[momoffour]

Lisa,
I just joined this site and found this forum. Yes cancer has affected my family. I was reading what you wrote. My son who is now 11 yrs old was diagnnosed with Papillary Thyroid cancer last year at the age of 10. Besides the lump on the side of his neck the only reason we found it was because of a chest x-ray his pediatrician did (my son was complaining of shortness of breath). When they did the biopsy it was in his lymph nodes and it also is what is on his lungs.
My son still doesn't let anything stop him from enjoying life. When they removed his thyroid they had to remove lymph nodes to so his scar runs from the middle of his neck to about the hair line. I was told by many people who go to my church to remember one thing. "If God brings it to you he will bring you through it." This has been the one thing that has helped me out the most. I am sorry to hear that your sister is going through this. It's hard and for us we were told to get our son to remission it would take 4 to 6 years (he was diagnosed March 2006). My son's case is odd because noone in our family suffers from thyroid problems and he has has never been exposed to high doses of radiation. Hope all goes well for your sister!!!

[QueenAngie]

Welcome to the board, Momoffour!

Prayers for all those named with cancer.
Shauna, prayers for your DS too.

My maternal grandmother died when I was in h.s. with breast CA.

During WWII, she was one of those ladies recruited to help do 'Rosie the Rivetor' jobs
to help the USA.
Her job was to paint names on military equipment with paint.
The paint had lead and other chemicals in it.
The supervisors had each of these painters to put the paint brush tip in their mouths
to make a fine point. Hence much of the paint was taken internally
and years later, cancer resulted in so many of these ladies.

(((Hugs)))

[letspreadtheword]

Hello all,
I found this site and thought I would share it. It has lots of information for those who want learn more about beating off the disease

To your health,
Regie

[mcmama]

I'm all for sharing information, but we cannot link to sites that are commercial, offering alternatives if you buy the book.

We will be swamped with spam if we allow that.

[allybama]

Cancer is an insidious little beast, isn't it.

My little girl had Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia from age 2 until she lost her battle at age 4.

[mcmama]

I'm sorry, hon. It is a beast.

I knew a child some years ago who also had an aggressive leukemia. They tried everything, including experimental treatments, but she also died at age 4.

It's amazing what is found on routine checkups - complaints of shortness of breath, etc. The alert doctors who find these, and know what tests to order are really wonderful, because otherwise, how would you know? I have just been through a very major operation, lost a very large tumor, had no idea it was there until it was almost too late. Fortunately, I do not need chemo at this time, but have to turn my life around a bit.

Cancer seems to be very aggressive in younger people. My son has a friend who had the same type of tumor as me, and her cancer has been much more devastating. But she is getting good care and making progress. Still, it just does not seem fair!

[davesaxces]

Have we been affected? Yes. My father endured numerous maladies - hepatitis C (before it was called that), arthritis, gall bladder disease, liver disease, and finally colon cancer. The cancer was discovered about 18 mos ago during a colonoscopy and lower GI Exam. After (4) separate surgeries where we almost lost him, they removed a large portion of his large intestine to try and ensure they got it all. For 12 mos, he was cancer free. Then in March, it resurfaced in his liver and lungs. He started aggressive chemo, but it did seem to slow the disease. On August 23rd, we re-admitted him into the hospital for the upteenth time, and on Sept. 9th, we brought him home to hospice care. And sadly, on the 13th, we lost him to the disease. It is very hard emotionally and we are all dealing with it differently. But, we believe it will get better with time. We pray for all those families that have to deal with similar trials and continue to believe it makes us stronger as families to deal with the life ahead of us.