Cancer sucks....

[JPotter57]

Guys, I'm going to make this as short as I can.  It seems like cancer is rampant these days, taking our friends and family, especially here at our club forum.  I just wanted to take a minute and express a little appreciation to those of you who have been taking care of business here for the past couple months.  I have been away a bit, and you guys have picked up my fumble, put up with my little explosions, and generally, held the place together.  I thank you all, you know who you are.   

My wife has been about 1000 miles away from home, taking care of her mother, who was diagnosed on May 26 with Stage 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the worst, most aggressive form of brain cancer.  They predicted she would probably have a year or less.  She went from walking and talking as well as you and I to bedridden in a matter of weeks.  They sent her home from the hospital with Hospice on Sep 5, and the family was told she would last a week, maybe two.   She finally past away on Sept 16.  I have been back and forth to North Carolina to help my wife with our 6 kids, other household maintenance 4 times now, and lastly the funeral and burial.  Though the painful part is done now, my dear wife has the burden of managing the estate in a state that is tax happy, and requires lawyers, permits, and so on for out of state heirs.  Her brother has been no help through the entire ordeal, and shows no signs of helping now either.  My wife is an extraordinary woman, and how she has made it these past months is beyond me.  Her mom was completely unresponsive for the last week of her life, could not eat, had to be on morphine for the immense pain she was suffering.  She had undergone 8 weeks of chemo and radiation, but the oncologist said that it had no effect whatsoever in containing it, maybe even aggravating it.
I just want to publicly commend my wife for taking complete personal care of her mom, from beginning of her chemo and radiation treatments to the last breath she took.  Misty, you are one in a million, and God will bless you for it.

The point I am wanting to make here, is that none of us know when our time will come, and hopefully, it won't be in the manner my mother-in-law went. It is a terrible way to die.  You are completely dependent on people around  you for everything, you lose your mobility, your capacity to think and reason, and then your dignity. 

If you have some form of cancer, my thoughts and prayers are definitely with you.  If you may be genetically at risk for cancer, please take precautions with your health, eat right, curb cell phone use (one of the suspected leading causes of brain cancers and tumors) and so on.  Be careful out there.
I know this hasnt been my normal post here, but I just want everyone out there to know this story, and get a glimpse of how short and delicate life really is.  R.I.P. Mary Lou Roberts, mother-in-law 10-28-1947 to 9-16-2009, and R.I.P. Tom57custom as well, who passed away from cancer on 9-23-2009.

[shopratwoody]

I'm sorry for your familys loss James. Those are the things we all dread.
Ron

[glen b henderson]

Sorry for your lose James and we will all miss Tom. We are going through a similar situation now. My Mother in law is in the advanced stages of Parkinsons and after keeping her at our house for almost a year, we have had to place her in a nursing home. She is on a feeding port now and requires around the clock nursing. Lucky for us my wife has a sister that works at the nursing home, so she only has to spend a couple of days a week with her now. We have gone through the lawers and the mountain of paperwork also.

[meteor]

James, very sorry for your loss.

[wv 57s forever]

James sorry for your lose. That is the same that took my brother in January, it  sounds like they went through the same end.

[57ragtop]

James, very sorry for your family's loss. There are angels on earth and from your description your wife is certainly one. Your family is strong and will get stronger. Your family is in our prayers.

John

[kens65fb]

I had a large brain tumor removed in 1999, it was not cancerous, but I lost all hearing on my right side, along with a some loss of balance. 
I was an early user of cell phones (since 1997), I think that the cell phone usage, may have been a cause of the tumor, but who knows??

[57AGIN]

James:

God be with you and your family.  Your wife does sound like an Angle and is definitely a keeper.  We certainly can't choose how we finish this race, all we can do is do the best we can with the cards delt us.  I'm now helping with my 94 year old Mother who is bed ridden, near deaf and blind and losing touch with both the past and present.  As one of us said growing old isn't for sissys.

Bob
57AGIN

[smurfee]

  Truly sorry for your loss JAMES, GOD keep you & yours at his side, SMURFEE 

[BAMA_57]

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Also to all here who have suffered the loss of a loved one.