I thought I'd start a new thread for updates on my cancer treatments and whatever else is going on, since the bad news thread title is misleading now.
My last treatment went better than the previous two and my chest wound is still closed up, which is a good thing. My arm is getting slightly stronger and I hope to resume lifting dumbbells next week. I need to build up my strength again, because I am going back to Denmark in May and I am extremely pumped about that! I'd like to be able to schlepp my own checked bag and not have someone else lifting it for me.
It's going to be a fabulous trip, 6 weeks and a couple of days for me. My brother is going along as well as my friends Chipp and Rod. Chipp is staying close to 3 weeks and has not gone with me over there since 2006 so he is also very pumped to be going. It will be Rod's first trip and he will be there for 2 weeks. I will get to be a tour guide. Also, I am throwing a party in my favorite pub of all, the wonderful, ever-magnificent Irish House in Aalborg on May 7th. The owner and I are friends and he will give me a little discount. We'll have Irish stew and brews in the cellar and I hope to have around 25 family and friends there. I might bill it as the "Fu** Cancer Party." A few months back, I was not sure I'd ever be able to go over to Denmark again or if I'd even be alive, but the cancer hasn't gotten me yet. I'm doing a number on it, instead.
Some other cool things I plan to do when I am back in my ancestral lands include a wine tasting in a castle, touring another castle and the northernmost manor home in the country, and visiting Skagen, the top of Denmark, where you can stand on a little patch of beach and have one foot in one sea and one in another. They also have a brewpub up there I am wanting to check out. I will start and end my trip in Aalborg and spend 5 weeks in an apartment I rent that is very close to the beach. I can hardly wait for May 4th to roll around! [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Giant Meatball:
May the firewater and boobies flow free to you
I have enough firewater to last me if I live to be 100, as little of the hard stuff as I drink. Now, the boobs on the other hand... They would make me feel SO much better if only I had some to play with frequently. I haven't seen any since August and dammit, that was too long ago for my taste. She went all squirrely on me after that, and I don't have time for that mess. I wouldn't have time for it even if I didn't have cancer.
And on another note, people have been confused as to why I don't just get some immunotherapy going. I've been trying to think how to explain it and a good analogy just came to me. If there is nothing in my genes to fix, it won't do anything for me. So, think of it like putting a bandage on your arm but there is no cut or scrape there. [Reply]
I am a bit better thanks. I haven't had to take as many pain pills and didn't have any dry heaves today, like I had the past two days. I am eating a bit more and I hauled a big wheelbarrow load of firewood to the house, lifted some weights, and took a nap. I only have so much energy in me and then it's time to hit the sheets. I do not know how much stronger I will get, or if I will lose strength with whatever treatment comes next, but my hope is that I can carry my luggage up steps when needed and I can walk about a mile without feeling like I haven't had any water in so long it dries out my mouth, and I won't be huffing and puffing from the effort of walking. It's only two and a half months until I am scheduled to fly out of here. If I get to feeling better more and more, then I will start getting more excited about my trip. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I am a bit better thanks. I haven't had to take as many pain pills and didn't have any dry heaves today, like I had the past two days. I am eating a bit more and I hauled a big wheelbarrow load of firewood to the house, lifted some weights, and took a nap. I only have so much energy in me and then it's time to hit the sheets. I do not know how much stronger I will get, or if I will lose strength with whatever treatment comes next, but my hope is that I can carry my luggage up steps when needed and I can walk about a mile without feeling like I haven't had any water in so long it dries out my mouth, and I won't be huffing and puffing from the effort of walking. It's only two and a half months until I am scheduled to fly out of here. If I get to feeling better more and more, then I will start getting more excited about my trip.
Ed, hire a hot young escort and take her along the trip with you. She can wheelie your luggage, tend to your needs and throw you a BJ once in a while. Can't thing of any reason why not? Have a blast.......:-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I am a bit better thanks. I haven't had to take as many pain pills and didn't have any dry heaves today, like I had the past two days. I am eating a bit more and I hauled a big wheelbarrow load of firewood to the house, lifted some weights, and took a nap. I only have so much energy in me and then it's time to hit the sheets. I do not know how much stronger I will get, or if I will lose strength with whatever treatment comes next, but my hope is that I can carry my luggage up steps when needed and I can walk about a mile without feeling like I haven't had any water in so long it dries out my mouth, and I won't be huffing and puffing from the effort of walking. It's only two and a half months until I am scheduled to fly out of here. If I get to feeling better more and more, then I will start getting more excited about my trip.
Do they have you on an oral antiemetic? Any relief from OTC or other remedies? (Kaopectate, Pepto, Zantac, Cannabis, etc.?)
Some anti-anxiety medications help cancer patients with certain types of nausea, but they would preclude you from drinking alcohol and have other drawbacks. You might ask your doctor about it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Kram:
Do they have you on an oral antiemetic? Any relief from OTC or other remedies? (Kaopectate, Pepto, Zantac, Cannabis, etc.?)
Some anti-anxiety medications help cancer patients with certain types of nausea, but they would preclude you from drinking alcohol and have other drawbacks. You might ask your doctor about it.
The only meds I take are xarelto for a massive blood clot and the hydrocodone for pains. I wasn't nauseated, but the coughing is what did it. My gut got twisted up from coughing, then I heaved. Once it calmed down, I was fine. It's a strange, strange ride this cancer stuff. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I am a bit better thanks. I haven't had to take as many pain pills and didn't have any dry heaves today, like I had the past two days. I am eating a bit more and I hauled a big wheelbarrow load of firewood to the house, lifted some weights, and took a nap. I only have so much energy in me and then it's time to hit the sheets. I do not know how much stronger I will get, or if I will lose strength with whatever treatment comes next, but my hope is that I can carry my luggage up steps when needed and I can walk about a mile without feeling like I haven't had any water in so long it dries out my mouth, and I won't be huffing and puffing from the effort of walking. It's only two and a half months until I am scheduled to fly out of here. If I get to feeling better more and more, then I will start getting more excited about my trip.
Hauling wood?
Lifting weights?
You're strong as a horse, have a mind like a bear trap... and by God you're gonna be fine [Reply]
I didn't get good news today at the cancer center. There are no medications for any of the many mutations that my cancer has. So, that means no immunotherapy. I was even asked if I wished to continue seeking treatment. I said yes. They are sending me to a cancer research center where I might qualify for an experimental treatment that might help me, or not. If that doesn't pan out, I can get some pills that will not do a whole lot for me. The outlook is bleak. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I didn't get good news today at the cancer center. There are no medications for any of the many mutations that my cancer has. So, that means no immunotherapy. I was even asked if I wished to continue seeking treatment. I said yes. They are sending me to a cancer research center where I might qualify for an experimental treatment that might help me, or not. If that doesn't pan out, I can get some pills that will not do a whole lot for me. The outlook is bleak.
I'm sorry to hear that, Ed. Sometimes things don't go the way that we would like them to, and I'm certainly no stranger to such a situation. Just don't give up. Keep fighting. That's all we can do in this life, my friend.
And who knows? Today's bad news could become tomorrow's good news.
Love ya', brother. [Reply]
I just got a blood test result in on MyChart. They checked my CEA, the cancer marker in my blood. It sky rocketed to almost 550 in December as the chemo stopped working, so with two months of no treatments, I was expecting to see 1500 to 2000. It's 287.2 and I have NO IDEA how it went down so much. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I didn't get good news today at the cancer center. There are no medications for any of the many mutations that my cancer has. So, that means no immunotherapy. I was even asked if I wished to continue seeking treatment. I said yes. They are sending me to a cancer research center where I might qualify for an experimental treatment that might help me, or not. If that doesn't pan out, I can get some pills that will not do a whole lot for me. The outlook is bleak.
I'll keep praying Ed, you keep fighting... [Reply]
I hope you can just keep setting goals to live for, things that make you happy and give you peace.
Set the next goal for your trip.....and now that Brady has one for his thumb, you can watch in dismay as goodell personally measures Brady for his cock ring for Super Bowl 52. Not sure if it will be smaller than his pinky ring or a wrist watch. Stay tuned, pal. [Reply]