Cancer.. who's beat it ?

Kidney cancer at 35 for me. I had no symptoms whatsoever. I was working out religiously 2 hrs a day and on a very strict diet. My Brother was getting married in a month and, I caught a cold. Went to the Dr. And he gave me a z pack. He said my blood pressure was unusually high and sent me to a kidney specialist. The specialist was concerned and sent me for some tests. The following week I was on a business trip when I got the call. He said you have a 3" malignant mass in the northern pole of your left kidney and we need to remove the kidney. I explained that I had several out-of-state business trips planned throughout the summer and could it wait until fall. His reply was, "I don't want to wait until the end of the week. You've got 6 to 8 months and you will wake up one morning, piss a bowl full of blood and, at that point, all I can do is keep you comfortable. ". That was 19 years ago. Now I'm sans 1 kidney and cancer free ever since. The scariest part is I had no clue. My sister-in-law just died of bone cancer at 42. Had no clue until it was too late. The message here is check-ups are imperative.

 

6mm thick desmoplastic melanoma, 164 treatments with interferon and a trip to hell and back, 17 years later I’m still here. Every day for 2 years I knew I was going to die, and psychologically it really did a number on me, in many good ways but also in some very bad, dark ways.

 

Being mentally & physically tortured, it changes you, forever :/
<3

 

I honestly love and respect/appreciate all of you fighting the fight. It's so scary what it does to you. My girl got up at 0230 this morning because she just couldn't lay down anymore. I can't imagine what it's like. She says the pain never subsides. She always hurts,but wants to be moving and working to take her mind from it.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm going to make her as comfortable as possible

 

I know more people in the last 20 years that are beating cancers, than in the previous 20. Growing up and watching too many people I love and care about fade away to nothing, this is a trend I'd like to see continue.

 

I hate to say this, but not every fight is winnable and exerting more
pressure on someone who is already carrying the weight of the
world on their shoulders every waking moment isn't the kindest
thing to do. I'm sure she's already thinking of all of that anyway.
Guilting her won't make her feel mentally better, probably just the opposite.

Support is what she needs and knowing that the people she loves will
be there no matter what happens or what she decides to do is what
will give her some comfort. (Not suggesting that Toofpic not try to get her
to accept the surgery she needs, just that he does so gently, which I'm
sure is the case anyway).

Toofpic, my heart bleeds for you, her, and all of your family, I hope you
can stay strong through all of this and that your end results are good.
It sounds like you're a standup guy, she's lucky she has that going for her.
Best of luck to you all.

 

Desire being the word.

 

I'm sorry, my brother <3 so sorry

 

Mine pales in comparison to most here - stage 1 colon cancer, caught in time and treated through colon re-section. All clear after two years.

 

Wife x2
Melanoma = gnarly surgery
Breast = double mastectomy

Stuff like that Puts things in perspective real quick.

Hope you’re well Ben.

 

Chemo ain't what it used to be. I'm doing really good. Overall I actually feel "better" as a whole during treatment than I did before treatment.

 

You trying to bait the PhDs in Natural Doctorship?

 

My niece and nephew have an urn that contains the results of blind faith in “natural doctorship”.

I wouldn’t wanna be the guy mentioning it to them.

 

In 2002 I had Stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 50% chance of surviving 5 years, treated with CHOP, a chemo cocktail for this cancer, radiation and rituxin, a genetically engineered new (at that time) drug. The chemo and the radiation were pretty trying. We had 5 small kids then. It meant a lot to me to see them all graduate from high school, and now they are up and on their own, one doctor, two lawyers, and a bank manager, and one student.

God bless my wife who kept it all going for us through that. It’s like this: When you race motocross eventually you’ll wake up looking at a circle of faces. Your job is simple—get up off the ground. The people looking down at you have a much harder job, supporting you and each other, and keeping themselves together.

 

Circle of faces....seen that a few times.

Great survivor story!

 

What a time for this thread....just had an MRI on Monday of my prostate. Two areas abnormal. Way elevated PSA levels.
Going in for a biopsy on the 17th.
I will be on the winning side of this!

 

You go, Bugslayer, and good luck!

 

On the downside this crap is popping up everywhere

Plus side more people are now kicking cancers ass than ever before and treatment isn't the near death experience it used to be.

 

That’s really surprising good news and great to hear!!!

 

I had no idea you were going through this Ben, sorry to hear it, but glad you're feeling good and fighting hard. Let's meet up on the High banks again in October and we'll celebrate with a drafting party.

@ToofPic and @Bugslayer you guys are in our prayers!