My Brother Has Cancer - I'm Having Trouble Dealing

[katrina1980]

Hey guys, so I just thought I'd update you since you've all been so supportive; I just spoke with my brother again and he's been referred to one of the top oncology specialists in the country so he and his wife will be flying there to meet with him.

 

His regular oncologist told him that they plan to have him start on a special drug therapy that will attack (and hopefully kill) all the cancer cells in his body which versus chemo which made him very very sick.

 

His doctor also said it's not in crisis mode yet (good news!) and encouraged him to stay positive, hopefully he will respond well to the drug therapy!

 

He is feeling very positive and so am I! I did not get upset when speaking with him, I kept my (and his) spirits up and we even started laughing about something unrelated!

 

Wished each other a happy new year and he said he will keep me updated once he meets with the specialist.

 

All in all, very good news, which makes me very happy!!

[katrina1980]

You want to hear something incredible? I asked how long he has had this tumor because it had grown very large by the time he started feeling symptoms and the doctors discovered it -- about the size of a large grapefruit if you can believe that.

 

They told him it had most likely been growing for 20 years!!

 

No symptoms, nothing, he was even getting regular yearly check ups, blood work, etc.

 

Meanwhile this tumor was growing and growing, I dunno I just find that amazing and very scary.

 

But I'm gonna remain positive.

[abitbroken]

Just listen to him. Be is shoulder.

And find your own support network - good friends, a counselor, etc, for *you* to have a shoulder of your own - you don't have to be positive when you are not in front of your brother - its okay to cry, to fall apart sometimes. And when a peer (brother, classmate, etc) goes through a health crisis like this it is jarring to us when we are young because things don't happen to people our age, etc and it may touch on our own mortality

 

I have a relative who had a tumor they say he could have been born with (it was benign but it grew to the point where he had to have a vocal chord removed). But they would not have even think/known to look because it is not anything that was indicated in blood work or any other symptoms or risk factors. So the fact that it fgrew so long is not odd to me.