Greed

Medical bankruptcy hits us all!

No kids. Wife respects my wishes. I have had a lot of family get cancer and slowly wither away. I'm not doing it.

Yeah, people pay for these kinds of educations.

You don't get it. I took care of family members for 6 years as they withered away slowly and very painfully, for both me and them. That isn't happening to me. There is no pride accompanying that and I don't choose to go out like that. Fortunately, this is America, where I have a choice.

For us, it's now the wife's mother. Stage 4 ovarian cancer that keeps coming back very quickly. Get this, they are going to nearly dissect her abdomen and turn it inside out while essentially pressure washing her insides with chemo. It's a new treatment they are starting to do.

My mom nearly died and was fallen in a coma after the "Whipple" procedure that was made to get a last chance for surviving a pancreas cancer. She had been in very bad shape before the treatment and in the second week of come the docs told me there is no hope, it is a matter of days and i should already try to organize everything needed afterwards.
In the night when my brother and me started planning the funeral and everything, my mother awaked from the coma, very unexpectedly. She struggled for half a year with nearly starving, due to the consequences of the procedure. She still needs a handful of meds twice a day, but miraculously survived. That was around 15 yrs. ago. It was a horrible time for years, the chances are very high that it comes back fast and strays.
Nowadays she is really considered healed and tries to live every moment.
I also lost a very good friend on cancer as a teenager. She struggled with cancer for 10 yrs, although the docs prognosed 3 yrs of survival. She died with 19 and we were together the last day of her life. She wanted to have a last sit-in with her friends, with pizza and beer, music and playing games. It was heartbreaking, but she was a very strong person who knew this day would come for a long time. We did our best to make it a nice sit in like it was so many times before. She seemed to be very weak but happy, smiled and laughed with us.
She died the next morning. Things you can't forget. My best buddy was her brother. He and his wife became drug addicted to heroin in the time following, they could not stand the loss and tried to sedate themselves.
I still see them from time to time on the street. He became clean from h but an alcoholic, his wife still struggles with heroin addiction. They are divorced for a long time. Their son already goes to school, 5th grade i guess.
Although cancer is an everyday phenomenon nowadays, it is always dramatic and often a painful loss for those around, that can leaves deep scars...

I am always sad to hear of someome having cancer, and situations come back to my mind.
I hope the treatment of your wife's mom works, Randy. Sorry to hear your story. Since i am an atheist, i can't speak a prayer, so i cross my fingers and send my best wishes that she is feeling better soon.

My Uncle Mark was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in november 2015, less than a week later he had the Whipple surgery, 2 weeks later he was declared 100% cancer free, and a couple weeks ago he was again declared 100% cancer free, surviving pancreatic cancer is a rarity, he is currently feeling great and vacationing in Mexico!

conversely, my pal Dennis(Kidvybes) was diagnosed with liver cancer late Feb, and a month later he was gone, i miss the talks with my pal... Cancer is a total bitch, there are some serious advancements being made everyday, the may not find a cure, but I believe. they will find a way to neutralize it, much in the same way the haven't found a cure for HIV, but they have neutralized it.