Camping with Cancer -- my friend's incredible saga

[NMDemDist2]

My friend, Tom, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and due to some decisions he had made while (literally) not in his right mind, he had surgery and then went 'home' to a 12x48 trailer with no electricity, running water or propane, miles from the nearest town in the badlands of Nevada.

How he survived the winter, I'll never know. He'd tell me stories of waking to find the dog's water frozen solid INSIDE his trailer in the morning. How his hands would be so cold and stiff it was almost impossible to get the woodstove fired up in the morning.

But the local newspaper editor and I are trying to convince him to write his story "Camping with Cancer" to highlight the saga of one man with no insurance and the state of our Nation.

here's a link to part of his story.

People are amazing, and activists are even more so.

http://getthisshirt.com/history.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. shameless kick for the night crowd n/t

[elehhhhna]

2. 3rd rec & a kick

[NMDemDist2]

3. thanks! n/t

[lonestarnot]

4. K & R 6

[noiretextatique]

5. incredible person

:kick:

[NMDemDist2]

6. and ya gotta love the T-shirt

:rofl:

[noiretextatique]

7. loving it

i am a recent cancer survivor, so please give your friend a big hug from another member of the club no one wants to join.

[NMDemDist2]

8. this fall when I can make the two day drive to do it, I will n/t

[noiretextatique]

9. thanks. eom

[NMDemDist2]

10. and here's a hug for you too

:hug:

:pals:

anyone who fought that battle and is still standing is a hero in my book. :yourock:

[noiretextatique]

14. thank you!!!!!

:hug: i was lucky my breast cancer was detected early. i had a lumpectomy and radiation, but didn't have to do chemo...thank goodness. it wasn't as hard for me as it is for a lot of people, but just getting through the fear and the stress of it all takes some doing. you find strength and courage you never knew you had, that's for sure.
you have a wonderful evening. it's time for me to leave work and go do some work at home :evilgrin:

[malaise]

11. One of my best friends is dying of bone and brain cancer

He told us he'd be dead by Christmas, but he's still fighting and he showed up at a friend's birthday last Monday. I'd seen him the week before and the level of deterioration was mind-blowing, but he had no intention of staying away from another childhood's friend's party. He came with his daughter and his nurse and stayed for about two hours.

Our parents were friends and we've known each other all our lives. That he is a medical doctor makes it even more painful, but as a professor at our college hospital he is getting the best possible care. He's at home now with a nurse 24 hours and all his kids returned home to be with him, but I doubt he'll survive another month.

[NMDemDist2]

12. Tom isn't dying

not yet anyway!!

:evilgrin:

so sorry about your friend, it's so hard to watch...

:hug:

[malaise]

20. Yes it is because there's nothing you can do but offer

love, support, time and his favorite meal from time to time.
The phrase that keeps us going is 'life is a bitch and then we all die'.

[bonito]

15. My best to him

And to those who care for him, don't let "modern" medicine stand in you way, Peace

[malaise]

21. I'm sure his sons have some good ganja growing in the yard

if you know what I mean.

[wildeyed]

13. Unbelievable.

To be recovering from cancer and living in such difficult circumstances. And he is still thinking about his animal activism. Give your friend my best :hug:

[NMDemDist2]

17. his main concern was getting the Board of Supervisors to name a building

after a retired Supervisor who was still living (never done usually) who had been very helpful getting the Animal Control Board set up.

Last month he was at the naming ceremony. He was so proud!

he's a pistol, that's for sure!

[knitter4democracy]

16. Hubby just found out the surgeons refused to operate on his patient.

He thought the brain tumor was operable and sent his patient to the best neurosurgeons in the area. He just found out today that they sent the patient home to hospice care to die. He was really upset tonight about it and is trying to figure out how to get him to a better practice. The guy's only 53.

I'm going to show him the link and all. It might cheer him up.

[NMDemDist2]

18. note the dates on the articles, his doctors can't believe he's not only still alive

but living in those primitive conditions without assistance (other than rides to town a couple times a month).

they were talking hospice for him last year, but here he is! and the MRI showed a couple weeks ago the lung hasn't grown or changed at all.

He's a walking miracle for sure.

it must be so frustrating for a doctor when the course of treatment seems so clear, yet to have it negated.

best luck to your hubby and his patient!

[knitter4democracy]

19. Thanks. He lost another patient yesterday, too.

Hard day at work. He was really frustrated tonight.

As Hubby says, he does the best he can. Medicine's an art more than a science, and he always gets surprised by the wrong patient dying and another one surviving longer than he'd thought. The oddest things happen in medicine.

[Lugnut]

22. Bless your heart, AZ.

This stuff should never be happening in this country. Ever.

[NMDemDist2]

23. hey darlin!!! LTNS, how are you?

:hi:

[Lugnut]

24. Hanging in there.

I'll have to wander over to the C&B section to see what's cooking. ;)

:hi: