Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
Since my last visit to the board. Back in the summer I had six lymph nodes removed from the side effect of taking Humara. Came through that OK and was doing fine for a few months.
In Sept my wife and I thought since I was feeling pretty good, we would take a little road trip. No where in particular, just get in the car and head in one of four directions. We chose south east towards Charleston, South Carolina. I was still having days with a lot of pain but the prednisone and pain pills pretty much took care of that. From Charleston we headed up the coast to Myrtle Beach and got a condo for 4 nights on the beach and close to the boardwalk. Beautiful weather, nice condo, couldn't ask for any better. It turned cool the last day we were there and rained bad that evening as we featured out to dinner.
The next morning after loading up the car and getting coffee and a roll at a coffee shop up the street, I begin to have a small cough and chucked it off to the rain and cool breeze causing my RA and COPD to flair. I had just been bragging to my wife few weeks earlier how I have lucked out and not had bronchitis for some time, so figuring thats what it was, we headed home because having it many times, I knew it only gets worse within a day or so. It took us to days to drive 600 miles because of the RA pain and the coughing. I can't drive long distance like I used to so we were constantly changing drivers every couple hours.
By the time we got home I thought I was in full blown bronchitis, so I had my wife take me urgent care where the doctor told me without doing an X-ray that she confirmed what we both had thought I had and sent me home with meds. The next day, it kept getting worse and about six that evening I told my wife I was going going to bed because I couldn't breath very well and I thought resting would help. She wasn't having that and said if you can't breath you're going to the hospital. We got there and they did blood work, took X-rays and put me on a breathing treatment while waiting for results of those test.
About an hour later, a doctor came in and turned on the computer and in not so many words showed me my X-rays and pointing towards an area in my lungs that suppose to be black that was all white. You have a large mass sir and I've seen enough of these that I can tell you that you have Cancer. My wife and I were both numb and neither of us said a word. I think we were in shock. I was admitted right away and spent eight days there and was started right away on Chemotherapy. The fist round made me really sick so after beiing released my wife and I went to her dads house so I could be with someone while she went to work. We stayed there two months. While there, I lost so much weight and was weak that I went outside one evening to get some air and fell. I busted my face all up and broke some small bones around my tailbone and lower back.
I've since had four more rounds of Chemo and fifty six rounds of radiation with four more to go. Well, you'd think I would have had enough? Wrong, two weeks ago while walking to the office from the parking lot, I got real short of breath and my heart felt like it was coming out of my chest. I made it inside the door and fell into a chair. They got a doctor real fast and told my wife to get me to the hosptial right away. it was right next door and we told them we could get faster than calling an ambulance. I was taken right back where an EKG showed I was having a full blown heart attack right then. I barely had time to give my wife a kiss before I was rushed to OR. I had a 99% blockage in the main artery.....(The Widow Maker) The doctor who did the surgery told me had I been home, I never would have survived.
Also, I forget to tell you that had they not caught the cancer when they did, I would have been gone by Christmas. That's how fast growing this type of cancer is. They told me I have 16-18 months if I dont respond well to the treatments and up to 5 years if I do respond.
We've come to grips with it and our faith in God has given us a good attitude and we know either was it goes, I win. I win if I beat the cancer and if I don't, I win because I''ll be the first of us to be in heaven...If you got this far in this post thanks for reading and if you a person of faith, please put up on your prayer list, My wife as the caretaker is having just as hard of time going through this as I am so make sure you add her as well...
Thanks for taking the time to read this and may God Bless each and everyone of you and your families...
God Bless!!
Gary& Debbie
In Sept my wife and I thought since I was feeling pretty good, we would take a little road trip. No where in particular, just get in the car and head in one of four directions. We chose south east towards Charleston, South Carolina. I was still having days with a lot of pain but the prednisone and pain pills pretty much took care of that. From Charleston we headed up the coast to Myrtle Beach and got a condo for 4 nights on the beach and close to the boardwalk. Beautiful weather, nice condo, couldn't ask for any better. It turned cool the last day we were there and rained bad that evening as we featured out to dinner.
The next morning after loading up the car and getting coffee and a roll at a coffee shop up the street, I begin to have a small cough and chucked it off to the rain and cool breeze causing my RA and COPD to flair. I had just been bragging to my wife few weeks earlier how I have lucked out and not had bronchitis for some time, so figuring thats what it was, we headed home because having it many times, I knew it only gets worse within a day or so. It took us to days to drive 600 miles because of the RA pain and the coughing. I can't drive long distance like I used to so we were constantly changing drivers every couple hours.
By the time we got home I thought I was in full blown bronchitis, so I had my wife take me urgent care where the doctor told me without doing an X-ray that she confirmed what we both had thought I had and sent me home with meds. The next day, it kept getting worse and about six that evening I told my wife I was going going to bed because I couldn't breath very well and I thought resting would help. She wasn't having that and said if you can't breath you're going to the hospital. We got there and they did blood work, took X-rays and put me on a breathing treatment while waiting for results of those test.
About an hour later, a doctor came in and turned on the computer and in not so many words showed me my X-rays and pointing towards an area in my lungs that suppose to be black that was all white. You have a large mass sir and I've seen enough of these that I can tell you that you have Cancer. My wife and I were both numb and neither of us said a word. I think we were in shock. I was admitted right away and spent eight days there and was started right away on Chemotherapy. The fist round made me really sick so after beiing released my wife and I went to her dads house so I could be with someone while she went to work. We stayed there two months. While there, I lost so much weight and was weak that I went outside one evening to get some air and fell. I busted my face all up and broke some small bones around my tailbone and lower back.
I've since had four more rounds of Chemo and fifty six rounds of radiation with four more to go. Well, you'd think I would have had enough? Wrong, two weeks ago while walking to the office from the parking lot, I got real short of breath and my heart felt like it was coming out of my chest. I made it inside the door and fell into a chair. They got a doctor real fast and told my wife to get me to the hosptial right away. it was right next door and we told them we could get faster than calling an ambulance. I was taken right back where an EKG showed I was having a full blown heart attack right then. I barely had time to give my wife a kiss before I was rushed to OR. I had a 99% blockage in the main artery.....(The Widow Maker) The doctor who did the surgery told me had I been home, I never would have survived.
Also, I forget to tell you that had they not caught the cancer when they did, I would have been gone by Christmas. That's how fast growing this type of cancer is. They told me I have 16-18 months if I dont respond well to the treatments and up to 5 years if I do respond.
We've come to grips with it and our faith in God has given us a good attitude and we know either was it goes, I win. I win if I beat the cancer and if I don't, I win because I''ll be the first of us to be in heaven...If you got this far in this post thanks for reading and if you a person of faith, please put up on your prayer list, My wife as the caretaker is having just as hard of time going through this as I am so make sure you add her as well...
Thanks for taking the time to read this and may God Bless each and everyone of you and your families...
God Bless!!
Gary& Debbie
My brother wasn't supposed to make it to his 70th birthday....this past Dec. 12th. bad heart failure and no transplants for 70 yr. olds in Canada. But he made it....only to have a stroke 2 days later. Swears God has an expiration date stamped on him somewhere. He is also an evangelical so I know he'll add your names to his list too. I'll send them along. Can't hurt to have a Canadian praying for you too.
gentle hugs.................Jen
PS...what became of the lymph node biopsy...any cancer there? I have to have another chest CT this month as they are watching some growths in my lung as Orencia causes lung cancer. Always something isn't it? Growing older is not for sissies.
I will be keeping both you and your wife in prayer. I know faith in God really helps us get through these tough times.
Good grief, Gary, all that is enough for several households to contend with. So sorry for all of this. How are you weathering all the treatment? Open-heart surgery is a tough enough recovery without being run down from chemo and radiation beforehand. I'm so glad your faith is lifting you up.
My best to Debbie, too. In ways, being the bystander is worse than being the patient. Her road is hard.
Wendy
I am praying right now!!!
Hang on
My husband's dear friend who is 55 is battling lung cancer too. He stopped smoking 5 years before it showed up. He also has hepatitis. Well, it's been a rough battle and yet, it's been 5 years and he's still vertical and getting great time in with his 6th grade son. His cancer has popped back in here and there, but luckily once radiated, it's gone. No one can estimate his life span but he was told he had TWO YEARS TOPS - and he's on year 5 - soon to be 6. His lung cancer was very aggressive. (also thought he had bronchitis) He's had some trial medications and at this point, his team of docs feel his future doesn't have a specific expiration time frame, so they just address what pops up when it does.
Best wishes and God's blessings to you and your family!
I remember when you posted your holiday cookies a couple of years ago and was thinking that you had been MIA.
Keep up the good fight. We are all rooting for you. I have a feeling that you had a good attitude from the time you were knee high.
tell us how you are doing progress update wise when you are able.
hugs
depot
Wondered how you've been. So so sorry.
My heart goes out to you & your wife, bless you both.
My husbands dear friend was DXed 2 days ago. 6 months to a year.
Another wonderful man. My mind is frozen in disbelief how fast our paths can be altered, How priorities change, how what's important becomes much more clear especially to those on the receiving end.
Truely hope each day brings you pleasure, if even for a moment.
God bless you & yours.
Sammy
Be well
the blues
Sorry you have had a terrible time with your health this last year. We have missed hearing from you. I will certainly keep you and your family in my prayers. I am so glad you have a strong faith because I believe it will help both of you handle what may come your way. It can be just as hard on the family as it is the one that has the illness. We just had a friend stop in the other day and he has heart problems really bad (he had 2 devices in his chest to make his heart work) and the doctors told him he had a year to live if that... well he said he is about to make it 2 1/2 years and plans on living each day to the fullest and make them count.
May God bless you both.