• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Connie

hypnoctopus said:
Happy anniversary! How old were you guys when you got married?
Click to expand...

Connie was 22 and I was 27 when we got married.

Most of those pics were taken at Selby Gardens in Sarasota, FL, if I remember correctly. I am not sure about the one with Connie standing on that wooden walk way. Kind of looks like the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Could be, as that pic was developed in August of 1983. But August in the Pine Barrens is usually pretty darn hot, and can't imagine Connie having to wear a jacket there at that time of year. We were still living up in Maryland at that time.
 
Frank Pinello said:
All those old photos were beautiful except the last one. �� Thanks for sharing and Happy Anniversary!
Finding old photos always makes me realize how rapidly time moves on. I’m sure it does for most people.
Click to expand...

I have actually started going through my 35mm slide collection, digitizing them with my Nikon D850 camera. Came across a set of photos when our house was being built. And I have a TON of photos I took when a friend and I went out to California on a snake hunting trip, camping out in the desert each night. No telling what other sort of gems on film (to me, anyway) I will be finding that I have completely forgotten about.

I know I have a BUNCH of slides taken of the corn snakes and other snakes I have kept over the years. But honestly, not sure I will take the time to digitize them. I already skipped over a lot of slides I took of the bamboo groves when they were new. Can't see any reason to keep all those.
 
Sounds like you know which photos are important to you now. Always fun to look back at them and recall that time in your memory. Like going thru a time capsule.
 
FYI, it was a year ago today that Connie was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Been gloomy and rainy all day long. Fitting.....
 
Well, I made it through the 1 year anniversary of my heart attack last year on this date. I guess that is a good sign? :shrug01:

Connie had her one year anniversary from her cancer diagnosis on 04-27. That number "427" used to mean something entirely different to me. :(
 
Well, Connie is in Tijuana, Mexico right now for three weeks of cancer treatment. Her sister, Debbie, has gone along with her. The flew out of Tallahassee early AM on Sunday, and I feel pretty much stir crazy not having Connie here. :hair_on_fire:
 
I pray that Connie gets the healing there that she anticipates. Hopefully she'll feel okay during treatments, and she her sister can enjoy some vacation type time together. My dad and our friend Margot didn't find the treatments horrible, as is too often the case with cancer treatments. Can't help you with the stir crazy, I'm afraid. Prayers there too.

Sent from my SM-A716U1 using Tapatalk
 
I don't think they will be doing much in the way of anything that seems like a vacation. But for the third week it looks like Connie will be getting the dendritic cell therapy only with nothing else scheduled. They screwed up the calendar, though, as they have both the 17th and 18th day of treatments with the same calendar date. So not sure about what they will be doing. But from the way it looks at face value, the dendritic cell therapy will be every other day. So not sure that that means for the days inbetween. Hope it doesn't mean they expect some negative reactions from Connie for those treatments, and those are recovery days.

Sure hope Connie isn't going to feel really sick on her plane trip back home.
 
Been a long while since I made an update.

Short answer is, my wife and best friend of 45 years is dying. Despite the mainstream chemo treatments, despite the alternative drugs we were trying, despite her trip to Tijuana Mexico to an alternative treatment facility called Oasis Of Hope, and despite the hardest and longest praying I have ever done in my life.

She is now under Hospice care. This past Friday the hospice nurse said that based on similar cases she has seen, Connie would likely pass away within 2 weeks. Of course I didn't tell Connie that!

Now she is bed ridden in a hospital bed we have in the family room in our home. Both of her sisters are here to help out. Thank goodness, because I couldn't do this sort of care alone. She is obviously fading fast, and her speech is becoming almost unintelligible. None of us have had any unbroken sleep for a while now, because it takes all three of us to get Connie out of bed and to the port-a-potty and back again. Her legs have gotten very weak and she has difficulty maintaining her balance. She would definitely fall and hurt herself without our assistance.

I am a crushed and shattered man. She was my entire world. I went to my PCP doctor last week and got prescribed some medication to help get me through this (hopefully). I already had valium that was prescribed by an earlier doctor, which helped take the edge off of things a LOT of times, but this is getting REALLY heavy now. The stuff I am taking is supposed to take a couple of weeks to really kick in, so I am hoping it kicks in before I just lose my mind.

I don't have a single solitary clue about what I will do when (if? Still hope for a miracle.) she dies. A very VERY big part of me will die too.
 
Oh Rich, I'm so so sorry. I know that Connie is suffering, that you are suffering, her sisters are suffering, too. There are no words I can offer which can help. There is no easy way to part from one you love so much. I'm praying for all of you.

Sent from my SM-A716U1 using Tapatalk
 
Rich, I'm so sorry to hear this. I know nothing I say will help to ease the pain but I give my condolences should she pass.
 
Gosh Rich - I am so sorry. There really are no words, but know that you and Connie are cared about. I hope you find peace with her and hope you lean on your support system.
(huggs)
-Tonya
 
Today, I gave my last gift to my wife. On 11-02-2023 a pastor from the local church came by to visit. He blessed and saved Connie. Unfortunately I had a doctor's appointment and had to leave, so I didn't witness the entire thing. When I came back, the pastor was gone, but Connie looked at me smiling, and said "I have been saved." She looked so relieved.

Her sisters bought her a necklace with a cross on it to signify the event. Connie wanted to make it special and asked to have it engraved with the date. So today I did that for her on the laser. My hands were shaking the entire time, because I only had one shot to get it right. That cross is so small.

But it came out beautifully, and I put the necklace back around her neck, knowing this will be the last gift I can ever give her while she is alive.

I don't expect her to live through the weekend. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top