health Cancer

[bonjing]

Good Day to all....

 

Just wanted your take on this subject. Your fears, questions, opinions, and whatever... If you would like support, I hope this thread can handle it too...

 

I'll start the ball rolling.

 

I lost my wife of 16 years to Breast Cancer. We battled it for almost 3.5 years, but in the end, we lost. It was a long, painful, uphill battle. It drained us financially, emotionally, physically. Nearing the end my wife thanked me for the support. Told her not to thank me, as I would have done it even without her asking for it.

 

But life has to go on. Not advisable to just sit in a corner and sulk or be despondent about Life.

 

Life is to short not to enjoy it....

[Google]

hmmm. bad to hear that bro.

 

anyway, my take on this is that, i really like Rio Diaz' stand on this. she knows that she's losing, but her optimistic stance as well as her faith, ang ganda ng kinalabasan. i just pity her children...

[bonjing]

That is the stand of most cancer patients that i've met, and believingme, dami na nakilala ko. and I was quite shocked to find that cancer affects all age groups. There's this guy, mga 22 or 24 yata, who's the top athlete at their school, but now stricken. madalas namin nakakasabay, when my wife goes in for chemo. But he's not resigned to his fate. Malakas ang fighting spirit. We all pray for him. Sabi nya he intends to get back to playing basketball at his school again. some of the depressed ones get inspiration from him, ngayon

 

kaya for them cancer is just that. a word.

[Lipstick]

I lost my husband to the big C close to 9 months ago (wow has it just been that short and that long?). He had cancer of the liver but it was some lung complication that caused his death I think. He didn't have the benefit of chemo nor did the doctors offer any hope as the only treatment that could be given was palliative care since his cancer was in its very advanced stages already. The thing with Liver Cancer is that symptoms such as abdominal ascites, abdominal pain, etc., never come out until the very late stages and at this stage patients are given only 2-3months to live.

 

The very sad thing about my experience is that when these symptoms came out I rushed him to St. Luke's (at this point we didn't know he had cancer) and after 5days in the hospital the only thing his Doctors came up with was that he had cirrhosis and was anemic. He wasn't even given anything for the pain which he was in 24hours a day. I discovered that at this stage C patients are already given sedatives to relieve them. How could the doctor's at St. Luke's not even suspect he had liver cancer at all????

 

2 weeks after his hospitalization in Manila, my husband had to head back to Sydney (he resided there and we had just gotten married in Manila). He saw his specialists and they told him that he would be lucky to live past Christmas. His doctors told him that Chemo was not an option and luckily my husband understood this to mean that his body was just weak at the moment and soon as he was stronger he could have the treatment. That kept him living and hoping. For the next 18days the potency of his painkillers increased every 3 days or so which alarmed me. I saw the deterioration happen rapidly with each day that passed. Finally on a Monday, he had to see a palliative doctor and it was this bitch of a doctor who spelled it out to him that his condition was beyond chemo or any treatment to make him any better. He just lost his spirit that day and just stopped fighting. The next evening he was rushed to the hospital because of a very high fever caused by pneumonia and he passed away 2am Wednesday morning.

 

I wasn't there beside him all this time, through all his pain when he needed me most. I was in Manila tying loose ends at work, at home and fixing some petty details required by my visa. I didn't even get to say goodbye. I arrived in Sydney 2days after to bury my husband.

 

I don't know if cancer or death is best served swiftly or slowly. If I were given a choice I wouldn't know what to choose. I just keep consoling myself with the fact that the universe showed my husband mercy in the form of the briskness. But anyone who knows the pain of losing a lifepartner will also know that no thought can ever console the loss you feel while you are still hurting.

 

A month ago I lost a very dear friend to cancer too. He had lung cancer and was battling it for the last 2-3years. Chemo would work every 6months and then the cancer would just creep back into his system. This year it metastasized and spread to his liver. It was like re-living the ordeal I went through last year all over again. And the wound I carried inside me that seemed to be slowly healing just opened raw again.

 

My husband was an obstinate man who refused to have his regular medical check-ups. It only took a year and a half for his cancer to be born and allowed to breed aggressively in his body. If any of you are this obstinate about your medical check ups (or if you know of anyone), I am urging you to please please snap out of the phobia and have your check-ups regularly. Those that die have it lucky because they go to a beautiful place, it is those they leave behind that never quite recover.

 

They say that hell is your life gone wrong. Hell is where I resided for many months after my husband passed away. Today, I don't live there anymore but there are days when I find myself back in hell momentarily.

[Guest the_eight_of_orbs]

I've been thinking of opening a thread on the big C. Just now, nakita ko to. I can't breathe.

 

Last week, i had a scare. Very few people understood the fear i had. For some bizarre reason, my own family could not comprehend why i was terrified. Why i was crying my head off for days.

 

There's cancer in the family, at least on my dad's side of the family. His eldest sister had her boobs removed, the 5th sister died of colon cancer and the 8th sister was spared from cancer, but had a hysterectomy. My fear has basis.

 

My fear is over FOR NOW. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, in the next 6 months, 1 year... i don't hold the future in my hands. Somehow i am just glad that i found out na, and that i had the chance to be checked for the symptoms. I just hope and pray everyday that i would not wake up one day and be told that the treatment didn't work the way it should. I pray that the remedy and preventive medication works in my favor now.

 

I am not afraid of death itself, it's the process, the painful way of passing, and the pain it is bound to bring the people i love, that's what i fear.

 

ay potah, di ako makahinga. bye.

Edited August 1, 2005 by the_eight_of_orbs

[bonjing]

Would like to share this with you and hopefully you could share it to others too....

 

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF CANCER

 

1. Thou shalt regard the word, "Cancer", as exactly that: a word. Nothing more, nothing less. For its original meaning has changed mightily over the years, as have such words as Smallpox, TB, and Polio, all once dreaded ailments, now non-existent as maladies. And thus, too, shall go thy Cancer. The answer shall come to those who shall be present to hear it. Be present to hear it when it comes.

 

2. Thou shalt love thy chemotherapy, thy radiation, and thy other treatments even as thyself, for they are thy friends and champions. Although they may exact a toll for their endeavors, they are oft most generous in the favors they bestow.

 

3. Thou shalt participate fully in thy recovery. Thou shalt learn all the details of thy ailment, its diagnosis, its prognosis, its treatments, conventional and alternative. Thou shalt discuss them openly and candidly with thy oncologist and shalt question all thou do not comprehend. Then, thou shalt cooperate intelligently, and knowledgeably with thy doctor.

 

4. Thou shalt regard thy ailment as a temporary detour in thy life and shalt plan thy future as though this detour had not occurred. Thou shalt never, at no time, no how, regard thy temporary ailment as permanent. Thou shalt set long-term goals for thyself. For thou will verily recover and your believing so will contribute mightily to thy recovery.

 

5. Thou shalt express thy feelings candidly and openly to thy loved ones for they, too, are stricken. Thou shalt comfort and reassure them for they, too, needest comforting and reassurance, even as thou doest.

 

6. Thou shalt be a comfort to thy fellow-cancerites, providing knowledge, encouragement, understanding and love. You shalt give them hope where there may be none, for only in hope lies their salvation. And by doing so, thou providest comfort for thyself, as well.

 

7. Thou shalt never relinquish hope, no matter how thou may feelest at that moment, for thou knowest, in the deep recesses of thy heart, that thy discouragement is but fleeting and that a better day awaits thee, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps the day after tomorrow - but certainly it shall come.

 

8. Thou shalt not regard thy ailment as the sum total of thy life but as merely a part of it. Fill your life with other diversions, be they mundane, daring, altruistic, or merely amusing. To fill your life with your ailment is to surrender to it.

 

9. Thou shalt maintain, at all times and in all circumstances, thy sense of humor, for laughter lightens thy heart and hastens thy recovery. This is not an easy task, sometimes seemingly impossible, but it is a goal well worth the endeavor.

 

10. Thou shalt have enduring and unassailable faith, whether thy faith be in a Supreme Being, in Medical Science, in Thy Future, in Thyself, or in Whatever. Steadfastly sustain thy faith for it shall sustain thee.

 

- Paul H. Klein © September 1993

[Guest the_eight_of_orbs]

my brother sent me this also the other day.

:*

10. Thou shalt have enduring and unassailable faith, whether thy faith be in a Supreme Being, in Medical Science, in Thy Future, in Thyself, or in Whatever.  Steadfastly sustain thy faith for it shall sustain thee.           

 

- Paul H. Klein      © September 1993

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[bonjing]

May i be so bold as to venture into saying, I emphatize and understand the feelings you're going thru. But, be strong and live life to the fullest. Carpe Diem.

[voyeurguy]

May i be so bold as to venture into saying, I emphatize and understand the feelings you're going thru.  But, be strong and live life to the fullest. Carpe Diem.

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Yup Im sure Lance Armstrong will tell everyone to "Live Strong"! The guy several years ago had testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain. He was in the middle of a thriving cycling career when it hit him. Underwent painful chemo as well as brain surgery. Several years after, he still managed to race and win the Tour de France, the most gruelling cycling race, an unprecedented 7 times. If he can do it, Im sure others can as well.

[voyeurguy]

Yup Im sure Lance Armstrong will tell everyone to "Live Strong"!  The guy several years ago had testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain. He was in the middle of a thriving cycling career when it hit him. Underwent painful chemo as well as brain surgery. Several years after, he still managed to race and win the Tour de France, the most gruelling cycling race, an unprecedented 7 times. If he can do it, Im sure others can as well.

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I missed this out. Early detection is key to surviving the BIg C. So better get a yearly executive check up just to make sure there are no surprises later on.

[voyeurguy]

I missed this out. Early detection is key to surviving the BIg C. So better get a yearly executive check up just to make sure there are no surprises later on.

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Also, once you hit 40, better get a procto as well to check for prostate or colon problems. A bit uncomfortable and humiliating but at least your sure.

[grovel]

This disease took my mom's life about a year and a half ago. Its hard being an MD at these time, coz when your doctor friends tell you, and you yourself know that there's nothing left to do, you feel hopeless, thinking what the heck have you been studying all this time!!!

 

Anyway, since then, i've been employed in a sort of alternative medical clinic which entailed not just the use of herbs, but also nutrition as a form of treatment for cancer. Sometimes it works on its own, however, i would advise combining it with conventional therapy. if anyone would like some info on cancer prevention tips and advise, just pm me would gladly help. Maybe if i could help others, i could at least diminish the helplessness i felt when my mom was sick.

[moymoy]

to avoid to have a big C , take care or yourselves have a healthy living avoid vices like drinking & most especially smoking. Its alarming that more more young people are engaged in smoking. I dont wonder why many people today have the big C. Its there own choice so better face the consequences

[Archviscount]

im sorry if it sounds like i am just messing around but i like to ask one thing.. whats the big C

[Lipstick]

im sorry if it sounds like i am just messing around but i like to ask one thing.. whats the big C

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Cancer is often referred to as the Big C.