Thank You to the Care Givers

First, I would like to say to all Care Givers how are you doing?  Oftentimes, caregivers are overlooked because all or most of the attention has been placed on the person who is sick and/or not well.

However, most of the times the caregiver is busy with confirming appointments, picking up medications, calling insurance companies, and managing the day-to-day events of daily life!  What a huge task for one person.

And it doesn’t end there because added to your plate is your concern for your loved one.  How are they doing?  Are they comfortable, and are they getting better?

Becoming a caregiver is usually not a choice.  It falls into your lap by default.  You are caring for a husband, child, parent, or a relative.

When I became a caregiver, it was unchartered territory that was complicated with the news of a dreaded disease that had killed many people.  I was thrown into a scenario that required that we make crucial decisions and incorporate doctor visits, tests, and the ability to cope with day-to-day life.  Afterall, I still needed to work and care for our minor grandchildren, while answering incoming calls and inquiries from concerned family members.

As a caregiver, I felt as though my life was no longer mine.  It was consumed with daily happenings that required my undivided attention.  Even though I understood people concerns for my loved one, it was like I didn’t exist, wasn’t important.

Being a caregiver is an important role and not until I became one did I realize how much it would mean to a caregiver to simply “how are you doing?,” “can I help you with something?,” or “can I give you a break?”

If you know a caregiver, take time to drop a line, give a call, or drop lunch by!  Helping a caregiver helps them continue to do what is required of them and knowing that someone cared enough to see about them means the world!

Caregivers are a gift to the one who has fallen sick or ill.  Sometimes taken for granted but we need to be reminded that they too need to be encouraged.  It always helps when we value each other in whatever capacity that we are called to serve.

So, to all of you that serve in this capacity, just know that what you do is priceless and needed.  Continue to do what you do in love knowing that you do what you do because of love, family, and duty!

One More Day!

It’s a new day. A new reason to be thankful and grateful!

It’s Been A Minute!

Hello everyone!  It has been a while since I have last written an entry.  For a while it seemed as though writing, even good news, was such an arduous task.

I create this blog as a tool for others who had just encountered the diagnosis of cancer.  My husband’s diagnosis hit me like a Mack truck and I went on the journey of finding others who had not only received the diagnosis of  cancer but had developed a way of dealing and overcoming it!

Well, for us, this is year 4 (March 2015) since his diagnosis of lung cancer.  I remember when he was first diagnosed his making pass December 2015 looked like an impossible feat.  Things that affected our everyday life became a project!  Making decisions played a pivotal part of our lives!

We are moving forward and are thankful for everyday that we share together.  He is stable but has not been declared “cancer-free” but he is down to “once a month” treatment which is a huge accomplishment.

I am recommitting to my writing and will be blogging about this journey at least once a month.

I continue to pray for those who just been diagnosed, living with their diagnosis, and have overcome their diagnosis.

My husband and I are committed to believing that new breakthroughs will make cancer a thing of the past.

Until next time.

Another Year

Wow, been SO busy with life…It seemed at times that I just didn’t have the energy to write whether good or bad.  However, it has almost been a year since my last entry and I am so thankful to be writing It Is Well!

Thank God for being so merciful to us.  I feel impressed to write a book, that hopefully, will encourage others to hold on to Faith.  To live life with a purpose.  To live in the NOW!

One Day At A Time!

Sometimes I wonder whether or not other peoples lives are just as full or fuller than mine.  Are they juggling school summer packets, tutoring, meal plans, diet restrictions, church, counseling…I guess you get the picture.

Even though I like to write, sometimes I simply feel to tired to sit down at the keyboard and put words to screen.

Hubby is still on his every two week chemo maintenance.  Right now, his doctor doesn’t feel the need to request a CEA count when he did his last PET scan but the last count was a 9.  I’m hoping that its a good sign.

However, the beginning of July he and I had a bad bout with allergies and a terrible, hacking, and aggravating cough.  I had it first but my doctor did feel it necessary to prescribed antibiotics.  Needless to say, I returned back to his office a week later, even worse!

Hubby saw his doctor and was prescribed a cough suppressant liquid, antibiotics, and a bacterial antibiotic.  Since we go to the same practice his doctor prescribed enough for both of us and we began to get better.

When he went for his treatment on yesterday, the pulmonologist said he had a lung infection.  So, he’s on another round of stronger antibiotics to get rid of the infection.  She also noted a small amount of water in his lung.  Not the news we wanted to hear but we are believing that with some rest and medicine and prayer that we will have a better report in two weeks!

Thanks for reading!

Two Year Mark!

This is our battle cry!  My husband’s diagnosis of Stage IV Lung Cancer turned our lives upside down!  We knew really nothing about it except that it killed people, lots of people! Although we were grandparents, we had not had the time to venture out, …

Faith Comes By Hearing

So, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God…

Opdivo and Treament

The diagnosis of cancer is never easy to hear but thank God that new cancer-fighting treatments are on the horizon…

Father’s Day

It was last March, 2015 when we knew something was wrong. It was May, 2015, when the diagnoses were confirmed.  I remembered it like yesterday.  I was sitting in the neatly arranged waiting room when the doctor (specialist) walked in wearing his white coat.  From …

CoWorker

We found out in early March of 2016 that a coworker was having trouble with numbness in his left arm.  He, of course, was subjected to several tests and then more tests.  The final cause were several tumors that they found in his brain and he was in Stage IV cancer.  They found some spots on his lung but still haven’t labeled them cancerous.

This revelation was followed up with a successful operation, some radiation, and then with chemotheraphy.   In the following months they found tumors in his left shoulder and operated and then in his right shoulder and they operated.

I asked another coworker, who had a personal relationship with him, about his current status and he reported that he saw him this past Saturday and he was in awful pain and was too weak to pick up a pill to help relieve his pain.  Right now Vic is dealing with serious pain management issues.  We are waiting for the doctors to find the right combination and method of delivery.  I still pray for Vic.

The doctors at Sloan-Kettering have informed him this week that the chemo isn’t working and there is nothing else that they can do for him.  Needless to say, that Vic will more than likely not returning to work.

Reflection:  I miss Vic’s smart-aleck answers and that impish smile of his.  The talks we often had about nothing.