Where is cak?

Great Question.

She is home and has decided (at least for now) to not have any more chemo. After the holidays she is talking about looking into some experimental treatments.

@tedibear39: Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear that she is okay to a certain extent.

She’s tired and wants to enjoy the holidays. In her last Facebook update she mentioned volunteering at her son’s school and wearing a fun hat instead of a scarf. The kids loved it!

@tedibear39 tell her how much we all miss her, and that we’re thinking of her.

@tedibear39: Yes, what @zephyr826 said. When she comes back, she’ll sure be surprised at all the new people we have!

Things are still a little emptier without her though.

@tedibear39 Didn’t the surgery remove the cancer?

@JLeslie – I don’t really know. I do know that she was doing chemo, but that is as far as my knwledge of her treatment goes.

Healing vibes… healing orange vibes! That’s why the kitteh in my Santa hat is orange!

Gee, I miss her. :(

@tedibear39 I know some people still get chemo and radiation even after removing the cancer as some sort of insurance policy, but many people opt not to do it. I was just wondering. Thanks.

GQ – I hope those experimental treatments aren’t crap from other countries that will make her waste money

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Why do you think only “other countries” have crap? Meanwhile, my husbands cousin seems to be doing very well on meds from Cuba for her pancreatic cancer. She is being treated also at MD Anderson in Houston and they are very impressed with her progress. It has been over a year since her diagnosis and when diagnosed it was already in her liver as well. By the way the meds are free from Cuba.

CLL (chronic leucocytic lymphoma) is a cancer of the blood; one cannot excise an encapsulated lump or defined area, unfortunately. Cak has tried all the nasty stuff including a double mastectomy.

This note from her on f’book last Thurs:

“Love volunteering at the boy’s school. Now, I do get some looks from the kids – the scarf thing…so today, I did something different. I wore a silly hat. Smiles all around. Thank you for all the kind words. I felt a lot of relief today, a little fear. Fear is okay – it’s healthy to be a bit fearful. Just makes you fight harder.”

Repetition (by me) that bears repeating, from an earlier question about Cak:

“Here’s how to make a donation to the Blood cancer research societies. If you want Cak to know about it, PM me for her contact info. Maybe that is not a good idea; confidentiality; I or several others have access to Cak’s facebook page. Or I could send her a list.

http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_page?item_id=8477

I heard today on NPR that chronic leucocytic lymphoma (what Chris Ann has) is one of the fastest growing blood cancers; the other is Multiple Myeloma, which one of my cousins is suffering from.”

@JLeslie of if it’s alternative craziness like scorpion blood and groin shots of chloride or apricot seeds – you know things illegal to pass of as medicine here…I didn’t mean to say that other countries can’t provide good medical care…emphasis on medical

@Simone_De_Beauvoir I get your point. I think part of my point was we have crap here too.

@gailcalled I did not realize that was Cak’s diagnosis. Thank you for the info.

@JLeslie oh without a doubt! (yet a lot of this crap is allowed more freely in other countries)

is Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia the same thing??

@ccrow; I’m very sorry. You are right. I reversed it. Officially;

“Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is cancer of the white blood cells
(lymphocytes). Symptoms usually develop gradually. Many cases of CLL
are detected by routine blood tests in people who do not have any…

www.google.com/health

Sending lots of Lurve to cak…
Another brave and beautiful friend of mine lost her battle while I was away on vacation, so I came here to see if anyone’s had news from Chris. @gailcalled: Thanks for the update. It’s great that she still has her sense of humor and is finding the energy to help others. Truly inspiring.

I checked yesterday on F’book. Unhappily, I found no info since before Xmas. Maybe she is husbanding her resources. I hope so.

Yes, I think about her too, and hope she is doing OK.

same here

I have had contact with someone who talked to her about two weeks ago. She is going to be looking into some treatments at Johns Hopkins. But at the moment is feeling pretty good.

Thanks for the update. Glad she is feeling good for now.

I am so worried about her. :( Glad she’s still with us and seems to be doing okay.

I will be orange till she is back!

Cak if you drop in know we are rooting for you! May John Hopkins hold the key to your cure!

Thought I’d check in on the thread. Has anyone heard from her recently?

I checked on F/B yesterday. Nothing since before Xmas

.Just having learned that a cousin, 9 years younger than I, finally succumbed to another blood cancer (Multiple Myeloma) this past Tursday, I am not feeling sanguine.

@gailcalled Oh no. I worked with someone who had Multiple Myeloma; it was years ago, they caught it very late, and there was not much that could be done. She was 32 at the time. Did they catch it early? Can anything be done?

My cousin was diagnosed about 7 years ago and fought the really good fight. She had access to Sloan-Kettering in NYC and a God genius oncologist she called “Dr. Nasty.”

He bought her the extra time; she was able to continue to teach, travel, see her two sons and enjoy much of life, in spite of difficult treatments and intermittent fatigue.

I don’t have the details, but heard she seemed fine over the Dec. 11 week-end. She was 64 and spent the last six weeks in hospice.

@gailcalled I’m so sorry.

:( I am so sorry Gail.

I would dearly love to hear a peep from our Cak.

From CAK’s facebook page today, 2/26:

“I just got back out of the hospital. I had intensive treatment in-patient and am doing a bit better. Cancer is still here, but I’m still fighting. Thank you for the prayers. We have some serious family issues going on, it’s not just cancer that’s weighing us down. I know things… will get better…just like to know when.”

Well, she has a hard time ahead of her but she is certainly in my thoughts. I think she’ll pull through.

@tedibear39 thanks for the update! We think of her often.