Right before christmas I posted about my brother,who has had leukemia foe 2 1/2
years. After a successful bone marrow transplant in Jan 2006,he began having problems with his eye 7 turned out to have a brain tumor & cancer in the spinal fluid. At that time we were told tha chance of survival was 15%-but my attitude was"someone makes up that 15%,why not my brother".Well, he finished intrathecal treatment to his spine and within days fell ill with a mystery illness,was put in ICU & was on a respirator for 10 days. We didn't know if he'd make it ,but we prayed like heck and stayed with him.He pulled through & got off the resp[irator,only for us to find he was paralyzed from the waist down. We kept telling the Dr.'s& they insisted it was muscle atrophy from being intubated. We pleaded with them every day to check into it.It wasn't until a few weeks later when their patient transporters
dropped him putting him back to bed and he became quadriplegic,that they started scurrying around,bringing in every dr. known to man. They eventually diagnosed him with transverse myelitis-an inflammation in the spinal cord.He was in the Cleveland clinic from Nov 3 till Jan 25 & then transferred to Metrohealths spinal cord unit.He was ther until the end of March,when we finally brought him home in an electric wheelchair.He has recovered his mobility to about his upper waistline area & can use his arms quite well.Being at home has been so hard-trying to find care & taking care of him on our own(he's single).,plus,not getting any help financially for care. The hospital's answer to everything is "deplete all his assets & put him on Medicaid" I say"he's 43,not93",to lose his home,business,etc. would kill him quicker than any disease. Anyway,things have been a very stressful roller coaster ride,but we've been managing & trying to keep him positive.Wee,just last week he came down with a cold-sniffles,into a cough & briging up stuff,but really struggling because he has diminished lung capacity.Because he was getting so tired from the coughing,he called to get a chest X-ray,just to be sure he didn't have pnuemonia. Here' where it gets scary-I just talked to my sister and she said he got
a call from the nurse at the clinic & they found a nodule & a shadow on his lung. I'm so scared & sad-after everything he's been through,he doesn't deserve this.He's worked so hard in PT & OT to regain his strength& mobility to where he's at now and it has been the most humbling thing to watch day by day. I'm just so proud of him & I love him so much and I'm terrified this could mean the cancer is
back & in another area. I remember him saying to me when he went to the rehab hospital from the clinic"what if I work so hard ro recover from this paralysis and the cancer comes back?" My response was "I truly don't think God would let you come this far not to see you succeed". Now I am crying,wondering,this cannot be. Please please please could you all pray for Bob,that his cancer stays in remission &that this is not cancer on his lung.Please ask your friends,church prayer groups etc. to put him on their prayer list for his healing. I know what a wonderful bunch of caring loving people we have here on this site and I just want to say thank you in advance, I am just beside myself and trying to keep positive-we don't see the Dr. till Mon-I can't believe we have to wait that long& I'm going to try to get in sooner. I so appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this & who prays for Bob,it means the world to me ,as I feel as if I'm about to crack,my heart is just sickened at this latest news.Thank you for listening.

I am so sorry.....I will try to remember you and your family in my prayers....

Stay strong.......whatever is happening is happening for a reason. God knows, and he loves you and your family. Words seem so feeble....

I'm so sorry about all this. I'll keep Bob, You and your Family in my thoughts.

Try to stay strong even tho it's so hard to do right now.

Hugs to you all.

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

I am so sorry all of this is happening. You'll have many people praying for Bob and your entire family. And you'll be kept in our thoughts as well.
Try to stay strong even though I know it must be hard.

My prayers are with you

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Prayers are with your brother, you and your family.


Darlene

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

will say a prayer for him and your family.

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SAHM of Bailey 12, Tyler 10 , Emily Ann 6, and Ryan Matthew 4 yrs old.

your brother and your family are in my thoughts and prayers

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

I am sorry that you and your family is enduring all of this.

I too, have been through something similair with my own child. . . . . So, if you feel like you want to crack, here's what I suggest....when you are alone, find a room, any room, shut the door & let it all out. Whether you want to kick, scream, cry...let it out. Take time. Then, pick yourself up, wash your face and gather your strength back. . . . This may sound silly, but it helps. That is alot of pressure to endure and that's a lot of pressure to bottle up inside. Let it out and regain your strength.......

Or if you don't like the above idea, please come here or email me...I will gladly listen, offer cyber hugs....but most important, you need to express your feelings and of course I am sure you don't want to do that in front of your brother and family, but we are here for ya and will gladly listen - - -at least I know I will.

Hold on to your faith, no matter what that is. My child was told he would not live beyond 48 hours, then it was he would never see his 1st birthday, well I am proud to tell you that he just turned 7 years old...granted it was a rough road, but he's here and living proof that there are miracles....

Prayers for YOU, your brother, and the rest of the family.

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email is moserlara@yahoo.com

I have said a prayer for your brother and your family.
I also asked that every prayer said for him be said 100,000 times!

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Square dancing is friendship set to music!

I don't know if it's that the prayers worked fast orwhat,but I won't doubt God. I called our oncology
nurse this morning to get the news and info direct. As we spoke,I got the feeling that she was wondering why I was so upset-she was telling me that they were going to redo his x-ray Monday because there was what she felt was a "nipple shadow"-tried not to laugh as I've never heard such a thing. She also said there was a possible nodule,but reassured me that these are rarely cancerous.She said the oncologist didn't seem worried about these results. I felt such relief-THANK YOU GOD and all my friends here. On another note,I'd like to ask for prayers for a dad of children that go to my son's school. His name is Joe Andruzzi and he was a Cleveland Browns football player until released in March. The family was /is in the process of moving & were to have a going away party tomorrow,then I heard on the news today that he was diagnosed with non-hodgekins lymphoma-my neighbor got an e-mail cancelling the party due to a "family emergency". From what I know,Joe is a great guy,a father of 4 who helps out in the community. It's so strange because only months ago he was a t a fundraiser for a neighbor who was undergoing a bone marrow transplant for the same disease. I pray that he will come through this & that God will give he & his family strength. I remember that he's from Staten Island & his family has some New York firefighters in it. A year or so ago I was at a fundraiser for the kids baseball& he was there & offered to carry back to our town a piece of the twin towers from 9/11 that had been designated for a memorial for our city. Anyway, I seem to babble on when I'm under stress-gosh,that must be alot considering my life these days(HAHA) Seriously though,I feel so truly fortunate to still have my brother with me and that this incident is hopefully not a critical one-thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers

I will pray for your brother-hope that your news today put you a bit more at ease. I tell you, this cancer stuff is a b*tch. Of course you all know that we just went through it w/ our 16yr. old son, but while he was going through treatment-other students at his high school were diagnosed as well-a boy w/ Hodgkins, a girl w/ ovarian cancer, and just a few weeks ago, another teen w/ leukemia. And one of my best friends is undergoing radiation for breast cancer. Another boy that our son is in band w/ had the same exact kind of cancer that our son had, but this kid had his ten years ago. I am just befuddled. Is that the way it is w/ this disease? Is that really the statistics ?