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Oh char, that sucks so bad. I believe everything happens for a reason, but I just don't understand some things, like why children lose parents like that.
char, there is so much in life that can never be explained, nor will we ever understand. Sorry for the loss of your friend, and the others that have been lost because of some random cell.
It certainly brings home the idea that we should treasure the time we have because we can't know how much of it there is.
Sending you so many hugs and healing thoughts, Charley.
One of my close friends from cancer camp passed away last week. She had been fighting breast cancer for the past 5/6 years, with recurrence after recurrence, even after a double mastectomy. I'm devastated - she was just 38 years old with a 3 year old son. She found out about her first recurrence while pregnant with him.
Even after popping a chemo pill and feeling like absolute ****, she would strap on her helmet and go climbing with the best of us. This disease is so ****ing unfair. Her son lost his mother - and his only memories of her will be in the context of illness since she has been in and out of the hospital for his entire life. When I last spoke to her last month, she seemed well and was planning his 4th birthday party in a few weeks.
This journey has introduced me to a proximity to death that I never experienced before. None have hit me so hard as this.
losing friends is always a hard thing to accept, maybe even harder than losing a parent when the parent is very aged. I am so sorry for you, but I do believe there is a reason for everything that happens in our lives. For her, you came into her life and became her friend for a reason and you got to know her, for a reason. Even her death had a reason, even if we do not understand that reason all the time.
Since the other thread involving cancer research is closed, I thought I'd post this link here; the article is worth reading. "It would be fair to say that Patient 5 owes his life to medical research. Also known as David Aponte, he was the headlining success story from a recent clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Moderator cut: quote 1-2 sentences and give link. See TOS " Don't cut lifesaving dollars - latimes.com
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 04-04-2013 at 06:24 AM..
Why do some doctors and some cancer clinics insist on sucking every penny they can when they know it is hopeless?
I worked as a palliative care nurse and I know many oncologists who are only interested in "treatment" even if there is no hope for remission. I know someone who had prostate cancer spread to bones and lungs, yet, his oncologist insisted to give him radiation therapy for prostate cancer. When I asked this MD for opioid pain medication, he refused to give him prescription because it is "addictive"!!!! He was in so much pain and could not leave home. It was horrible. Also, most of oncologists do not believe in hospice/palliative care because it is "failure" for them.
I worked as a palliative care nurse and I know many oncologists who are only interested in "treatment" even if there is no hope for remission. I know someone who had prostate cancer spread to bones and lungs, yet, his oncologist insisted to give him radiation therapy for prostate cancer. When I asked this MD for opioid pain medication, he refused to give him prescription because it is "addictive"!!!! He was in so much pain and could not leave home. It was horrible. Also, most of oncologists do not believe in hospice/palliative care because it is "failure" for them.
I don't know if your situation is unusual or not, but I can assure you that is not the siuation we have here in NWA. the doctors are caring, they do not want patients to suffer, they often recommend hospice for those reaching the last stages of life. So did the doctors in NM. When my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year it was decided by the oncologist and the urologist not to do surgery but to do radiation and homones. Luckily it worked. Before making the decision they checked to make sure it had not matasticized. The same with his lipo sarcoma. I can't say enough about our doctors here, overall. We have been very pleased and the ones we have not liked we have not returned to, but found other choices.ii
I don't know if your situation is unusual or not, but I can assure you that is not the siuation we have here in NWA. the doctors are caring, they do not want patients to suffer, they often recommend hospice for those reaching the last stages of life. So did the doctors in NM. When my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year it was decided by the oncologist and the urologist not to do surgery but to do radiation and homones. Luckily it worked. Before making the decision they checked to make sure it had not matasticized. The same with his lipo sarcoma. I can't say enough about our doctors here, overall. We have been very pleased and the ones we have not liked we have not returned to, but found other choices.ii
I am relieved to hear there are compassionate doctors!! Just to let you know, my experiences were from NYC area.
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Just to let you know, my experiences were from NYC area.
