Hi Friends,
It has been a long time. I am now 11 1/2 years NED after Stage 4 Colon Cancer that went to my liver. I am a patient of Dr. Kemeny’s and I believe I am still here because of her expertise and the wonderful care I received from my family. Despite 5 blockages, numerous UTIs and a heart attack, I am still here kicking . Unfortunately, I can’t say that about family.
The last time I posted was when my 34 year old daughter died to liver failure due to the overuse of Tylenol after a head injury. This happened while my husband had just finished treatment for Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer. After being a phenomenal caregiver, he was now the patient. He had a reoccurrence after six months and was now stage 4. In June 2018, my son age 27,who has battled severe depression since my second diagnosis as well as much sickness and death surrounding him (I have left out a lot of the losses), overdosed when my husband was at a very difficult part of treatment. He was the most sensitive of my 3 children and I think he just couldn’t handle any more. He and his sister are now together forever. The kids were so close. I worry about my remaining son but he is strong like his Dad.
After a 3 year battle with pancreatic cancer, my husband joined his 2 children in heaven. As hard as it was, we truly enjoyed being together the last 3 years. We were at Sloan constantly the past two years, especially for fluids in between treatments and clinical trials. We made the most of our time and enjoyed time with family and friends and even made it to the beautiful Outer Banks in North Carolina. My son arranged his schedule to go to treatments on Mondays.
On December 8th at 6:15 am, George went to the Lord. Ironically, a mass was being given in memory of our son at 8am that morning that was arranged almost a year and a half before.
I have been on the board praying for all my “friends”.
CR guy, a special thank you for all your support, especially when our 17 year old cat Nora, was sick and we had to put her down 3 weeks after our daughter passed. Everyone was cremated and will be buried together ( including the cat, (no one will know.)
I don’t want sympathy. God has a plan. He gave me a wonderful husband for 43 years and 3 children, even though 2 of them were here for a shorter time that I ever imagined. For some reason, I am still here and will try to pass on the kindnesses people have bestowed on our family to others.
My son, my brother and his family and numerous friends and family have been the reason I am still sane. I am also thankful to this board for getting me through the tough times and made me feel normal. I know that being a patient is hard, but sometimes being a caregiver is harder. Caregivers, take care of yourselves. We appreciate everything you do.
With Gratitude, Kathy