Thank you  Jessica for sharing your experience, your parents would be so, so proud of you.  My children are my purpose and reason to keep on going. Without them i woukd have nothing, with them i will continue to push on. ... View more

Thank you very much.  Duey  ... View more

Thank you so much. This gives me hope. ... View more

Hi,   I think you have made a good choice. I have only been diagonosed for about five weeks and a lot has happened. I think it is best to take whatever advice is offered and "better to have tried than to have not tried at all". Since my MRI I have thought of all those who do not have a choice in doing it because of the cost. Anyway, my treatment has progressed now to mayby surgery, chemo and then radiation. But, I have told everyone involved that whatever they think is best I will be happy with, because I do not know what to do.   All the best. ... View more

I just thought I'd offer a word of encouragement- My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2011, has been in remission for 7 years and has never been healthier.  He cycles about 500 km a week, including his commute to and from work, and when the weather is fine he cycles up mountains with his friends for fun! (!!!!crazy, I know!)   One of the things I have learned is that there are many different types of cancer, which have many different health implications, and many different individual responses to it.  You've had a hellish three years, so I can understand your mindset, but your sister will not necessarily follow the same trajectory as the other family members you have lost.  It may be helpful to get some professional advice about dealing with the amount of stress you are under- I found conselling gave me additional coping tools that are still useful today.   Your GP may be a good place to start, particularly if you are vomiting regularly.   I wish you many, many good things. love and hugs, Emily ... View more

Thanks again Rick. I am waiting for the palliative care team to call me back about maybe changing the opiates to something else. He was in hospital for 10 days and was awful. He got really violent and was attacking people which is so out of character. When he came home, he was good for 3 days and very lucid but started going downhill and is never lucid at all now. I have a daughter who sits with him while I go shopping and just do a few chores but I always feel I have to rush back in case he needs me (martyr, I know). Anyway, since we last spoke, I have been going along with his "reality" and keeping us both calm. Regards Linzi ... View more

Thanks Kate ... View more

Hi ahappyhayes1199,   It doesn't seem to matter what you do, cancer has bad consequences.   For my gastro-intestinal cancer, I was put on a chemo-surgery-chemo protocol. Surgery found that the first chemo seemed to have successfully killed off "all" of the cancer - note that there is no guarantee on "all". But they had to take out mu entire stomach to find out that there were no live cancer cells to be found. So now I live without my stomach and it is no big deal.   But what if I hadn't had the surgery? I would be constantly worrying whether or not the first round of chemo had been successful. If it hadn't been successful, to what extent is the cancer spreading to other organs and tissues?   Again, for me, it was not such a significant question because we can survive quite happily without a stomach. A few minor considerations to be made regarding consumption of food, but not insurmountable.   So you need to consider what state you would be in with and without the operation. Speak with your surgeon and your oncologist and anyone else who will listen about your concerns. Take there responses away with you, think them through and then go back to get any gaps in understanding answered. For me, it took a 4th year student doctor to successfully explain to me why a partial gastrectomy would leave me worse off than a full gastrectomy.   So just keep asking about the pros and cons of all of the options (including the "do nothing" option) until you are content with whatever decision that you make for yourself.   Warm regards, Rick ... View more

Good Morning Rick,   Thank you for your response, It is rather frightening considering I was told when they removed the kidney in 2011 that they had it all and that it has been 7 years following. When I mentioned this to the Thoracic Surgeon who replied one is never clear its a matter of continuous scheduling monitoring following surgery. They have now brought my P.S.A. checks forward to 3 monthly instead of the 12 monthly checks. All we can do is monitor the situations my advice to all.   Regards, Riccardo 68 ... View more

Cheers Rick Your advice makes perfect sense - I am just really craving some poached eggs...haha. Kind regards Anna ... View more