Hi
Stan might be getting some relief from the patches...finally. He had breakfast this morning and announced he wanted to get away for the day! I was so surprised and had to set everything aside I had planned to do between his naps. We got in the car around 12:30 and got home this evening around 9pm! It was the most beautiful day filled with laughs and love and happiness without thinking about the cancer. We took a drive to San Diego and it was just beautiful out with temps hitting as high as 80 on the drive there and then the temps dropped into the low 70's. I cannot tell you how shocked I was how he made a 360. It made me think of Faith not being able to do anything and then the next cleaning and mopping and driving around. I guess with cancer we just don't know what each day brings. I thank God for our special day and I pray all of you were able to make some special memories this weekend. I feel so blessed even though I know Stan has cancer. I guess Stan is taking the same approach that Cee is and I admire him for being so strong!
Thanks all for listening, but had to share with you some good news since the pain has been such a huge concern with Stan. He was up most of the night in pain too, so however he managed to get out was incredible!
Kim

Kim-

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to wake up to good news like this. It makes me feel like my prayers have been answered. But what is just as refreshing is to hear it in your words. You reflect such admirable character and attitude ...I feel like I have already been to church this morning. Speaking of which, I have to myself and these kids ready!

Also, Patsy seems to have started improving since the very day we added the Cellebrex. Perhaps a little to early to tell, but I have feeling it might make a big diiference.

Have a blessed day,

conan

Kim,
I'm so happy to hear about your beautiful day! It must have been a much needed respite for you both. I'm glad our weather here in San Diego turned out to be so great. :cool:

Lisa

:bouncing: :bouncing: YEAH!!!!! :bouncing: :bouncing:

Kim,I am so glad to hear about your wonderful trip down to San Diego.Iv'e been praying that Stan have some good days for a change so am thrilled to hear he had one. Glad I checked this before I go to bed as now I will go to bed happy after a very hectic night at work! JanMarie:) :) :) :) :) :p

Hi Conan, LisaFaith and JanMarie,
Thanks so much for your postings! It was just so wonderful I had to share and let others know that even though you can have really tough days, there can be some sunshine. Conan, I was so pleased to hear that Patsy is improving since being on Cellebrex. I always share with Stan my friends on the posting board and he enjoys listening to me and asks about people. I think he knows it gives me some comfort to communicate with people going thru the same thing. I will continue to pray for Patsy and your family Conan. I want you to have that beautiful day like I had!
LisaFaith I thank you for your posting with such kind words!
JanMarie, thanks for your "YEAH" and still checking in on all of us!

Now for some sad news, Stan had a very bad day today, probably one of the worst ones yet. He woke up and had breakfast and seemed okay and we talked about maybe doing a family lunch or dinner out, but by 1oam he was in severe pain. He was having very bad pain in his groin area (bone pain) so I kept massaging on and off today and think it finally eased up around 6pm tonight. I also noticed his color was not the same, more pale. He struggled most of the day and just looked very sad, but he was talking about yesterday and smiled reflecting on the day. You just don't know with this cancer and so thankful we were blessed with yesterday. (not that I am not thankful for today, but think you understand what I am saying)
Thanks again my friends for your posts and sharing my excitement.
Kim

Kim-

I don't find it that odd that a bad day might follow a really good one. When Patsy is having a good day, she usually takes full advantage of it and unintentionally does too much. But it is hard to "lay-off" when you finally get a good day. However, I am so sorry that Stan's day is as bad as it was. It is so hard to make sense out of this disease. You would think a nice day out would be just what the doctor ordered (considering the importance placed on the performance factor). I know that consequently it was a bad day for you as well and you both are continually in thought and prayer.

As I just alluded to, Patsy didn't have a great day either. On Saturday a friend took her to another firend's baby shower and so she was up and around from about 9:00 to 5:00 without napping. I was unpsatirs when they got home and I could hear them laughing outside in the car. But Sunday we went to church and that was it for her. She had more pain than usual, but probably nothing like Stan is suffering and stayed in bed most of the day.

Even if her good days are because of adding Cellebrex, I expect she will still have bad ones, especially when she does alot. Her wieght is down from about 110 lbs (January) to about 103 today. So even if the Tarceva/Cellebrex combo is effective, it may be a while before she is up to par. She wants to take the little kids down to Disney the first week of April, which is the peak week of the year. So I guess we will have to wait til her scans and appt. on March 23 and she how she feels. If she is doing a good bit better, then I will have to scramble to find a suitable reservation.

Well I am off to work. I hope you and Stan have a blessed day and he pain subsides.

conan

Hello Kim and all, I have had trouble getting a post up recently; my old computer is getting unpredictable lately. If this goes through I want to say again that I pray for each of you daily and ask for strength and hope for each of you. I heard a news report this morning about a minister who had cancer and after surgery and testing, no cancer showed up. I also remembered a loved minister when I was young who lost his battle with brain cancer. It really is in the Lord's hands and I still ask each day for Him to hold my hand throughout the day. I am still doing good and will have my fourth scan the end of April. I ask for all your prayers as I send mine out to you. Love from Ky., Pat

Conan sorry to hear Patsy did not have that good of a day either. Stan still did not have the best day today either, but not the worst. His blod counts were fine so no shots today. I hope this week gets better for Patsy and she can get out more. I bet you love it when you hear her laughing and enjoying time with her friends. Oh, I do hope (and will throw a prayer in) you can make it to Disneyworld! We have annual passes to Disneyland and when we go with Stan (have not gone in a long time with him) we rent a wheelchair and I get a good workout pushing him around. He does not go on any rides, but just sits with me and Anthony usually goes with a friend so we sit and wait for him as he goes on the rides. I am sure the little ones would love it!
Pat you won't believe it but I woke up this morning and for some reason you came to my mind and I was thinking about you and hoping all was well since I have not seen a posting in a while and then I pull this up and see you had posted! I thank you for all the prayers and I just think you are such an inspiration to so many fighting this terrible disease. I will pray for you and I look forward to yet another posting stating you have clean scans!
A big hug for you and Conan,
Kim

Dearest Kim....good days and bad ones seem to take us always off-guard. I am so happy you two were able to spend the day having carefree time and lightness of spirit. What an awesome gift. We struggle through the bad days that sometimes follow those awesome ones. I know Bud did that to me a few times and when he rallied, it seemed that the energy drain from it affected him for days afterwards. I just reached the 4 month mark on the 5th and can reflect on how time has passed and this same time has changed me. My wonderful sweetheart is absent but present and always in my heart. Spring is in the air, and as nature renews itself, so is my spirit. You and everyone on this board are always in my thoughts and prayers and keep faith alive and burning bright. It will get you through today.

Love, peace, healing and prayers
Jan

Hi Kim,

I am so very happy that you and Stan had a wonderful day out together, what a joy. I am also sad that he had to pay for it with pain the following day - it seems to me that's the way it is with cancer. I find that one day I can have great fun and must admit I do over do it, full of the exuberance of life. Today is international womens day and I went to a gypsy village, a party of women many of them in their 80s we all danced, wild gypsy dancing - even me I could not believe myself, but felt so very happy. The next few days I will pay the price with exhaustion and extra pain, but you know what it's worth it to me, but it must be so very heartbreaking to watch in a loved one. I pray that Stans' pain is under control again very soon so that your both able to enjoy another extra special day together.

Blessings to you both, :angel:
Cee

Kim, haven't posted lately but been on the boards to check Stan's progress since his disease seems to mirror my husbands some what. Plus, we are originally from So. Cal (my husband grew up on Balboa Island) and my hubby, Mike, actually listens to me when I give him Stans updates! Anyway, just wanted to let you know I think about you and Stan all the time, and include you in my prayers. We are acutally doing fairly well, considering, so am very blessed and wish the same for you. You both are amazing!!!

Hi Kim-

Just checking-in ...how is everything? Hopefully you have had another good day or two since we last spoke :) . I don't know what spring is like on your coast, but it is a wonderful time of year here to get out do things. I know you have alot on you and I am just praying that God might shower some blessings on you and your family.

Patsy tells me she is feeling better with the Cellebrex. However it is not all that obvious. I drug her out of the house for a few hours yesterday and I think she enjoyed about an hour of it :confused: . I am probably just too impatient. Considering the Tarceva combo, it might require atleast 6 weeks to see any obvious improvement. I don't think she will be ready for a trip to Orlando by April 2, so maybe when school out. Besides, spring break is the busiest week of the year.

Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, you are as always in my thoughts and prayers.

conan

Conan, ....... I don't know what to offer except a hug and a bunch of prayers to shower on you and Patsy. I was elected co-captain of the Old National Bank Relay for Life Team.
275 walkers strong.....YEAH!!

My co-captain is a 7 yr (and currently undergoing lung mets from breast cancer) survivor.... Hooo-aaa..(as the Marines would say)

We all are on this journey together. God bless us all in His infinite mercy.

Peace, prayers, love, and healing....
Jan

Hey Jan!

It sure is good to see you ...and doing so well!

I don't know you that well, but somehow I am not surprised to see you continuing to do all you can. You are an inspiration and evidence that life does go on for those who have lost loved ones to cancer. But I am sure that it will never be the same.

I pray that God will continue to guide you my sister and bring joy and happiness into eveyday.

Conan

Hi All,
I thank you all for your replies! I am sorry I have not been on lately as things have been a bit overwhelming and I have not had much sleep lately. Long story short we have had Stan's patches now increased to 125! (and to think he started out with 25) The weekend was not fun for anyone, especially Stan!(I think one night Stan got to bed around 2am once the pain/screaming stopped and one night it was around 1am) Well, I take that back...the boys had a fun weekend, which I would want them to have! We met with the doctor today and Stan only has one more chemo left on March 26th. The doctor also said that in about 4 weeks he will have scans! I then asked about the Tarceva and Celebrex that Patsy(Conan's wife) is currently taking and he said that is a good one to try especially since she has never smoked and also explained how it worked AND that Stan could even be on Tarceva if this last round of chemo did not work. He stated he knows that Tarceva is for NSLC, but they are clinical trials for SCLC! I do love our doctor as he takes time to explain when we ask anything. Given the amount of Stan's increased pain is concerning all of us so we must be patient and enjoy Stan's good days. (sorry to say, but since that last outing there have been no good days)
Cee it is wonderful and uplifting to read your postings and great you got out and enjoyed the day! I do hope you did not pay too much for your fun and have gotten out since that day! You stay strong and keep enjoying when you can get out! Postiemayer it was also wonderful hearing from you! How is Mike doing? Oh, Balboa Island is wonderful! My kids like to go down there in the summer months! I am sure you cherish your time with your husband and thanks for taking time to come visit us here at the posting board! And Jan you know how I feel about you! BIG HUGS coming your way! You are wonderful to keep checking in and so happy to hear you have good days!
And Conan I do pray Patsy continue to feels better. I feel your frustration with your outing yesterday. We have tried for quite a while now to get out to the movies, but just cannot make it. I really felt guilty that Stan felt absolutely terrible this weekend and the 3 of us were working in the yard planting and laughing in the backyard. I am teaching the boys how to do yardwork and they are actually enjoying seeing their hardwork pay off! The frost got to some of our plants this year since we had colder than usual temps and then we had to have a tree cut down and Andrew insisted he could do it himself (not a huge tree) so he did cut it down but now digging the stump out which is going to take a while, but he will have the satisfaction of doing it himself. It was sad that Stan came to the door and was watching and got tears in his eyes watching all of us. Anyway, I need to run as I do need some sleep. We never know when Stan's pain kicks in and I have learned I cannot stay up as late as I use to as it seems his pain likes to kick in around 10pm. Thanks to all of you and May God Bless You,
Kim