Where We Are Today

Yes, I think we stay "kids at heart" and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

At least we are all in this together, through the good times with our children and their families and the good and bad at home. Every day is a blessing though and I am just so thankful that I can be here.

Clara

Clara,
I am so saddened to hear things aren't going well. I have seen Gene in the same scenario after surgery, tears running down his face, it just rips your heart out as a wife. for Gene he was home 4 weeks and had another heart attack scare, we were in the ER, actually my daughter and oldest grandson came in,(he is 16) I was moved by my grandson's reaction to his papa having tears running down his face. No one wants to be in the ER 4 weeks post op, it lurks in your mind, the hospital scenario.
I am thinking of you both, and I hope he has many days with you and your family.
One thing I would like you to share with your husband is this,,I volunteered to watch our sons boys, Ryan 6 and Carter 2 for an overnite. The evening started early like 5, so we took them to Quaker Steak and Lube,its a cool restaurant, all about cars.. well the 2 year old was in his element, but we prevailed, home by 7 and hoping for bedtime to hurry along, my 6 years old was in the bathroom, I went in and asked "need any help"? HE SAID " NO, I was just thinking, I am glad I turned 6, I really didn't like being 5." I said." YEAH, 5 IS ROUGH",,.many thoughts went through my mind, like ohhh to be 6 again, but back in the late 50's and not now. We really never quit being kids, do we, no matter what age we are!!! Ginger Beane

Thanks Clara as long as one of my posts or replies touches one person then it was worth my time because I know someone shares my thought. Thank You, Joe

Karen, It may be that your husband doesn't have any appetite and doesn't think to eat. I had to use a lot of ingenuity to get Dick to eat when he had no appetite. We did learn of a Carnation Breakfast Drink that had 6 g of protein and was either orange or berry flavored that he tolerated well. It is something that can be ordered by mail order from Walgreen's. A neighbor here used it to mix with the fiber she had to take. Pain meds are very constipating as you know and that can also cause people not to eat.
Sunday's paper here had an article about new team at the Cancer Center here called Palliative Medicine. They work with people to make sure they are comfortable and to get the services they need. There are Dr. RN's, PT, and Social Workers on the Team. They are not Hospice. I thought in time we might need their involvement. It sounds like a service like that could be useful to your family. I'm sorry your husband is in so much pain. It is probably all he can focus on. Between the pain and the pain medication Dick cannot concentrate and will take hours to take his insulin and pills. I have to be on top of everything he does or doesn't do.

We are hooked up to home health because my husband has a PICC line and I have to flush it every day. But they also were able to communicate with the doctors directly and coordinate care. The RN could come to the house and do the blood draws. They also provided a Social Worker and Physical Therapist that came to the house. The Social Worker did an assessment to find out how depressed Dick was. He kept saying at every Dr. visit he was depressed and none of them picked up on it.

I don't have a sense of how much medical care your husband is receiving at home if any. If there is a way it could benefit him and you.

Joe,
Thanks for sharing your feelings, it might help some of us that are on the other side of the fence. I know that I walked into a room today and Bob was sitting there with tears rolling down his face. He had picked up a basket of cards that he has received since his diagnosis and had been reading them. Emotions run so near the surface now.
Clara

Ginger...i do remember a time when the use of the weed was available for cancer patients....but with the new platinum drugs it has a horrible interaction. I'm sure my sons friends all thought they were helping but it was a bad mistake...really bad!!
The only good thing that came out of it was his third and final week of 8 hrs of chemo a day was a walk in the park in comparison.
Pat