F*** You, Cancer! Catch all

momgamer wrote:

With all the crap that's been going on with my Mom's cancer, various members of my family have been getting colonoscopies, just on general principles. My uncle had his done Thursday, and my mom tells me they found five polyps.

I really want to throw things, but there's nothing to really throw them at. :(

Just don't throw things at your uncle's colon.

Also: :\

boooo

My sister found out this morning she has a polyp that the doctor thinks is cancer and so we start the living hell that is the limbo of waiting to find out for sure.

I so f***ing hate cancer.

The doctor thinks it is highly treatable and my Dad's already proven you can beat it twice so I can keep that close but I forget how good friends fear and dread are with cancer and I know they'll get their licks in no matter how things turn out.

Hope is powerful. I wish it was louder.

Fingers crossed on the 'highly treatable' front!
My dad also has beaten it twice. Lung and throat. 3 times if you count the prostate cancer that's not been advancing much.

My mom has also been showing favorably this time with her chemo. very few side effects for her 2nd time. Let's hope this good luck continues!

Hey! Cancer!!

[size=20]FU![/size]

I apologize to my friends (including close ones) who haven't heard about this yet. This has been a private battle for a while due to many reasons, most of which I'll be happy to talk about personally but not on the forums.

My dad has pancreatic cancer, and I've known about it since late January. It was found during a top-down physical he went in for after he moved from NC to Thailand to be with his wife, who is suffering from likely curable endometrial cancer. The plan was for her to be treated in Bangkok and they'd move back to the Philippines (her home country). Now they're both being treated.

He and I have never gotten along well, and I hashed out a lot with him last fall before he left figuring I may not see him again. My thought was that he was moving on to a new start and a better life a bit more free of the crap, self-made and otherwise, that has been present in his life since he was born. I really hoped for some healing in his life, and it was a real blow when my brother and I heard the news (second-hand and vague... but that goes with long-established territory).

His communications have gone from "I'm considering living with this and doing nothing." to eventually deciding on treatment to shrink the masses with targeted radio/chemotherapy followed by an operation. Getting factual details has been like pulling teeth. It took two months for us to learn what stage it was. They caught it at stage 1, they thought. Two masses detected on the distal end of the pancreas. Operable. He pretty much won the lottery on that one, but it's pancreatic cancer which usually gets you eventually no matter what.

He went under the knife this past weekend. They removed both masses and another they discovered on a blood vessel leading to his duodenum. Due to the third he's likely going to have a round of chemo. He's recovering now. Not eating solid food yet and in a great deal of pain, but his blood sugars are self-regulating which is a good sign that his pancreas is still able to do its job.

It feels good to get this out there finally. If it seemed like I was going through something to my friends, well... I have been and it's been exceptionally tough for reasons beyond the cancer itself. We'll see how things go.

So sorry to hear that Lou. I never would have guessed you were dealing with that. ((Hugs))

That's rough. I can't imagine.

Thanks guys. Any hugs are welcome, and I sure wouldn't mind sharing when we get time to chat. It's going to be a long slog. (Hell... it already seems like it has been.)

I'll also be sharing how things go on here with my goodjer friends. You're all the best.

Ugh, sorry to hear that. People do beat pancreas cancer if it's caught early, I have several patients who are survivors. Sounds like they are doing all the right things.

And in regards to the polyps on colonoscopy - that's kind of a good thing, detecting (and removing) polyps prevents colon cancer. Even if there is a little cancer found in a polyp, that is still way better than finding it after it has gotten out.

On a related note, I just watched the 4th season premier of The Big C. Highly recommend it. I don't think I've made it through an episode without both laughter and tears. Watch from the beginning (first season) though, or Cathy's dark humor may feel a bit harsh.

On a lighter note, dad has had his first meal. Since he and my stepmother are both in the hospital together, their meals were brought on one tray.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/zHAwBYs.jpg)

Hers takes up most of the tray. It's salmon fillets, grated carrots, steamed cabbage and mashed potatoes. Also, a plate of fresh papaya, a glass of fresh guava juice, and a trio of whole wheat roll, tomato seasoning and fish sauce for the salmon.

His is at the top right. It's watery potato soup and a glass of water to wash down the pills.

He said he might try eating the newspaper.

Happy to hear he is recovering well. Hopefully the chemo will work to shring what remains.
Hugs to your dad and family!

Thanks Docjoe. We are working to stay optimistic and see how things come back.

I think when I first found out about my mom, the thing that I feared the most was the chemo. Her doctor told her that Hollywood has done a disservice to chemo treatment. They omit the fact that there have been tremendous advancements in the drugs over the years. And they like to shock you into thinking that every treatment requires the hiding-in-the-shadows uber-villain, radiation. He said it isn't the head spinning excorcism it is made out to be and so far, the doctor has been proven correct.

Still, I wish all of you/us the best. I think one of the other mindsets of treatments is that while you may not be able to beat the cancer, the patient will die of old age long before the cancer gets them.

Thanks FBB, I hope (I may actually go as far to say 'Pray') that you are right about the old age first. though my mom is already quite old at 81ish she still has a lot of life left.

I LOVE YOU, MOM!!!

I HATE YOU, CANCER!!!

My father went through chemo in the early 90s, and it was very, very unpleasant. Twenty years ago, Hollywood wasn't really exaggerating.

It gave him an extra year, so I suppose it was worth it, but just barely. I sure hope it's better now.

Keeping fingers and toes crossed for your parents, Lou. And, I gotta say, that hospital has amazing food.

We didn't get good news for my sister this morning so we're waiting to see what the options are. I'm encouraged to see that looking through the statistics she's got most of the traits that put her into the top categories for good results.

f u cancer.

damnit.

Huuuuh.

Found out today that Dad has Myeloma. Not multiple, but still. It's very treatable, and we're all putting a positive face on it, but still. He starts chemo this weekend. We talked about it at dinner and we laughed and all but... it's still all a bit scary sometimes in those quiet moments. The one thing I will say I love most about my family is that we really don't obsess that much over getting dealt a bad hand. If you did, you've gotta refocus, and push on.

All of that said? F*ck cancer. Honestly and genuinely. F*ck cancer.

(Also, screw Wikipedia's terror-inducing pages on any disease ever.)

After my mother in law made it into remission last year, just got results my wife has tested positive for the BRCA1 gene. We haven't properly unpacked this yet, but its pretty f*cked. We're pregnant as well, which means there is a fifty percent chance the gene carries over into our child.

We'll be looking at having her ovaries removed in the next eight years I guess, not sure about her breast removal as regular scans should keep that under control.

f*cked.

fangblackbone wrote:

I think when I first found out about my mom, the thing that I feared the most was the chemo. Her doctor told her that Hollywood has done a disservice to chemo treatment. They omit the fact that there have been tremendous advancements in the drugs over the years. And they like to shock you into thinking that every treatment requires the hiding-in-the-shadows uber-villain, radiation. He said it isn't the head spinning excorcism it is made out to be and so far, the doctor has been proven correct.

Still, I wish all of you/us the best. I think one of the other mindsets of treatments is that while you may not be able to beat the cancer, the patient will die of old age long before the cancer gets them.

During my wife's breast cancer treatment she went through the whole shebang: chemo, surgery, radiation. The radiation was by far the the worst in terms of discomfort and outright pain.

BTW Ms. MacBrave had her last herceptin infusion yesterday, exactly a year after she was diagnosed. The doctors have pronounced her cancer free. Her strength, faith, and unwavering positive attitude through the whole ordeal were just incredible.

That's great MacBrave. Congrats!

My coworker was out for a week as one of his best friends just passed away from breast cancer that moved into her brain. She was a cancer researcher herself with Fred Hutchinson until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. She promptly quit her high paying job and moved to Biloxi, MS to help rebuild. When her time there was up she left to Guatemala to build more homes and shelter for those who could not themselves.

f*ck you cancer for taking away someone who was beyond selfless. I never even met her and I feel the loss.

My sister's surgery went well and we were frankly surprised and ecstatic to find the 23 nodes near by all tested clear. F You Cancer - we're coming for you.

I know we aren't out of the woods but it was nice to hear we aren't starting in the woods, under a rock, at the bottom of the lake.

Prederick - my dad dealt with that about thirty years ago. Even with blunter instruments to deal with it, he's been clear ever since. Good luck and thoughts with your family.

WOOOOT!
My mom's Chemo is working!
She had a CT Scan yesterday and saw teh Oncologist today to discuss. They dont have the full report but the cancers next to her airways and in her lymph nodes are reducing in size!
we were afraid that due to the amount of time she went untreated it was too late. Things are looking up!

Phew,

Bite me, Cancer!

Great news Groan. I hope it continues to be positive.

That is excellent news for both Mrs McBrave and mama Groan.

Next week I believe is my mother's last chemo treament. So far other than fatigue, the worst she has had to deal with is a blood transfusion because her blood cel counts were low. This is a normal occurance so just be on the look out for extra fatigue that doesn't seem to go away. Even during bouts of regular fatigue, you have good days and certain hours of the day where you feel more active. If these stop happening call the attending nurse and they can check to see if you need a transfusion. One warning about the transfusion is they tell you it will take a couple of hours. Well that is per unit so if you need 3 units, that is 6 hours plus the 2 hour process it takes to match your blood type. So just be aware it can be a long day.

Also of note: one chemo treatment including time in the hospital is $61K. Of course it is negotiated down by the insurance company but I thought that was particularly astounding.

So now the next step after my mom's last chemo is for them to do exploratory to see if anything came back. If nothing came back then she is done. If there are signs of anything coming back, she needs another 6 chemo treatments. So, we are keeping our thoughts positive.

My mom is such an inspiration. I actually started being proud of her, as odd as that sounds, over 10 years ago. Going through this on top of all of the humanitarian work she does, makes me a lucky man to be her son.

My sister met with the oconologist yesterday and learned that they believe the surgery was so successful that they think she's 100% cancer free. There will be lots of follow-up and monitoring but they don't think she'll even need chemo or radiation (or more specifically that the potential benefit is so slight comparably in her situation to not be worth the tradeoffs).

F you Cancer.

WOOHOO Rahmen!
Huge hugs to your sister (from some strange internet dude)! That's fantastic news.

Thanks Groan and I hope your Mom continues to improve as well. Strange internet hugs all around.

Rahmen wrote:

My sister met with the oconologist yesterday and learned that they believe the surgery was so successful that they think she's 100% cancer free. There will be lots of follow-up and monitoring but they don't think she'll even need chemo or radiation (or more specifically that the potential benefit is so slight comparably in her situation to not be worth the tradeoffs).

F you Cancer.

Woo!