Anyone starting Chemo in Feb?
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(((((((((((((((((((((((((Terry))))))))))))))
Wishing you enough company and fun activities over Memorial Day week-end to ease the anxiety of waiting for results. At least they want to be thorough... that's good.
Thinking of you and sending big hugs from very hot Denver...
Love to all,
Catherine
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Oh Terry, thought you might have some news.
Now in Guernsey. Spain was great but also where we received disturbing news. We heard on the same day that our son has quite serious heart problems, then DD rang to say that my sister who lives with us had found out that day that she had a tumour in the bowel - cancer and so we are waiting to see what treatment she will have. And then when I rang to tell one of my brothers heard that his BiL and friend of ours has secondary cancer. what a day.
Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, probably just exploring the Island - went over to Sark today with DS and some of his friends, had a lot of fun and walked miles because there are no cars on the island.
Alyson
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Oh, Alyson, so sorry to read about so many health issues. Hopefully everybody will be well taken care of and in a timely manner.
How was Saint-Malo and the crossing by ferry? The weather did not stay as pretty as it was... hopefully it was not too rough and you had enough sunny spells/clearings to see the beauty of St-Malo and the coast...???
If it rains, go visit the Victor Hugo's House in Guernsey... this was interesting... Sark had just one pub/tiny hotel in my days there... remember the walking, too...
Can't wait to see your pictures... can't believe you covered so much ground in 3 weeks... what's next? Hong Kong and home?
Big hugs to both, take care, ok?
Catherine
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{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{[Alyson}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} So sorry to hear you are having these concerns while so far from home. I pray for peace for you. Hope you can enjoy the rest of your trip.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Terry}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Still waiting with you.
My DH is still hobbling around with a crutch. We can't get in to the rheumatologist until the end of June. We may call tomorrow and see if the second choice rheumatologist can see him sooner.
Hugs to all. Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday weekend.
Sammie Kay
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Hi, my good friends. I finally called this afternoon, and then news is benign! Whew! I really had myself convinced it must be bad if they weren't calling. See that doc in August and he will schedule a mammogram to follow up then.
Thank you for your cyber hugs.
Alyson....Hoping your family is doing okay. Try to enjoy the rest of your trip.
Love you all,
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Big sigh of relief from this side of the Rockies!!! So happy for you, Terry... relax and enjoy the summer...
SammieKay, sending good wishes to your DH... maybe you need a quiet time after all the good "parenting"... Take care...
Alyson, still in Guernsey? I forgot where you were heading next...??
Thinking of you all, between translations (boring), knitting (fun stuff) and gardening (so relaxing)... in a few days, it is going to be an explosion of mock-orange and roses... can't wait...
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Terry if I was at home I would put in my little dancing dogs, wonderful news.
We are still in Guernsey, then its on to the UK, to Suffolk just near to where Constable painted his pictures and then home.
Catherine I am pleased you can't see my knee, managed to bump it on a bus door in Paris, it is such a pretty colour and very swollen! Have been doing some knitting and know I will get more done in the next week.
Do hope you get your DH in to see some one soon SammieKay.
Must drink my cup of tea and do some cards. Will walk down into St Peter Port and post them.
Alyson
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Well will try again. I lost the post because it said I wasn't logged in, go figure.
Terry so thrilled to hear your news. Thank goodness, B9.
Catherine and Alyson, knitting away. Wish I knew how to knit. Then I wouldn't have to play Zynga Poker on Facebook. LOL
Catherine, I have been gardening too. I have a new herb garden and a pot of tomatoes we grew from seeds. The kids are thrilled to see the plants that grew from seeds. I have replaced about 7 big patio plants that froze this winter. I filled the big pots and put the new plants in. I put the pots on a towel and drug them to their places on the patio. Can't ask DH to move them now because of his ankle. So where there is a will there is a way.
Alyson, hope you are enjoying your trip. Your family members with health issue on in my thoughts and prayers.
Love and hugs to all, Sammie Kay
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Happy birthday Leah, i hope you have had a great day and are going somewhere nice for dinner.
It is Dh's birthday on Monday and I haven't really thought about. We are in England now staying with friend in Suffolk. Weather is great so far.
Big hugs to all.
Alyson
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Happy Birthday to you dear Leah!!!
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Joining the choir to wish you a lovely birthday Leah!! What are you up to? Following the plan? I hope you are having (or had already?) a great time!
It is so hot here, I don't have much energy... and just woke up having a "tornado nightmare"... watching TV news too much...
The rose and mock-orange bushes are blooming just now... it is really productive this year, gardens are lovely wherever you look.
On the 17th starts a French language cinema festival here in Denver, on a university campus. The opening movie, followed by a little reception, is the film based on the book I am translating (soviet spy story that happened through my former boss when I was still his russian interpreter in Paris, although I never suspected anything, and his secretary either...). It's called L'Affaire Farewell and will be released at the end of the summer in movie theaters in the US. The festival organizers want me to participate in the Q&A after the film, which will be fun. I called the distributor in LA and he wants to bundle the book with the film and a (much better) documentary on same theme that was broadcasted in 2008 on TV (which made me discover, 28 years after the facts, what my boss and others were involved in 1981). I decided to call my former boss, now 83, and he was so happy to "reminisce" with me about high points of our 4 years together... then I called the Thomson engineer who was the real contact with the spy of the story. He is now 86, very sharp. and for over an hour told me all kind of interesting things. He was 58 at the time he took all the risks in this intelligence case, called the greatest spy story of the century by Reagan, at the time!The actor in the "fiction" movie is too young. If the book rights are eventually bought by the right publisher for me to continue with the translation into English, they will give me more info if I need them.... Life!!! I've been shaking vigorously the coconut tree (as we say in French) since January to get a publisher interested... It may fall on my head soon... I'd better continue working on the book... but there is so much "other" work and gardening to do... days are a bit short...
The "fiction" movie is with English sub-titles, so I can go with DH who is very interested since, without the company at the heart of this story, we would never have met in the summer of 1981!!
Well, time to go fix bkfst... and take the dogs before it gets too hot!
Love to all!!!
Catherine
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Happy Birthday, Leah....hope you are having a wonderful day!
Catherine...sounds like you are sooo busy. Your gardens sound lovely.
I have also been busy gardening. Getting ready for yet another graduation party this coming Saturday. Last child, Mike, graduating from high school.
Will be busy this week with food, decorating, baseball, etc.
Love you all,
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Well everyone I am home. Can't write much just now as I am falling asleep. What a trip!
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Hello Everyone!!!
I finally have a few moments to "breath"....
I am in our NWA location and it runs at a much slower pace than home. The home office has actually not called me but a few times today. There is actually quite a bit here to read...I like that! I had hoped and still am that Alyson will share a few more stories of her trip. Hated to hear that you had bumped the knee. I hope to visit your "neck of the woods" sometime...maybe bring a few friends and enjoy some Lucky Star
.Terry; Fabulous news! Last child graduating...I remember your big party from last year this time...I am sure this will be another wonderful celebration as I can see all the hard work and time you invest.
Sammie; Hope Mike gets some help with that pain soon. Tough to enjoy retirement. I hope you have taken the time to get out on the water. I have a lot of those heavy pots and I bought a little handtruck for that reason...works great!
Catherine; Hmmm...I am picturing you as Mata Hari...
It must have been quite interesting to talk to those gentlement after all these years and now knowing the truth. Much as I am intrigued talking to Peter. I have told a couple of people that I know that I wished they could talk to him. It would be such an honor. I am excited for the Plymouth to be road ready...I will be there! Love you both...Leah...I hope your birthday was a pleasant one and I wish you could have made it here.
My friend is still battling the demon. It is really getting her down. I honestly don't think anyone knows for sure what is going on. Today she is having the kidney stent removed and I hope that will give her some relief from the pain. She will be back at MD Anderson next week for more scans. It is so scary and all I can do is hope that it something besides recurrence. She made it to "Spa Day" at my house last week and seemed to truly relax for the first time in many months...even if just for a few hours.
Well...like several of you this last couple of years, I have started doing a bit of updating to my house. It is driving my dh crazy because of the dust and mess. It started out pretty innocently. Replaced a couple of bathroom countertops and retiled 2 small rooms. Then I decided I wanted a bona fide steam shower....lordy, what a mess. It is a very small bathroom, but what a mess. I gutted it and of course no one I know has ever done one of these, so the nightmare continues. I hope it will finally be tiled next week and then the fixtures placed. Mostly...I have tried to stay away from it for the last week or so!
Sorry to be mia for so long...
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I think I need you over here Melanie to sort out renovations that I need doing.
Will start doing some things about the trip, don't know where to start as there has been so much that I could talk about. Nearly have photos organised so will post a few and write about them.
I have to get organised as my friend is coming in shortly and we will go for lunch. Her 4 year old grandaughter has neuroblastomo stage 4. Luckily a very new treatment was approved on Monday so Kezia is one of the first in the world to have it, it has about 50/50 chance of success.
DS now has to have more heart tests as MRI did not show reasons for his heart problems and he is going to a specialist in London shortly which is good. I was really reluctant to leave Guernsey as he is my baby and want things sorted out.
My sister has her operation for bowel cancer next week, was supposed to be yesterday but it was postpones as they couldn't do the CT scan on Monday. They will decides on further treatment after the op.
It was great to have Bea on Tuesday, gosh she has grown up in the six weeks we were away and boy can she talk now, its really funny. Then they went and took her away for 3 weeks on Wednesday - they have gone to a wedding in Toronto, SiL come from there.
Must fly
Alyson
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I would love to comment on all of your posts, they are so interesting and it is so nice to hear what is going on with everyone, but I am so tired.
I went to the VA Hospital in San Antonio with my brother for the prostate cancer surgery. It went well, but he had terrible nausea and vomiting. He thought it was the horrible broth they fed him and I thought it was the pain meds, but at any rate they sent him home on day 3 unable to keep anything down. I nursed him through the weekend because as I discovered, there was no one to call at the VA. I got a telephone nurse out of Dallas and she just told me to take him to the ER in Corpus Christi (his hometown and a 2 and 1/2 hour trip back to SA). At 5 am he woke me to a clogges foley catheter, so off to the local ER. They found blood clots and were able to flush it. But, they were worried about his n/v and distended abdomen, Xray, CT scan showed an obstruction of the bowel. They put down an NG tube and admitted him to the hospital as the VA didn't have an open bed in SA. So, he has been in the hospital since Mon. and they cannot get his intestines working. They think he has a paralytic ileus. They have him on IV nutrition and they put in a central line today. They also repeated his CT scan. I think they aren't sure he doesn't have an obstrution. He is very uncomfortable. I had to come home yesterday and my brother and SIL from Houston came to Corpus to stand in for me, so I could come home and work today. My brother is 69 and has never had a colonoscopy. We have not heard from the lymph node biopsies from the prostate yet.
I have fallen asleep about 3 times as I am typing. So nighty night all.
Love and hugs to all. Sammie Kay
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Oh Sammie Kay... what an ordeal... wishing your brother the best... it's no the easy way, sounds like. Hope you can get some rest, dear... ((((((((((((((Sammie Kay)))))))))))))))
With Alyson and Terry, you all have a lot on your shoulders with family heath issues...
Hi, Melanie!! The movie evening was fun on Thursday... we ended up being "special guests" DH and I to pre- and post-movie receptions, and I told my side of the story after the film, people seemed to be interested (pretty big crowd... a bit intimidating, but I made them laugh).
Thinking of you all, and wishing you a restful Sunday...
Love to all, Catherine
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Oh thank you Catherine. I am doing fine. I do have to make a quick trip to Houston tomorrow to MDAnderson for a checkup. I have cancelled this appt. twice, so must go. It is routine, but I haven't seen that onc in over a year. I had been seeing the local onc. After the error with blood work, I decided to go back to Houston every 6 months for my checks.
I bet you did make them laugh Catherine. You are such a quick thinker and very witty. Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all.
Alyson, glad you are home safe and sound. What an awesome vacation. We Americans seem to be way behind the rest of the world when it comes to traveling worldwide. Mainly taking the time to be gone for an extended length of time. I hope they can get your son's heart problems under control.
Melanie, your remodeling sounds wonderful. It is a painful process, but the end result is well worth it.
Terry, nice pictures of graduation. Beautiful children, Mom and Dad too.
Well, better get busy. Happy Father's Day to all your dads and husbands.
Hugs to all, Sammie Kay
PS my brother is stable and in good spirits. We will see Mon. if they do an exploratory laparoscopy to see what is happening in there. He still has the NG tube to wall suction.
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Hi all
Busy week ahead for me.
My sister has her CT scan this morning then operation on Thursday.
SammieKay, I have met many from the US on my travels and those visiting from the US but many in the US appear almost insular and focus on the States, some on their home State. Meet people in the UK who said that they couldn't imagine travellig as far as NZ. We live on a group of islands a long way from anywhere so if you want to go anywhere else you have to travel. Some times I wonder if its in our DNA now that we travel. Well our GGG/GG grandparents travelled here by ship, a trip of about 120 days - that I cannot imagine. My GG grandmother had 3 small children and lost a baby just days from NZ. Anyway enough of that.
SammieKay are you on facebook, just tried to find you, found Terry.
Catherine I would have loved to have heard you, I bet you made them laugh.
Hope you are all having a great weekend. Is it Father's Day in your part of the world - ours is later?
Alyson
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Alyson,
I am on Facebook as Kay Taylor Beeson (Sammie is my first name and Taylor is my maiden name) Befriend me. I have found Terry and Jan(Oklahoma), and some folks I cannot remember. Yea, I ask Leah to be my friend and she didn't know who I was due to a new picture with straight hair and the name difference. LOL
Hugs, Sammie Kay
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Hi all..sounds like everyone is busy taking care of someone else! My hubby's brother had his prostate surgery yesterday. They did it laparoscopically and he did well, but they now think the catheter is leaking...so don't know what that is about yet. My BIL is doing well...still taking Lupron and having hot flashes.
We are still very busy going to baseball games. I am taking DS to his chosen college for orientation this weekend. So I am trying to get the laundry at least started. We will then go straight from the orientation to his Sunday ball game. Need to get his uniform clean tonite! Now THAT is a challenge each night.
Alyson...my daughter is planning a semester abroad in Australia starting Feb 2011...my DH and I are considering a trip there to see her during her break. We are trying to find the funds to do it! She is busy working on all of the paperwork. Already has a passport. She leaves Tuesday for Costa Rica, where her boyfriend lives. He was an exchange student here...that is how they met.
Well....off to the laundry room...will keep all of our families in my thoughts and prayers.
Sammie Kay...how do I find Leah on Facebook?
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We got the results for my brother's Prostate Cancer today. Not sure how to take it. His Gleason score was the highest it could be, which indicates a very aggressive type of cancer. The good news is it isn't in the lymph nodes or the bones. But it did involve 70% of the gland. I wish there was a website like this one for Prostate Cancer. They didn't get clear margins, so they say all they do is repeat the PSA's every 3 months and if they start to go up at all, should be zero, then he will have to decide between chemo and radiation or maybe both. It is a little scary to me as he doesn't have much support being single. Also, his only insurance is Medicare and he is elgible to go to the VA Hospital for treatment. I wonder if he is getting the best treatment possible. From what I have read on the Internet about staging, his prognosis is not very good. I don't really know where to go for answers.
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying your summer. Love to all, Sammie Kay
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Hi all hope all is going well.
SammieKay your brother's diagnosis sounds much like my brothers. He is doing really well 2 years out and so far PSA is fine. I have wondered if he was getting enough treatment.
My sister has had to go back into hospital, came home yesterday and this morning was not well - the area around the incision was bright red and she was feeling terrible, so she is back in hospital on antibiotics. They may do a scan tomorrow to see if they need to drain the wound.
My little friend had her hair cut today, she thought it was fun, only her parents were upset but as they said it is a sign that the chemo is doing something.
Terry if you get to Australia you must come through NZ, let us know your plans. Where is your daughter planning to go.
Tomorrow morning I am taking DH to look at a kitchen, hope he doesn't die of fright when he finds out how much they cost these days. A friend is here at present and he added up the cost very accurately but my DH thinks things cost the same as they did 30 years ago.
I must get to bed. Big hugs to all
Alyson
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Sammie Kay....My BIL had a Gleason score of 9. UPMC recommended he do Taxotere and take Lupron shots AT THE SAME TIME. This is the newest most aggressive treatment of prostate cancer. He is stage iv. You might want to check into that. In the past they did Tax then the Lupron.
He seems to be doing well. Although my sis thinks he is depressed over the side effects of the Lupron. He refuses to take Effexor. Oh well. I told him he should take it. It has helped me.
Alyson, Hope your family and friends find health soon. It is a shame so many suffer all these ailments. Rachel will be at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, starting Feb 2011. We may plan a trip, if we can swing it, for her break near the end of April 2011. I will let you know.
She still is finalizing her application and paperwork.
Take care everyone....even those who might just be lurking! Hugs to all,
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Terry, did your BIL have mets or positive lymph nodes? I am not sure what stage my bro is. Since his bone scan was neg. and his nodes were neg, I don't think he is Stage IV. But the Gleason of 10/10 is not good. The margins were not clear, so there is microscopic bits of the tumor left.
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A Happy 4th of July to all...!!!
(((((SammieKay))))))))
((((((((Terry)))))))))
(((((((((((Alyson))))))))))
Thinking of you and wishing better news to all... so much to worry about all around you.
Leah, where are you? Missing you... Hope the summer is good in Boston and you can enjoy the beach every once in a while...
Sending hugs to everybody. Catherine
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Happy Sunday!
I have been so busy at work that the last thing I want to do is sit in front of another computer. Sorry about that! And last week I didn't have internet access due to something Comcast did. So anyway, I will catch up with all of you..
I am sad to see so many of the men you love having issues- either heart or cancer. I can't imagine how it feels to have someone you love going through serious stuff- not knowing what we know. Obviously prostrate cancer is a different animal, but the feelings and fears are all the same. Stay sane, gentle caretakers...
No beach yet. Have had a variety of obligations on the weekends, so next weekend for sure. I will be on business travel the week coming up, and then hopefully a good weekend. Scan on 7/13, so I will sneak in for bloodwork on the 12th (later than they want, but what am I supposed to do???) and then an appt. on the 16th to followup. I am assuming nothing and just trying to let it be...
That's all the excitement here. Nothing new, which is fine with me. Keep writing...
Alyson, what did Cunny say about the kitchen?
Love.
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Sammie Kay,
My BIL is stage IV, it was in the surrounding tissue and 1 lymph node, I think. Bone scan was negative. His Gleason was 9. Hope you find an aggressive onc for him.
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Morning all from a very cold part of the world.
Had my check up with the onc yesterday. Have to have repeat of bloods as the the tumour markers have risen - something that has not happened before and there are other anomalies. And have to have bone scan to see what is going on with my back. I am sure it's just arthritis or the degeneration worsening in my spine. Then I will go back to the onc in about four weeks. It wasn't the onc I usually ( who I really like and get on well with) - it was one of his registrars - a very nice young man who listened which some of them don't do.
Must get myself dressed as my sister has her clinic visit today to find out her results. At least the sun is shining now and its going to be a beautiful day.
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good evening.
Well scan came and went. The results are the same as 90 days ago- they see a corona around the periphery of the ablation site. It is stable. Not bigger or smaller than last time. So, "cannot rule out recurrent disease".
Markers and talk with onc on Monday, I am inclined to just wait anothr 90 days or even 6 months.
Any opinions out there?
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