quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
I am doing Breyers chocolate ice cream which is pretty good.
I typically fill a tall glass with scoops, add some milk, stir, a kind of thick milkshake I eat with a spoon.

When I was in treatment to help gain weight wife would make me some Carnation Instant Breakfasts Chocolate flavor, with Cooking Cocoa Powder, Hersey Syrup, and ice-cream in a blender a couple times a day. Would add a banana at times also.

Prayers still sent your way

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ontmark,

LBJ, Ive been reading and thinking about your situation. Many things goes thru ones mind at times of trial. All I can say is push forward. Thoughts have been and continue to be with you. I'd go with a nice Mug of Rootbeer, 2 scoops of Vanilla ice cream, and enjoy! :-) Best to you. John...

Tried doughnuts yet? Maybe chocolate covered.

My grandpa had a thing for those dunkin sticks.

quote:

Originally posted by MississippiGal:

It speaks to the fabric of your character.
I believe it shows here .. in your business dealings and most certainly in the Love your family has for You.

I would certainly like to be remembered as honest with integrity, both personal and business.

With regard to eating, everything is tasteless for the most part and will be such for the rest of my life.
Imagine bacon and pepperoni being tasteless.
I would not wish that on anyone, but there it is.
About the only thing that has any taste is sweets, and even then, it is only semi sweet.
Argh!

I remember my mother saying she had no taste anymore the last few years of her life. It was the prednisone she had been taking for a decade.
I understand now what she was talking about.

It's been a bit of a blue few days here. Every time I have doctor visits things get to me, probably normal.
I think once I retire things may be a bit better.

The Votrient is effecting my hair color.
My beard stubble is totally white at this point and it may be affecting my hair at the roots as well.
I asked my wife if she might want a lock of my hair at my next haircut because my true color is fading right now and probably changed for the rest of my life.

She said yes.

That was an odd thought and conversation.
I and we have a lot of these.

It appears that once gone, my brother may buy my Mustang from my wife. It will give her a little extra money and he gets a great little Shelby, a win win.

My wife is a pack rat in her natural state. I worry she may not be able to dispose of some of my things.
I worry about that and figure some things will just remind her of me in a bad way.

I do not particularly care for being a bit fatalistic at times but there is logic to it.

One of the daughters wants my Bible if I write a message to her inside the cover, and she also wants the water color painting of me at age 9.

I told her she can have them once my wife decides she can have them.
Pretty much I want my wife to have my things until she is ready to part with them.
If she cannot part with them, I have asked her to put those things the daughter wants of mine in her will so she can have them at some point.

Again, a bit fatalistic, but I think the disposition of one's estate needs to be settled while I am still here, or at any point in life because you just never know.

I would ask other members here to consider the disposition of there estates as well, otherwise, if anyone here goes suddenly and unexpectedly, who knows what in fighting might occur between family members.

I have seen this before and it's ugly.
I figure most of us might think everything would work out well, but human nature is human nature.

Once I inherited my grandfather's clock collection, I placed it in the hallway leading to our bedroom. The water color painting is on the wall above it.

While I did not intend to create anything abnormal, I did accidentally create what I call The Shrine.
I will take a picture of it and post it.
I think you all will get a kick out of it.

Here it is, a picture of The Shrine.
Yes, that is really me at age 9 in the water color painting. I remember well sitting for that. And that sweater was itchy, very itchy.

quote:

Again, a bit fatalistic, but I think the disposition of one's estate needs to be settled while I am still here, or at any point in life because you just never know.

That is not fatalistic, it is realistic.

The single stupidest and cruelest thing any of us can do is die intestate. It denies you the ability to control the destiny of your life's accumulations, and leaves your heirs a disastrous headache when it comes distributing your life's accumulations according to your wishes after you die.

Don't do it.

LBJ, you live in a state where marijuana and THC derivatives are legal. THC helped friends undergoing treatment for both AIDS and cancer maintain their caloric intake. Have you tried them for their appetite stimulating properties?

I appreciate the suggestion, but no, I cannot do that. I own firearms and will not do drugs.

LBJ -

I admire how you are tackling this very difficult topic. In some ways you remind me of my grandfather, a man whom I worshiped as much as one man can another. He was a practical and matter-of-fact man, and very plan-full. Similar to you, he was diagnosed with cancer, but given a longer lifeline than most who hear that word. There were the blue times of course, but he stayed true to who he was til the last day.

My grandpa found that one way to keep his head out of the blues, was to actually tackle the process of what would remain after he was gone. He wanted to be sure that my grandma wanted for nothing; so he wrapped himself up in selling off the possessions that he knew he would not need again. Nothing from the garage or workroom was free, everything had a price, but it was a way for both he, and my grandma, to accept funds towards expenses and future living, with dignity and honor.

It turned into a job to him, and it made him feel like he was accomplishing something - which he was. When he passed, there was literally nothing for the 6 children and grandchildren to sell/junk/etc. He had done it all - we were all so grateful that we did not have to begin that process after the sadness of saying goodbye. His one last gift, and lesson, to us.

It sounds as if you are already taking that path - bless you.

Yeah, I don't know if I go that far yet. He sounds well thought out, didn't want to burden others, very respectable.

But what about The Shrine?
It's all about The Shrine.

Funny eh?

LOL -

Love the pic, guess that was back in the day before you take a snapshot and just convert to "watercolor!"

I think you've shown those clocks in the past, does each have any special significance or are they just ones that you have collected over time?

What is the blue one, top shelf, to the right. From the pic it looks too modern to be part of the collection (that shade of blue anyway)

That is an umbrella clock and I think it dates back to 30s/40s.

My grandfather and grandmother, Tommy and Dot, collected the clocks over the years. When he died in 1961, the collection stopped.

That shrine is great. Not many people have one in their own house! You also have a wonderful watch collection. That's something very personal, perhaps you've already considered it, but you could give one to each of the daughters. I have a few watches from my father, and my sister has one. It's impossible to wear them without thinking of him.

I am attending class and paying attention.
I have work to do...

Hey Boss. Long time. I've just read through this thread after receiving an email from a mutual friend. Please know that I am joining everyone else in keeping you in my thoughts and prayers (even though I'm not religious). I remember you doing the same for me 8 years ago when my daughter had that spinal tumor. It mattered to me.....I hope our thoughts can do the same for you.

Thanks for taking the time to come back and post.
It does mean a lot.

quote:

Votrient

The good news is, you still have treatments available. Hopefully you will do well on your current treatment. If your tumor progresses and you are switched to Opdivo, I would have your oncologist assess PD-L1 protein expression levels. People with higher levels tend to respond to treatment a lot better than those that do not. If your levels are low, you may want to consider getting on a study using CAR T-cell immunotherapy (your own T-cells are programmed to attack your cancer cells and infused back into your body). The studies using CAR T-cell therapy are just starting up and there may not be one for advanced RC, but your doc may be able to get the therapy for you on a compassionate use basis.

The shrine is awesome, and your clock collection is lovely. I hope you've had them valued, even though I suspect you'd want them to be kept together.

Mississippi Gal stated my feelings well. I hope today has been a good day.

lbj, I follow your posts more than I reply, I guess it just hurts sometime to hear of a good person like yourself having to face these types of difficulties. I still pray daily for you as my faith is all I have to offer..

+1 just1tym....
lbj you are in my prayers every day