I figured with all that is going on, but not to derail from those who have dedicated threads because, they are also important as they are personal, I see this thread as a general "I don't have cancer, but someone I know has it" catch all.
For me, it's my father. He went into the Hospital in July with pneumonia and has yet to leave due to a roller coaster of ailments following.
Most recently is his lungs. We found out on Wednesday that he is positive for lung cancer.
Due to his age (79) and his frail frame it is inoperable. It does not seem to be advancing very quickly as all of his ailments are not symptomatic of cancer except for his weight loss.
He is a hardy man though having survived 8 years after having his throat exchanged for a part of his colon due to throat cancer. Apparently he was very lucky to survive that one.
Anyways, Now we wait till next week to hear from the oncologists as to his treatment. They wont do Chemo as it's too hard on his body but may be able to do radiation (or is it the other way?) Other than that there is also the extended care issue as he was living at home in a 3 level house. This is now going to be impossible due to his loss of use of his legs (another issue involving blood clots).
Fingers crossed that this all comes out OK and that they are albe to treat the symptoms as they appear. The doctor was confident that they would be able to but gave no prognosis of how long it would go on.
I've lost family and loved ones to cancer, and have friends and family that are survivors. It never gets easier, but there is hope in all things.
We'll be pulling for your dad.
This is my closest interaction with it. Others have been aunts and uncles. It's all pretty surreal right now but I must say it was somewhat expected and not a surprise. He smoked for pretty much most of his life (except the first 16 years of it) so knowing that he managed to evade it for 71 years is pretty good.
He has a sign on his office door that's always hung there for as long as I can remenmber. It reads
"If I knew i was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself."
It always bothered me that it was there but It is something that I will always remember and it's a real life lesson to me seeing how he is now.
Yeah, watching both my aunt and uncle go through the process - both lung cancer - was enough to put me off cigarettes early too. Its a difficult one to gauge, though, because some people seem to be immune to the effects of smoking a pack a day. I'm sorry this one is hitting close to home for you.
One of my parent's best friends found out last month that her cancer is back, after having beaten breast cancer into submission. Her counts are up, but they're not able to pinpoint its location, so its time for more tests. Hard on her and her husband.
Mrs. MacBrave had a mammogram today following the completion of her 6th chemotherapy session last week. Next week she'll have a couple more tests then we'll meet with her cancer surgeon. A lumpectomy probably sometime in October.
My mom's got an ongoing struggle with skin cancer. I've got a great-Aunt who's dealing with her nth bout of breast cancer. My grandfather and namesake died of Leukemia when I was 6 weeks old 
f*ck cancer.
Thought you all might like a positive update. Not sure how many of you know the back story by Amit of Photojojo has an update:
http://tumblr.amitgupta.com/post/320...
My mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and just began chemotherapy a couple weeks ago. It hasn't been too bad for her yet, but I expect it will only get worse as she has more.
She is still in good spirits however, with the prospect of her first grandchild being born in the next week or two.
Cancer is a big jerk that I am far too familiar with. I wish the ratio of people I have lost / people that survived was better.
I'll be keeping you and your family in my thoughts, groan.
Edit: And Erik
Cancer is a big jerk that I am far too familiar with. I wish the ratio of people I have lost / people that survived was better.
I'll be keeping you and your family in my thoughts, groan.
Edit: And Erik
+1
I lost both my great grandparents to cancer. I don't remember what my great grandfather had, but my great grandmother had pancreatic cancer and it was a pretty fast decline, then again she was in her 90s. I was between 6-10 when they both died and I still haven't completely gotten over it.
My paternal grandmother succumbed to lung cancer when I was in my early twenties. Due to her religious beliefs she refused treatment and pain medication. I don't think she knew who I was at the end.
My maternal grandmother is currently dealing with ovarian cancer and the scans suggest it has spread to her kidney as well. She is considering refusing treatment because of how sick her last treatment made her.
My mother had thyroid cancer, had the -ectomy, got dosed with the radioactive iodine to kill any thyroid tissue they missed, and has been cancer free for almost two years. During her most recent follow-up, the docs said they found some more spots in her throat area.
F*&k cancer. If I could kick cancer in the crotch until it peed blood, I would.
Nice name you've got there, Dr.Incurable.
I'll always lend my support to anyone who's going through cancer, be it their own or that of someone close to them. That's an open invitation to PM me. What I've learned in my own fight (grade 2 glioma) is that the battlefield is changing. It is my hope that someday, a "F*** You, Cancer!" thread will seem as strange and surreal as a "F*** You, Polio!" thread seems today.
I lost my father to melanoma (skin cancer) when I was 2. There's not much more to say about that other than f**k you, cancer.
F**k. You.
One of the weirdest things about being a biologist for me is how often I sway back and forth on wanting to work on a disease or not. Cancer's the big one. Cancer took a lot of people in my life, and I often feel like I should be working on beating it. But then I take a look at it through the lens of trying to beat it and it's so damn big and amorphous that I feel like I should work on smaller problems that I'll make real progress on. Always in the back of my mind though is f*ck Cancer. f*ck it for doing what it does, and f*ck it for how hard a foe it is.
My wife died almost three years ago from cancer. so, I am on that train.
One of the weirdest things about being a biologist for me is how often I sway back and forth on wanting to work on a disease or not. Cancer's the big one. Cancer took a lot of people in my life, and I often feel like I should be working on beating it. But then I take a look at it through the lens of trying to beat it and it's so damn big and amorphous that I feel like I should work on smaller problems that I'll make real progress on. Always in the back of my mind though is f*ck Cancer. f*ck it for doing what it does, and f*ck it for how hard a foe it is.
You could always pick a small aspect of a single kind of cancer to work on. No one's going to kill the beast on their own. Any damage you can do will help someone.
gravity wrote:One of the weirdest things about being a biologist for me is how often I sway back and forth on wanting to work on a disease or not. Cancer's the big one. Cancer took a lot of people in my life, and I often feel like I should be working on beating it. But then I take a look at it through the lens of trying to beat it and it's so damn big and amorphous that I feel like I should work on smaller problems that I'll make real progress on. Always in the back of my mind though is f*ck Cancer. f*ck it for doing what it does, and f*ck it for how hard a foe it is.
You could always pick a small aspect of a single kind of cancer to work on. No one's going to kill the beast on their own. Any damage you can do will help someone.
I've done a bit of that here and there, most recently collaborating on colorectal and then breast cancer without knowing much of anything about the former, and only a little about the latter. My hope is that I'll find a collaborator I can really click with on the cancer biology side who I can pair with and do some good work alongside, but I haven't found that person yet. Being less of a scientific loner is something I'm working on though, and helping people provides some good motivation.
Got this news from my dad's oncologist today
"Stage 1 tumor. Will need 5 radiation treatments 80% chance of cure
5% chance of side affects (infection or brittle bones)"
WOOT
FU CANCER!
It is my hope that someday, a "F*** You, Cancer!" thread will seem as strange and surreal as a "F*** You, Polio!" thread seems today.
I'll raise a glass to that Lobster. Until then f*ck CANCER.
In the last 12 months I lost an aunt, plus had 3 new diagnosis within my friends and family. 2 seem to be on the mend, but cancer is such a slimy f*cker you never know.
My heart goes out to everyone who's got to deal with this. f*ck Cancer.
Got this news from my dad's oncologist today
"Stage 1 tumor. Will need 5 radiation treatments 80% chance of cure
5% chance of side affects (infection or brittle bones)"WOOT
FU CANCER!
Those are great numbers. I'm really happy for you and your dad that it was caught at Stage 1. Go faster than that f*cking tumor.
He should be starting treatment in a couple of weeks.
Fingers crossed that the 5 doses does the trick.
80% pretty good.
The immune system is really critical to fighting cancer; get any suggestion you can from your doctor about bolstering it, especially under chemo.
Mom when I was 18, Dad and sister in law last year when I was 36. f*ck cancer
For an uplifting story about fighting cancer read memoir Life, On The Line by Grant Achatz. One of the America's best chefs gets a cancer of, yes, tongue. The option is to lose it along with half of his jaw, or, at the last minute, undergo an experimental treatment. For all of us who have the experience with cancer it is a great read.
3 of my 4 grandparents have gone to cancer in a 20 year period. One lung, one liver, one stomach.
I'm not sure how much of a tendency towards cancer is genetic, but basically my parents and I are all working under the assumption that short of a sudden accident, that's the way we will go.
My Aunt just got diagnosed last week, then told she had 3 months today. f*ck you, cancer.
My father died of cirrhosis-caused liver cancer two weeks ago. Hepatitis B and Malaria from 5 years of working in Tanzania have damaged his liver in 90s, and it was getting progressively worse.
Just need to do my daily
Fu*k you Cancer,
F*ck you right in the ear.
I'm sorry for all the loss in this thread. It's going to be a sad thread, and I knew that when I started it, but still...see above.
See you tomorrow.
Internet hugs to you all.
My father died of cirrhosis-caused liver cancer two weeks ago. Hepatitis B and Malaria from 5 years of working in Tanzania have damaged his liver in 90s, and it was getting progressively worse.
Oh man, I'm really sorry for your loss.
117 days ago (June 6th - D-Day) I lost my Dad to the pneumocystis pneumonia he contracted while fighting off cancer in the hospital. He was in the ICU for a few weeks. 60 years old is too young to go, 30 years old is too young to not have a dad.
So yeah, f*ck cancer. My heart goes out to anyone in this thread, especially groan. It's not fun or easy, so be strong for your dad and your family.
Thanks Michael,
We're hopeful that he will still be with us this Christmas. Things are looking good. He starts his treatments next week!
Sorry that you had your loss at such a young age.
and Gorilla, I just reread and saw gravity's quote. I missed that it just happened. Damn.
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