tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51183267062188375382024-02-18T20:54:42.222-08:00Hubby's Lung Cancer BlogJoannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-35359902913430038912014-02-24T21:22:00.002-08:002014-02-24T21:22:49.590-08:00A Great Group of PeopleI owed Parkwest Medical Facility over $30,000 after my heart attack last February, but they wiped out all my debt there! I will probably get one of those cancellation of debt things along about tax time next year, and I don't have a clue how I will ever be able to pay the taxes on it since I will probably be as poor and penniless as I am right now. Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-46983703236385267932014-02-24T21:14:00.002-08:002014-02-24T21:18:07.998-08:00Feeling Down TonightMaybe I too proud, or maybe I am just crazy, but a friend really upset me yesterday. I had recently moved from my daughter's house into a rent subsidized apartment, and my friend asked had asked me how I was doing while we were out together Saturday, and I had told her that I was struggling because things were costing me more then I had thought that they would. Then after the meeting yesterday she gave me a gift card with $50 in it. I love her and her husband for the thoughtful gift, but it made me feel like one of the beggars in front of Pilot. Maybe I would feel better if I could just get mad at her, or maybe I could even feel better if I could just get mad at Steve for leaving me so stinking broke the way that he did. Instead I just get depressed for a bit, and then I try to pick myself up and remember my promise to him. Steve knew that he was leaving me in a terrible shape with no way to even pay for his funeral, and on the way to the hospital almost the last time we spoke to each other he had tried to make me promise him that I would get married again so that someone would take care of me, but I just promised him that I would be alright. It is just hard to be alright when my bills next month are more then my income.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-2692677384810315502013-05-19T20:56:00.002-07:002014-02-24T21:17:02.581-08:00Inch By Inch <br />
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It has now been a little over a year since my hubby Steve passed away on 5/5/12 from congestive heart failure.<br />
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I had to surrender the car last August and ride the bus for a few months. I had been saving my money and looking for a car, but everything I found was a lot more then what I had been able to save, then my brother-in-law's niece suddenly decided that she wanted to sell her 1993 Honda Civic for the exact amount that I had accumulated. Everything fell in place so perfectly that I think that it was one of God's plans for me to have this particular car. My little pink Honda does not have air-conditioning which is going to make it hard on me this summer, but it does seem to be a fairly dependable car that will get me where I need to go. It is loud and needs a muffler and a speedometer though.<br />
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Our house was also foreclosed on and sold at auction in February, but my daughter and son-in-law gave me a place to live in a downstairs apartment that they had fixed up for his mother before she developed such serious health problems that she had to be put in a nursing home. I seem to have about everything I need down here now though sometimes I still miss my hubby and get the urge to drive back to the old house and visit him though I know of course that this is crazy because he is not there anymore.<br />
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My only concerns now are paying off an enormous load of debt. We did not have any burial insurance in place when Steve died so I still owe for his final expenses, and I was not working and did not have any health insurance when I had a heart attack in February of this year which brought me even into more debt to Parkwest Medical Center. They are a wonderful and caring medical facility and treated me just like I was somebody even though I did not have a nickel to my name. I will be eternally grateful to them for all their kindness. Such kindness deserves to be rewarded with payment though, and I feel bad that I just don't have it to give to them, and I also feel bad when I am just able to send the funeral home a small portion of what they wanted in payment each month also. It is my goal to dig my way out from under this debt inch by inch. If I live long enough and if my fingers hold out long enough then maybe someday I will. Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-31619721283301449812012-07-10T21:31:00.000-07:002012-07-10T21:32:34.507-07:00My Husband Passed Away<br />
I just wanted to let everyone know that my husband is not suffering from 4th stage lung cancer anymore. He passed away from congestive heart failure on 5/5/2012.<br />
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I told him that I would be okay when he was gone, but for the moment I can't see how I can keep that promise because there is so many bills that I can't pay and everything is in such a mess now.<br />
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I have tried to get in rent subsidized apartments, but there is such a waiting list that I will more then likely have to move in with one of my daughters when my house goes into foreclosure here soon.<br />
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I am trying to hang on to the car, but Wells Fargo is refusing to deal with me so that is kind of looking hopeless now also.<br />
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Just wanted to let everyone know how we were doing.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-60410373515385704982011-10-22T23:13:00.000-07:002011-10-22T23:24:48.611-07:00Looks Like Hubby's Cancer Has Started Growing Again!It has ben a while since I last wrote anything on my blog and I am sorry. There has been a lot going on since the last time also. <br />
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Hubby lost his insurance when it went to over $800 a month where he used to work which would have been half of what he drew in retirement and Social Security. We still owe on the house and car so there was no way that we could keep carrying the insurance, and they would have been dropping us from the plan in four months anyway so it seemed useless to struggle to try and pay for it anymore. <br />
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We were able to get him help through the VA center though because he had been in the army from 1972 to 1974, and he does not have to pay anything to see the doctor, and his prescriptions are just $8.00. <br />
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I was not able to get any help with my medical care though until just a few days ago which cost us so much for my prescriptions and medical care that it looks like we may be itemizing next year. I know that I have spent $1100 just on prescriptions in the last three months. I was finally able to get help through the Cherokee Healthcare Clinic that is just a few minutes away from our house where I could be seen by the doctor and pay for my prescriptions on a sliding scale. <br />
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But then I procrastinate on why I decided to write on this blog at 2:00 AM instead of sleeping. <br />
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We took hubby in to Johnson City to have a Pet Scan, and his cancer doctor from there called me Friday saying that hubby's cancer had started growing again, and that he wanted him to go back on chemotherapy. At the moment hubby is saying no to taking chemo again that he would rather just get things over with though. I don't know if I can get him to change his mind, and I am not sure that I should argue with him at this point. I need to talk to someone much wiser then I am, and I plan to take care of this before going to sleep tonight.<br />
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I will try to write more later.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-13367325692778158452010-11-11T21:13:00.000-08:002010-11-11T21:13:50.636-08:00How Things Are Going Today!I drove hubby to see his cancer Dr today to hear the results from last Friday's CT Scan. We had to wait almost an hour, and we were both pretty nervous because on his last visit with the Dr three months ago the CT Scan had shown a small glow on the left lung which meant a new cancer had appeared on the left side of his lung after it had appeared to stop growing on the right side. <br />
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The Dr finally came in to see hubby and whatever they had found on his CT Scan three months ago did not show up on this CT Scan. This scan was the same as the one from six month ago which was not showing any cancer growth. <br />
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We both took a big sigh of relief because Hubby had about decided that he did not want any more radiation or chemotherapy.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-91822061045571099142010-03-28T08:08:00.000-07:002010-03-28T08:49:23.654-07:00How is hubby doing today?I did not realize that it had been so long since I updated this blog. When I left off I was going to see a cardilogist back in December. <br /><br />The day I went to see the cardiologist he did another EKG and sent me straight over to the hospital. The next day he put in four stents to unblock one artery. Since that time I have lost 20 pounds, and I have been feeling okay, but I got a long way to go before I feel up to handling what is coming. <br /><br />Hubby had another CT Scan a month ago which showed that he had a lot of fluid in his lungs, and his doctor recommended that he have the fluid drained off. Hubby had the procedure done, but his lung collasped during the process, and the next day the fluid came right back. Hubby says that he is not having it done again, but he is sounding horrible. He coughs from the time he gets up off the couch until he sits back down again. <br /><br />I have given up on arguing with him because it is just a waste of my time. Even after all the treatments that he has gone through he is still puffing away on his cigarettes, and he is back up to smoking almost two packs each day again.<br /><br />Hubby and I were talking this morning about one of my Mom's brothers who passed aways during the night of a massive heart attack, and hubby says that it was an easy way to go. So I turned to him and asked him do you think his wife Ella felt that way when she found him dead in the bed last night? I don't think so!Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-73806077378026876882009-11-27T13:59:00.000-08:002009-11-27T14:15:11.232-08:00How Things Are Going Today!Steve has finished his treatments for his lung cancer. His cancer has shrunk by almost 60%, and there is nothing but a residual effect in his lymph nodes. <br /><br />His weight is stable at 192. He is eating good, and his hair is beginning to come back.<br /><br />He tires out pretty quickly, and he starts to cough whenever he gets up off the couch. He pretty much coughs until he sits back down again.<br /><br />He has been drawing a retirement check and a temporary disability check from where he worked since June 8th, but the temporary disability will run out on Dec 15th which will make things pretty tight until he gets his first Social Security check on Jan 26th.<br /><br />I have not been handling the stress to well. My blood pressure has been high even after taking to pills to treat it, and I started having a tightness across chest so I went to see my doctor who ordered an EKG. The EKG suggested that I have a blockage somewhere so that I am not getting adequate oxygen to my heart so he wants me to go to a cardiologist for more tests Monday.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-55612399151285568322009-07-21T06:31:00.000-07:002009-07-21T06:32:24.266-07:00How are Things Going? You Decide!I have gotten so far behind in updating. Hubby has finished his regular radiation treatments, and he has 7 more boost treatments to go. His back has what looks like a third degree sunburn on it, and he is in constant pain. His throat has been so raw from the treatments also that he has eaten very little in the past two weeks. He has also been throwing up every morning, and his hair has been falling out. I think that his hair falling out is caused by not eating, and not by the chemotherapy. He has been on a lot of different medications including a pain patch, and he started having prostrate problems two weeks ago so he went to see Dr Peters his family doctor yesterday. Dr Peters thought that hubby's problem was caused by an infected hair and wanted to put him on three types of antibiotics, but when we went to pick them up we found that these three antibiotics were going to cost almost $85 even after the insurance paid their share, and Steve told me to just forget about them because we just did not have that much cash left. I wanted to look up the common reactions to his pain patch because his symptoms started about the time that he started taking them, and sure enough the common reaticons to this medicine was throwing up and difficulty urinating. It did not say anything about the swelling, but I am pretty sure that this was caused by the pain patch also. Hubby took off his pain patch last night, and I do not know how things will go with him today.<br /><br />I am stressed out. We have never had much extra, but our bills were always paid, and I always thought that if we had something to eat and the bills were paid then we were doing okay. We sold an old 1978 Mustang that hubby had been fixing up last month to pay July's bills, and now hubby is trying to sell his work truck to pay August's bills. His work truck is an automatic 1991 Ford F150; and the only thing wrong with it that I know of is that the brakes grab a little when you first use them, the right side door handle has came loose, and it has two scratches in the exterior paint. Hubby is asking $1100 for his pickup, but everyone that has looked at it has been trying to get him to come down on the price instead of buying it. I don't know what is wrong with people, but I am not complaining because I don't want him to sell his truck anyway. Somehow we will get through this. Maybe hubby will start getting his early retirement checks on August first, and since they will owe him for July and August both then we should have enough to pay everything. Until then we just got to make do.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-41963483217469537312009-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:002009-07-01T08:51:15.452-07:00Hubby is in Pain This Week.Hubby has been sick and throwing up since he left the radiation lab Friday. His throat is raw and sore and he has blisters in his mouth so he has eaten very little over the weekend. All he ate Monday was half a pickle and some ice cream. I don't think that he ate anything at all Tuesday. He got out of taking his radiation treatment yesterday because he was sick, and today the radiation treatment machine was down so he got out of it again. Now he is saying that the machine was down Friday and Monday when they gave him his treatment because it about cooked him. He was happy that he did not have to take it today, and says that he is not taking it again until he talks to his radiation doctor who will not be back in until Friday. He also did not have to take his chemotherapy treatment today because his white blood cell count was down to low. Sounds like getting him to take any more treatments is going to be a battle.<br /><br />After his chemotherapy visit was canceled today I took him in to where he used to work to get their help with some paper work for his retirement benefit from IAMS, and he seemed to enjoy the visit. He went off to visit with the guys he had worked with while Kim helped me with the legal papers that IAMs wanted filled out. He weighed himself on their industiral scale while he was off visiting the guys, and told me that he was down to 207 pounds now. I think that he looks better now then he did back before we found out that he has lung cancer, but his doctor is still concerned that he is losing to much muscle.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-30179081876815416402009-06-23T11:52:00.000-07:002009-06-23T12:12:02.633-07:00Hubby is Counting the Days Down Now!He is counting the days down now until his radiation treatments end in 11 more days. He has been having so much trouble swallowing because of the radiation that the doctor gave him Morphine drops to take so that he could eat. The nurse told him today that they will be weighing him again tomorrow, and that he does not want to be loosing any more weight. He told the nurse that he would not mind getting back to 200 pounds, but she told him that now is not the time to be losing it because what he is losing now is muscle and not fat. He is talking about putting a handful of quarters in each pocket so that she will not have anything to fuss at him over.<br /><br />He has had to stop working now, and his boss has given him his last two checks. Our bills will be paid for July from these last two checks, but I am really concerned about how we will pay them in August. He is supposed to get a part time disability check for $200 Friday which will help us out, but if this is all we have to live on for the month of July then even if we spend nothing else on gas or anything it will just barely cover the house and car payments in August. His company has agreed to cover his medical insurance for him as long as possible, and we are hoping that this will be until the end of the year. They have also signed him up to begin drawing his retirement benefit, but we do not know when this will start.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-66607668700641337102009-06-14T20:36:00.000-07:002009-06-14T20:44:25.363-07:00Sunday at the end of week three.Hubby has been having a lot of trouble this week swallowing because of the radiation treatments. The doctor gave him some very big pills to take to help with the sore throat that are very hard for him to swallow, but they do not seem to be helping him much. He has not been eating much all weekend. He is also moody and irritable, and is talking about stopping his treatments. He has decided that he is going on the short term disability next week.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-74476701995910579992009-06-04T19:37:00.000-07:002009-06-04T20:22:01.162-07:00Week two of Steve's TreatmentsI took Steve to his chemotherapy appointment Tuesday, and while he was taking it he started talking to a couple about our age. The wife had cancer in her neck to start with, and it had spread thoughout her body in the three years that she had been taking the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He also talked to his chemotherapy doctor who told him that the plan was to send Steve to 7 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy in the hopes that the cancer would shrink enough that he could be sent to surgery to have the rest of the cancer removed along with the lower part of his lung. He came home in a very glum mood. <br /><br />Wednesday he decided to go ahead and file for his disability since he will not be able to work at his job after having this surgery. I wonder how he will pay for the surgery though since he will be in ICU for three days after the surgery and in the hospital for a week. He is out of his bad mood now and I hate to get him back in it so I don't want to bring the subject up.<br /><br />His boss told him yesterday that they had found him 10 more vacation days. Steve argued with him that he did not have any vacation days left, but I just wanted to hug him. It has been so hard to pay our bills lately with Steve working less then 20 hours a week. We would have not been able to pay the house and car payment which was both due this week if he had not sold his fixer upper 78 Mustang Friday so it will be nice for him to get paid for a full week for a change tomorrow.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-53530454012968912302009-05-31T21:51:00.000-07:002009-05-31T22:55:50.203-07:00My Antique Quilted Heart NodderSteve needs to keep a positive attitude and does not need to be worrying about bills at the moment so I don't want to remind him that our city and county land taxes have not been paid yet, and that soon the city will be sticking our name in the newspaper along with all the other folks that have not paid their land taxes yet for this year. We really need to get the taxes paid though so I think that from time to time I will just add some of my craft and doll items here. Here is my first one.<br /><br />These hearts are straight from grandma's dusty old attic. She knocked off all the cobwebs, and blew off a little of the dust to bring these cute little hearts to you. She also has some of the pink shimmery silk ribbon for cancer patients who are looking for a cure just like my hubby. Also no two of these hearts are just a like.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWCyM0MzytQFq7jXfqnyVD-c5OaSC_8rUHv4vXwvivQUizlhnSenYqVMhSau-hGD9abTFhnwE3tC4PPbicncAmN1A2TwFywE9kAVJq0hoB-0NsnXUqAkpCOM5ihwKACgWy_PaZnLJrPQ/s1600-h/cancerloveheart.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342217429072936162" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 186px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWCyM0MzytQFq7jXfqnyVD-c5OaSC_8rUHv4vXwvivQUizlhnSenYqVMhSau-hGD9abTFhnwE3tC4PPbicncAmN1A2TwFywE9kAVJq0hoB-0NsnXUqAkpCOM5ihwKACgWy_PaZnLJrPQ/s200/cancerloveheart.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>To order one of them click on the link below.</div><div><a href="http://www.raggedybritches.com/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=Nodders">http://www.raggedybritches.com/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=Nodders</a></div>Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-39871618416883793992009-05-31T20:56:00.001-07:002009-05-31T21:40:52.660-07:00Worrying About Paying Our BillsI was not working now, but we had been making all our payments on time until Steve got sick. We had put our tax rebate check in the savings account, and we were trying to not spend any more of it then we had to. Then Steve started having to go to the doctor about every day for three weeks, and every time he went they wanted their co-payments. Then Breanna sprained her ankle so she had to go to the doctor which was another co-payment, then they wanted to put her in a cast which was another co-payment. Then I had a problem with my blood pressure which took three trips to my doctor and two trips to the emergency room to solve which all took co-payments. I finally picked up the nerve to look at our checking and savings account, and there was not much left. We will need about $1000 to make our payments on the first and we had less then $500 left, and with Steve working less then 20 hours per week there was just no way that we could come up with the extra. Steve has been restoring an old 1978 Mustang that he had put about $1400 in so far before he got sick. He told me to put the Mustang on Craigslist and sell it for him for $1000. It sold the next day. Our bills will be paid for this month, but I hated to see him have to sell his car to do it. I am not going to tell him that we are still going to be a little short because we still need to pay the land taxes on our house.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-3222047145208274602009-05-31T20:36:00.000-07:002009-05-31T20:55:21.470-07:00Hubby's First Radiation TreatmentSteve had to go in to be fitted again on Wednesday, and on Thursday they started his radiation treatments. He has appointments now every day of the week at 2:45. The girl who gives him the treatments is young, pretty and really nice so he has not been complaining to much about having to go yet, but I know that the complaints is coming. I take my doll dresses with me to hem while I wait on him, but he is in and out so fast that I don't have the time to hem but just one dress.<br /><br />On Friday his radiation therapist surprised us by giving us four $10 gas cards to help us pay for the gas to get there for his treatments. She said that the cards came from the American Cancer Society.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-54000654041725632122009-05-31T19:54:00.000-07:002009-05-31T20:34:10.088-07:00Hubby's First Chemotherapy VisitThings have been getting kind of hard here lately because Steve has not been working much at all. We kind of wondered if he would get paid for Memorial Day Monday since he had not been able to work Friday because they had wanted him to come in to the radiation lab to to be fitted for radiation treatments. We thought that he might stand a chance if he worked until lunchtime Tuesday then came home to get ready for his Chemotherapy appointment which we thought was at 1:00. That thought quickly died when I found his appointment letter while I was straightening the living room before I went to bed. I left Steve a note to wake me at 7:15 because he had to be there at 8:00 AM. <br /><br />At the chemotherapy appointment I gave the nurse two disability papers to be filled out by the doctor then I sat down to hem doll dresses for the three hour wait. I am supposed to pick the disability papers back up when we go in for Steve's chemotherapy appointment next Tuesday. One of these papers was a paper that his work wanted him to get filled out for temporary disability, and the other was for a loan that we got to pay off some medical bills. It looks like they may pay this loan off for us from the way the disability papers is worded, but I am not sure. This is the only loan that we have with disability or life insurance on it, and sometimes I wonder how the rest of them will be paid.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5118326706218837538.post-8684046878163613982009-05-31T19:29:00.000-07:002009-05-31T19:49:26.085-07:00Nagging CoughSteve has had a nagging cough since last fall, and we finally were able to get together to take him to the doctor when my job at Jackson Hewitt was over at tax seasons end on April 16th. The doctor found something suspicious on his chest X-ray during the physical, and sent him to have a CT scan on his lungs. They also did not like what they found so they sent him to a cancer doctor who ordered a whole body CT scan, then sent him back for a head scan, then a lung biopsy, then finally a lymph node biopsy. After three weeks of waiting with a doctor's appointment somewhere just about every single day of these three weeks the doctors finally told us that he had small cell carcinoma of the lungs that had advanced to the lymph nodes giving him a C3 rating with a 50% chance of putting the cancer in remission with radiation and chemotherapy. This is the story of our fight for Steve's survival.Joannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01430239936894199514noreply@blogger.com0