i would definitely consult a new doctor. unless they
have told you everything that elizabeth has said and
then some, you are not being told the truth. my wife
would get 5 day treatment followed by a week or two of
vomiting, hair loss, and weakness. sometimes sores
from her mouth all the way down the GI tract to her
rectum. then she would get ready for the 3 day
treatment whi ch took more out of her body than the 5
day treatment cycle. you really need to prepare
yourself. My wife was eligible for SS Disability.
yours will too. I recently received my license in NY
to sell Life, Health and accident i nsurance
including disability so i had to study the SS system
as well. if your wife's condition will keep her from
working for more than 12 months she will be able to
receive benefits. you may also qualify for state
benefits until the SS benefits kick in. also county
programs are available in every county in the country.
i know that california has to have something that you
can take advantage ofuntil you begin to receive SS.
Also, did they explain to you that your wife will
probably be left sterile because of the chemo? mine
was and we adopted a little boy who is just the joy of
my life. seeing him reminds me of her every day!

--- Elizabeth <egr2058@...> wrote:

> > The doctor did tell her that she
> > should take time off from work but her job does
> not allow it.
>
> Your wife's doctors are correct that she's going to
> need some time
> off work. I hate to seem harsh and don't want to be
> an alarmist, but
> you should really start looking into other options
> for financial help
> and support in the event your wife isn't able to
> continue working
> during treatment. www.cureourchildren.org has links
> to resources for
> financial support, or your cancer care center may
> have counsellors
> who can help you find local resources. We did
> Bradley's chemo as
> outpatient, but he still had to go to the infusion
> center every day
> for 5 days, and for 4 of those days he was there for
> 5 hours. He
> carried home a "backpack" with saline IV bag, chemo
> chemical bag, and
> 2 digital pumps provided by ahome support agency,
> Medstar. The
> saline bag had to be changed every 24 hours, which
> we had to do
> ourselves. The pattern was: a week of chemo,
> followed by a week in
> which counts drop (please tell me they explained the
> impact of low
> WBC, RBC and platelets - if not, ASK NOW!) when the
> patient is
> vulnerable for infection, anemia and poor blood
> clotting ability. I
> gather your wife works at a school; we were told
> Bradley should limit
> exposure to young childred during this week as they
> are prime
> carriers of bacteria. The cycle repeats every 21
> days, counting from
> the first day of chemo. He wasn't too uncomfortable
> for the first 2
> rounds, but had problems with side effects starting
> rounds 3 and 4
> which required hospitalization. There's no way he
> could have even
> kept his job at the deli counter of the grocery
> store during all
> this. Many people who have experience with more
> common cancers may
> not realize that the chemo for ES is far more
> aggressive; it's on a
> par with treatment for leukemia, and strips the body
> of it's ability
> to protect itself from common germs. Not to
> minimize the pain of
> people with other cancers, but we found (from
> talking to others and
> observation at the infusion center and hospital)
> that the ES
> treatment is both more time consuming, has more
> severe side effects
> and requires more caution, than any of them had
> experienced. This is
> all to say that this isn't the time for heroics,
> it's time to put
> other plans on hold and focus on doing this thing
> right the first
> time so that she'll have a long and full future.
> I'm so sorry you
> both have to deal with this; it's no fun.
> - Elizabeth (step-mom to Bradley, 18, dx 5/27/05
> ES/PNET in rib, left
> lung and chest wall (askin's tumor))
>
>
>
>




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