F*^$ Cancer

[BYU 14]

So sorry, thoughts and prayers to you and your family

[Chief Rum]

Damn sorry dawgfan. My best thoughts for you and your family.

[CleBrownsfan]

My thoughts are with you and your family dawgfan

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Glad to hear about the good results for your wife, MBBF.

=====

Childhood cancers are the worst. I've been following Mad About Madeline on Facebook for probably a year. Heartbreaking watching this little girl Madeline and her family fight leukemia for the third time. So many people have rallied around them to try to help, but it's looking pretty hopeless right now. I can't imagine having to go through that with a child. Life can be so cruel.

The Day - East Lyme girl succumbs to cancer - News from southeastern Connecticut

Have to admit, I'm tearing up over this one. Madeline was an incredibly brave little girl.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

My wife had what we hope was her final surgery last Thursday. She had the last stage of her breast reconstruction where the permanent implants were put in to replace the temporary expanders she had in for the last few months.

We're both slowly adjusting to the situation. She looks down and feels really weird having such a big change. It's just as weird for me to see such a dramatic physical change in my spouse. I suppose it wouldn't be as dramatic if she had chosen this path, but cancer chose it for us. She's having to throw out most of her nicer dresses since her new 'girls' won't fit in any of the dresses she has. She's enjoying picking out some new clothes, while lamenting the fact that a lot of her favorite clothes don't fit her anymore.

In addition, she has been put into premature menopause. I've had to learn about everything that involves in a really big hurry. It affects her mood at times and obviously the abrupt hormone changes are like a really bad joke for her body. You can never prepare yourself for these kinds of things and it's only worse when it happens nearly instantaneously.

I realize these are very small problems given how blessed we are in how this has all gone down, but it's just a big change in our life that we're having to learn about as we go along.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Lost my aunt to breast cancer today. She had the same surgery that my wife had a year ago, but they found out after the surgery that cancer had already spread outside of her breasts and she had to live the last month and a half knowing she was dying quickly. I'm thankful that she managed to make it to Thanksgiving to spend one last holiday with her three kids and grandkids.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Lost my aunt to breast cancer today. She had the same surgery that my wife had a year ago, but they found out after the surgery that cancer had already spread outside of her breasts and she had to live the last month and a half knowing she was dying quickly. I'm thankful that she managed to make it to Thanksgiving to spend one last holiday with her three kids and grandkids.

That's horrible.. sorry for your loss.

[CleBrownsfan]

sorry MBbF for your loss... Thinking of you and your family- F cancer

[JonInMiddleGA]

Fuck cancer indeed.

Condolences to you and your family on your loss.

[JPhillips]

Take care and God bless.

[lungs]

My cousin, 33 years old just found out her melanoma spread to her kidneys, colon, and lung.

Fuck cancer.

[MizzouRah]

Ugh.. that's horrible

[cougarfreak]

A good friend of mine began having stomach pains over the summer, when he was off of work (as a teacher). Last week the final tests came back after about umpteen doctor visits, tests, etc. Stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. He's 48 years old, one son is a jr. in college, and one son is a sr at the school I'm an AP at, and he teaches at. Yeah, fuck cancer.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

A good friend of mine began having stomach pains over the summer, when he was off of work (as a teacher). Last week the final tests came back after about umpteen doctor visits, tests, etc. Stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. He's 48 years old, one son is a jr. in college, and one son is a sr at the school I'm an AP at, and he teaches at. Yeah, fuck cancer.

[Marc Vaughan]

So my best friend from my teenage years just died - he'd had a tumor for the last few years but had been receiving Chemo and was in good spirits and positive that he'd recover up until around 4-5 months ago when it returned and the treatment stopped helping.

Tom was an amazing guy - he was a nerd before nerds were cool. We both grew up in a tiny village of 400 peoples, his family were hippies, his mom paints and his dad is a PE Teacher who does carpentry on the side. My father had PTSD issues so I spent a lot of time hanging out at theirs eating nettle soup politely and playing chess and D&D with Tom.

Tom was a certified genius, he got grades at A'Level which I didn't even realise existed (A* which is basically a 'near perfect') and he ended up going to Cambridge University where he took a combined Math/Physics degree ... after which he decided to become a pastor, a career he continued in up until he died last night.

He is the reason why I try and respect peoples belief in a higher being - its not something which comes easily to me, I've seen a lot of shit in my life but Tom was the most intelligent man I've ever met and incredibly compassionate ... as such I'm willing to entertain he was onto something because he was often a step ahead of me intellectually.

He'll be hugely missed, not just by me but by his family and the many people who his actions have rippled through during his life.

(end random diatribe - just needed to get that off my chest)

[CleBrownsfan]

Tom sounds like an amazing person to have known - Rest In Peace (and f' cancer)

[cougarfreak]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Tom sounds like an amazing person to have known - Rest In Peace (and f' cancer)

Definitely. F' Cancer.

[MizzouRah]

Sorry for your loss Marc.

Tom touched many lives and truly touched yours!

[lungs]

Originally Posted by lungs

My cousin, 33 years old just found out her melanoma spread to her kidneys, colon, and lung.

Fuck cancer.

Some good news for this thread.... Turns out that the whole cancer spreading thing was actually her experimental treatment working. So prognosis went from grave to very positive.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by lungs

Some good news for this thread.... Turns out that the whole cancer spreading thing was actually her experimental treatment working. So prognosis went from grave to very positive.

That's awesome

[Chief Rum]

Sorry about your friend, Marc. He sounds like he was an amazing person. I'm sure the impact of the life he led will continue for a long time.

[NobodyHere]

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Announces She's Battling Breast Cancer

[tarcone]

My Dad was just diagnosed with Prostate cancer. He had a biopsy and the results showed and aggressive form. He has many more tests to do, to see if it has spread and all that stuff. It is still early and I know very little and there isnt much out there for a person his age that has prostate cancer. At least that I could find.

He is 87. But in good health. I have seen that the survival rate is high. But at his age, Im not sure if that is pertinent.

I have to wait and see. Which is a hard thing to do. And, again, I cant find much about this type of cancer is a person at his age.

It was a punch in the stomach.

F$#% cancer

[Thomkal]

Very sorry to hear that tarcone. I'm pulling for your father to beat this.

:::hugs:::

[JPhillips]

Charles Krauthammer's cancer has returned and he only has weeks to live.

Even though I mostly disagree with him, fuck you, cancer.

[tarcone]

Quick update. Dad went through 6 weeks of radiation. The cancer was only in his colon. No where else. Now we wait for 6 weeks to see if it worked. The treatment ended right before memorial day.

Side effects hit him pretty hard, but he was able to do most things.

[Kodos]

I hope your Dad comes out of this and does great, tarcone.

[Thomkal]

Glad to hear that Tarcone. Hope it stays that way.

[Edward64]

Best wishes.

[MizzouRah]

Praying for your dad tarcone.

[cartman]

Looks like I get added to the list. I had my physical back in July, and the doc found a mole on my back that he said I should get checked out. I saw the dermatologist a few weeks ago, and she said she wanted to excise it and send it off for testing. Well, the test results came back, and they weren't good. I'm going back in on Thursday morning to get more of the area removed.

[tarcone]

Good luck.
My Dad also gets chunks removed. Just had part of his nose chopped off. He does say it is the best cancer to get if you get cancer. Just more of a hassle.
Not sure what type of cancer it is.

Hope it is nothing bigger than just routine check ups and holes dug.

[NobodyHere]

Best of luck to you.

[Radii]

good luck Cartman

[Thomkal]

Very sorry to hear this Cartman.

[JonInMiddleGA]

:/

[Edward64]

Very sorry to hear. Best wishes

[Lathum]

Good luck my friend

[Breeze]

Cartman - your in my prayers...

[Kodos]

I hope this is just a bump in the road.

[PilotMan]

Sorry to hear this Cartman. You'll be in my thoughts for sure.

[JPhillips]

Keep your chin up. We're all in your corner.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Ugh. That sucks. Very sorry to hear this, Cartman. Good luck.

My brother, who is 41, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer earlier this summer. He went through chemo and radiation and then had his entire esophagus removed a couple of weeks ago. He's at home and recovering. All things considered, he's doing really well. But 41 is way, way too young for this shit.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

As the son of a man who has been battling leukemia off and on for the past five years, Fuck Cancer.

Almost 10 years to the day from that post (and 15 years of dealing with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia), after a series of experimental treatments, remissions, then relapses, my dad underwent what he always thought of as his last resort, a stem cell transplant. The mortality rate for that procedure is quite high, and he could never get over the risk, but there were no more options for him. The transplant went well, in that the leukemia is eradicated and he's cancer free, but he's been dealing with Graft Versus Host disease for a year and a half now. It was really bad to begin, and he had to stay on a variety of drugs for a long time, including high doses of steroids. They've been weaning him off a lot of the drugs over the past six months, but he's still weak and tired a lot of the time. He's actually on his way to MD Anderson in Houston for a follow up visit, and going in a few days earlier than planned due to his fatigue and body aches.

The important thing, though, is that he is still with us. When I wrote the post I quoted, I wasn't sure he would ever get a chance to meet his future grandchildren. Now, not only has he met my two children, ages 8 and 5, he's had a chance to love them, and let them know how much he loves them, and they love him more than they can express.

Thank god for the good people with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Team in Training, and various other organizations who dedicate their time and energy into doing fundraising efforts into L&L research. Without them, my dad would likely have left us long ago.

[tarcone]

Stem cells have to be exploited.

Im glad you still have and had time with your Dad. Hope he over comes this last hurdle, he sounds like a fighter.

[cartman]

Good to hear about your dad, Jeebs. The recovery from the transplant sounds tough, but he's been a fighter now for as you said for nearly 15 years. Transplant rejection therapy can be rough, but they are making amazing strides.

I just got back from the dermatologist, now with a one inch chunk missing from my back. She is sending it off for testing, to make sure that they got it all out. Have to take it easy for a couple weeks.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Almost 10 years to the day from that post (and 15 years of dealing with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia), after a series of experimental treatments, remissions, then relapses, my dad underwent what he always thought of as his last resort, a stem cell transplant. The mortality rate for that procedure is quite high, and he could never get over the risk, but there were no more options for him. The transplant went well, in that the leukemia is eradicated and he's cancer free, but he's been dealing with Graft Versus Host disease for a year and a half now. It was really bad to begin, and he had to stay on a variety of drugs for a long time, including high doses of steroids. They've been weaning him off a lot of the drugs over the past six months, but he's still weak and tired a lot of the time. He's actually on his way to MD Anderson in Houston for a follow up visit, and going in a few days earlier than planned due to his fatigue and body aches.

The important thing, though, is that he is still with us. When I wrote the post I quoted, I wasn't sure he would ever get a chance to meet his future grandchildren. Now, not only has he met my two children, ages 8 and 5, he's had a chance to love them, and let them know how much he loves them, and they love him more than they can express.

Thank god for the good people with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Team in Training, and various other organizations who dedicate their time and energy into doing fundraising efforts into L&L research. Without them, my dad would likely have left us long ago.

Best wishes.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by cartman

Good to hear about your dad, Jeebs.

I just got back from the dermatologist, now with a one inch chunk missing from my back. She is sending it off for testing, to make sure that they got it all out. Have to take it easy for a couple weeks.

Best wishes to you also.

[cartman]

So the testing came back (a while ago, forgot to update), and all of the edges tested clear. But unfortunately I ended up getting a bad infection at the site, and they had to redo the two layers of internal stitches. I had to get antibiotics via IV several times to get it under control. So I now have a nice nasty scar on my back from all of that. It took about six weeks to recover from the infection, and couldn't do much of anything during that time. My trip to Vegas for the AWS conference in December was the first time really I'd been out of the house for more than a trip to the store or doctor.

But the good news is that the doc did another full scan and didn't see anything that looked troubling. I'll just have to go in every six months and be worked over with a fine tooth comb to see if anything else might pop up.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by APC

I go in for a CT scan on Thursday to find out if my last 2 months of chemo have slowed my cancer down at all. Will get results on Monday.

Looking back a page, I notice APC didn't access these forums again a few months later. Hopefully a coincidence.

Didn't post much here, but late last year I had my final follow up meeting with my oncologist last year and was given the formal "all clear" after 5 years of check ups. Felt great.