The chemo thread | Imamother

amother

Thu, Apr 28 2011, 9:49 pm

I think I should start a thread for all that I am sure I will write as my brother goes through chemo.

Going Bald

He wakes up in the morning,
And sits up in his bed.
What is all over his pillow?
Hair!

He goes to the bathroom
And washes his face.
Looks in the sink and sees
Hair!

He takes a shower
And rubs in the shampoo.
What is that stuff all over his hands?
Hair!

He knew it would happen.
He knew it quite well.
But he wasn’t prepared
That everywhere he looked would be full of
Hair!

A bald head is hard
To get used to.
But seeing his house all covered in hair
Is the worst part of losing his
Hair!

~Tiffany

amother

Sun, May 01 2011, 6:05 pm

He may be losing his hair, but he still has his sense of humor!

Malfunctioning Glue

I stand and I watch
As two heads are bent
Over their work.
One man is sawing wood;
The other is drilling the boards together.
One head is covered in hair;
The other has just a few sad strands left,
Which seem to be desperately clinging to the scalp,
Lest they, too, will soon become history.

I turn my eyes away
From the sorry sight which they behold.
Inside I am crying,
But outside, I smile.
“Dovid,” I say,
“Do you want to borrow some hair?”
Dovid looks up at me
And with a wry smile, he answers,
“Yeah, it seems the glue stopped working.”

Please continue to daven for Dovid Ben Nechama. If all goes well, he should be starting his second round of chemo this week.

~Tiffany

soldat

Sun, May 01 2011, 7:18 pm

I wrote this for my own brother about 11 years ago, B"he is finr now (he had leaukimia)

They chain you to a heavy pole
Insert a needle in your heart
And send that vile liquid in to tear your limbs apart
They claim they want to cure you
Yet why must it seem that first
They make you so much sicker
I wonder which is worse
“Therapy” they call this poison
They drip into your blood
It travels through your veins
And makes you feel like mud
It robs you of your hair
It fills your stomach up with guck
And yet they keep on dripping it
As if it brings you luck

the world's best mom

Tue, May 03 2011, 10:18 pm

My friend's father was just diagnosed last week. There seems to be so much illness around, so I wrote this poem. All the people I describe are real people I know personally.

Dear Hashem
I’d like to have a word with you,
My Holy G-d Above.
I’d like to show some things to you,
Please shower them with love.

Please take a look, My Dear Hashem,
And see my friend at home.
She’s sitting Shiva for her father
Who passed away so young.
You know, Hashem, that next week,
This girl is getting married,
With no father here to walk her to the Chupah.
Now father to dance with her Chassan.
No father to share her joy on this special day.
It is just a few days before her wedding,
Yet this Kallah’s eyes are brimming with tears.

Please take a look, My Dear Hashem,
Observe this gloomy scene.
In a hospital bed there lays a man,
Surrounded by his wife and kids.
His oldest daughter got married,
About a month ago,
And now he was just diagnosed
With cancer that has spread.
A tumor in his brain appeared,
Another in his lungs.
On his spine- another one-
Now treatment has begun.

Next Hashem, let’s take a look
At two precious little boys.
Living with their father
Since their mother passed away.
At one year old and two years old,
These orphaned little boys
Cry for mommy;
They can’t understand
Where their beloved mother has gone.
And every night, these little boys
Cry themselves to sleep,
Because their mother isn’t there
To give them a kiss good night.

And now, Hashem, I’ll show You more;
Just look and You will see
A treatment room in Sloan Kettering.
On the table lays a little boy
Who’s only three years old.
He screams in pain,
He kicks his legs,
He’s crying bitterly.
His poor sweet mother must hold him down
For this experimental treatment.
It’s his only hope for survival;
The only way to get rid of his neuroblastoma;
The only way to cure this innocent child forever.

If that’s not enough, Dear G-d Above,
There’s so much more to see.
Just look at this tombstone.
A little boy lived just three years
Before succumbing to his illness.
His twin sister will grow up
With no brother by her side
For her parents had to struggle
To have children here to raise.
And now their only son is gone,
Gone!
Departed from this world
Way too young,
Way too young.

And now, Hashem, I think we’ve seen
Enough to break our hearts.
Cancer’s a monster way too mean,
We’re struggling to do our parts.
Tell me, Hashem; Explain to me;
How we all suffer when we bury our dead.
How can You do this? How can You let it be?
Please bring Moshiach today instead!
The only thing that can save us
Is to bring us home somehow.
This Galus is enough to break us,
We need Moshiach now!

amother

Sun, Jun 19 2011, 8:16 pm

The No More Chemo! Poem

Something special happened, last Friday afternoon.
We’re so excited though we knew it would be coming soon.
Dovid was in the hospital, and was finally discharged,
Then he came home for Shabbos, right through the door he barged.

Something special happened, for the very first time ever.
Dovid finished chemo! He needs no more now. Never!
His appetite has vanished, along with all his hair,
But soon it will be coming back ‘cuz chemo’s over, dear.

Something special happened, now Dovid can recover
From this horrid treatment; I hope he needs no other.
No more weeks in the hospital, no more blood transfusions (hopefully),
For Dovid’s four rounds of chemo have just reached their conclusion.

Although the chemo is over, Dovid still needs your Tefilos. In 3 weeks, they will take a CAT scan to see how much the tumor shrunk. They will probably have to remove the remains surgically, so he still has more recovery in store for him. All Tefilos for Dovid Ben Nechama are greatly appreciated.

~Tiffany

amother

Tue, Jun 28 2011, 7:05 pm

Back To Jail

Dovid is back in his jail cell,
All locked up again.
We just heard bad news as I will soon tell,
I think I will cry then.

Dovid’s arm blew up from phlebitis,
He needs medicine through IV.
Though he says he has hospitalitis,
He’s not ready to go free.

Then they realized the chemo had leaked,
It leaked right into his arm,
Causing much damage, it left his arm streaked.
For months he will suffer from the harm.

Then the worst news was really tough,
As they did a CAT scan at noon.
The tumor did not shrink enough;
He’ll need more chemo soon.

Dovid’s homecoming was just a tease,
He’s back in his jail cell.
We hope he’ll still recover with ease,
And he’ll soon be home feeling well.

All Tefilos are appreciated;
Please daven for my brother.
Our prayers are not overrated;
You can really help another.

Please have Dovid Ben Nechama in mind when you daven. Thank you.

~Tiffany

amother

Tue, Jun 28 2011, 9:05 pm

I wrote this during the night last night but didn't post it since Dovid came home write around when Tiffany posted her poem.

He Said Goodbye to the Chemo Floor

He said goodbye to the chemo floor
and good riddance too.
He thought goodbye was forever
when he said goodbye to the chemo floor.

He said goodbye to the chemo floor
and tried to put his life back together.
He started planning his future
When he said goodbye to the chemo floor.

He said goodbye to the chemo floor
and decided to go away for Shabbos.
He wanted to go to the country
since he said goodbye to the chemo floor.

He said goodbye to the chemo floor
and looked into going back to yeshiva.
He asked his doctor when he could fly
when he said goodbye to the chemo floor.

He said goodbye to the chemo floor
and said hello again.
Dovid has an infection
and is once again on the chemo floor.

B'H Dovid came home tonight, but I would imagine that like me, Tiffany also wrote her poem earlier and didn't post it right away. Dovid still needs our tefilos as his tumor didn't shrink as much as expected and he will need surgery to remove it.

TS(Tiffany's sister)

amother

Wed, Aug 31 2011, 8:57 pm

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday, we thought that today we would be told that the cancer is in remission.
Today we were told that the tumor markers went up.
Yesterday, he was talking about going back to Lakewood this week and to Israel after Sukkos.
Today he is wondering if he will spend yom tov in the hospital.
Yesterday, we thought the hard part would be the plane ride and hanging around Indianapolis.
Today we found out that's the easy part.
Yesterday, someone asked me when we're making a seudah hodaah.
Today we were told that the next type of chemo has a low chance of succeeding.
Yesterday we thought that the worst is over.
Today we found out that the worst didn't happen yet.

Please daven for Chaim Dovid ben Necha. The doctor is not too optimistic about him beating his cancer and because he already had so much chemo, he's going to need a much stronger one.

TS