F*** You, Cancer! Catch all

So sorry about your grandmother.
Hoping your chemo goes well.

Spent two and a half days in the hospital this past week. Was getting my chemo on Wednesday and had a possible reaction to my chemo drug. Had a coughing fit and passed out for several minutes. BP was 80/50, sweating like crazy. Freaked out the nurse, EMTs were called, admitted to hospital, tons of tests run. I've got some follow-up on Tuesday - EEG and oncologist - but I think this means they'll have to change my chemo to something he's less confident in.

F**k you, cancer.

P.S. - Don't watch Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri if you have cancer. Just don't.

My mom's brain cancer seems to be getting worse quicker than we thought it was going to. We found out back in January, and since then she has gone though the round of chemo pills and radiation, and once the radiation was done, they bumped up the chemo dose and gave her a new treatment where we put arrays on her head to shoot the tumor with electricity to slow it down. But I'm not sure how well any of it is working. She gets an MRI tomorrow so we can see where the tumor stands, but her communication skills have gotten much worse very quickly. At the start of the year she had a hard time finishing sentences. After the higher dose of chemo pills, she has a very difficult time even starting a sentence.

At least we got some Mother's day photos with the family today.

F**k cancer.

Damn. Usually a sh*t day when this thread pops up.

Wish you both some better news soon.

Hugs and love to all of you. Cancer is a heartless bastard.

Had my next infusion attempt this past Friday. They tried a desensitization procedure on me and I had the same reaction at about 6% of the full dose. Fortunately caught it before I went critical and passed out again. Back to the drawing board on what drugs I'll get going forward.

Good luck, Bighoppa.

I can't imagine how that must feel, bighoppa. I hope the next option is super effective!

Sorry to hear that Bighoppa. Add me to the list of people hoping they find the best match for you.

IMAGE(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/23783701_743339337694_6755525571511598482_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=4c79f59de524f0eec960f43b08bed303&oe=5BC2615D)

This is me and my dad at my (3rd!) gradution back in November. At the end of April he was diagnosed termianl pancreatic cancer and on Monday he died, he was still working 6 weeks ago. I know almost everybody says this, but he really was the nicest man I know, I only ever heard his raise his voice in angry once in my 32 years and he would do anything for us and his grandkids. Can't count the amount of times he gave me a lift somewhere without compliant.
There are few postives to take from this experience, but one I have found is that I've ditched the whole sterotypical British/men people don't share emotions or talk or hug their parents and mates. I've known my best mate for like 16 years and I have never felt so close to her as now. Yesterday I went on a walk with my mum and held her hand. Such a shame it took this horrible disease for me to see through the bullsh*t that is sociatity's "rules".
Love you Dad.

Bighoppa - Hope you can get everything sorted out!

onewild - Sorry to hear what happened. Cancer does suck, it's a terrible disease. My deepest sympathies.

Thanks for sharing onewild, sounds like he was a great man.

Checking in, with some pretty good news. Since last I posted, we took mom to the hospital since she was having hard time functioning (feeding herself, drinking water, and otherwise taking care of herself). The MRI also showed that the tumor in her brain was substantially larger than it was before (likely due to swelling from the chemo and radiation, but you never know). Well, a week long stay in the hospital got her rehydrated and they gave her steroids which helped the swelling go down, and she was the most alert and communicative that we had seen in a month. She then got checked into a skilled nursing facility for monitoring, and less than a week after they said she was free to go, since she has most of her speech back and can take care of herself again. She'll be moving back in with us soon.

This hasn't cured the cancer by any means, but she's mostly back to herself now, and I'm grateful for it.

That is some good news, Sundown. Every little victory is important.

Glad to hear it Sundown.

Been a while since I posted an update, so thought I would drop a little bit of sunshine. After reverting back to my previous treatment (F5 with Iranotecan) my tumor marker number has been nearly quartered from two months ago. Nausea is still a regular issue, but it's mostly under control. Lorazepam at night really helps with that. Just soooo tired all the time.

I hope everyone else is getting good news and fighting the good fight.

f*ck cancer!

That's really positive news bighoppa! Thanks for sharing. Hopefully you continue to respond well.

That's amazing news! Keep those numbers low!

It's so good to see positive news in this thread! Thanks, bighoppa, and rock on!!

Sorry to bring the room back down, but my mom passed away from her cancer about a month and a half ago. I forgot to mention it in the thread, but suffice to say I had plenty going on. About a month before, she took a clear downturn in her ability to do....anything, really. We were picking out nursing homes until we took her to the hospital instead for what turned out to be pneumonia. They cured that, but it didn't matter at that point. I got to exchange goodbyes with her while she was still awake, although I didn't realize that would be the last time she would be conscious, and I had to keep telling her what my name was.

Putting her on hospice was both a very easy decision, and maybe the hardest thing I've had to do. She passed a week later. But I said goodbye to her every day when I went to see her. I've been very grateful for a great nursing staff, good hospice workers, and a good funeral home director (who had good taste in metal). But I wouldn't have wished this on anyone. Watching her lose herself was incredibly tragic, but it also made me mindful that the medicine we have now allowed her to live still longer than she would have even 50 or 100 years ago, and how fortunate we are to have the time we did have, even if it was incredibly hard for us.

F*ck cancer.

Glad to hear that others are having good news.

Sorry for you loss, Sundown. I hope you found comfort in the additional time you were able to snatch away from the disease.

Thinking of you and your family Sundown. Sorry for your loss.

I'm so sorry to hear that, Sundown. My condolences to you and to your family.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Sundown. F*ck cancer.

Sorry to hear about your loss Sundown.
My mother passed almost 2 years ago under similar circumstances.
If I may make a small suggestion, even if you feel like you can handle
your grief, seek help. I preferred group grief counseling but there are
plenty of services for those seeking private counseling.
Do it for yourself. Do it for your family (you may have family who need
it more but are embarrassed or ashamed to get help. You can set an
healthy example) Do it for your friends, children, spouse. Just do it

fangblackbone wrote:

Sorry to hear about your loss Sundown.
My mother passed almost 2 years ago under similar circumstances.
If I may make a small suggestion, even if you feel like you can handle
your grief, seek help. I preferred group grief counseling but there are
plenty of services for those seeking private counseling.
Do it for yourself. Do it for your family (you may have family who need
it more but are embarrassed or ashamed to get help. You can set an
healthy example) Do it for your friends, children, spouse. Just do it :)

Good idea. Her birthday was actually Christmas Eve, so I was expecting it to hit me hard later this month.

Well, we are all thinking of you and yours. At the risk of sounding cliche', you are not alone:
My mother passed from cancer Dec 23rd 2016. (she went into hospice just before thanksgiving)
My wife's mother passed from cancer Dec 6th 2012. (she went into hospice a few days prior)

Having a sonographer say "that's definitely not a tumor" is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me on my birthday.

So this past week, exactly 1000 days in to 3-year long protocol to treat my son’s Leukemia, the docs notified us that the paths found 19 blasts in his spinal fluid after a routine lumbar puncture/chemo treatment.

So, thanks to these measly 19 cells that were (who knows when, could have been months and months ago) sneaky enough to slide into his CSF somehow, we get to start ALL OVER on Friday - this time with FEELING?!?

It was all going really, really well too...he responded well to initial induction, low-risk track, MRD negative, no major complications, all in all a great prognosis. Numbers have always been in the range they’ve wanted. Managed nausea and headaches and nosebleeds and stomach aches and all the rest. We worked with him on the psychological warfare of it all, and he grew beyond his fears. He got back into school and sports and dance, and...

...in the blink of an eye it’s all just a total failure.

He’s spent half his short life fighting cancer. He’s 7 now and has been at it since he was 4. I was looking forward to his getting beyond this (aside from checkups and bloodwork) in October to have a good chance of making sure the gnarly bits of his treatment would be at the periphery of his memory once he gets older.

Now we’re scared sh*tless and just hoping he gets to have a life at all beyond this after he turns 10. He just wants to make sure he can play video games in the hospital every day and eat good food. He doesn’t care to think about any other parts of it. He is a Big Damn Hero.

His siblings are horrified and sad they’ll have to go more time without him, Mom, and Dad here and there over the coming years.

Pediatric cancer - even in a more common and treatable form like his leukemia - is an absolute nightmarish evil piece of sh*t that is so far beyond needing to die in a fire it’s almost comical. It robs the childhoods of every kid in the home, it robs families of a ton of time and experiences together. It breaks the hearts of anyone who’s friends with the kid and by extension their own friends and family. It breaks the bank too.

Thank god for the recent advancements in immunotherapy. We might have to turn to them after all when at one point we never thought it’d come to it. Wow.

I am so sorry WizardM0de.

I will send whatever good energy your family's way, that I can muster! People, even more so children, shouldn't have to deal with cancer and what it does to you and those around you.