A Caregiver's Inspirational Journey Through Cancer
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Our Life on Nov 23rd, 2010
“Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein In Northern California, raptors are EVERYWHERE! When I have guests visiting I will notice as we are driving that they aren’t catching them, every 100 yards or so. So I begin pointing them out as we are driving. On the lamp […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Misc on Nov 19th, 2010
“Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds.” – John Perry Barlow I really don’t know what to do – regarding Dave. I don’t like him flying, but we have to from time to time. He has a suppressed immune system and just doesn’t […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 18th, 2010
“Making Light of Myeloma” A worthwhile post to read by Myeloma Patient, Sean Murray (click title link). I would encourage you to put him on your blog list if you are looking for inspiration and hope in fighting this disease. Sean, as a professional writer, has a lovely way of expressing himself on this very […]
Posted in Caregiver Tips, Misc on Nov 17th, 2010
“I was too old for a paper route, too young for Social Security and too tired for an affair.” – Erma Bombeck I had an incredibly lovely conversation on the airplane on my way home, with a woman, similar in age to me, who had experienced a dramatic healthcare crisis with her husband. She too […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 17th, 2010
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. Its about learning to dance in the rain!” – Unknown I’ve just returned from my “speaking engagement” in Little Rock. A day of travel from Sacramento, nothing new there. There still isn’t a direct flight even when a travel agent takes care of it! A day […]
Posted in Caregiver Tips, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 9th, 2010
“The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” ~Mignon McLaughlin Once you have decided that you are going to move forward with a Stem Cell Transplant (SCT), there are naturally a lot of concerns about this process of wiping out your loved one’s immune system, putting […]
Posted in Caregiver Tips, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Oct 13th, 2010
I have put a link in my “Resources” tab from Don’s Myeloma Hope Blog regarding this. I found I was always hunting for it to pass along to someone who was trying to deal with this common side-effect from chemotherapy treatments. I like this link so much, because he includes many different regimens that are […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts on Oct 12th, 2010
“When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.” – Author Unknown Standing vigil. As the end became near and imminent – the realization of what was happening was beyond words. Everything that had led up to where we were in the dying process, all the fight, all the efforts, all the […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts on Oct 11th, 2010
“Although it’s difficult today to see beyond the sorrow, may looking back in memory help comfort you tomorrow.” – Author Unknown Thirty years later, my mother would die of cancer. It was not sudden, it was a process. Death and dying are two distinctly different experiences. After she had “survived” breast cancer, melanoma, thymoma, and […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts on Oct 10th, 2010
“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. “ ~From a headstone in Ireland It seems lately, that many folks I know and care for are dying or have died, from one form of cancer or another. It has a bit of a piling on feeling at […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Kids, Multiple Myeloma, Our Life on Sep 10th, 2010
“There’s nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster Finally! I’m home at last! I got in around midnight last night from Miami via Minneapolis/St Paul. A long day of traveling to be sure. My phone went on the fritz part way through my trip and then with all the traveling […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Caregiver Tips, Misc on Aug 20th, 2010
“To understand everything is to forgive everything.” – Buddha I hear a lot of complaints from Cancer patients and Caregivers about how “people” don’t understand! Often they are either sad or angry about this revelation in their relationships. It saddens me, of course, with everything they are going through, to have this added point […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Caregiver Tips, Misc on Aug 19th, 2010
“Hope is independent of the apparatus of logic.” – Norman Cousins Pat Killingsworth’s recent column at The Myeloma Beacon (Pat’s Place) discusses the age old debate of mental outlook and “other” things with regards to health and well being and whether it can help a person combat a life threatening disease. 0
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Caregiver Tips, Multiple Myeloma on Aug 19th, 2010
“They restored my faith and my hope by helping me.” – Tyler Jones If you are having trouble with your care, every hospital facility has a Social Worker that is on staff at the hospital. Sometimes they have fancy names, but search them out, ask for them. Even if your not having trouble it is […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Kids, Our Life on Aug 18th, 2010
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – Buddha Our 23 year old son arrived late Saturday night from Tampa Florida to spend about a week with us before flying to Maryland to visit friends, before he begins his new job in the South Miami area for Valley Crest. He has graduated from […]
Posted in Caregiver Tips on Aug 13th, 2010
As we all continue to learn old things and new to help our loved one with all sorts of issues, I thought I would share how to make Kefir Spread at home, (Americans: Kee’-fur, emphasis on the first syllable, and Russians: Kah-feer’, emphasis on the second syllable). Probiotics is all the rage for our digestive […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, Our Life on Aug 8th, 2010
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead 0
Posted in Caregiver Tips on Aug 7th, 2010
“No one experiences freedom until they stop pushing against others. The only thing that binds you is the pushing against that which is unwanted.” – Abraham As many of you know or have experienced, there are sometimes tremendous difficulties in dealing with our healthcare system, pharmacies, doctors, nurses, receptionists, insurance companies, even family and friends! […]
Posted in Caregiver Tips on Aug 5th, 2010
One of the more difficult things to address when your loved one is being treated for MM, is food intake. Their taste buds are altered from the chemotherapy, their sense of smell is changed, they’re scared, they’re nauseous, they’re in pain, they’re constipated, they have diarrhea, any and all of these things could be going […]
Posted in Caregiver Thoughts, CB (CaringBridge), Multiple Myeloma on Aug 3rd, 2010
CB# 28 “No one experiences freedom until they stop pushing against others. The only thing that binds you is the pushing against that which is unwanted.” – Abraham The rules in California are like none other, when it comes to healthcare. I have several complaints that have made our experience more difficult than it needed […]
