I caught the cancer

[Steel Shank 9,421]

Positive waves, SBB. I need guys like you around to make me look smart and handsome.

😉

[blacklab 11,926]

Damn Bruin, sorry to hear about all this. Keep fighting the good fight. 

[Damor 1,236]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

10 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Simplified, this'll be my new life, except they'll cut out part of the stomach too.

They should just cut out some of your colon and move it up there. Would make your burps smell fantastic.

Don't google "colonic interposition."

Or do, whatever floats your boat.

Give it hell, SBB, RD, and any and all others unspoken who may be reading this thread.  We love y'all (homo, no homo, whatever).

[ztejas 43,411]

27 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

I need guys like you around to make me look smart and handsome.

And to make your dick look bigger. 

[Hate 20,106]

Sbbruin, hang in there. I can tell by your posting style that you have the right type of mindset to deal effectively with this challenge. 
For the rest of Surly, right now you might be just doing your thing. I certainly was, until some personal and family health issues changed the whole equation. I’d highly recommend every surly person over 45 take a few minutes to sit down and think about the rest of your life, and how you might make different decisions if you found out some health issues had the potential risk to shorten your runway, or make your quality of life much worse. . 

This is where I am. I’m not scared of dying, but I fear being incapacitated. I need to make some changes and I know it.

[Sbbruin 21,829]

14 hours ago, Hate said:

This is where I am. I’m not scared of dying, but I fear being incapacitated. I need to make some changes and I know it.

I will say one of the things that has really saved me is my health insurance.  I pay for the Anthem platinum PPO, and I am out of pocket about $1,700 of well north of $100k in bills.  And the big bills are yet to come.  When negotiating compensation, never overlook healthcare benefits.  

[tx 3 putt 76,869]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:51 PM, NorthLoop said:

So since you're not overweight to begin with, are you just gonna have to eat very high calorie food moving forward? 

He’s surrounded by experts here when it comes to eating high calorie and delicious food !

 

@Sbbruin keep fighting hard !

 

[Sbbruin 21,829]

32 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

He’s surrounded by experts here when it comes to eating high calorie and delicious food !

 

@Sbbruin keep fighting hard !

 

Will just need to peruse the @Steel Shank thread to keep my arteries clogged.

[Gil Bang 25,915]

holy fuck, where have I been?  I missed all of this.  

[Sbbruin 21,829]

On the bright side - you've been prepping for the 'lots of small meals' routine with your badass sunset charcuterie boards.
Hang in there man you got this.

Well, probably the last time here for several months. Just met with a guy who lives on his boat on my dock who's done a bunch of work on her, and knows boats inside and out. Gave him the lowdown and he'll come by once/week to run the engine, work the throughhulls, and do a few projects while it just sits here. Makes me feel better. Hadn't been here in over a month and I get the willies worrying about her. So charcuterie board it is, although not the requisite cocktail that usually goes with it.

[DalTxHornFan 3,097]

1 minute ago, Sbbruin said:

Well, probably the last time here for several months. Just met with a guy who lives on his boat on my dock who's done a bunch of work on her, and knows boats inside and out. Gave him the lowdown and he'll come by once/week to run the engine, work the throughhulls, and do a few projects while it just sits here. Makes me feel better. Hadn't been here in over a month and I get the willies worrying about her. So charcuterie board it is, although not the requisite cocktail that usually goes with it.

Stay hard, bud.

[naija 2,854]

I'm sure you know that diagram you posted is a very simplified version of what that surgery entails. Nobody ever wants to hear about complications, but make sure you ask about them and how those will be dealt with it. You will not want to process any of that, but be certain to do it. You've certainly had a rough bout  of it, and I wish you well

[Sbbruin 21,829]

8 minutes ago, naija said:

I'm sure you know that diagram you posted is a very simplified version of what that surgery entails. Nobody ever wants to hear about complications, but make sure you ask about them and how those will be dealt with it. You will not want to process any of that, but be certain to do it. You've certainly had a rough bout  of it, and I wish you well

 

kidding.  I know.  It’s my only option though.  If I try to minimize the amount of esophagus and stomach, the likelihood of cancer being left behind gets up exponentially.  I’m going to be fucked for the rest of my life.  But hopefully not dead.

[naija 2,854]

if by fucked up, you are referring to your diet and the way you eat/enjoy food; let me just say that it is not out of the realm of possibility that you will go back to a normal diet.

the weight loss from esophagectomy is usually in the 5-15% range, longterm. it's not nothing, but for the majority, it's not horrendous.

the DVTs you had are considered provoked, meaning you should be able to get off blood thinners at some point, if everything pans out.

don't want to sugarcoat it and say nothing  will change, but wouldn't accept "fucked up for the rest of my life" as more weighted towards the truth either.

[Sbbruin 21,829]

2 hours ago, naija said:

if by fucked up, you are referring to your diet and the way you eat/enjoy food; let me just say that it is not out of the realm of possibility that you will go back to a normal diet.

the weight loss from esophagectomy is usually in the 5-15% range, longterm. it's not nothing, but for the majority, it's not horrendous.

the DVTs you had are considered provoked, meaning you should be able to get off blood thinners at some point, if everything pans out.

don't want to sugarcoat it and say nothing  will change, but wouldn't accept "fucked up for the rest of my life" as more weighted towards the truth either.

You seem to know a bit.  What’s your background?

[blacklab 11,926]

[Gatorubet 30,185]

24 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

You seem to know a bit.  What’s your background?

[naija 2,854]

1 hour ago, blacklab said:

this is kinda accurate.

1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

You seem to know a bit.  What’s your background?

scalpels and stuff.

[hookemATL 11,701]

Not much to say other than I am sending  all my positive thoughts and energies to you all dealing with this bullshit disease. 
 

keep kicking ass sb. 🤘

[Sawbonz 27,537]

Damn bruin sorry you are going through this. You and your family will be in my prayers. 
 

I don’t know much about the cancer, but given all the patients I’ve taken care of who lost a couple hundred lbs after various gastric procedures and then gained the weight back and then some, I’m confident if you’re goal is to become a fatass post surgery you have an excellent shot at it. 
 

Also fuck cancer

[CHIEF 5,076]

SB,

I happen to have the solution for your esophageal dilemma, it's my solution for when I get the same inevitable diagnosis:

CHIEF

[Gatorubet 30,185]

22 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

I’m going to be fucked for the rest of my life.  But hopefully not dead.

76 year old Vegas hooker co-signs. 

[Stringer 1,438]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:40 PM, Sbbruin said:

@Stringer praying for you.  Hope things are looking up?  No need to update unless you want to.  Just know people are thinking of you.

Thanks for checking in.  I haven't been as big of a poster here as I was on Shaggy, but even then, I took a step back.

I went through the in patient process and ended up in the hospital for about 30 days.  Pretty brutal, but got through it.  Fortunately, I have the "favorable" kind of AML leukemia, which still sucks as only about 60% of cases are cancer free after 5 years.  Not super great odds.  Those odds are getting better with better treatments and I am on the young side, so we'll see.  Leukemia is a weird one as you can't just cut it out and hit what's left with chemo/radiation.  It's much harder to trace and treat.

After the hospital stay I was officially in remission, but with AML, it is super common for it to roar back if you don't continue with treatment and try to target the remaining cancer cells.  So, after the hospital, I had a few weeks out that felt relatively normal while we figured out why treatment to continue with.  

We met with the doctor in Austin (where we live) who treated me in the hospital and a leukemia specialist at MDA in Houston.  We decided to go with MDA instead of the Austin regimen, even though it is a pain going down there for treatment.  The Austin group was following the standard national procedures (the 60% cancer free in 5 years results) while MDA is more aggressive with their treatments.  MDA is the best cancer hospital in the country (world?), and they have seen better results than the standard.  Typically, what they do early on becomes the standard years later.  The doctor in Houston also saw two other patients with my kind of AML the same day I was there while the Austin doctor hadn't seen a case like mine in 6 months.  With the relatively young age (40) and general good health, it's worth being more aggressive and see if we can kill this thing off.

So, basically, we are doing 6 consecutive 4-week cycles.  Week 1 is the chemo in Houston, week 2 my immune system (white blood cells, neutrophils, platelets, etc) goes to zero and it shuts down my immune system.  This is the week I need to be careful around others.  Week 3, I am still low on the immune system as my marrow restarts and week 4 I should be getting back to normal.  Then we start over with Week 1 in Houston.  During weeks 2-4, I am being monitored by the Austin doctor to keep an eye on my cell counts.  During my first cycle (I am in the middle of #2 now), I had a 102 fever for 1 day and I was in the hospital for a week.  They don't fuck about when your immune system is basically non-existent.  

After these 6 cycles, we'll see where we're at.  Hopefully, the cancer cells are diminished to the point of avoiding a marrow transplant and getting a clean bill of health.  Marrow transplants are 30 days in the hospital and another 60 days of monitoring.  If all goes well, it's a miracle cure, but there is a decently high rate of serious issues (including mortality) if it does not go well. I'd like to avoid taking that risk.  

Sorry that's a lot.  TLDR: Cancer sucks and you should avoid getting it.  

 

On 10/29/2022 at 3:00 PM, Sbbruin said:

I will say one of the things that has really saved me is my health insurance.  I pay for the Anthem platinum PPO, and I am out of pocket about $1,700 of well north of $100k in bills.  And the big bills are yet to come.  When negotiating compensation, never overlook healthcare benefits.  

Man, they got off light with you.  I'm pushing $700K (out of pocket $5K for me) and I am in the middle of cycle 2 of 6.  I already hated our health system and this process has not helped.  I actually quit my job the week before my diagnosis (great timing!), so I had to sweat out the timing on getting on COBRA so I didn't have a lapse in coverage.  It was a huge stresser at a time that I didn't need more stress.  

Gospeed to you SBB and anyone else dealing with this.  It's crazy how this disease comes in so many forms and how the treatments vary so wildly.

 

[Wulaw Horn 19,065]

On 10/28/2022 at 9:34 PM, Dbeasy said:

Sbbruin, hang in there. I can tell by your posting style that you have the right type of mindset to deal effectively with this challenge. 

For the rest of Surly, right now you might be just doing your thing. I certainly was, until some personal and family health issues changed the whole equation. I’d highly recommend every surly person over 45 take a few minutes to sit down and think about the rest of your life, and how you might make different decisions if you found out some health issues had the potential risk to shorten your runway, or make your quality of life much worse. . 

I'm 44.4 years old so this almost hits close to home.  

Have started having some of those thoughts for sure.  

[sidis 9,823]

very sorry to hear about the severe challenges and upcoming battles for both of you bruin and stringer.

keep fucking fighting and let this community know what, if anything, it can do for you.

[Kennythetiger 9,375]

Bumping this for @lilMAC25

[RDCanecutter 26,381]

Hey y'all. If anybody's at a presentation about Keytruda in Houston in the next few weeks, one whole Power Point slide is about me, and how my weight went down, then it went back up. Take that, Oprah. My Oncologist said she's makin me famous. I'm like how the hell is that famous you ain't even put my name on it. She said somethin about hippo rights and I let it go.

[Brisketexan 105,063]

Just now, RDCanecutter said:

Hey y'all. If anybody's at a presentation about Keytruda in Houston in the next few weeks, one whole Power Point slide is about me, and how my weight went down, then it went back up. Take that, Oprah. My Oncologist said she's makin me famous. I'm like how the hell is that famous you ain't even put my name on it. She said somethin about hippo rights and I let it go.

Keytruda bought my mom (lung cancer) two really good years.  I mean, so good, that we functionally forgot she had cancer.  Till the Keytruda stopped working (it happens, they're still figuring it all out), then chemo, then the end.  But....two years is two years, and we're damned grateful that we got em, and for Keytruda.

[RDCanecutter 26,381]

30 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Keytruda bought my mom (lung cancer) two really good years.  I mean, so good, that we functionally forgot she had cancer.  Till the Keytruda stopped working (it happens, they're still figuring it all out), then chemo, then the end.  But....two years is two years, and we're damned grateful that we got em, and for Keytruda.

I figure no matter how well I do with whatever I take, my fate is to die crushed under a Range Rover driven by a small angry woman looking at her phone.

[Sbbruin 21,829]

Well, the countdown is on.  Tomorrow is the last day of my life to eat the way I have for 55 years, as Sunday I need to fast except for clear liquids.  I have been eating like a hog for the last 10 days.  Just had an awesome halibut dinner.  Have spent a fortune at restaurants, but why the hell not?  Last go for that.  Surgery Monday morning, and from that point forward, life will be different until I die.  But because of the surgery, that day will hopefully be far down the road.  And that’s really what matters.  If I get to walk my daughter down the aisle because of it, we’ll, fuck it, let’s go.  

[Basil 754]

Bruin, I’m on the other side of your problem. I got rectal cancer in 2017 and went through chemo, etc. oh and they removed some important parts of my asshole system and said I might be having issues for the rest of my life. I ended up with no permanent issues and was recently discharged from my surveillance program. Just keep on doing what they tell you to do. I’m put together a bit different than I was five years ago but am otherwise the same dumbass fellow. Good luck with the surgery!

[Sbbruin 21,829]

Well, it is done.  Lotta fucking pain.  Meds are helping but only to a degree.  Turns out the radiation had fried a section of my lung that he had to cut out.  That’s the most painful spot.  But it was bleeding so he thinks that could’ve contributed to the anemia.  Too doped to keep typing. 

[Post Oak 20,208]

Keep grinding Bruin.

[Victor Lazlo 1,776]

Be strong of mind, Bruin, to be strong of body.

Sending you all the positive vibes that I’ve got.

[NoRagrets 1,125]

5 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Well, it is done.  Lotta fucking pain.  Meds are helping but only to a degree.  Turns out the radiation had fried a section of my lung that he had to cut out.  That’s the most painful spot.  But it was bleeding so he thinks that could’ve contributed to the anemia.  Too doped to keep typing. 

Fair winds and Godspeed!

[Jerry Callo 8,698]

Keep kickin ass, Bruin!

[Hefeweizen 5,310]

5 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Well, it is done.  Lotta fucking pain.  Meds are helping but only to a degree.  Turns out the radiation had fried a section of my lung that he had to cut out.  That’s the most painful spot.  But it was bleeding so he thinks that could’ve contributed to the anemia.  Too doped to keep typing. 

Fight the good fight, because what is the alternative?  I’m happy that you came out the other end of your surgery and hope to continue hearing about your success fighting cancer.

[RamjetFDO 10,575]

🤘 SBB

[RDCanecutter 26,381]

10 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Well, it is done.  Lotta fucking pain.  Meds are helping but only to a degree.  Turns out the radiation had fried a section of my lung that he had to cut out.  That’s the most painful spot.  But it was bleeding so he thinks that could’ve contributed to the anemia.  Too doped to keep typing. 

You got those weird inflatable leg things going that alternate pressure, like a calf massage from a sentient love doll?

[Scheiss Meister 8,407]

Keep kicking ass, SB.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,508]

Keep getting better!

[Gatorubet 30,185]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:37 PM, Sbbruin said:

Well, I guess a little update might due.  So after a 3 night hospital stay with critical anemia, I got out, did my post-chemo/radiation scans, and good news is the tumor is reduced by about 50%.  Bad news- "oh, you have pulmonary embolisms (i.e. blood clots) in both of the main arteries to your lungs.  I guess not entirely uncommon with cancer.  Cancer can cause coagulation.   So great, onto blood thinners.  But meanwhile I was bleeding out of my ass from a combination of chemo induced hemorrhoids and ulcerating colon from the chemo.  So I needed to get  the colorectal guy to go in there and do his thing, but he can't while I'm on blood thinners, but has to or I'll continue to bleed out.  Catch 22.  So I am switched to Lovanox, which is an injectable blood thinner than can be stopped and it'll be out of you system in 24 hours.  So for 2 weeks I had to inject myself in my stomach (full syringe deal) 2x's/day.  Got the roids dealt with, and simultaneously did an endoscopy to check the cancer from the inside.  Biopsy did confirm I still had cancer, which of course I knew.  Then the fun starts.  I wake up and tell the nurse I think I have to pee.  I try and can't.  Oh well, I'll go home and pee.  Get home, bladder feels pretty full, and no go.  And it starts to get critical.  Rush back to City of Hope, and they insert a catheter.  So I had a pee bag strapped to my leg and a hose up my junk for a WEEK.  I don't recommend it.  What a fucking hassle.  So I get it out, am peeing ok, so head to a rosary for my dear friend who passed from brain cancer.  He was my rock during all of this, and he was now gone.  Anyway, funeral the next day, feeling ok, but the next day I feel like shit.  So thoroughly exhausted I can't keep my eyes open.  Slight fever.  Monday call and they tell me to come in.  Run tests.  Oh, you have a bladder infection from the catheter AND it looks like you have a blood infection.  Time for another hospital stay.   Fevers start raging, full delirium type fevers, have 2 different IV antibiotics, but am feeling like death for 2 days.  Start to come around a little on that Wednesday (of last week), but fevers still present.  Ended up 4 nights in the hospital.  Now on oral antibiotics.  And blood thinners.  And flowmax to make sure I can pee.  Then a blood test shows my hemoglobin is back down to 6.9.  So yesterday get 2 pints of blood.  Not bleeding anywhere so the suspicion is my bone marrow is struggling to produce the red blood cells I need.  Great.  But feeling better today.  Oh, and as a result of the blood clots, had to postpone surgery for 2 months, so now Dec 5th.  And that is the gnarliest part of all of this. The surgery will forever change my life.  I will lose about 3/4 of my esophagus, and about 1/3 of my stomach.  The remaining stomach will be pulled up to create a new "esophagus" and leave me with very little stomach capacity.  So basically gastric bypass even though I'm probably max 20 lbs overweight.  

So that's where I'm at.  Been trying to keep things in perspective, but it is really beating me down with all these fucking curveballs.  But I'm alive, and I have a path forward, however fucked up it may be.  So I guess I count myself as one of the lucky ones.

Rub some dirt on it SB.  You’ll be fine. 

[Catpfish 618]

21 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Rub some dirt on it SB.  You’ll be fine. 

Some dirt or dirty leg, 'cause I'm hoping it's the latter real soon for SB

[Hanrahan 1,306]

Make friends with dilaudid.

[smuggs 9,352]

11 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Too doped to keep typing. 

New surly motto.

Hang in there, Bruin.

[Gatorubet 30,185]

11 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Well, it is done.  Lotta fucking pain.  Meds are helping but only to a degree.  Turns out the radiation had fried a section of my lung that he had to cut out.  That’s the most painful spot.  But it was bleeding so he thinks that could’ve contributed to the anemia.  Too doped to keep typing. 

Find a way to get the nurse’s attention to get the good pain killers.   After they cut a hunk of my colon out the pills did not help.  My friend Mr. Intravenous Opioid helped, and I was persistent 

 

[Sbbruin 21,829]

6 hours ago, Hanrahan said:

Make friends with dilaudid.

I pressed the button 30 secs ago.  I am make good work of it.  

[HornOnTheBayou 8,905]

While @Sbbruinis under meds, maybe he will finally admit that the refs helped UCLA win the game in 1997. They missed a holding call late in the 1st quarter that would have totally changed the game!

But seriously, brother, keep kicking ass. Remember, you get to pick the nurse that gives you the final sponge bath when you leave the hospital. At least that is what online documentaries have told me.

[Texzilla58 4,731]

Hang in there sbb. Keep that morphine pump longer than they want. The more phine I get, the more phine in want!

You will fight through this and be enjoying life with your family soon.

[troph 24,781]

16 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

Fair winds and Godspeed!

That son of a bitch stole my line.