There is one thing I have done that those with children living away from home may want to think about. I spoke with all of my kids over a year ago, when they were all home for my grandmother's 100th birthday (she is now 101)! I let them know that I appreciate what they have done to help me out since...

I'm frustrated. I have to go in to have my lung(s) drained - pleural effusion. The 3 MRI's I had last week about did me in - 3 hours in the machine for my shoulder, cervical spine and thoracic spine. The problem with my shoulder has been almost identical to my right shoulder over a year ago, but my ...

Glad you enjoyed your princess day Jeanette!

I'm glad he is doing better. I've only had one obstruction and it cleared at home. The pain was awful. I thought I was going to die in my bathroom where I was for hours on end in too much pain to move. I'm glad he got to the ER and has the NG tube and pain meds. And YOU to advocate for him!

Well, I spoke with all three of my specialty docs (or their p.a.'s) and all three agree that I should take the wait and see with my lung and hope that the spirometer does the trick. Specifically, my SBRT doctor does not think it is related to the SBRT. In a nutshell, it sounds like i just had some ...

Thinking of you, buddy, and praying it re-inflates all on it's own, very quickly. I hope you're taking your temp once in a while. Kathryn, did you mean pleural effusions or pleurisy? Love to you both, Bev Yep - wrong term in my post (now corrected), I said pleurisy and then went on to write about t...

Kathryn, Are you on oxygen? I'm on oxygen 24 hours a day. Do you have a pulse oximeter? Your oxygen reading shouldn't go below 90. Mine has gone down into the 70's and a few times into the 60's. It is so scary not being able to breathe. I am VERY limited to what I can do. Major problems - but I'll ...

I have palliative care coming out Sunday. I am going to find out how far their programs reach. This is through my local clinic/hospital group - the same who do my home infusions. My husband and I already decided that if I can stay home until the end, that is what we want. Now we'll find out just how...

Re: assisted/suicide: I'm thinking of voluntarily stopping food and water when I've had enough. A hospice nurse friend tells me it is fairly easy and fairly quick. Anyone have experience to share on this? My stepmother was dying from very advanced Lupus. She was moved to hospice care. She slipped i...

I would take your dad up on his offer to fly you in for the surgery, and then come back for Christmas too. It sounds like your dad could use the extra support, and it would ease your mind too.

I had a partially collapsed lung when port #3 was inserted and they nicked my lung. They admitted me and tried to get by with just keeping me on extra oxygen, but it wasn't working. So they put in a chest tube. That was fun - right there in my room with me awake, and the surgeon not listening to me ...

Do some research on the benefit of chemo or radiation for patients over 70. It generally is not recommended, because the treatment is more likely to kill them than a recurrence. There are exceptions to the rules, when the patient is in very good health and able to completely take care of themselves ...

A while back I watched How to Die in Oregon. I suggest everyone watch it no matter where you stand on this issue. Oregon and Washington are the only two US states so far to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Lots of people start out planning to use it, but not actually using it i...

This topic was started within our secret mCRC FaceBook group - I can't really share all of it here due to our guidelines. But I'd like to share what one member shared as something she found helpful. Michael Lerner's book which was shared with her at a cancer retreat. Here are what she thought were h...

Hi Nancy, Welcome. I'm glad you found us. Sorry you had a need to find us. I was misdiagnosed (IBS) for two years, starting at age 45, and finally dx'd at age 47. Can you please clarify something for us - have you had surgery already? You said that you were sent to a surgeon because you needed immed...