"In physiology I learned that everyone makes anywhere from 100,000 or so to 400,000 or so cancer cells A DAY." This is a common claim on alt med sites, but I've never seen evidence to back it up. The misunderstanding seems to relate to the fact that cells in the body are constantly wearing out, developing chromosomal defects etc. and are removed by normal body physiologic mechanisms - but these are not "cancer" cells until they start to divide uncontrollably and form a tumor. Your body doesn't need help from herbs to carry out its immune functions, few if any herbs have been found to enhance immunity in human beings, and if they did we'd have to be concerned about nonspecific hyperimmunity leading to autoimmune diseases. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003042-pdf.pdf "I have known many people who went to doctor after doctor who found nothing until they were so sick they were dying. This is not uncommon, unfortunately." What is the rate of cancer detection by alternative practitioners? What early detection systems do they have to rival (for example) mammography and colonoscopy in the diagnosis of breast and colon cancers?

Trail, I wear glasses, too, so I got creative and when I was able to reduce the size of the bandage before the stitches were removed I cut up 2 clear - not sheer- bandaids which allowed me to put my glasses on without pain and also kept the sun off the wound. I had my MOHs done in late July and kept the bandage on until early september. Even after I removed the bandaids the area was somewhat tender but tolerable. My doctor offered laser to soften the scar and reduce its appearance, so I had that done in late September. I needed a bandaid for about a day or 2 after that. Helene

I so agree with folkv- keep the memories alive. It is so hard to know what to say and when to say it. But I feel that it really important to always speak of a child's parent. I think it can truly help them make choices in life even if that parent is gone. I have always tried to mention how my BIL would have felt about a given situation with both the kids and even my sis. He hated ties and I suggested to my sis that when his kids get married the groom should not wear a tie because dad would have thought that was funny. Would tick my mom off, she never liked my BIL, and that would have made my BIL laugh even harder. Even though someone has passed I feel their spirit lives on in us and can be so useful. ajsmama- I wondered how the service would go. Your post has brought me back 12.5 years to my having to watch my sis and her kids. It was something I would not even wish on my worst enemy. Please, stay in touch with these kids as much as you can. Family is so important even if it is just a card or call here and there. You seem to have such a caring heart, please share it with them. It will help you all. And one thing that is soooo important is that we allow ourselves to grieve and be sad. Everyone goes through the stages of grief but not in the same order. One may be quiet at first and yet the other is vocal. It may seem confusing but it is just our nature of processing grief differently. So don't be surprised by the kids behaviors, keep on your toes and don't avoid speaking about K no matter how difficult it may be. She is still their mom and always will be. Things, events etc will come up and it may feel uncomfortable. The best thing is to face things straight on. And you are right about the wedding thing. I told my sis that there is just no way to "avoid" everything without ruining the day. I told her that every guest there will be feeling the same thing, they all knew her dad. Sometimes the best way to deal with the sorrow is to not do the "oh, so sad her dad isn't here to see this" but rather "her dad would be so proud of her, this day is exactly as he would have liked it to be for her". I think it really is about how you choose to deal with it and to not focus on the sad but rather the joy of the day. She will figure it out and it will be a wonderful day. Again, wishing you all as much peace as possible.

My wife had a mastectomy 10 yr ago and because of a potential threat, all 21 nodes were striped out. Back then, that was the standard practice. Her lump was fairly large: A lumpectomy was performed while she was on the operatng table and the quick analysis said the margin was not 'clean' so the surgeon proceded with the full procedure including all node removal. It truned out that all nodes were clean and the removal was unnecessary. We also found that if the surgeon had removed just a little more material around her lump, the margin would have been clean and that would have prevented a lifetime of problems. Less than 2 years later, the recommendation for her case type changed and the new procedure became: remove the first node and check it. If it is ok, stop. It was our experience that removal of all nodes create a drainage problem. Fluid tends to build up for at least 6 weeks until the body can find ways to absorb and reroute it. These nodes are part of the drainage system for the infection fighters. The body did eventually heal, but a comprise remains. My wife has a lifing restriction of 10 lbs on that arm for the rest of her life. A larger weigth will not do physical harm, but the exertion can overload the drainage system and the muscles may be weak. it can result in a minor injury that will take a long time to heal. So my advice is: Do not let your nodes be removed unless these are PROVEN invaded. Over 10 years ago, complete removal was done to insure that an invaded node was not missed. In too many cases (back then) when nodes were left, they gave trouble and once the cancer invaded the nodal system, it is very late. Better (and faster) detection plus more research has changed the picture. Be sure to discuss with your oncologist.