I caught the cancer

[skeeter 455]

53 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Just out of curiosity, why didn’t they start with a prostate MRI before the biopsy?

Don’t know … just followed Doctor’s orders like the good Sailor I am.  To be honest, my initial urologist was an elderly guy on the verge of retirement.  Set in his ways?

[KaiserSoze 1016]

Shit, sorry SBB. I hope all goes as well as possible. I have no useful advice or experience to contribute here; however, I've enjoyed reading your posts over the years and wish the best for you.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

On 5/25/2022 at 6:22 PM, Sbbruin said:

My head is still swimming.  Hasn’t quite been 24 hrs.  Yesterday at this time I was blissfully ignorant.

I completely understand and you have my sympathies. When I received the news in the doctor's office, everything just spun. It may be that way for awhile so be gentle with yourself. It's a lot to take in and the information starts rolling in fast and the specialists get to work. I had days prior to surgery and treatment where I would take the children to school in a simultaneous daze of emotion and numbness, like my brain didn't know what to do. It gets better in a way, so hang in there. The surgery recovery gave me something to focus on that was much more immediate and that helped sort things out a little.

On 5/25/2022 at 12:14 PM, Sbbruin said:

 I've been literally having an out of body experience the last 18 hours.  Like it's somebody else.  But it's me.  Not sure how to process it.  Of course all I can think about is my family.  Son is graduating HS in a week.  I don't want this to fuck him up, so may wait to tell the kids until afterwards.  And he's planning on spending his first year of college in London.  I don't want this to fuck it up.  And, well, they really need me around. 

Again, I am so sorry for the news.

With respect to children, I can only relate my own story because no one knows your family better than you. Our youngest was nine years old and had one surviving grandparent who was battling cancer, the others having already passed away too young from various types of that insidious disease. So learning that a parent had cancer was very scary. But we had always been big Mr. Roger's followers in our family and his advice about 'what is mentionable is manageable' was sound and it really helped. When we broke the news to the children, we told them the truth because in our family we knew they would fill in any blanks if we did not. It was still hard, and I know it made for days and several years of worry for my children, but they learned in a way I wish they had never had to at that age the value of love and life and what it means in comparison to all the other things that surround us. We hung on and held tight and went on the journey together. Each milestone was a memory. For them. For me. For all of us. No way to put a value on that.

God bless you and your family.

[Gatorubet 30631]

On 3/28/2018 at 1:56 PM, Sbbruin said:

Use a cheese grater.  It'll come right off.

<Cancer Gods>

[Stunns38 3763]

Hang it there and you shall defeat cancer.

JC, I’m going to get checked out because I’ve been taking Omeprazole for years now. Haven’t had an endoscopy in 10 years. Had a gastro doc in NYC but since moving back, have only been seeing a PP. thanks for the reminder.

[NorthLoop 14421]

I just literally found out an hour ago that my mom has a brain tumor. That's all I know.. could be operable, maybe not. I dunno. Don't wanna hijack this thread but didn't wanna start a new one. 

[NorthLoop 14421]

Good news is that her body scan showed no signs of cancer anywhere else. The tumor in her brain might not even be cancer. Surgery is tomorrow unless their OR gets inundated with other urgent trauma. 

[Hefeweizen 5416]

On 5/27/2022 at 12:20 AM, NorthLoop said:

I just literally found out an hour ago that my mom has a brain tumor. That's all I know.. could be operable, maybe not. I dunno. Don't wanna hijack this thread but didn't wanna start a new one. 

Shit, sorry to hear that man.  Hopefully it’s benign and operable.  And hopefully she’s got a good neurologist.

[hookemATL 12228]

8 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

Good news is that her body scan showed no signs of cancer anywhere else. The tumor in her brain might not even be cancer. Surgery is tomorrow unless their OR gets inundated with other urgent trauma. 

Peace and love bud. hoping for the best possible result. 🤘❤️

[ChickenSandwich 9918]

 

Let there be light. 
 

Givem hell SBB

Edited May 28, 2022 by ChickenSandwich

[Sbbruin 22082]

8 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

Good news is that her body scan showed no signs of cancer anywhere else. The tumor in her brain might not even be cancer. Surgery is tomorrow unless their OR gets inundated with other urgent trauma. 

Here’s hoping she just nips it in the bud. Positive vibes.  Lost my mom to cancer 7 years ago.  

[BearSchlong 8231]

Catching up. Dang it. Positive vibes sent westward, SBB.

Northloop, same for your mom.

[Brisketexan 106618]

Good news is that her body scan showed no signs of cancer anywhere else. The tumor in her brain might not even be cancer. Surgery is tomorrow unless their OR gets inundated with other urgent trauma. 

Body scan of your mom, you say?

[conVINCEd 21477]

10 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

Good news is that her body scan showed no signs of cancer anywhere else. The tumor in her brain might not even be cancer. Surgery is tomorrow unless their OR gets inundated with other urgent trauma. 

I got put through the ringer in college because they found a benign tumor/cyst in my brain.  If it was malignant it was in a place that would be difficult to get to.  So we did a MRI every couple of months to see if it was growing.  A year later and it had not grown, so it was determined that it was probably something that had been there my whole life.  25 years later and I’m still here with a functional brain.  Opinions may vary on the last part of that statement.  Hope all goes well for your mom.

Edited May 28, 2022 by conVINCEd

[NorthLoop 14421]

Surgery went well. Most of the mass was cystic (fluid) that had grown as a result of the smaller tumor. The whole thing was about the size of a tennis ball (WTF right?). The pressure from the cyst was what was making her act weird and lose motor functions, which is why my sis took her to the ER in the first place. The neurosurgeon said that they got out some of the tumor but most brain tumors burrow themselves in and you can't fully remove them with surgery without cutting out part of the brain, and even that doesn't do it. We won't know for sure until the biopsy comes back in a week, but the surgeon believes it's a type that is very treatable (it's a very long name and I can't remember it). The surgery was last night and she didn't sleep well after. She slept most of today but when she was awake she was still confused and acting weird like before. Doc says this may just be because of swelling and pressure due to the surgery. I sure as fuck hope so. We'll see tomorrow if her cognition improves. 

So all in all this has been mostly good results. Not out of the woods yet with a return to her normal brain function, and not out of the woods with the type of cancer it is, but odds are in her favor. 

 

Oh... and she's been taking care of my 95yo grandpa for the last year at her house. So I'm here tonight drinking beer with him and making him burgers. This sucks for him as he'll probably have to go to assisted living now, which I think he'd rather die than do. This dude is another story. He's beaten cancer 3 times, has 2 artificial hips, and a pacemaker. When he was 16 he got kicked off of Canadian Naval ship on it's way to the Pacific when they found out his age. 

[troph 25089]

@Sbbruin man, I’m at a total loss of words other than to say I love you man. Your marina side sushi, blue water pics and cable knit sweater are in my psyche forever. I hope and pray for you and your family, when you make it through I want to sail with you to Catalina, boat gas will be on me! 

[Jerry Callo 8952]

On 5/29/2022 at 11:10 PM, NorthLoop said:

The surgery was last night and she didn't sleep well after. She slept most of today but when she was awake she was still confused and acting weird like before. Doc says this may just be because of swelling and pressure due to the surgery. I sure as fuck hope so. We'll see tomorrow if her cognition improves. 

I suspect your mom was given a large dose of steroids prior to the surgery.  If so, she will be tapered off of the steroids for the next several weeks.  Steroids will change a person's behavior, sleep patterns, etc.  The effects of the steroids will lessen throughout the taper.  I tapered off medical steroids once and was only sleeping a few hours a night, became uber OCD, and was extremely short tempered.  I was back to my normal surly self at the end of the taper.

[Ten Bears 2499]

On 5/25/2022 at 3:36 PM, jeevsie said:

To put this in terms we can all understand: You better put a 66-3 type of ass kicking on that cancer bullshit.

Too soon motherfucker.

[RDCanecutter 26853]

On 5/27/2022 at 11:29 PM, NorthLoop said:

Good news is that her body scan showed no signs of cancer anywhere else. The tumor in her brain might not even be cancer. Surgery is tomorrow unless their OR gets inundated with other urgent trauma. 

A woman who got a brain tumor removed in the 80s or 90s told me lots of people have tumors up there and never even know it because nothing happens.

[mchookem 16728]

oh man, i just read this, Bruin...hoping you caught it early! to echo Nicole, you're one of my favorite posters...wishing you the best, man 🤘

 

 

also, sidenote...good lord reading everything else shared about GERD and other issues...male part of our very best friend couple (35+ years), he has just insane digestive issues. he's already had surgery for diverticulitis and has almost constant acid reflux, on an empty or full stomach, doesn't matter. he eats Tums like candy (to the point where he actually jacked up his blood somehow a couple years ago and had to lay off). they have to eat dinner at like 5pm and the head of their bed is elevated 6 inches so he can sleep!

we honestly all just roll our eyes and snicker at him now b/c it's so ubiquitous as to be annoying, and he's one of these that doesn't want to take prescription meds b/c of 'side effects' (which could not possibly be worse than the actual illness, whatever it is!), his quality of life (and hers tbh) is frequently impacted (he's 'sick' a lot), and he has refused surgery b/c of the risks. 

anyway...now i'm going to have to bring up this other stuff to her!! his has been going on so long he almost certainly has some secondary/tertiary issues now...he probably doesn't even realize cancer is one of the possibilities. yikes. 

 

[Sleep off ugly 279]

Yo, SB. How you doing?

[Gatorubet 30631]

A woman who got a brain tumor removed in the 80s or 90s told me lots of people have tumors up there and never even know it because nothing happens.

[RPM 26560]

Well this sounds afuckingmazing!

A Cancer Trial's Unexpected Result: Remission in Every Patient

Gina Kolata
Mon, June 6, 2022, 7:06 AM
It was a small trial, just 18 rectal cancer patients, every one of whom took the same drug.

But the results were astonishing. The cancer vanished in every single patient, undetectable by physical exam; endoscopy; positron emission tomography, or PET scans; or MRI scans.

Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an author of a paper published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine describing the results, which were sponsored by drug company GlaxoSmithKline, said he knew of no other study in which a treatment completely obliterated a cancer in every patient.

“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” Diaz said.

Dr. Alan P. Venook, a colorectal cancer specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved with the study, said he also thought this was a first.

A complete remission in every single patient is “unheard-of,” he said.

These rectal cancer patients had faced grueling treatments — chemotherapy, radiation and, most likely, life-altering surgery that could result in bowel, urinary and sexual dysfunction. Some would need colostomy bags.

They entered the study thinking that, when it was over, they would have to undergo those procedures because no one really expected their tumors to disappear.

But they got a surprise: No further treatment was necessary.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cancer-trials-unexpected-result-remission-120646950.html

[South Austin 53154]

So in this trial, the ass was undefeated?

[NorthLoop 14421]

I bet that pill causes cancer or something. 

[Sbbruin 22082]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:56 PM, Sleep off ugly said:

Yo, SB. How you doing?

Sorry, just saw this.  Hanging in there.  Won't really know anything until after the PET Scan on the 16th and the endoscopic ultrasound on the 23rd.  Then I'll know the stage and treatment plan.  

Going to a funeral today of my daughter's best friend's Dad, who died of stomach cancer.  That may be a pretty heavy experience.

[Sbbruin 22082]

So some positive news, relatively.  Had both an endoscopic ultrasound and PET CT this past week.  Ultrasound showed a sizable tumor.  But PET CT showed very little spread.  And that’s the key.  Now there is a plan.  6 weeks of radiation 5 days/week and chemo 1x/week for the same period.  Then wait 8 weeks or so and if it worked to shrink it down, then open me up, cut out a section of my esophagus, and then hope that’s that.  So at least there’s a path to the other side.  

[Incredulity 11861]

Kick cancers ASS!

[Wally Fairway 5664]

53 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

So some positive news, relatively.  Had both an endoscopic ultrasound and PET CT this past week.  Ultrasound showed a sizable tumor.  But PET CT showed very little spread.  And that’s the key.  Now there is a plan.  6 weeks of radiation 5 days/week and chemo 1x/week for the same period.  Then wait 8 weeks or so and if it worked to shrink it down, then open me up, cut out a section of my esophagus, and then hope that’s that.  So at least there’s a path to the other side.  

Don't make us use the wreath fund
(because you know it's already gone for Drunkensteins fake cancer)

[Scheiss Meister 8449]

Kick ass and take names, Sb.  You've got this.

[ChickenSandwich 9918]

Fuck cancer go Bruin!

[South Austin 53154]

Good luck, SB.  We're all cheering you on.

[irishtexan 11692]

2 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

So some positive news, relatively.  Had both an endoscopic ultrasound and PET CT this past week.  Ultrasound showed a sizable tumor.  But PET CT showed very little spread.  And that’s the key.  Now there is a plan.  6 weeks of radiation 5 days/week and chemo 1x/week for the same period.  Then wait 8 weeks or so and if it worked to shrink it down, then open me up, cut out a section of my esophagus, and then hope that’s that.  So at least there’s a path to the other side.  

You've got this. Kick it's ass, brother. 

[RDCanecutter 26853]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:55 AM, Sbbruin said:

So some positive news, relatively.  Had both an endoscopic ultrasound and PET CT this past week.  Ultrasound showed a sizable tumor.  But PET CT showed very little spread.  And that’s the key.  Now there is a plan.  6 weeks of radiation 5 days/week and chemo 1x/week for the same period.  Then wait 8 weeks or so and if it worked to shrink it down, then open me up, cut out a section of my esophagus, and then hope that’s that.  So at least there’s a path to the other side.  

With my own health (left kidney ran away with a tall handsome tumor a few years back) I find it useful to think like a WW1 trench veteran-- not in the early and mid war, when they advanced in waves, but towards the end, when they had the tools to get results, had basically puzzled out modern tactics, but even when you win, it's kinda grotty. The surgeons are your tanks and planes, machine guns and mortars. You keep moving right behind the barrage pitching bags of grenades in various trenches you hop over, then it's green fields and a parade in Paris and Jazz Age and you bum around Europe til you find a Tramp Steamer to Montevideo, which is great fun until you try to tame Inez.

So, just put it all in their hands, show up wherever they tell you to go, then sit there and let them blast hell out of it. Hunt it down and kill it.

[Native Horn 3569]

Put a beatdown, 66-3 style, on that fuckin cancer!

[Post Oak 20551]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:55 AM, Sbbruin said:

So some positive news, relatively.  Had both an endoscopic ultrasound and PET CT this past week.  Ultrasound showed a sizable tumor.  But PET CT showed very little spread.  And that’s the key.  Now there is a plan.  6 weeks of radiation 5 days/week and chemo 1x/week for the same period.  Then wait 8 weeks or so and if it worked to shrink it down, then open me up, cut out a section of my esophagus, and then hope that’s that.  So at least there’s a path to the other side.  

atta boy.   keep us posted.  

[South Austin 53154]

1 hour ago, Native Horn said:

Put a beatdown, 66-3 style, on that fuckin cancer!

Can we please stop with this and just send some thoughts and prayers?

[ztejas 44114]

11 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

With my own health (left kidney ran away with a tall handsome tumor a few years back) I find it useful to think like a WW1 trench veteran-- not in the early and mid war, when they advanced in waves, but towards the end, when they had the tools to get results, had basically puzzled out modern tactics, but even when you win, it's kinda grotty. The surgeons are your tanks and planes, machine guns and mortars. You keep moving right behind the barrage pitching bags of grenades in various trenches you hop over, then it's green fields and a parade in Paris and Jazz Age and you bum around Europe til you find a Tramp Steamer to Montevideo, which is great fun until you try to tame Inez.

So, just put it all in their hands, show up wherever they tell you to go, then sit there and let them blast hell out of it. Hunt it down and kill it.

Inez is such a dirty little slut.

[Vegas64 706]

Just read through this thread, so glad there is a happy path potentially Bruin and I hope you get to stay on that course!

The GERD and esophagus stuff is timely for me, because I've had horrible indigestion and reflux and nausea anytime I eat anything. Oh and diarrhea for 2 straight weeks. Been eating Tums and Rolaids like candy but the label says if you are taking the max amount of Tums and Rolaids for more than 2 weeks go see a doc.

I am seeing my doctor tomorrow so hopefully I see what's going on but I think it might be a side effect to a pill they have me on for something completely unrelated-- but I've been on that pill for 2.5 months and these side effects would have just begun 2 weeks ago.

[Sbbruin 22082]

13 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

Just read through this thread, so glad there is a happy path potentially Bruin and I hope you get to stay on that course!

The GERD and esophagus stuff is timely for me, because I've had horrible indigestion and reflux and nausea anytime I eat anything. Oh and diarrhea for 2 straight weeks. Been eating Tums and Rolaids like candy but the label says if you are taking the max amount of Tums and Rolaids for more than 2 weeks go see a doc.

I am seeing my doctor tomorrow so hopefully I see what's going on but I think it might be a side effect to a pill they have me on for something completely unrelated-- but I've been on that pill for 2.5 months and these side effects would have just begun 2 weeks ago.

Definitely get it checked out.  Esophageal cancer is still pretty rare, but one of the fastest growing (in # of cases) of just about any as our shitty diets are coming home to roost.  I was put on a prescription Omeprazole regimen that has eliminated the heartburn and reflux almost completely.  But the restriction in my esophagus is getting worse, where if I don't eat super slowly and chew thoroughly, food gets stuck and sometimes the only solution to getting it unstuck is to puke it up.  So that's fun.  

Radiation starts today.  Let the good times roll.

[Hanrahan 1306]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:55 AM, Sbbruin said:

So some positive news, relatively.  Had both an endoscopic ultrasound and PET CT this past week.  Ultrasound showed a sizable tumor.  But PET CT showed very little spread.  And that’s the key.  Now there is a plan.  6 weeks of radiation 5 days/week and chemo 1x/week for the same period.  Then wait 8 weeks or so and if it worked to shrink it down, then open me up, cut out a section of my esophagus, and then hope that’s that.  So at least there’s a path to the other side.  

Hey, they did some that to me five years ago and I'm still here, although I had butt cancer!  PM if you have any questions.  I might be able to answer them.

[Sbbruin 22082]

4 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

Hey, they did some that to me five years ago and I'm still here, although I had butt cancer!  PM if you have any questions.  I might be able to answer them.

Thanks, but I don't need any advice from some pederast.

[RDCanecutter 26853]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Inez is such a dirty little slut.

La bicicleta de la aldea.

[RDCanecutter 26853]

1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

Radiation starts today.  Let the good times roll.

Use your soon-to-be-acquired superpowers for good.

[Sbbruin 22082]

16 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Use your soon-to-be-acquired superpowers for good.

[Gatorubet 30631]

Thanks, but I don't need any advice from some pederast.

SOME pederast??? Many people consider him to be a truly exceptional pederast. Top flight, actually.

[Sbbruin 22082]

3 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

SOME pederast??? Many people consider him to be a truly exceptional pederast. Top flight, actually.

Well he’s always bucking for a promotion, so…

[tx 3 putt 78470]

On 6/7/2022 at 4:55 AM, RPM said:

Well this sounds afuckingmazing!

A Cancer Trial's Unexpected Result: Remission in Every Patient

Gina Kolata
Mon, June 6, 2022, 7:06 AM
It was a small trial, just 18 rectal cancer patients, every one of whom took the same drug.

But the results were astonishing. The cancer vanished in every single patient, undetectable by physical exam; endoscopy; positron emission tomography, or PET scans; or MRI scans.

Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an author of a paper published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine describing the results, which were sponsored by drug company GlaxoSmithKline, said he knew of no other study in which a treatment completely obliterated a cancer in every patient.

“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” Diaz said.

Dr. Alan P. Venook, a colorectal cancer specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved with the study, said he also thought this was a first.

A complete remission in every single patient is “unheard-of,” he said.

These rectal cancer patients had faced grueling treatments — chemotherapy, radiation and, most likely, life-altering surgery that could result in bowel, urinary and sexual dysfunction. Some would need colostomy bags.

They entered the study thinking that, when it was over, they would have to undergo those procedures because no one really expected their tumors to disappear.

But they got a surprise: No further treatment was necessary.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cancer-trials-unexpected-result-remission-120646950.html

 

[Not a cat 5804]

Fuck all this 66-3 nonsense.  This is what you do to cancer.  Good luck, SB.

 

[Sbbruin 22082]

Just a quick check in.  6 radiation treatments and 1 chemo treatment in.  I have learned: 1) radiation sucks; and 2) chemo sucks much worse.  At least so far.  Radiation leaves me feeling tired and nauseous, usually a couple of hours later.  But it wears off.  Problem with radiation is you're back at it the next day, and the next day, etc etc.  Chemo I felt fine for about a day, then felt like I got kicked in the nuts for 3 days.  1/10, would not recommend.  

Good news today was they determined a secondary concerning spot in my larynx is non-cancerous.  If it had been, well, things might have turned bad.  So that's a relief.  

Had planned to work as much as possible, but between all of the appointments and treatments, I'll work-from-home most of the time (although at the office now).  When I tried to rearrange my radiation schedule around some work conflicts, my radiation oncologist looked at me and said "this is your job now."  I just dropped my head and said "yes, ma'am." 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Sbbruin