workingharder

I'm working on seeing an upside to this. This may take a while.

To OCNRN63 and gvrn13, nice avatars. Too many good songs, too many good times.

One of the things I do is be sure, to the best of my abilities, that my obligations are taken care of. My insurance stays covered, final arrangements are made and paid for. Advanced directives are complete, end status is established. When the time comes, I want everyone to be on the same page. I did notice that with the stated exception of O2 starvation, I have no fear of anyone or anything now. Natural progresion of the phychology of the disease. I don't think I'm afraid of dying. But, at this time its hard to say since its still a ways out there. This is looking like its rambling some because, I've now been trapped in this hospital bed for 7 days, I'm trying to type this on a phone and my beloved Xanax is kicking in,

1st, I would have some genuine concerns about working in a facility that handles such fragile patients that won't even spring for a half-way decent crash cart. I can handle no defibrillator on board, but no suction? Come on, drop the $300 for a suction and sleep better at night. 2nd, See if you can arrange for a respiratory therapy consult with the patient on the proper use of suction. He may just not be educated properly on the benefits of suctioning technique. Proper suctioning can eliminate his auditioning for "Blue Man Group". 3rd, If he has an extra cannula at home have him bring it with him so that a quick swap can be done if needed in the clinic. 4th, get Social Services, either in house or state, involved with this man. They may not be able to help but, when they can it can be magical. Now, on to my own approach to my situation. I had often wondered how I would react to news such as what I've been given. I am not a strong soul. Definitely not a type "A" personality. (Oh, and just as an aside, 93.74 percent of the world's problems are caused by type"A".) I was handed the PET scan results and it was unequivocal, stage 4 lung cancer with Mets in vertebrate and liver. I can read and I knew enough about lung cancer to know my fate. And I think "fate" is how I view it. I don't carry any unrealistic expectations of medical science nor of the message delivered by the advertising community 're: the success rate for cancer cure. I have a 50 percent chance of living to the end of the year, a 40 percent chance of living an additional 2 years, and 1 percent to make 5 years. There are times when I let it get to me and I'll wallow in "woe-is-me" for a few minutes but, generally I can't indulge myself like.that very long. It gets tiring and I've noticed other people don't want to play along most of the time. People are funny about that kind of stuff. There are several things that help me make it through. I have a good, solid group of friends and family. I have a son who seems to view life and death in the same realistic way I do. Most of all, I have a brother and sister-in-law who have taken me in and have taken very good cafe of me. They are essentially my family and I am thankful for them every day. (To be continued after my bathroom break)

Tuskegee... Is that where I'd heard this before...

Op comes in one time with a request/statement that I had no idea how to respond to. Your avatars, however, did intrigue me enough that I had to comment. Anyway, back to the original post. Yes there are case studies concerning genetic alterations or cancer. Boy, glad I got that off my chest.

Boo-boo

Ingrid would have been my first celebrity crush, except I considered her to be closer to the group of Greek Gods. Check out the movie "Gas light" to see just how close to perfection a person can physically appear.

I never noticed before how similar she and Ingrid Bergman looked. Yep, to be compared to either one is high praise indeed.

Is there a question in there somewhere? Also, SoldierNurse, is that a picture of Ingrid Bergman?

Many times when a diagnosis of cancer is given it is also a given that this is a death sentence. When I got my diagnosis I knew that one of my lesser problems was going to be financing my retirement. With the op's patient, I can think of nothing so frightening as O2 starvation. With a cancer diagnosis you are already so beat up, the smallest routines are now Olympic events. I'm hardly an expert in oncology but, the first thing I would want from a caregiver would be the needed equipment at hand to take care of these situations. When he has his next scheduled exam, I'd like to be sure that there is O2 on the spot with whatever adapters as are needed. Does he do his own suctioning? Can someone else clean his cannula so he can rest? Can you just have a right sized spare on hand? I know when my sats crash, something as small as sitting up in bed can drop my numbers 7 or 8 points. And trust me, when I'm down in the low 80's I get damned scared. Nothing else frightens me anymore, but suffocation does. He may be as brave as you've painted him, and if so than i'd like to shake his hand someday in this or another world. But, oxygen starvation scares the hell out of me. Make him as comfortable as possible. Don't let him get too cool in an over air conditioned building. Help him to rest as much as possible while in your care. Since my own diagnosis I've spent 11 of the past 58 days in the hospital. Sometimes we may not act like it but, you are now caring for some of the most physically vulnerable people you will meet.

I can't figure how you girls function with long nails anyway. If mine get over 1/8" long I can't do intricate work or type at a computer without ammassing a huge volume of mistakes.

I believd the big one on the left foot can pick up HBO.

My number has been called and I have lung cancer with mets to bone and liver. Doctor said since i'm relatively young and strong he wants to treat aggressive with chemo and radiation. Biopsy results not in but, doc said doesn't think it is small cell. I am no omcology expert but, was wandering if anyone can give a heads up about side effects of treatment and what I might expect (in a general way). Hope this ain't violating TOS. Thanks ya'll.

Someone at Busch Gardens doesn't have a clue.