Hi Cara, Thank you for sharing your story of your sons journey and your journey with the site. It is wonderful opportunity to share on this site; it offers support, information, ranting and raving opportunities - all in a safe and caring environment. We all have varied experiences with tumours, cancer and treatment options. No matter what our experiences this site is here to help. There are many wonderful people here and I hope u are able to receive the support you need. Take care Rubes ... View more

Hi Lynne, What a horrible place to be in and what a horrible place for ur partner to be in. I am sending u my warmest wishes and prayers. I must say u r an amazing woman, to have faced that planning meeting alone. I worked as a social worker in mental health for 4yrs and I know how the system works. I can say I have been to many meeting where the carer is not respected or listened to. I do hope the treating team listened as u are an expert in this experience - it is ur life and ur partners lives! If there are future meeting I would suggest taking a support person for urself - for emotional support and for backing in case u are not listened to. Even if some of these concerns are from the brain tumour at the end of the day the healthcare system needs to treat the symptoms - meaning cancer symptoms and psychological symptoms. I have a thorough understanding of psychotropic medications so if I can help answer any questions pls ask away. In no way am I an expert however I do have clinical experience in those areas. As for the cancer experience I have rode this crazy ride with my husband for 12months in feb . The best thing this experience has taught me is to be strong, link with the wonderful people on this site and NEVER be afraid to ask questions. I hope ur partner is doing much better soon and I hope u have the love and support u need at this time. Sending a big hug, please take care and I look forward to listening more to your experience. Good luck 🙂 Rubes ... View more

So true, we will NEVER take out lives for granted again 🙂 and I must say that is another blessing! ... View more

Hi bratguy, Sounds like a terrible place to be in.... on top of the cancer rollercoaster. It can be very hard to get our partners/wives/husbands/families to see or understand where we are at and that sometimes we are ok. I have stage 4 lung cancer also and found it very frustrating when I became unwell. My husband was always fussing, my mother would visit and meltdown if I did the dishes! It made me furious, I was still a capable person who was not an invalid. Then after my surgery it was worse..... I found myself limiting contact with others so to not have to fight them or justify my small amount of independence I had left. It has been a very difficult journey for my husband and I. We have only recently been able tp openly communicate our feelings during treatment and how sometimes we both did not always feel supported during these times. Sometimes counselling works, however both parties need to be committed to resolving and admitting the concerns. It is wonderful that u have linked into this site - I have found great support, advice and caring from other site members. I blog because it helps give me clarity and helps me vent. It must be a horrible feeling to have not been consulted about the holiday or care in ur partners absence. All I can hope is writing ur feeling down has helped and that u can/will keep using this site. Pls don't give up hope, there are many great listening ears here. Rubes ... View more

Wow what bugger news to receive...... I am loving ur positivity and I too share great hope for u to do some cancer ass kicking. Cancer is an unbelievable journey full of such highs and such lows.... being positive and humourous really will be in ur favour. Don't lose hope, I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and I fought, was determined to win and got great results recently. So I believe anything is possible, even miracles (as such). I love the idea of a bowtie,maybe something u could wear to appts and treatment to help make light of such a heavy subject. Good luck and know we are all thinking positive thoughts with you. Rubes ... View more

Hi Gail, Congrats on ur wedding I hope u have a lovely day and night. Its always lovely to see some nice news on here. We spend some much time consumed by cancer we can forget about life great events and times. Here's cheers to u and ur partner! Take care Rubes ... View more

Hi Maddie Its great to see that you are still here, you've picked urself up from a very dark place and are beginning to heal (its just the start of a long journey ahead). What an incredibly hard thing to do!!!!!! I totally agree with Julie that you are amazing and very resilient - an inspiration for us all. May 2013 bring you peace and happiness! Rubes ... View more

Hi caitlyn, I would say don't give up hope yet, miracles can happen. I have stage four lung cancer, was treated with surgery and two lots of chemo. At the half way mark of treatment the cancer spread but then in Nov we got wonderfully clear scans. There is a lot of research around eating alkaline diet and avoiding acidy foods when having cancer. We found some benefit is modifying small parts of my diet. The next part Sounds crazy but there is lots of reseach around benefits of exercise during chemo to repair the body, assist with sleep and improve psychological wellbeing. I have recently come across some research that looked at cancer being a physical, biological and emotional disease caused by imbalances. If u are able to improve and manage these imbalances there have been positive changes in those people the research covered. I am not sure if I can share this research paper. I am aware this site is a Forum for support and information but im not sure if the site rules allow sharing of research papers/treatment sites. I think its important to realise there is no mircale cure (not that I'm aware), there is loads of research out there but remember the internet can push unreliable, not valid means or treatment. Have you considered talking with treating team about safe alternative options? I hope you are able to find the answers u are looking for. Remember there has been great improvements in treating cancer and its not always a death sentence. Good luck Rubes ... View more

Hi Maddie, Happy birthday for the 24th! I am glad to here u survived Christmas day...... I can only imagine how difficult that would have been. Keep fighting on and may time heal those deep painful memories. Hopefully with time most memories will be of the wonderful times u had together! Take care Rubes ... View more