pamela
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Cathy- Yay!! I am so excited he is on this site. Thanks for telling Lauren about it. That is so awesome that he knows Dr. Chapman. Small world, isn’t it.
Hey Tiff- Hope you are feeling good. I know how desperately you want to get well and I’m right there with you.
Lori- I can’t wait for you and your husband to meet Dr. Sonnenday. I pray he can give you the hope you are looking for. Have you been given an oncologist yet? Let me know who it is when you find out. Lauren sees Dr. Mark Zalupski. He has done so much to help her. Good luck!
Betsy- Just wanted to say hi and hope you are still doing well.
Oh my goodness, Lori. Thank you for listening to what I had to say about U of M. I am so happy that you decided to go with them. They are such a top notch facility. We are so happy with Lauren’s treatment there. Good luck tomorrow and let us know the plan of attack. All the best to you and your family.
-Pam
Matt,
Such great news about Virginia. I am so happy for all of you. Wishing Virginia a speedy recovery. She is one lucky lady!!
-Pam
Dearest Elsie,
I am so very sorry to hear of Jim’s passing. I know he gave it a good fight and now is at peace in heaven. You always had nice, encouraging words for me about my Lauren and I thank you. Take care my sweet Aussie friend, and I wish you happiness in your life.
Love, -Pam
Lauren usually sees a Physician’s Assistant first. They ask a ton of questions and examine her. Then her Oncologist comes in and asks her a bunch of questions and also examines her. So by the time we are done, she has been thoroughly examined!! We see them once, sometimes twice a month.
God bless you, your husband, and family. My gosh you have been through a lot. One thing you said struck a chord with me. You said that you hang on to hope. That is what I always say. My daughter is the one with CC and I always say I will never give up hope. It’s the only thing we have. Hope to hear from you in the future. Oh, and by the way, welcome to this site!
-Pam
My prayers are with Virginia for a successful surgery. My prayers are also for you, Matt. I’m sure it will be very hard for you tomorrow as you wait by the phone. I will be thinking of you and Virginia. All the best.
Love, -Pam
Dear Pam,
What a wonderful, uplifting story. You all seem to be coping very well. No one will ever replace your dear, sweet Mother. I think it is so great that your Dad found someone that has been through similar circumstances. I am sure they both have a deep understanding of what each other has been through. Sounds like a really nice match. Your Mom and Faye’s husband probably had something to do with it from heaven. I know what you mean when you say you will never be the old Pam. Sometimes I wish for my old life, but then I realize I am a better person now and appreciate everything so much more. I think the part of my life I miss is when everyone in my family was well. No sick child. That is the most heartbreaking part. I wish you and your family continued happiness and fond memories of your Mom. Take care. Great to hear from you again. You were very supportive when I first joined this site and I thank you.
Love, -Pam
Hi Trevor,
Lauren always takes Compazine for nausea and it works pretty well. When she is super nauseous, which is hardly ever, it didn’t work as well. When she was really nauseous and took it, she usually ended up throwing up which I think she would’ve done with or without the Compazine. It seems like you need to take it right at the first twinge of feeling bad, not when it is full blown. Starchy foods seem to help like peanut butter and toast, rice, or mashed potatoes. Like Kris said, chicken broth or chicken noodle soup is good too. None of this is really very nutritious, but she feels better with something bland in her stomach. Also, sipping ginger ale will sometimes settle your stomach. Hope you can find the right remedy for yourself. Being nauseous is the worst. Take care.
-Pam
Great news, Betsy. You are such a miracle. I am so happy you are back working with your furry friends. I love animals so much, sometimes more than people! Ha ha. Hope we can get together again sometime. Take care.
Love, -Pam
Oh Kris,
Don’t make me sad by saying stuff like that about your ex. I feel so, so bad for you. Now go get ’em with that new chemo!
Love you,
-Pam
I am glad that I could be some help to you and I am so happy that you can finally get some definite answers. Once you get the ball rolling and get an action plan, no matter where you decide to go, you will feel so much better. All the best to you and your family.
-Pam
I would definitely not base the decision on going to U of M for care on your childbirth experience. All I know is that everyone at the Cancer Center is awesome. They are all so friendly, caring and compassionate. Lauren’s oncologist was not our favorite at first. I said this before. I think it was because he was telling us things we didn’t want to hear. We really like him now and he always has Lauren’s best interest. He is so busy, but he even calls Lauren at home from time to time to make sure she is doing ok. If she ever has a question, or doesn’t feel well, we can call and a nurse gets back to us very quickly. We never have to call and make appointments for anything. The schedulers there coordinate all of your appointments after you see the doctor and make them consecutive for example Labs at 1, Doctor at 2, Chemo at 3. They also schedule any testing for you such as CT or MRI. You never have to lift a finger. It takes away a lot of stress. I cannot say enough good things. It would be awesome to be 40 minutes away like you are. Just a little more info for you. Take it for what it’s worth.
-Pam
Pam-
That is the sweetest story. It made me cry. I wish everyone could be like that nurse. Good to hear from you again! Take care.
-Pam
Dear Twoforjoy,
Welcome to the site. Have you ever considered going to University of Michigan Hospitals Cancer Center. We live in Ohio and drive there for my daughter, Lauren’s care. It is at least a 3 1/2 hr. drive for us. My daughter has had nothing but top notch care by very qualified staff. When we first started going there, I wondered if it was the best place because not many if any people from this site went there. The liver surgeon we saw said that we could go to Mayo or MD Anderson, but he assured us they would do the same thing as we get here. We have had much success and Lauren is now being evaluated for radioembolization. If this works, she will be considered for a resection. This is such a miracle because when she was first diagnosed, the doctors didn’t hold out a lot of hope for surgery due to the large size and placement of her tumor. Things have changed and it is all because of the aggressive and wonderful care by her oncologist and surgeon. You may wonder why we chose this hospital. My oldest daughter, Kristen, is an anesthesia resident there along with her husband, Bruce. They have been in the OR with the liver surgeon and absolutely love him and his expertise with the liver. In my opinion, waiting until May just for an appointment is way too long. You could at least try to get in to Michigan sooner and then if you wanted to go to Mayo, go later and compare what each had to offer. I am in no way trying to persuade you to go to Michigan. I just feel Lauren is getting the best care possible and wanted to let you know about a great hospital close by. I wish you all the best. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. I would love to help.
-Pam
