pamela
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I am not a rude person in the slightest. I always treat people the way I would like to be treated. But, as Marion said and I use this analogy quite a bit too, I am a Mama Lion. You don’t mess with my kids or you see a different side. Sometimes my kids beg me not to say something if I feel someone has hurt them, but I just can’t help it. And my kids aren’t even kids anymore!! It’s that darn motherly instinct. My husband is way worse than me. He will say something to anyone at anytime. Lauren told me to let this one go , but I could tell it totally embarrassed her and you bet, before the Therasphere procedure, I will pull her nurse aside and ask them to please make sure Lauren is provided a little modesty and thank them. Hey, thanks you gals for all the support again. I totally appreciate it so much.
Kris- all I can say is “You go girl!!!!”
Hi Gavin,
I also wanted to thank you for posting this. Lauren will be having Theraspheres which is very similar. It was nice to see that many live longer with this treatment. Lauren had her mapping last week and is still pretty sore at the puncture site, but is feeling better every day. It didn’t help that she had chemo last week too. Thanks again, Gavin.
-Pam
Lainy, Marion, Kris,and anyone else that cares to know,
I received an e-mail from the Chairman today thanking me for the e-mail. He also apologized that our experience was not better, but the report of the problem will help them improve. He also said they are investigating the incident and may contact me for further info. He also said thanks in advance for my help. I thought that was very nice of him to answer me so quickly and really seem to care. All we want is for others to not have to face the same problems when they are already dealing with so much. Thanks for the support, ladies. Love all of you.
-Pam (& Lauren)
Hello Ash,
Welcome to this site. I am sorry your Mother has to go through this. My daughter has cc and has been on chemo since Sept. 2011. She had Gem/Cis and 5-FU. Recently, the Cisplatin has been dropped because her oncologist said it is too hard on the kidneys to be used for that long. I would say that the Cisplatin was the hardest on her. It was hard on her platelets. They were low quite often. She also lost her hair. We are not sure which chemo did that. She was tired and achy for a few days. Make sure to ask for nausea medicine in the iv when she gets chemo and keep taking a pill form such as compazine for a few days after chemo. Take it around the clock, even if she doesn’t feel sick. Because once you get nauseous, it is hard to get it under control. There is also a popular drug called Zofran that a lot of people use. We discovered that Zofran gives Lauren very bad headaches so she cannot take it. I am not a doctor. This is just what works for Lauren. Since Lauren has been off the Cisplatin, you can’t even tell she just had chemo. She has way more energy and feels better. This is how I know that Cisplatin was the chemo that made her feel bad. Everyone is different, and everyone has different reactions to these drugs. I would also say to keep some food in your Mom’s stomach such as toast, crackers, noodles, and rice. This also helps with nausea. I would go into this with a positive, fighting spirit. Having a good, upbeat attitude really helps. Lauren’s doctors always say they are trying so hard to help her because she has such a positive attitude and is such a tough fighter. I wish you all the best. Let us know how everything goes and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask on here or you can e-mail me.
-Pam
Dear Lourdes.
I read your Father’s tribute. He seemed like a very lovely man. I am very sorry for your loss.
Love, -Pam
Hey Lainy,
I sent an e-mail to the dept. chair voicing my concerns in a nice manner. I just asked if they could try to be more sensitive to patient’s feelings like with the whole gown thing. We had another incident that day that I didn’t tell you about before. We were in the waiting room and got paged to come to the desk. They told us to go to the recovery room desk down the hallway. When we got there, a nurse was behind the desk and a nurse was standing at the desk. We waited for a while and could hear them talking. It was a personal conversation. They weren’t even talking about a patient’s care. More or less gossiping. The one behind the desk finally looked at us and said “Did ya need something?” My husband was furious, but I nudged him and said “Be nice.” We asked where Lauren was and she pointed to a curtain. I let the chairman know this is how patients and their families are treated by some of his staff and I hoped he would forward my e-mail to the Nursing Supervisor. I told him that I just wanted to let him know how we were treated. I said all the doctors and 98% of the nurses were so great and we are so happy with Lauren’s care. One bad apple always spoils the bunch though. Except we had our share of rotten ones that day!!
-Pam
Kris,
You really crack me up. The funny thing with Lauren is that chemo made her lose all of her body hair so we really don’t know what they had to shave. Maybe tiny little hairs you can’t really see.
Randi,
I will make sure they know about all of her allergies next time. It is exhausting to try to double check everything.
Love to both you lovely ladies,
-PamDear Brenda,
I am really sorry to hear about your husband. You seem like such a sweet lady. I hope your husband can find some relief from his pain. It is so hard to watch someone you love go through so much. We are here for you if you need us. God bless your family.
Love, -Pam
Margaret-
What an informative post. Thank you so much. It is very tough to think about, but I so believe that knowledge is power. Thanks again for the thoughtful post.
Love, -Pam
Hi Marion,
I didn’t care to hear about Lauren’s exposure either. You are so vulnerable as a patient to begin with. I told her those nurses have seen it all so many times they don’t think twice about it. But, as a patient it is quite humiliating. It just seems like everything in the Cancer Center is so wonderful, but when we venture to any other part of the hospital we encounter the cruel, harsh world. Lauren said they covered her private area with a little cloth when they were done sterilizing the area, but geez oww they could’ve sent her to her happy place before they uncovered her. I might e-mail someone about this. Do you think I should? I only like to ruffle my feathers when I think it will do some good. Another complaint I had was when we were called back to recovery, we were to ask at the desk where Lauren was, and two nurses sat and had a whole personal conversation until one finally looked at us and asked us what we needed. How rude!!!
A big fat YYYYYYYYYYYaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to all of you that are beating the odds. You are what give us hope!!!!!! Love to all of you.
-Pam
Hi Donna,
I just wanted to welcome you to this site. I do not have cc, but my 26 year old daughter, Lauren does. She was diagnosed last August. She has been on chemo since then, Gem/Cis and 5-FU. She has had a lot of shrinkage with her tumors and her large tumor is 50% necrotic. She just had a trial run for Theraspheres, which are tiny glass beads filled with radiation that are shot directly into the tumor. We will find out soon if she is a candidate for this procedure. If it works, she may be able to have a resection. At first, we were told her cancer was too far along and her chemo would only be palliative, so they are thrilled with her progress and we are hopeful for the future. She had never been sick before either. This just came out of the blue. Everyone always tells us we are so strong too, but what other way is there to be. You gotta go on living your life and face whatever comes your way. We are all here to help. Bless you.
Love, -Pam
Dear Margaret,
I am glad you are going to have things checked out, but I refuse to believe you would also be diagnosed with cc. Like Julia said, I am expecting the best and hoping for the best. Prayers are being said for you. Best of luck with your knee surgery. God bless you.
Love, -Pam
