ArtsieSteph's dad's cancer superthread
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D
Oh, man! Great to hear.
I know most (if not everyone) thinks I'm a bit nuts about my stuffed animals, but here is the story related to them. When I first became disabled, (even before knowing it was permanent), all I did was hurt, and hurt badly. A good day for pain levels was merely 8. I had heard that gallstone colic was the worst possible pain ever, so since that was where I started, (Gallstones talked me into getting gallbladder removed, gallbladder removed included someone taking me off the operating table, and a nerve in my back was pinched. The same nerve that travels to the front of my abdomen causing great pain in the very area the missing gallbladder used to be, so was told it was stomach issues, when, all along it was a pinched back nerve), I thought a gallstone passing through was a 10. It is horrible. It was the worst pain I ever felt, so bad, I didn't even know what that was, (except I really didn't like it), until I passed out from it.
It got worse than that, so bad pain days for me entere the 12 range, a range the pain chart doesn't even include.
I was miserable.
A friend online sent me a care package, that included the two stuffed animals that started my love for stuffies. And nonstop pain helped me latch onto one for comfort. But one thing I hadn't done in months was smile.
One day, I got up from my nap, and left my teddy bear in bed, when I went to the bathroom. Hubby was napping with me, and apparently woke up when I left. But when I came back, the teddy bear was on his head. He has a very serious face. It cracked me up to see such a serious bear standing on his head. I laughed!
John loved it. He'd try every kind of funny thing to do with the bear just to get me to laugh. And laughing did make it better.
Once standing in his head stopped working, John did his bear-voice and had the bear say things you just don't expect a cute stuffed animal to say, and that got me laughing. (It wasn't crude. An example: We were watching another commercial for a drug, with the usual phrase, "so talk to your doctor about adding...", and John had the bear ask for the phone. He wanted to know if his doctor should prescribe a high-blood-pressure medication for him. lol)
John and I are both disabled now. I gave him his own teddy bear back when he was on treatment. And we have yet to stop having our teddy bears say such silly things that we don't both crack up laughing. We count that as part of our calling -- to try and make the other one laugh each day. (Actually, we past just-one-laugh years ago.) Stuffed animals can do that, once we get over the idea that they're just material and stuffing.
I know most (if not everyone) thinks I'm a bit nuts about my stuffed animals, but here is the story related to them. When I first became disabled, (even before knowing it was permanent), all I did was hurt, and hurt badly. A good day for pain levels was merely 8. I had heard that gallstone colic was the worst possible pain ever, so since that was where I started, (Gallstones talked me into getting gallbladder removed, gallbladder removed included someone taking me off the operating table, and a nerve in my back was pinched. The same nerve that travels to the front of my abdomen causing great pain in the very area the missing gallbladder used to be, so was told it was stomach issues, when, all along it was a pinched back nerve), I thought a gallstone passing through was a 10. It is horrible. It was the worst pain I ever felt, so bad, I didn't even know what that was, (except I really didn't like it), until I passed out from it.
It got worse than that, so bad pain days for me entere the 12 range, a range the pain chart doesn't even include.
I was miserable.
A friend online sent me a care package, that included the two stuffed animals that started my love for stuffies. And nonstop pain helped me latch onto one for comfort. But one thing I hadn't done in months was smile.
One day, I got up from my nap, and left my teddy bear in bed, when I went to the bathroom. Hubby was napping with me, and apparently woke up when I left. But when I came back, the teddy bear was on his head. He has a very serious face. It cracked me up to see such a serious bear standing on his head. I laughed!
John loved it. He'd try every kind of funny thing to do with the bear just to get me to laugh. And laughing did make it better.
Once standing in his head stopped working, John did his bear-voice and had the bear say things you just don't expect a cute stuffed animal to say, and that got me laughing. (It wasn't crude. An example: We were watching another commercial for a drug, with the usual phrase, "so talk to your doctor about adding...", and John had the bear ask for the phone. He wanted to know if his doctor should prescribe a high-blood-pressure medication for him. lol)
John and I are both disabled now. I gave him his own teddy bear back when he was on treatment. And we have yet to stop having our teddy bears say such silly things that we don't both crack up laughing. We count that as part of our calling -- to try and make the other one laugh each day. (Actually, we past just-one-laugh years ago.) Stuffed animals can do that, once we get over the idea that they're just material and stuffing.
D
More stuff I don't necessarily want to admit in public that I know. 
But concern depends on coloring of pee. If it's light/clear, that's just drinking a lot, so getting rid of the lot. Different shades of spring yellow (think daffodils, yellow cosmos, and dandelions), that's actually good. It means fluids are leaving along with he is getting good nutrients in him. BUT, if it is orange to red, or worse, little crystals of red in the sediment of it, that's bad! That's blood. And the crystals (pre-kidney stones, I think) are coming out of the kidneys. It's bad, but ranges in badness. Bad because he's dehydrated, (and, yeah, I don't get that either -- why pee more if you're dehydrated? Shouldn't that mean you're definitely NOT dehydrated? But that's the stuff doctors kept saying when this happened), is fixable. Or it can be the bad-bad.
Any which way, you can judge how scared you're supposed to be by the color of his pee.
I know. I didn't help you in the "don't be scared" bit. I'm not good for that, because of course you're supposed to be scared. I'm more into knowing appropriate levels for being scared, and I'm much better at a little-bit-nervous vs. terrified, but at least I prefer knowing it's only a little-bit-scared, so I don't overdo on the terrified scale.
(And truthfully, I'm with you. I think little-bit-scared has left the building when it comes to what your family is going through right now. The only choices now are ut-oh scared or terrified.)
But concern depends on coloring of pee. If it's light/clear, that's just drinking a lot, so getting rid of the lot. Different shades of spring yellow (think daffodils, yellow cosmos, and dandelions), that's actually good. It means fluids are leaving along with he is getting good nutrients in him. BUT, if it is orange to red, or worse, little crystals of red in the sediment of it, that's bad! That's blood. And the crystals (pre-kidney stones, I think) are coming out of the kidneys. It's bad, but ranges in badness. Bad because he's dehydrated, (and, yeah, I don't get that either -- why pee more if you're dehydrated? Shouldn't that mean you're definitely NOT dehydrated? But that's the stuff doctors kept saying when this happened), is fixable. Or it can be the bad-bad.
Any which way, you can judge how scared you're supposed to be by the color of his pee.
I know. I didn't help you in the "don't be scared" bit. I'm not good for that, because of course you're supposed to be scared. I'm more into knowing appropriate levels for being scared, and I'm much better at a little-bit-nervous vs. terrified, but at least I prefer knowing it's only a little-bit-scared, so I don't overdo on the terrified scale.
(And truthfully, I'm with you. I think little-bit-scared has left the building when it comes to what your family is going through right now. The only choices now are ut-oh scared or terrified.)
P
God is never changing. His word is never changing. What I mean by that is we are all made differently. What works with some may not work for others. Side affects, trama, chemo, ect makes our bodies react differently. It may not be any affect directly related to the cancer. God is good always and I pray that he guides the doctors into a treatment that is right and positive for your dad. Of course I'm still in praying that he just heal him by his word. Never loose hope.
Steph you and your family have been through so much from this dreaded disease I pray that the comforter takes hold of your hearts and gives them rest. For you have the Great doctor working on the case.
Steph you and your family have been through so much from this dreaded disease I pray that the comforter takes hold of your hearts and gives them rest. For you have the Great doctor working on the case.
