More bad news to deal with

[MOmomof8]

My stepdad called me today.  He told me my cousin, who is also my health insurance agent, has cancer.  It is in his colon & his liver.  They are operating on him tomorrow & the doctor gave him 5 years.  I don't know much more than that.   That is so shocking to me.  Another cousin's son had colon cancer a few years back & went through alot so I thought all my cousin's would be watching theirselves closer.  With me having breast cancer, a cousin with colon cancer, another cousin's son had cancer in his eye & I think our aunt had breast cancer but hers was late in live, maybe 2 years before she died at close to 80 years old.  When I was young, I would spend my summers at my aunt's house.  She had 2 kids, a girl 2 years older than me & a boy a year younger than me.  It's that boy that is in the hospital with cancer now.  We were close, seemed more like they were my brother & sister.  We fought alot, we were also competitive.  He & I would have debates over the bible.  He grew up to be a preacher just like his dad.  They are the old fashioned pentecost preachers.  They get excited & they jump up & down.  I have alot of preachers in my family.  Let's see, 2 uncles, a great grandma, 2 cousins & that's all I can think of right now but I know there are more.  My dad & stepmom are preacher/teachers/speakers for the Gidoens.  My stepdad, dad, & several uncles have been decons in their churches.  My mom & dad were Sunday School teachers when I was young & they were married to each other.  I was a Sunday School teacher for a few years.  My family on both sides were involved with church in some way.  My aunt has always been a second mom to me, still is.  She has been having trouble handling my mom's death I can image this has just about finished her off.  I need to go see her or atleast call her.  It's just that when I call her we both end up crying for over an hour while on the phone together.  I think this time of year makes it seem even harder to handle.    I find out about my cancer in November of 1994 but by Thanksgiving we had a handle on things so we still had a pretty good one.  This is so close that it will really destroy Thanksgiving for them.  Yes, they are a christian family however the news of cancer is still very stressful & hard to handle.   Then on top of it, it is the first Thanksgiving with my mom.  My aunt is the only one let from that part of the family.  She is 5 years older than my mom & felt that my mom was her baby.   Both of my cousins were so mean to me.  I've heard stories of how Cindy turned my basinet over on me, took my bottle away from me & scratched my face.  Of course, she was punished for each when she did it but it didn't stop her.  Growing up I wore her hand-me-downs until I got taller than her & she got my hand-me-downs then.  In the more recent years, my mom gave her some hand-me-downs of hers.  Her brother, Denny, would chase me then pinch me, bite me & hit me.  They lived in my grandparents house bc my aunt helped take care of my granddad.  They had a cool house, it had 2 walls that made a T & Denny would chase me around them.  He only caught me when I stopped to hide behind one of the doors.  I don't know how many times we got whipped for running around in the house.  One of the T's used an outside wall so we would have to run out one door & into the other.  That's the one we got in trouble the most for.  The screen doors would slam & they would know what we were doing.  Seems like our parents were always in the kitchen.   To spite all the meanest we have always been close.  Cindy still trys to take care of  me like a mother at times.  Come to think of it, all my cousins have always been protective of me, maybe bc my mom was the baby of her family & I'm her only child, who knows.  I 've never really understood it.  About 5 years ago, I lived with my aunt & uncle.  My cousin's husband got mad at me & kicked me out of his house that I was renting.  I had no where else to go so I put my things in storage & moved in with my aunt & uncle.  I was only there a few months until I found an apartment to rent from other cousin.  Down here, I am related to alot of people.  In fact, East Prairie is so small that cousins from my mom's side are dating or married cousins from my dad's side.  It's kinda of strange but they are blood kin to each other only me.  Makes it great for family reunions bc I will see them twice a year at least & I will know more of my family at the reunions.   I plan to go see my cousin tomorrow evening sometime.  I should sleep good tomorrow night since I'll be so busy running all over & babysitting 3 grandkids ages 1, 2, & 3.  I will be seeing all 4 of my grandkids that live here. 

Well, I am still working on laundry so I've got to go change them out.  I am on my last load, wasn't as bad this week as in the past.  I didn't finish last weeks but not much was added to it & the best thing is that I didn't have to do all that separating since it was already done. 

[Paros]

Nov. 24, 2009 at 12:35 AM

I'm so sorry to hear all what you and your family are going through. I hope with all my heart that all of you will have better days and that you'll can say that you are cancer survivors soon.

 

[MOmomof8]

Nov. 25, 2009 at 3:05 AM

Paros I have been cancer free since Feb 1995.  That was my last chemo treatment & the doctor told me there were no more cancer cells in my body.  I still have to be checked every year.  They keep changing things so it's hard to really feel secure.  They were doing blood work every years to watch my ca25 levels or something like that then they said if the cancer shows up there it is too late to do anything.  So no more blood work.    It is really hard to figure out when you start counting yourself as being cancer free & then some cancer you are just in remision not cancer free.   Alot of cancers are counted by 5 years, meaning you are cured if not more cancer is found in the next 5 years.  But for breast cancer you are never cured & the 5 year mark really doesn't mean anything cause with breast cancer you can have a recurrance 25 years later.  So it all gets very confusing to me. 

(Original Poster)