to the city because they claimed my life was at risk...

Robert Grant84 said:Today's CT scan (non-contrast, done outside of NYC) shows some old scarring. We should be able to pinpoint the actual cause of this situation within the next 2-3 days. The paramedics refused to transport them to New York City because their life is currently at risk.

Look, if there was actually something going on, the CT should have caught it.
The priority right now has to be getting that hypertension under control.

vividsailor7 said:If there was actually something going on, a CT scan should have picked it up.
So, the main priority right now is getting that hypertension under control.

Even if there's brain swelling involved?

Angela Wright said:Even if there's brain swelling?

That’s exactly why you get a CT scan.

Hey everyone.
My aunt has been fighting liver cancer for seven years now. She’s never touched a cigarette in her life and doesn't drink alcohol at all. She’s gone through about ten different surgeries and has undergone chemotherapy countless times. Right now, she’s heading in every two months for direct chemotherapy injections into her liver. It used to be that she’d constantly come over to our house and visit everyone, but now she’s just completely wiped out. To be fair, she was already struggling, though there were brief moments where she felt a little better, but the real question is how much longer she can hold on. It is truly incredible how strong this woman is. Even now, she’s the one comforting us, trying to convince us that everything is going to be okay. She calls us several times a day; she won't even let us be the ones to call her first. In my fifteen years of life, I’ve already lost all my grandparents. I really don't want to dwell on the thought of my aunt passing away, but deep down, I know I have to prepare myself for the absolute worst. I’m asking for your advice—how do you mentally prepare for something like this? What can I do so that if the worst happens, I can stay somewhat functional?

They claim they can't make a tiny incision because there isn't enough pressure on the brain, so instead, they’ll just let it fester until it stops managing the rest of the organs...

Hydrocephalus? 🙄