Coping With Caregiving

My bestfriend, I have been caring for since an automobile accident left her a parapeligic. Last July, she was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer, Edometriois [endometriosis], it was diagnosed a stage III type B. She has gone through the sugery of removing the tumor and also took care of her female organs. This cancer had spread through to a Lymphnode near her pelvic area.

Today after chemo and radiation, she is developing infections in her bladder and her kidneys, she has been in the hospital more this past year and this year so far than being home. Being a para, she cannot feel certain pains below her waist. She just arrived home with a tube to drain fluid which became infected where they removed her lymphnode, she is on antiboitic, that we have to take her into the hospital to put in through IV.

My questions which Dr’s do not tell you much in situations like this (as I am finding out with cancer patients anyway) Is this anything that can return her cancer? They don’t even tell her if she is cancer free.. They told her a couple of weeks they wouldn’t know that answer until a couple of years have passed.. What kind of answer is that? Please, if anyone has answers or have had similar issues after treatment.. Let me know what I am to do.

Also, I really believe that my friend is the first SCI, that has been diagnosed with Cancer. We tried to find anyone or anything regarding this type of person with an SCI and cancer at the same time. We went through all kinds of new types of procedures that technicians were not use too.. as far as giving radiation and chemo treatment to her. Also, she is not able to express her pains, only as nerve pains.. So it took her a long while to finally go to her GYN to have a checkup and at that point they did take a biopsy, because of unusal bleeding..

Thank YOu for any information you can give.. It would be well appreciate both for myself as her caregiver and for her as the patient with the cancer. ALl of these issues coming up after the fact are putting her into a deep depression and not wanting to go through any of this anymore..