Good news [Lonewolf Ed] - Page 49

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!
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I thought I would post an update since someone usurped my thread title here. My incision is still sore, but has been filling in more at the bottom where my skin came apart, so that is a good sign. I have been able to use the riding mower with no additional discomfort and even pruned some branches today with the lopper. The cutting motion did make me use core muscles, and I broke a hell of a sweat, but I didn't feel too much pain from it, just a minor twinge here and there. And since I am not back on chemo yet, I can have a FEW pints tomorrow night at my class mini-reunion.

:-):-):-):-):-)
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You the man, Ed!

EDIT: Enjoying things that others see as tedious work is profoundly admirable to me with folks in your situation. It's inspiring.
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Originally Posted by Strongside:
You the man, Ed!

EDIT: Enjoying things that others see as tedious work is profoundly admirable to me with folks in your situation. It's inspiring.

I don't enjoy the work so much as I am relieved that I am able to do it again. Before my surgery, I was wondering if I would be able to mow again by mid-October. Cutting hedge branches with a lopper is not easy, either. That is tough wood! There were some easier ones, though, such as mulberry and something I have no clue what it is, but it has clusters of red berries on it. I am not going to do a taste test.

The pasture looks nice, like a putting green now. But, it has been raining like hell, so 5 days from now, I will be back out there on the mower.
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I don't enjoy the work so much as I am relieved that I am able to do it again. Before my surgery, I was wondering if I would be able to mow again by mid-October. Cutting hedge branches with a lopper is not easy, either. That is tough wood! There were some easier ones, though, such as mulberry and something I have no clue what it is, but it has clusters of red berries on it. I am not going to do a taste test.

The pasture looks nice, like a putting green now. But, it has been raining like hell, so 5 days from now, I will be back out there on the mower.

It's been almost 8 weeks since we've had a rain :-)
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I did not. The first time I had it, the nurse monitored me closely to see if I would have a reaction. All I got was a cramp in one toe, but I think that was from the crappy bed I was on. One thing about the Avastin, it made my nose bleed a lot. It would either flow or I'd have bloody goop up in there throughout the day and night. I hope they told you the side effects, particularly about bleeding more from cuts and all that good stuff.
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I did not. The first time I had it, the nurse monitored me closely to see if I would have a reaction. All I got was a cramp in one toe, but I think that was from the crappy bed I was on. One thing about the Avastin, it made my nose bleed a lot. It would either flow or I'd have bloody goop up in there throughout the day and night. I hope they told you the side effects, particularly about bleeding more from cuts and all that good stuff.

Yes. Not looking forward to it. Bleeding and watch any cuts that may not heal. Some sound fairly sever, but 2 doctors said the side effects are very uncommon.

The possible bowel and intestinal perforations scare me the most. I really don't want to take it, but what choice do I have?
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Originally Posted by BigMeatballDave:
Yes. Not looking forward to it. Bleeding and watch any cuts that may not heal. Some sound fairly sever, but 2 doctors said the side effects are very uncommon.

The possible bowel and intestinal perforations scare me the most. I really don't want to take it, but what choice do I have?

I wonder if the Avastin played a part in me passing more blood in the crapper and also if that was why they took out more of my colon than I was initially told. Of course, to cover their asses, I would never get the truth if it was the case.
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