My wife’s extrahepatic CC
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Hi Roni,
I just want to say thanks for dropping by in “my” thread and sharing your story. I know exactly what your family is going through and how hard it is. Please know that I do care and please stay in touch.
Wishing your mom the best in her fight.
Hugs,
EliDear Eli,
My husband’s best friend lives near the thousand islands. My mother had a whipple also with a very difficult recovery. My mother just turned 66.
She was diagnosed 8-2010. She was given 1 year or less to live. She is still fighting 12-2011.
She had 2 out of 27 lymph nodes come back positive. Therefore, we went from thinking we got it all to stage 4. Once this disease is out of the box, it a tough.
It is very hard on both the patient, family, kids, and caregivers. Enjoy each day, be strong, knowledge is power.
Wishing you and your family a happy holiday season, many smile and many hugs. If you ever need anything please feel free to email: ronidinkes@yahoo.com
Warm Regards,
Ronimother… thank you so much for keeping my wife in your thoughts. I told her that a local Ottawa lady (you) was rooting for her the day of the scan. She listened with her eyes wide open and she was truly touched!!
I am so happy to hear this news. Think of DW often and hope our Canadian System won’t let her down, she has a big enough fight. It was a dark and drizzly day when she went for her scans as have a lot of days here in Ottawa lately, I did think of her that day as it was very close to your first post and have not forgotten. The best Christmas present ever…enjoy and savour it…..the day after my mothers mind boggling prognosis was made…I was driving my 10 year old home from somewhere and crying…she grabbed my hand and said, I have one word mom and it’s SURVIVOR and I held onto that for quite some time. While my mother was a different story, DW has great odds, it’s so evident in all we read on here….I like the thought of thinking of this disease as a “Chronic Illness” as PCL and Marions have referred to it….nothing is impossible…what a good time to watch the Polar Express and Believe.
eli….fantastic news. This will make for a happy holiday season. BTW: hernias often times are a side effect of abdominal surgery. We have seen much of it on this site.
All my best wishes,
MarionWow, wonderful news indeed. Here’s wishing you a joyous and blessed Christmas. Big hugs to you and your wife.
Eli,
Thanks for sharing your great and good news. The hernias are unfortunate and an annoying complication but at least it is something they can just watch.
Having made the rounds to many different doctors with my mom I would have appreciated more humor but I can see where my mom might not have, even though she was a hilarious lady it was her body that was the punchline.
Patty
Eli, you really made me laugh about the docs comments.
I’m happy about the good news. Not so happy about the hernias. You must both be on Cloud 9 today. Keep the good news comin’.
xoxo
DianeEli, great news on your wife’s scans and good health! Keep the laugher coming! Best medicine, for sure. Have a wonderful holiday season!
Eli, I couldn’t fall asleep so checked the Board and now I am happy and can go to sleep. Excellent news. By the way Teddy also had hernias after his Whipple and the Docs just left them alone. Much good luck to DW on the next round of Chemo.
An update on my wife.
GREAT NEWS:
December 2nd CT Scan is clean!!!!! We got “unofficial” news from our oncology nurse a week ago. We now have the official confirmation from the doctor.
Good news:
My DW started to gain weight. She now weighs 110 pounds, up 5 pounds from where she was two weeks ago. She feels that, finally, her body “woke up” after radiation & chemo. She can’t get enough food!
Unfortunate news:
We learned that my DW has post-operative hernia. She has two big bumps on both sides of her incision. They’ve been there for a couple of months. With everything else going on, we didn’t pay much attention to them. We thought that’s just the way her abdomen was supposed to look after Whipple.
DW got concerned a few days ago… she thought the bumps were getting bigger. We saw our surgeon today and he confirmed that Yep, it’s hernia. He said that priority #1 is to go get chemo done. We will see him again after chemo. He said that hernia repair surgery is definitely an option, but that he wouldn’t necessarily rush into it. For now, he suggested that my DW should start wearing a “binder” to support her abdominal muscles.
(The surgeon winked at me and said that abdominal binder makes a great Christmas present. My wife was quite upset afterwards; she thought the joke was inappropriate. I reminded her of our first appointment with the radiation oncologist. The guy sent us off with a helpful tip to get will in place. I asked DW who would she rather see: the doc who tells risky jokes, or the doc who tells to write a will. My remark cracked her up. She laughed so hard, I was afraid she could aggravate her hernia.)
Coming up:
Mon, Dec 19: we see the oncologist
Tue, Dec 20: chemo starts. 6 rounds of gem/cis is the plan.Eli,
We are kind of VENTING CENTRAL here so let loose when you feel things getting to you, the empathy here is endless.
You sound formidable, your wife is lucky to have you as an ally. I think the briefcase is good, makes you look like you did your homework, you mean business, and you will be taking names. Your wife could get a t-shirt that says “I’m with the crazy husband” and an arrow pointing to you. That will deflect any hostility away from her, kind of like good cop, bad cop.
I am the resident librarian so I also recommend books, this one looks good:
When a parent has cancer : a guide to caring for your children
Author: Wendy Schlessel Harpham; Jonas Kulikauskashttp://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55000381
Patty
Eli..Although I did not have radiation..I did have 6 months of chemotherapy after my resection..in Jan 10…I had lost quite a bit of weight after surgery..I received steroids everytime I was infused..I did put weight back on..truth be told maybe a little to much! Hoping your wife sees the same results…
NancyThanks Susie, sounds like a great app! All we need is an iPhone to go with it
I think I would enjoy using that app. I’m a control freak. My wife, not so much. She is more of a free spirit.
I know that recovery from radiation is a slow process… I hope you are starting to feel better day by day.
Wishing you the best,
Eli
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