Shawna, Sounds like your dad is doing well with the treatment now. That's great! If I do the math, it looks like I'm your dad's age and my husband is several years older. We have a 25 year relationship and have always been close and are even closer now having gone through this together. Early on after my husband's diagnosis, I would worry a lot about whether he was going to survive or not. It really made me anxious and upset. Then I realized that all the things I had heard all my life about attitude and one's thoughts affecting one's emotions were really true. And I realized that I could worry myself sick for months, or even years, and it wouldn't help a thing. Regardless of whether he eventually ended up living a long full life or died young, time spent worrying about it before it happened was a serious waste. So I decided to believe that he WAS going to live a long normal life and to live and make plans accordingly. I can honestly say that once I made that meantal leap, I've been at peace with the situation. I also do everything I can to relieve stress - I was biking on nearby nature trails 10 miles every night for months before the weather turned really bad recently, listening to auto-hypnosis tapes to promote calmness, praying regularly. And it all made a huge difference for me.

I know how hard it is to think you may lose someone you love so much. But none of us are fortune tellers, and you don't know that you ARE going to lose him (and hopefully you WILL NOT lose him) , so believe things will work out and enjoy your time together.

Take care, and glad to see you're almost at the rad finish line. Connie.