OV

I know it looks pretty bad right now and overwhelming to say the least. At 25 he has age on his side. The first order of business is to get him through the surgery recovery. Don't think about anything else. Take things one day at a time. He will not be very positive about anything right now and it will only get worse before it gets better. YOU can help him a lot by trying always to present a positive and strong outlook. My wife, who I could never have made it through without, was always strong, firm and at times nagging me to do what I was suppossed to do. She would often cry when she wasn't around me. This is something she just told me after reading your post. I never knew that and I guess looking back I'm glad I didn't see her cry.

When he is ready for rad and chemo, we are here as well but it always helps us if you give us as many details as possible. Don't ever think you are being to wordy. We all know or can imagine what you and he will be going through and we can definitely help both of you.

You must make sure he gets his daily recommended water and liquid food. Don't let him slide one meal, one day or he will get into trouble real fast. If he thinks the feeding tube is taking to much time consider Carnation Instant Breakfast VHC. It has 560 cals in 8 ozs. It helped me a lot.

Remind him that his goal is to survive and live until he's a 100. He has a lot more years to live than most of us. To survive he must be positive, determined and strong to get through what will be thrown at him over the next several months. Both of you will travel through a very dark and uncaring tunnel but you will see the end and it will get better if you both remain committed to rid his body of this uninvited desease.

We hope to hear lots from you and or him for a long time to come.