Blessed and I wish I could help..........

Hello! My mum has been discharged from hospital today which happened to be her birthday! The best birthday present there is for her! We had a long talk with the doctors today before discharge. And we felt we were really blessed and lucky. Now that everything is under control, the doctors are more candid with us. Apparently at the first diagnosis, the situation is really bad, the entire abdominal area is 'filled' with cancer. And they proposed chemotherapy as they felt that it is inoperable and may possibly be never be operable if the chemo did not work - so why go through the surgery if even with the help of chemo, may never reduce the tumors enough to operate. At that time, the prognosis, is actually between 6 mths to 1 yr depending whether the chemo can control the cancer from spreading. Now....I did not know that! The doctors said that it is indeed a 'miracle' that the chemo worked so well with little side effects that when they opened up my mother, they thought they have the wrong patient although the CT scans had already indicated that most of the tumors are gone by the end of the 2nd chemo. They told us that my mum now literally has a new lease of life since all visible cancer are removed and the lymph nodes taken out are not cancerous. And we still have the 'insurance' of the 3 remaining chemo to kill off the microscopic cancer cells.

Of course, we would never know whether the cancer could come back within a short period of time but at least we have a fighting chance - no different from any other person.

I have learnt a lot on this board and I would like to suggest some improvements to the board. A lot of knowledge is lost because they get bumped down and the search function is not the greatest around on the internet. I wonder whether we can create some stickie posts (controlled by the moderators) - editable posts that would never get bumped down for everyone to contribute  - we could have a few stickies to deal with specific topics - e.g. hospital stay, recipie, chemo drugs, insurance. There are a lot of good pointers around and they kept get bumped further down. It would be a quick reference for anyone needing the information without relying on the search function which gives really weird returns.

For e.g. I learnt this from my mum's hospital stay which could mentally prep a person going to have a surgery soon and contribute to s stickie named HOSPITAL STAY:

Bring along a few panties during the hospital stay - disposable underwear is uncomfortable and you need a few panties because accidents can happen and would happen.

1. Get yourself mentally prepared as there is a strong likelihood that you would be placed at a maternity ward next to mothers who are giving birth to babies. My mum got a shock but she was philosophical. The young lady next to my mother's bed wasn't prepared and got teary whenever she hears the cry of a baby.

Ask the nurse if possible, ensure that the patients in your ward are patients having women problem and not giving birth to babies. New mothers typically attract the most number of visitors and flower baskets and may not be conducive to your sleep.

2.Tell the nurses you are afraid of needles even you are not. Ask them nicely to identify the best 'poker' to put you on a drip. It is no joke if you have someone heavy handed to put you on drip.

3.Morphine do funny things to you. You hear voices and see people floating around. I kept reminding my mother she is on morphine the first few days that it is normal side-effects of morphine to keep her grounded. And if you are the caregiver, don't get overly alarmed when the patient starts talking to thin air (my sister had a shock!)

4.Ask for sleeping pills - at least for the 1st few days. You are NOT going to sleep on the 1st day because the nurses would check on you every half an hour.

These are just some typical pointers which I have hoped someone had pointed out before the surgery. We would be more mentally prepared. Hey, even a packing list for stuff to be brought to hospital would be useful.

Any comments?????????????????

[hopeshell]

I think that is a great idea!  That way some of the basic info. (including my favorite about recommending a gyn/onc LOL)  could be at the top as a resource.  I am so glad your mom is better and you felt supported here.  There are so many daughters and sons who will be relieved to have you as a support person on this board!  Again, I am really happy to hear about your mom.  

[marie3B]

Hearing such a great outcome is so valuable. Your mum has a wonderful daughter! Hearing of her miracle makes it seem possible I may get the miracle I'm hoping for. I'm sure others feel the same encouragement. As far as your idea for the forum, it sounds good. I, myself, know so little about computer matters I have to leave that up to the pros!!!  Marie  

[Kimchi]

So glad to hear about your mother's miracle but I do believe that the combination of herbs and chemo did the trick...she did a great job raising you and you showed her and yur family that you can handle just about anything in life.  Pat yourself on the back.
As for your suggestion, you are so right and have touched on some helpful issues...I hope others going for surgery will keep them in mind...
Thanks for your help on this forum as well and keep us updated on your Mum periodically.

[crecco]

  Stories like your mothers are what gives the rest of us so much hope. Since I got sick myself, I have learned that there truely is power in prayer. I hope that the chemo will get rid of all it needs to.
  You have pointed out some very good ideas. Yes some threads should always stay on top for the information that they contain. I know that I have a hard time finding past posts about something specific, they get buried so fast. And you have some wonderful ideas about the hospital stay.
  Please know that you and your mom are in my thoughts and prayers and that I wish you the very best.
                    Love Chris