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[dadmo]

What a super weekend. We had Nancy's family over Sunday and it was a really nice visit. However on Sunday both Jason and my brother were here and all I can say about that is "male stupidity rocks".

[Chris'Mom]

So glad to hear Patrick is feeling good and doing great...Chris is home also this week and over the weekend seemed pretty upbeat....glad you had fun too!!! Mary Ellen

[MommaBeth]

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was great! I am exhausted! You sure don't get much sleep on a girl's weekend. It was sooooooooo great to see Patrick! He is doing great. He was a little stressed when I saw him on Thursday because he had two tests on Friday, but the rest of the weekend he was in great spirits and I was happy to see him content and in "his" environment. Quizzed him much more than he wanted me to about how he is feeling and such, but I feel better. I saw his ex-girlfriend and that was fun. The are staying very good friends and seem to be managing that pretty well. They are still establishing boundaries, but that will probably be ongoing.

[Chris'Mom]

Nancy and Bill.....have....fun..........with ....Jason........and enjoy your weekend!!!!!!!!!

[dadmo]

Hi girls...............
Guys just have "no clue" as to the meaning behind ".........................' and
:-). ....... they must have that missing gene !!!!!
It is odd that all our boys will be home this weekend...... I'm anxious and excited at the same time...... but let's just enjoy it !!!! :-)
I'll talk to you all soon.
and yes Scott.....we are sooooo happy for you! :-)
Enjoy the weekend yourself with your family..............................
.................................................. ...................Nancy :-)

[Mom]

........OK....have a great weekend!! Dianne

[dadmo]

This should be an interesting weekend. Jason will also be home for a few days, Nancy is as excited as I've seen her recently.

For future referance if it's Billy on line the sentences won't have any ........ of that ......... in them.

If..... it's .... Nancy.... they.........will.......

[Chris'Mom]

Beth, enjoy your weekend with Patrick and all your friends..I was great friends with Katie's Mom, his ex...that's just how I am...I talked to his ex last night, she called and wanted me to know how things were going....even though I wanted to give her encouragement, no matter what, Chris is my son and their was a fine line to how I was feeling....Chris is home today and hopefully a week of a little TLC with family, even though I know we can't help with all his feelings...told me last night he thought she was the one..I told him you're 21! you have alot of life ahead...anyway,,take care...say hi to Patrick...Mary Ellen

[MommaBeth]

Okay Girls! I had to write myself a cheat sheet with all of your names and who belongs to who! I am so excited to have new friends, and boy are we going right to the heart of things! Our kids! I am going to see Patrick tomorrow. I am going to my friends for a girl's weekend and we will get to spend some time with Patrick and his ex girlfriend. My friend that I will be staying with, and who we stayed with when Patrick had his orchiectomy, is his ex girlfriend's mom. She and I are the best of friends and she was so good to all of us when we were at our lowest point. As I am writing this, I am realizing how weird life is and how weird this probably all sounds! Anyway, I am really excited to see him in the flesh! Mary Ellen, I know how excited you are to see your boy, too! Nancy, to answer your question about what the Social Worker said to Patrick about meeting and bringing up Cancer to other girls that he would meet. I think they talked about how he thought he would bring it up. He didn't go into alot of detail about their whole conversation, and I didn't want to pry too much, but that was what most of their conversation was about. He did say that she said that many of the men she talked with that had tc had substance abuse issues. I don't know if that is just her experience or if that is something that is across the board with tc survivors. Whatever else they talked about, I am not sure, but he felt better after talking to her. It seemed to be a relief to hear someone that knows something let him know that what he was feeling and experiencing was normal and okay! Lanette, what you said makes perfect sense. I spent every night in the hospital with Patrick and woke up and checked his breathing for the first couple of nights after we got home from the hospital - just like when he was an infant. Like you said, it all really mixes us up! Mary Ellen, it is funny that you bring up the thought of a year ago for Chris. It is amazing how fresh everything still feels. Last night I was going through receipts for taxes and came across all of the receipts from the week that Patrick was diagnosed and had that first surgery. It was like a time line of events. As I was holding the receipt of the meal we had with Patrick the night before his surgery, I read it with tears in my eyes. Life changed forever! I pictured him in my mind eating those pork chops and reliving that fog that I was in, wanting it all to be a bad dream. I am not complaining. It has been an incredible journey, but boy are those feelings raw! My husband came home from a meeting, and there I sat in a pile of receipts bawling my eyes out! He said "oh my gosh! What happened!" I handed him the receipts and he sat there blubbering just like me! I talked to Patrick last night and reminded him that his RPLND surgery was 4 months ago yesterday. His reaction was "ew". "That was an awful time". Most of the time he is pretty positive, but I could tell there were some pretty raw feelings there.

[Chris'Mom]

Thanks Nancy, I will....the other day Chris actually mentioned how he was glad when you visited us in NY.at the hospital..that I smiled alot that day...Mary Ellen

[dadmo]

Hey girls....guess this is moms night on line :-) The guys had thier fun the other night.....at my expense. Billy had posted a "really-bad" picture of me balancing a spoon on my nose.....don't ask! :-)
anyway, it's nice we moms can talk and express our feelings.
MomBeth...I'm glad too you didn't know about his jump.....when Jason graduated from highschool he went sky diving....I was there....yippppps. I was the one running around on the ground with the pizza box and sponge. I can laugh about it now! :-)
MaryEllen...have agreat visit with Chris this weekend.... I'm sure the conversation will go to last year, but you'll get through it.
.....and please tell him we say Hi.
.................................................. .............Nancy

[Chris'Mom]

Nancy, you are right, they will find great girls who will love them for who they are...I must believe that...I tell Chris that the right one will be come along when he least expects it.......M

[Chris'Mom]

Lanette, after I posted I read your thread...you said it so well for me....as a mom I always knew I could make things better...heal the hurts...and physically I did help get Chris thru the cancer and was so happy to do so...but I can't fix this for him...and as a mom that is tough. I agreed with so much you said...how they are still so young...and have been thru so much...I can also feel for you that you had to stand back and watch his fiance help him, as it should be...but after all those years that you took care of him...its so hard to let go....thanks for help...and another viewpoint...Mary Ellen

[dadmo]

Lanette,
Yes...of course it makes sense (to us other mom's)
It "is" different having son's...they tend to be more "to themselves" then daughters.... thier age, and dating situation is difficult enough without all this going on in thier lives too.
Is Justine still with his fiance' ? Jason and Marielle had been together four and a half years....we thought it was the real deal. I know the boys will all find thier way...and great girl to share it with. :-)
Thanks again............................................. .........Nancy

[Chris'Mom]

Thanks Beth for encouragement...you are right, I also got emotionally attached to his girlfriend after all that time, and loved that she was there for him...he will be home this weekend for a schoolbreak, and usually he would spend three days with her family near the Finger Lakes...so I think he will be very antsy...but at least physically I will be able to see how he is doing in person...it was this break last year when he came home and told me late at night talking about school that he felt something in the shower...and it all started...so I guess we will get thru this too...Chris is healthy and I must keep remembering that fact.......glad Patrick didn't tell you until AFTER he jumped ....I'd rather not know and then be thankful they are ok....Nancy, hang in there...its so nice to have moms here that understand...not many people I know have sons with TC...Mary Ellen