Thanks so much, I didn't post this because of our situation, just that The Pickle Jar hit home such a chord of remembrance and how wonderful and meaningful a story it is. We went to Roswell Memorial Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY; at first every week for a year, then every two weeks for a year, then every month for a year, then every 2 months for a year, etc., until they said she was in a sort of remission. She is never free of the leiomyosarcoma; it can return at any time and initially this is what we thought had happened, but it's a different kind of lymphoma this time. Anyways, at Roswell we met a lot of people, from blue collar to movie stars there for treatment (that is where Gilda Radner and a host of others went to). The most recurring theme we heard from many women was how, once the husband found out the wife had cancer, he bailed, got a long-distance divorce and disappeared, unwilling to be responsible for the wife's condition and resulting bills. I was absolutely horrified by the stories we heard from woman after woman! It was amazing at how many spineless ******** there were, and also taking away the patient's only hope for recovery, their insurance. These women who braved through their disease and coped with such loss are the real heroes, believe me! If I owned a gun I wanted to track down every one of their spouses who split and make sure they never walked (and walked out) again!
They've made such improvements in treatments and cures (our daughter-in-law, married to the CEO, is a cancer researcher heading trials looking for cures and is a big help; she's going with us Tuesday when we get the results) that we hope 1) it's a minor skin cancer and 2) that is has not internalized - that would be the best outcome. But, whatever the outcome is, my wife knows I will stay by her side 100%. And, I know the good folks on here would do the same! I've learned deep love and respect for my wife after the doctors told me she was going to die in 3 weeks, guaranteed she wouldn't see her next birthday. She's still here kickin' me every step of the way! She's a fighter! And we'll make it this time too!