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Update on Family and the Shotgun

littlclimb

littlclimb

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Minuteman
Jun 3, 2004
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Carrollton, Texas
www.linestretch.com
#1
I've been meaning to get on here and update you all on the family. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Lets start with my little brother Mike. He is undergoing chemo again, but it had to be discontinued do to a pneumonia. There was initially some improvement with the tumors, but none seen on the last MRI. He also has developed a huge blood clot in his leg. I saw him a few weeks ago and we got to talking about shooting as we always do and he sent his shotgun home with me so that I could learn to shoot skeet and he would be with me in spirit as I did so. I've had my first lesson last week (hit 23 out of 30)and will be going on my first dove hunt on Friday. Have to take pictures so Mike can see is sister in action. Mike's short term memory is gone, but this was something that must have been very important to him as he talked about me using it every day that I was there. It is a bittersweet gift that I will cherish.

Terry's been having chemo every week and last week the PEP scan showed that he has three spots in his lungs so it looks like the cancer is back. They have given him a year and are looking into alternative treatments. Terry is a very angry person, so I don't have all the details, I just do alot of praying for him.

John's Mom's chemo is going well and the tumors are reducing. She has lost most of her hair, but says she feels pretty good, so we are very hopeful.

My last scan was clean again...that 6 years in a row!

My son Chris will leave for the sand box again around Thanksgiving. They have had him at multiple trainings so he has had very little time with his family and his tour is for the max length. We don't know the details of what he will be doing yet other than he'll be starting in Qatar and supporting AF (I'm not going to try to spell it...I'll just butcher it).

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Susan
 
#2
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

My father's been in cancer treatment for the last 2 years, and the complications from chemo are incredibly difficult for both the patient and the family. It's a tough haul, but that's what families are for. Hang in there, Susan.
 
#3
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Susan, John, and your families,,,

My prayers are for you, and with you. I deem you all of the support, calmness, and steadfastness that is required; while your loving family heals, overcomes, and victors.

Sean.
 
#4
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Been through Lymphoma twice, last treatment was in the mid-90's. I know the path you walk. May God smile upon you and yours as He did on me and mine.

Treatment wipes out defenses. It becomes a crucial matter to ward off against infection and/or contamination. Sustaining a remission becomes a matter of sustaining treatment. Anything that improves the patient's ability to continue treatment becomes a vital part of that treatment.

Worry wears down resistance. It becomes a sly and sinister part of the disease.

One thing that helped sustain my treatment was nutrition.

It's a small thing, but I always found that when other food would not stay down, for some reason, Carnation Instant Breakfast usually would. I would mix mine extra thick and strong, chocolate was my favorite. Small, yes; but I think it made a critical difference in my survival, during both bouts. My memory is dim, but I would not be surprised if it was my Oncolgist who made the suggestion.

Maybe that litte tidbit can help you and yours. The big things the Doctors and the Creator handle, it's the small things that fall within our purview. I have learned from the process never to trouble the Creator with the small stuff any more. Such attention is often better employed elsewhere than on my own small, miserable existance.

Greg
 
#5
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

You guys want an alternative, suggest looking into Essiac.

You cannot buy it in the US - the FDA won't allow it, maybe because the chemo companies get $5000 per treatment.

Essiac has a history of stopping cancer, and you don't have to BUY it - you can make your own.

It's known as Sheep Sorrel tea in most places, has burdock root, dandilion root and slipper elm bark.

It's what I would use.

I have one bottle of it, I treat about once a year for 30 days, doesn't hurt, has a nice peppery taste and supposed to work well.

Japan has been using the treatment in pill form for a while - I tried it a while back and found a permanent cure for my killer heartburn. I can eat pizza, spaghetti, cayenne peppers etc now with no ill effect and no heartburn (Dunno how that side effect happened).

Something to look into, if you believe in holistic medicine.


Here's a good link to start with:

http://www.cancertutor.com/Cancer/Essiac.html
 
#7
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BOLTRIPPER</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My last scan was clean again...that 6 years in a row!






....well then.....its time to get your knees in the breeze.... </div></div>

Every day, all days some days. There is a reason God has brought me through kidney cancer. I won't go into the details here, but it was truely a miracle that they found it when they did. Everyday is a blessing, and despite my brother's and mother-in-law's situations, I am trying to remember "In all things think good" Life goes on, and it can be hard some days to see all the good around me with the sadness that is ahead of us. But I have a wonderful family, a fantastic husband great friends that all help to lift us up. I have to rejoice, even in this time of sadness.

Susan
 
#8
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

The reason is easy, and it's always the same. There's more good left in you to share. Once you've been to the brink, there's scant time left that's available for negativity. We all just barely have enough left for all the good we can still manage.

Live well and be thankful.
 
#9
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The reason is easy, and it's always the same. There's more good left in you to share. Once you've been to the brink, there's scant time left that's available for negativity. We all just barely have enough left for all the good we can still manage.

Live well and be thankful.</div></div>

Well said Greg. Thank you. I will do my best to share that good.

Susan
 
#10
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Mike, my younger brother with brain cancer,is doing better this week. He's up and walking with his walker. I told Mom I would start looking into a voice recognition for his computer. He can't write or type any more.

My son is off to another predeployment training in Wisconsin. He's date to leave for the Sandbox is coming too soon. Holiday's will be a bit empty without him.

Susan
 
#11
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Wow!!!!You sound like an amazing woman Susan. To have gone through all that you have and dealing with everyone else going through it and to top it all off having a son going off the the friggin sand box and still hold it together is impressive. I lost my Grandfather to cancer and my mom (an amazing woman like you) battled breast cancer and has been cancer free for over 15 years now so I have dealt with both the loss and the fear. I have never been one to believe in "old wives tales" or holistic "BS" until a few years ago. My mom has been into the holistic medicine since just after being diagnosed. She is a firm believer. I became convinced of the benefits after my last son was born with some problems and severe allergies. We had nothing to lose in trying my mom's suggestions and as of the other day my almost 2yo has a clean bill of health and no allergies after the skin test. I think that holistic medicine can't hurt and can only help.

Stay strong and I will keep you and yours in my prayers, yet another amazing power!
 
#12
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jcfd2201</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have never been one to believe in "old wives tales" or holistic "BS" until a few years ago. My mom has been into the holistic medicine since just after being diagnosed. She is a firm believer. I became convinced of the benefits after my last son was born with some problems and severe allergies. We had nothing to lose in trying my mom's suggestions and as of the other day my almost 2yo has a clean bill of health and no allergies after the skin test. I think that holistic medicine can't hurt and can only help.

Stay strong and I will keep you and yours in my prayers, yet another amazing power!</div></div>

Thank you so much for your very kind words. I believe very much in trying to do things the natural way and that as naturally as possible and that our body works as a whole. If your digestive track isn't working right it can manifest in body aches or allergies. Its hard to do in our society and I certainly feel the difference when I'm not "being good" about what I put in my mouth. I pass on my thoughts and suggestions to Mom, who is my brother's care giver. They are always welcome, but seldom applied. She is an old school nurse. I can not critize her, she is doing her best and I am far away. So I pray a lot and try to focus on the good things around me to keep me in a positive frame of mind.

Thank you again for your kind words and prayers,

Susan
 
#14
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

We have an update on my brother's and John's Mom (my new Mom-in-law).

We'll give the good news first. John's Mom is cancer free and in remission. It is certainly something to give thanks for and celebrate! You can only imagine the joy we felt when we got the news today.

Okay, the not so good news. They have found 3 "nodules" in Mike's lungs. They are not sure right now if it is cancer or a bacterial infection. The location of the nodules make it too dangerous to biopsey, so he is receiving massive doses of antibiotics right now in addition to his chemo. As you can imagine he is exhausted most of the time.

Terry was in line for a clinical trial, but the insurance has turned him down. It is brand new and has not shown enough evidence that it can help and the side affects are supposed to be quite dangerous. My Mom suggested that the denial could be a blessing, keeping him from something worse than what he already is dealing with, but Terry is angry and figures he will now die because of the insurance company. The radiologist is going to try zapping the tumors again.

Mike and Terry are polar opposites when it comes to how they are dealing with thing. Mike is trying to be positive and make the best of a very bad situation and very mindful of the costs my parents are incurring and thankful for everyone's help. Terry is angry at the world and continues to buy toys on credit, not thinking what it will do to his wife's financial situation if he dies.

My son will be home this weekend from his latest training. I have made arrangements to take vacation and fly to Seattle to see him in December before he heads over seas. We're going to drive down to Portland and meet up with Mom and Mike at the VA hospital and do some site seeing. It will be a precious 4 days.

So that's the latest. thank you again for all of your prayers and very kind words of encouragement.

Susan
 
#15
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Dear Susan,
My prayers are going out for you and your family.

I lost a dear friend to a 5 year battle with kidney cancer last year. Another friend's son is recently back from his second deployment.

I hope things get better for you.
 
#16
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Very sorry for the adversity you are facing right now Susan- I am thinking good thoughts for you and your family! My wife, a nutritionist and personal trainer, found the Gerson Institute method very interesting- definitely something worth looking into.

http://www.gerson.org/
 
#18
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

I think there are two kinds of folks in this world; ones who have had cancer, and ones who still could. In many ways it has become an environmental disease.

Mine was, in no small way; two completely separate bouts with two different types of Lymphoma, courtesy of Dioxin, by way of Agent Orange. The duration was ten years or thereabouts.

My situation was not especially typical, but it did teach some typical lessons.

When you have it, denial is just another way for it to get you. It's a pretty effective way, too.

Anger served me well, it's a great motivator. I got mad at pretty much everything and everybody. But very quickly, I realized it wasn't any part of any strategy that was going to help me. I looked around me in the treatment clinics and noted a form of serenity that first gave me the creeps, until I got some of my own. The serenity came from realizing I was in a lot of hands and they were all on my side. Good people risking their own lives to bring me back from the brink. These people become close family. My own Oncology Nurse later died of cancer due to exposure to Chemotherapy drugs.

When you get back, you're not done. You have at least a half decade before you of testing and uncertainty. It can be daunting, particularly when you've just about made it to the finish line after 5 years and are told your old friend is back. Here we go again. Making it back to that finish line a second time is literally astronomically unlikely. I know.

When you actually do get there, it never leaves the back of your mind. But you do find that with time, the memory revisits less and less.

Negativity sucks. It has no useful place in any part of the process. Some folks get their minds in a knot somewhere along the line. While it may seem that they have some sort of right to get off course; nobody benefits from it, and I would feel an obligation to risk pretty much all to ride herd on a friend, take as nothing their protests, and absorb whatever impacts, physical or psychological, that entails.

I can't tell others how to approach this, all I can do is give my view from the outside, at some times from the inside. Cancer is a bummer, and sometimes the bigger impact is on those in the near vicinity.

None of this is fair. Fair is a word that refers only to a fiction. Fair only exists in the minds of those who cannot accept reality in all its glory, in all its more diabolical aspects.

Whatever you think reality is, it's more than that.

Somewhere in this reality's midst, a few things become simplified, clarified. Family and friends are what count. Kindness given is never exhausted, and never inappropriate. They say what goes onto the wheel comes back on the wheel. I say that if you're doing it in anticipation of repayment, you don't understand how it all works.

There is no wheel. Repayment is nice, but not necessary, and maybe the check arrives after you're pushing up the daisies.

If this troubles you, all I can say is it shouldn't. Life in general is not just about us.

Cancer survivors are my Brothers and Sisters, just as all Marines are such. If you don't think that's sensible, I don't really care. I've been there, maybe you will too.

Greg
 
#20
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Greg,

Well said. I'm proud to call you a brother. And so true about not being done. I am in my 6th year and will find out the result of my biannual scan next week.

Mike has made his mistakes in life, but he will not be remembered for those. He'll be remembered for the kindness that he is showing others as he goes through this extremely difficult road of his life. I hope and pray that Terry will find that serenity that you speak of. I know I found it at the oddest of times...that peace beyond all understanding. It bolstered my faith and kept the anger from taking hold.

We are all happy to be spending this Christmas with John's mom being cancer free. I can't put into words the joy we are feeling about this news.

Thank you for your wonderful and very thoughtful post.

Susan
 
#21
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

Susan,as someone else said,you are an amazing woman.My wife is a cancer survivor,so I know what you and your family are going through.My wife is 11 years out,but its not been all roses.The medicine she was on damaged her liver.I found and joined this forum while in the hospital with her undergoing a liver transplant and later fighting a severe rejection attempt.My thoughts and prayers are with you, Pete
 
#23
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Pete Theodore</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My wife is a cancer survivor,so I know what you and your family are going through.My wife is 11 years out,but its not been all roses.The medicine she was on damaged her liver.I found and joined this forum while in the hospital with her undergoing a liver transplant and later fighting a severe rejection attempt.My thoughts and prayers are with you, Pete </div></div>

Pete, I will keep you and your wife in my prayers also.

Thank you,
Susan
 
#24
Re: Update on Family and the Shotgun

This is the first time i saw this thread, i to will be praying for all of you. ArcticLight mentioned essiac tea. You can order it from National Heritage Enterprises telephone # 719 256 4876. Last time i ordered was last year, i buy 20 packs at a time but you can order 1 or a 100 if you want. Cook it up on the stove directions are included. It is good medicine. crow hop
 
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