SOME good news re: up and outta bed

[Guest guest]

I've posted a few times about my brother-in-law, Dave, and now

I have some good news to report....In the last 3 weeks or so he

has taken a turn for the BETTER, finally after a long hard haul

(got sick May 1). He's been eating for several days (just got

his tube out today!) and is working on regaining some strength.

So far, he has not had to go back on insulin, which amazes me.

I'm hoping that his pancreas (and he) is not as bad off as

I feared. Anyway, it's great news about him. Tho of course,

in the wee back corners of my mind, I worry abit that he might

be tempted to try drinking again at some point.

He definitively was acting chipper when I visited last week

I'm sure the whole family's quietly relieved about Dave's

progress or perhaps it's more accurate to say we are

momentarily feeling less numb, now that we have one

less person to worry over. Don't I wish, tho, that we could

hope for that kind of turn around for my sister. I saw her

everyday (I was amazed at her courage and acceptance) when I

was there. She was dx'd stage 4 lung cancer in early July, in

case I didn't make that clear in my earlier posts.

The hospital nurses were wonderful and I liked her doctors.

They are trying to rehab her abit, wean her off oxygen mask, to

try a round or two of chemo. But tonight, sounded to me like

that could be more iffy than when I left.

I imagine the nights

are the hardest for her. But her son just came in, the grandkids

can visit and I'm trying to get a Golden Retriever therapy dog

to stop by... my sister wasn't real thrilled with the little

terrier that 'worked' the floor last Friday, a far cry from the

Labradors she's had.

I do hope the rest of you are doing well, well enough, middlin'

through. With support from this list, I'm sure it is easier.

--

Sally

Sally L. Hobson, Ph. D.

mailto:hobson@...

http://www.adelphi.edu/~hobson

[Guest guest]

Dear Sally,

This is indeed good news to hear about your brother-in-law. It

sounds like he's turned the corner, and the most supportive thing you

can do is commend him for it, and reassure him that the more he pays

attention to his diet and proper exercise, the better off he'll be.

As for your comment:

" Tho of course,in the wee back corners of my mind, I worry abit that

he might be tempted to try drinking again at some point. "

I can understand that fear. You may need to gently remind him of the

new responsibilities he has to keep himself as healthy and pain-free

as possible so that he can carry on as the head of the family. There

is also plenty of alarmingly negative information available about the

severe consequences of returning to alcohol once you've developed

CP. It's like a passport to death. It's my understanding that the

attacks one has from alcohol related pancreatitis are so severe the

next time around that if it doesn't kill you, you'll wish it did.

Understanding that can be a great motivator.

As a person whose second acute attack was diagnosed as alcohol

related, all I can say is that once I found that out, I quit " cold

turkey " . That was over 2 1/2 years ago. After hearing about my

pancreas burn-out, a friend asked me that since my pancreas was non-

functional, didn't I want to go ahead and have a drink again? My

reply was " No, why would I? " . Makes no sense to me!

Well, enough of that. I hope you BIL can, or already has, turned

that corner, too. He's got a lot of more important things happening

in his family, mainly taking care of your sister, as well as himself.

Please let us know what else we can do to help. You've been such a

supportive and involved part of their family. All of this must have

been very hard on you, too. Please remember to take some time for

yourself to de-stress, and keep well.

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

hhessgriffeth@...

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.