arg. I won't go into details but I watch one of my parents be so bad to themselves and they just won't listen. Well, finally the doctor caught on to what is going to ultimately be something they could die from. At least I was here to say I told you so.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Having been there, I totally know what you're going through. Hang in there, you're tougher than you think.

thanks, I don't know how much more my toughness can be tested! I could kill my mother!

It wasn't my parents, but it was one of my brothers. And yeah it sucks.

You can't change a person who wants to destroy themself.

Best you can do is be blunt and honest, not pretend it's okay.

I wish I'd done that.

I think I can feel your pain.

I too am dealing with a mother who has been really sick for the better part of 18 months. And the last six she's had every weird possible thing happen to her, and she's seen dr after dr and no one still knows what the hell is wrong with her.

My sister and I are worried it's bigger then she thinks or rather won't say if she's been tested for which she think she hasn't.

She'd rather write it off as "environmental"(she has a sister who claims that all her illnesses and why she can't leave her house for most of the last 20 years is because of environmental issues). I say whatever.

It's scary. I just spent time in my bathroom a half hour ago trying not to cry.

Sorry Kerry, really sorry. I hope everything is going to be ok for you.

You describe so many people I see every day. I hate to think of these people as actually being 'people', with sons and daughters and lives...its depressing.

I hope (and trust) that everything will work out for you and yours, because you are good people, and deserve good things.

It sucks when the kids have to take the role of parent to their own...

best wishes!

my mom in law has been sober for three years now after being hospitalized for being a shitty drunk and being told that she was going to die. things are much better now.

never could get my dad to quit smoking and it killed him. hang in there kerry.

Sorry to hear that Mrs.!

I’ve got a friend in the hospital now with half a left foot because of her delay in going to the doctor – she had a staph infection that destroyed tendon and bone on the top of her foot. She is treated quarterly for cancer and because of the chemo her immunities are low. When first diagnosed with cancer she also found out she was diabetic. After getting over her first round of chemo, she has continually smoked, drank heavy, partied as hard as ever and didn’t listen to everyone telling her that a swollen and discolored foot was a bad sign. As a consequence she almost lost her entire foot (vs. the top half). She is now in the hospital for some time with impending further surgeries including skin grafts and later physio-therapy to teach her to walk on it.

I want to shake her – shake some sense into her. It’s her body, her life – I just wish she valued herself more.

My dad drank himself to death. It was originally supposed to happen 20 years before it actually did. He stopped drinking for a while, but eventually picked up where he left off, until his liver melted down. It was pretty helpless knowing it was going to kill him, yet there was nothing I could do about it.

My mom finally quit drinking not too long ago, but both she and my wife still smoke like a refinery. I sometimes worry about having to raise my kids by myself, but figure even with her pack-a-day habit, I'll die long before SHEFRAC does. But neither one of us has even 15 years left, truth be told.