# It's been a rough 6 months.



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I've told a few of you of Karens cancer and would like to fill the rest of you in.

Karen had breast cancer 6 yrs ago and treatment went well and was 5 yrs cancer free in Oct.Shortly after she started having sharp back pains and at first thought it was from a 40 yr old accident and that she had slept on a couch for 15 yrs of night shift.It started to be more often and I ended up takeing her to acute care on a weekend.The Dr sent her home with muscle relaxants.They were no help.A few weeks later she decided to go to chiropractor,after telling her all the symptoms and xrays she said bad back from accident and she could fix her up.Well after a couple weeks of that and getting a lot worse went to another dr and after she told dr of symptoms he ordered a bone scan immediately.Bone scan showed cancer and a biopcy was ordered along with CT scan and MRI.Shes probably made 40 trips to Sioux Falls for tests,injections and Dr appointments.34 trips to Worthington for radiation and many more to pickup prescriptions etc.Thank goodness we had help from her daughter and sisters.

For now the radiation is done.More tests will come to see if it all worked.She does have to take monthly injections for life.Only $8330 per month.(which the insurance has to approve before they will even mix it)Takes about 6 different meds every day currently.Getting weaned off a few of them now.

To say the least it's been a battle.Alot of frustrations and delays in getting it correctly diagnosed and treated when time is important.

And the fact they don't check for this happening in her annual checkup with oncologist.They check your blood but this doesn't show on the blood test is what we were told.

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10484484_10203017510937535_5074582195495493909_n.jpg


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I really hate that you two are going thru this.....cancer is a destroyer and spares no family. I ache thinking about what Karen is enduring.....the unknown is a very hard thing. I will forward Karens name and situation and she will receive spiritual support from folks unknown.

Best Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Sorry to hear that, I know she is glad to be done with the treatments.....

Will surely offer up prayers for your family and others who suffer from this disease.


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## Maple Guy (Jun 15, 2014)

Swmnhay....my heart truly goes out to you....2 years ago my wife went through breast cancer also. We were blessed that she was a nurse at Mayo Clinic so she had great care and that they found it earlier than later stage. It is never easy to see the love of your life go through something so terrifying as breast cancer....God bless your family and best wishes for health and happiness. ......


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

You have prayers on the way from central Florida, too.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Cy, I am still in shock. If there is anything I can do for either of you, just let me know. Prayers sent. Hang in there. Best, Mike


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

You and Karen are in our thoughts, Cy. Cancer and its treatments can be very difficult to endure.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Cy Keeping you and Karen in our prayers. Hoping to swing by and say hi in person someday,


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

That is a tough pill to swallow.

Will add Karen to my prayer list.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Our thoughts and prayers are with you both.

Ralph


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

My prayers with you. This awful disease has taken both my wife's mother and mine. Many do beat it though. One day at a time. Concentrate on small goals and miracles will happen.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Prayers to you Cy. My mom is battling cancer right now. 
It's a tough battle. I can't imagine what you're going through.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Thoughts and prayers Cy. My mom had a brain tumor over 25 years ago, strange thing as well, she was either born with it and it grew real slow or she was born with it and took years for it to grow, either way that was rough. Still on disability to this day from short term memory loss, etc.

The wife lost her best friend to cancer. Started out as breast cancer, supposedly was in remission, when it came back it was in her brain. She was 34.

Father in law just had over a foot of colon removed yesterday at the Indy VA.

Don't think anybody can say they haven't been touched by cancer in some way.


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## Bags (Nov 17, 2013)

Our prayers and thoughts are with your family my friend--- stay strong for Karen.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Thanks everyone!!!

Karen is very stronq willed person and remains positive,so that is a big plus.But in this case it is termed incurable but treatable.So its one test or treatment at a time and pray for the best.

It's all been very stressfull from takeing longer to find the problem because of a incompitant dr that misdiagnosised it to delays because they are booked up on machines to get a scan or treatment.It has been common for the Dr to order a test and it can't be done for 3-4 days because machines are booked solid.

We plan on doing a few things this summer,I just hope she is up to it she gets run down pretty easy.She is getting a little better everyday since the radiation is over.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

You both are in our prayers for sure Cy! A major portion of my family has had some form of cancer or another, and it is just a terrible terrible disease. If there is anything you need help with, just holler, only a phone call and an hour away.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Well, look at the bright side, at least she didn't have to go to the VA for treatment.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

I hope the worst is behind you. Hopefully the expensive drug you can get and that it does not have to much side effects. It sucks when the side effects are worse than the sickness.

I lost my grandma a year and a half ago to cancer. My wife lost her dad to cancer when she was only 18. Than one of her aunts a few years later. Than her sister got cancer and had a kidney removed. Also I myself have a rare type of cancer.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

hog987 said:


> I hope the worst is behind you. Hopefully the expensive drug you can get and that it does not have to much side effects. It sucks when the side effects are worse than the sickness.
> 
> I lost my grandma a year and a half ago to cancer. My wife lost her dad to cancer when she was only 18. Than one of her aunts a few years later. Than her sister got cancer and had a kidney removed. Also I myself have a rare type of cancer.


Yea the side effects suck.She takes 6 different kinds of pills some twice a day.Some of the pills are for the side effects from radiation or other pills.

I lost my best friend to Pancreatic cancer in march.A few days before he passed I asked him if he would of went threw the operation he had (whiple procedure)he said,NO.He said he only had 3 good moths in the last 14 and he would of had that anyway.

IMO I think there is a lot more cancer around.Something is odd if you have to wait for treatments because it is booked full.Esp when all the hospitals have added on to their cancer centers.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

I know what you mean. I'm losing a good friend of mine to brain tumor. He had it maybe 6 years ago, went into remission, and now it's back with a vengeance. He is 28 years old. Buried my best friends dad 2 months ago to lung cancer, and that was the toughest thing to see him go from a work like an idiot farmer to being worn out going from the car to the house.

Like I said, I truly believe it's the fast paced world in which we live anymore. We run from one place to the next, all day everyday. It has to have an effect on our physical bodies. My maternal grandma used to tell the story of he year she and my grandpa got married. It was 1936, and newlyweds. Grandma was planting her garden, grandpa was planting corn. Beautiful 80* day in mid May. Grandpa came up with the planter and team of horses, fed em and put em away. Told grandma "it's too nice of a day to plant corn, we're going fishing" No one today would dream of doing that nowadays. And yes the corn got planted, cultivated and picked, so taking a little relaxation time didn't matter.

As I type this, I'm sitting in the waiting room at Mayo Clinic, Charlton building waiting to have an appointment. And I can't believe how full this place is all the time, every time we go here.

Rant/vent period over.

My wife and I have added you and Karen to our supper time prayer list, and just want you to know that there are many others who do the same.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Back then in the 30's they most likely only ate what they produced. Back then what they might have bought at the store wasn't full of ingredients that would have took a bio chemist to pronounce and actually know what it was.

Take a good look around your house someday, how many of the ingredients in anything do you actually recognize?

I got to wondering yesterday on the drive home from Indy what the long term effects might be for some people that have been taking one ADD/ADHD drug or another might be in a few decades.

I think I'm going to take a leisurely drive back to Indy tomorrow and see my love and how her father's doing, then I think I'm going to take her out and make sure she gets a good lunch.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

I know what ya mean Marty. My sister in law worked as a food scientist at Hormel Foods. She said you wouldn't believe the shit they put into food to make it last longer on the shelves. She was instrumental in the Hormel Foods Natural Choice sandwich meats, just because of the amount of preservatives in regular sandwich meats. Our insides must be damn near pickled because of all the preservatives.

Saw a car in the parking lot at Mayo with windows painted saying pray for a little 5 year old girl who has some rare tumors on both her lungs. That just ain't right. It ain't normal.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

stack em up said:


> Saw a car in the parking lot at Mayo with windows painted saying pray for a little 5 year old girl who has some rare tumors on both her lungs. That just ain't right. It ain't normal.


Some of that these days, and I don't mean to sound callous but I wonder if in the past a child like that in the womb might not have made it to nine months anyways?


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

stack em up said:


> I know what you mean. I'm losing a good friend of mine to brain tumor. He had it maybe 6 years ago, went into remission, and now it's back with a vengeance. He is 28 years old. Buried my best friends dad 2 months ago to lung cancer, and that was the toughest thing to see him go from a work like an idiot farmer to being worn out going from the car to the house.
> Like I said, I truly believe it's the fast paced world in which we live anymore. We run from one place to the next, all day everyday. It has to have an effect on our physical bodies. My maternal grandma used to tell the story of he year she and my grandpa got married. It was 1936, and newlyweds. Grandma was planting her garden, grandpa was planting corn. Beautiful 80* day in mid May. Grandpa came up with the planter and team of horses, fed em and put em away. Told grandma "it's too nice of a day to plant corn, we're going fishing" No one today would dream of doing that nowadays. And yes the corn got planted, cultivated and picked, so taking a little relaxation time didn't matter.
> As I type this, I'm sitting in the waiting room at Mayo Clinic, Charlton building waiting to have an appointment. And I can't believe how full this place is all the time, every time we go here.
> Rant/vent period over.
> My wife and I have added you and Karen to our supper time prayer list, and just want you to know that there are many others who do the same.


http://davidcummings.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/jimmy-johns.jpg


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Prayers sent to you Cy and Karen and your family. Sad deal what cancer can do


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Not a good day yesterday.Karen is in ICU with blood clot in lung.Due to the cancer some treatments are not a option to break the blood clot.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

Sorry for the set back. Prayers.  Hope her pain is minimal and that the doctors can find a treatment that will break the clot without causing additional problems. Take care, the stress of concern for loved ones takes a heavy toll.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Praying for your family Cy and the doctors too.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Life is just plain hard at times. We all really hate what Karen is enduring. I hope today is a better day for the both of you.

Regards, Mike


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

Our thoughts and prayers are going out to you folks!


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Well now they found out it is not a blood clot in lung but a infection in the lungs that is causeing breathing problems.She is on 3 antibiotics now to hopefully clear that up.But they did find clot in leg and installed a "clot catcher"in the artery to heart.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers guys!!!


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## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

My wife was diagnosed with stage 4b cancer on February 4, 2011. Her cancer is progressive and inoperable. Statistically she should be dead, but she is still hanging in and doing pretty well, all things considered. As she likes to say every day above ground is a good day. A few weeks before her 47th birthday, she asked her oncologist if she would live to see 50. You see, nobody ever told us she had x months to live. Nobody. And she'd decided that she wanted to know. He told her that statistically speaking, it was not likely she would make 50. But then he said that nobody has an expiration date on the bottom of their foot, and it was very possible she would survive well past her 50th. She was fairly young, in pretty good health except for the cancer, and was responding well to chemo.

The 5 year survival rate for people diagnosed at her level of involvement is 4%. We're planning on her being way out there on that far right tail of that bell curve. Next week we will celebrate her 49th birthday.

Don't give up, although it's pretty damn hard sometimes, you have to stay positive. The most effective weapon against cancer is a positive attitude.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Cy, my thoughts and prayers for both you, Karen, and your family.


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