F*** You, Cancer! Catch all

Very sorry to hear

Sorry to hear that, Halfway. We'll keep your family in our prayers.

Started Proton Therapy radiation treatment today. Three weeks, five days a week. Hoping it can shrink the tumor and give me some more time.

Thinking all the good thoughts for you and yours, Halfway and bighoppa.

My mother-in-law passed last night.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer 25 years ago. She beat it into remission. It came back 14 years ago, and she beat it back again. Last year it came back yet again, and was way more aggressive. She tried three separate treatments, and even got on two trials. Nothing was really working but there was hope it could be kept at bay. Then Covid happened and suddenly there were no more trials. She stopped treatment in March and was given about three months. She made it five.

She never gave up fighting though, right up to the end. She even survived a two-week stint in the hospital a few weeks back without getting Covid. She refused meds that would make here more comfortable until just two days ago. After that, she passed quickly. She was tough, feisty, but incredibly generous and loving. She passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her husband, her two daughters, and her three grandchildren.

I haven't posted here before, but I have lurked forever. My heart aches for everyone posting (and lurking here) who are going through this terrible disease. I lost my Dad to it about 20 years ago and it still hurts. The only sliver of advice I can offer is that if you lose someone, you will eventually stop being angry about how they died, and will be able to be happy about how they lived. It may take a while, but it will happen.

Turns out my son's headaches the past few months of maintenance were justified: he's relapsed again in his CNS. He starts his 3rd battle with Leukemia in 4 years as soon as we can get some second opinion consults (trying to figure out if CAR-T is an option or if we move forward with a bone marrow transplant).

He's been "low risk," this whole time, and he has the most treatable/curable kind of Leukemia...could've fooled us. Just mind-numbing to process.

Completely lost it in the clinic this morning after he was put down for a spinal tap to treat the cells and relieve the pressure. I guess I hadn't realized just how happy I was after brain radiation that we'd (likely) never have to do that again. Yet here we are.

Ok, breathe, one foot in front of the other...there are options, and he's still strong, got plenty of life left to live. Going to get him beyond these headaches, get him somewhere where he can get the right treatment, and get him going on Avengers when it comes out on Friday when he's ready/able.

Sorry Wizard. I can't imagine.

All the best to you and your son and family going forward.

Man, Wizard, that's tough. Glad there's still a path to travel.

May your dad rock bring you comfort.

Wizard I hope he gets excellent treatment with excellent results.

Wizard, I'm so sorry you and your son are having to go through this again. All the best to you and the family. <3

Goddammit.

After my dad’s cancer (stage 3 colon cancer) surgery in the spring and chemo all summer, a recent blood test showed something elevated (don’t know what). The oncologist informed him today the cancer was back, and has ordered “urgent” testing.

Sorry to hear that mudbunny. Hopefully they will be able to get a regiment quickly that will nip it in the bud again. Love, good thoughts and well wishes to you and yours.

I've put up a separate thread for some of my stuff. I have a go fund me now. If you can help in any way it would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

bighoppa wrote:

I've put up a separate thread for some of my stuff. I have a go fund me now. If you can help in any way it would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

Happy to pitch in. You've done a lot to support others here by sharing your story. I hope the GWJers continue to respond in kind to help you and your family.

F*ck.

Looks like my dad’s cancer is back (or never left??) Colonoscopy then an MRI the next day showed a tumour outside the colon and another one on his iliac vein. Can’t operate, so he is going to go through chemo (again), radiation therapy and then (or at the same time??) something called TNT therapy.

Sigh

Sorry mudbunny. Hope it goes well and he seems improvement.

Hugs and love Mudbunny! I am so sorry your family has to go thru this.

After 37 days in the hospital for a line infection in his port, after multiple scans and surgeries etc., my son made it back from the brink (literally) and we brought him home last night. He's worse for wear: feeding tube, bed- and wheelchair-ridden for the moment, but still...Christmas. Miracle!

All of this followed a 21 day stay (with a week off first week of November) for intensification of symptoms from his (second) relapse.

I'm completely spent at this point after living life 1 hour at a time for several months, but I'm so, so grateful; humbled by the treatment from our team, blown away by support of family and friends, and inspired by the fight in my son. If that which does not kill you makes you stronger, he's going to achieve incredible things in life. 4.5 years and counting of fighting means life with leukemia is sadly all this kid knows, and he's still getting up off the mat every time he gets knocked down and finds a way to smile. Unreal.

We're still on track for a bone marrow transplant in another month or two. It's scary, it's our last option, but he's clearly game for it.

If you know of someone fighting leukemia, especially if they are struggling, share with them that battles ARE won in this war and there are so many reasons to be hopeful.

If you're a parent who has recently taken your kids for granted - and we all do in little ways, myself included, each and every day...the bickering, the yelling over petty things, the mountains made out of molehills, and so forth, do me a huge favor: go hug the sh*t out them for no reason at all this morning. ESPECIALLY if you went to bed angry with each other.

If you're a kid who's taken your parents for granted recently in similar ways. Do it too. If they're socially distant, call them and say "I love you" with no other explanation or reason for calling.

Life's too short for bullsh*t.

"Don't give up. Don't ever give up." Jimmy V

May all of you struggling with cancer still find joy in the holiday season, such that it is in 2020. From my family to yours, we wish you all nothing but the best.

I'm hoping that my Christmas present this year is that I can get my octogenarian mother out of the hospital tomorrow or Friday and back at home with my dad.

She's had a persistent ear infection the past couple of months that wouldn't go away. Her ear doctor took a biopsy from her ear canal about two weeks ago and it came back as a squamous cell carcinoma. The biopsy lead to a head and neck CT and that led to about a week of almost daily tests and consultations with two surgeons--one ear specialist and one neck specialist. Saturday was a COVID test and yesterday was a seven hour surgery.

The docs say that they removed all the cancer--along with her hearing drum, the bones of the middle ear, most of the ear canal, her salivary gland, and some lymph nodes--which is just fantastic news. However, there was some damage to a major facial nerve so now there's some pronounced paralysis on the left side of her face. The docs say that the nerve will heal in the coming weeks and most of the paralysis should go away.

We can't quite celebrate because one of the docs ordered a chest CT before surgery as a precaution just to see if any cancer had migrated to her chest. Unfortunately that CT came back showing a two centimeter "nodule" in her left lung. We won't know what that is or if it's cancerous until she recovers enough to have additional tests.

All of this is on top her having to have Mohs surgery on a basal cell carcinoma on her nose back in February.

And COVID makes dealing with all of this a thousand times worse.

Christmas came early!

Next week (or possibly the week after, 'cause 'Rona) my dad starts radiation therapy for his colon cancer, which has apparantly, since his surgery and chemo this summer, spread to the outside his colon and to his ilial vein.

5 weeks, 5 times a week.

I can't get past the feeling that he isn't telling me everything.

And with my wife in isolation while we wait for her COVID test, so no Christmas tomorrow, this really, really sucks.

Today starts the 5 week journey for my father.

And a 5 week journey for me trying hard not to lose my mind at people talking about not wearing masks. If the cancer unit gets shut down because of the 'rona, imma be pissed off.

mudbunny wrote:

Today starts the 5 week journey for my father.

And a 5 week journey for me trying hard not to lose my mind at people talking about not wearing masks. If the cancer unit gets shut down because of the 'rona, imma be pissed off.

Hoping for the best for your father, mudbunny.

My father-in-law (who lives with us) rang the bell at the end of his 45 treatments (5 days a week) on Monday. The oncology unit here at UF is deemed critical and has not been affected other than stringent mask, entry, and testing rules.

For us, fatigue and nausea have been the biggest things to deal with. The former is tough for somebody who wants to contribute and feel useful. We're looking forward to his recovery from the therapy.

We're back in the hospital with my son on a new immunotherapy drug to prep his body while undergoing heavy PT to regain what he lost from being so sick for so long late last year. T-minus 2 months until transplant, gotta get stronger while the drug does its thing. IT IS GO TIME!

mudbunny wrote:

Today starts the 5 week journey for my father.

And a 5 week journey for me trying hard not to lose my mind at people talking about not wearing masks. If the cancer unit gets shut down because of the 'rona, imma be pissed off.

I just went through three rounds of chemotherapy and this was probably the hardest part. The fatigue, headaches and body aches were bad but the fear that I wouldn't be able to go get the treatments due to COVID topped them all.

The good news is that the tumor board cleared my mom earlier this week: the surgery she had before Christmas got everything in her ear and neck and there's no need for any follow up radiation or chemo.

The not so good news is today was the first meeting with the thoracic surgeon about the "nodule" on her lung. It's cancer, but there's no way to tell if it's been quietly growing for years or it just popped up a few months ago and is aggressive as f*ck without more tests.

So now we're waiting to get a PET scan and some sort of lung capacity test scheduled (with another f'ing COVID test before that) and jamming them in between all the follow up meetings from her original surgery.

On top of that I'm trying to get my mom and dad vaccinated since they're both over 80 and Ohio's supposed to be ready to vaccinate people in that age group next week. But there's no concrete plan or schedule, just a janky ass Microsoft Office form hosted by the county board of health where I guess they'll call or email when they have vaccine.

I have nothing to offer except hugs and love for those dealing with cancer.

Today my sister in law passed away after a six year battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She fought so hard for so long. She was a wonderful person who loved my brother, two nieces, various pets and pretty much everyone. She was a middle school science and tried to teach until the very end despite all of the crap that cancer and chemo does to the body.

She will be missed

F$&@ cancer

Ego Man wrote:

Today my sister in law passed away after a six year battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She fought so hard for so long. She was a wonderful person who loved my brother, two nieces, various pets and pretty much everyone. She was a middle school science and tried to teach until the very end despite all of the crap that cancer and chemo does to the body.

She will be missed

F$&@ cancer

f*ck indeed. Condolences man.

My condolences.

On a personal side, my dad just finished his 7th (out of 25) daily chemo+radiation therapy treatment in an attempt to shrink one the tumor around his ileal vein so it can be operated on. No side effects so far, just some general fatigue. He is in good humour, which helps.