Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Falcon on January 21, 2014, 06:47:09 PM
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I have to do chemo for my Seminoma. My lymph node in my stomach area is 2 inches big. My treatment will be 5 days for every 3-4 weeks for 4 rounds. I will have a port on my chest area for the treatment because I have bad veins. After each round I will have to do a scan to see if my lymph node shrink or not. I probably will start sometime in next month. They want me to fully heal from my operation before starting my chemo treatment. Oh, my cancer stage is 2C.
Falcon
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Chit dude, that's not a fun prospect I bet. How are you feeling about it all?
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Best Wishes Falcon. Stay positive :aok
:cheers: Oz
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God speed.
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Chit dude, that's not a fun prospect I bet. How are you feeling about it all?
Feeling ok about it because the doctor says its high 90 percent curable. So I'm going to beat this. Period.
Falcon
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That's exactly what we wanted to hear.
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That's exactly what we wanted to hear.
+1
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Falcon...YOU are my hero. You're a tough dude and I know your gonna crush this.
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Feeling ok about it because the doctor says its high 90 percent curable. So I'm going to beat this. Period.
That attitude will make all the difference.
- oldman
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I have to do chemo for my Seminoma. My lymph node in my stomach area is 2 inches big. My treatment will be 5 days for every 3-4 weeks for 4 rounds. I will have a port on my chest area for the treatment because I have bad veins. After each round I will have to do a scan to see if my lymph node shrink or not. I probably will start sometime in next month. They want me to fully heal from my operation before starting my chemo treatment. Oh, my cancer stage is 2C.
Falcon
You are better off with the port. I used to have veins that I used to describe as a junkies dream. But I got about a 3rd of the way into my treatments and the veins started to collapsed. during one session it started leaking and did some minor damage t the muscle tissue in my right forearm. All healed now but it took about a year before it felt right again. After that the put a portacath in and I had no more problems.
Dont know what your getting or what the side effects are or what they told you. They have all sorts of new stuff out they didnt hve 20 years ago. and each type of Chemo can be different. So your results may vary. For me. food generally tasted like crap. the only things that tasted normal were beer and powdered ice tea mix drink. Eggs tasted and felt like I had a wad of snot in my mouth.
My treatments were 1 treatment every two weeks for 6 months. I'd get my treatments on Thursday and wouldnt eat again till Sunday. I managed to maintain my weight by when I could eat. Eating as well as I could. Since Im a pretty decent cook that actually knows how to cook fresh food This was no problem. Lots of fresh veggies and meats. And I ate as much as I could when I could.
Mentally I broke the treatments down in half. I counted down the first half telling myself "1 down only 5 to go to the halfway point." then I counted the way down to the finish. Much easier to deal with then 1 down 11 to go. Find whatever mental tricks work for you.
Keep a positive outlooks and try to find the humor wherever you can.
While you will know its well intended. You're probably going to get tired of people asking you how you're feeling or how you're doing. I used this as a humor moment
"How you feel?" - "with little nerve endings just under my skin"
I never shaved my head. Now when the hair comes out. (dont know if yours will or not) It can comes out in clumps. I used this for self entertainment
"How you doing?" - "Fine. I learned a new trick from my dogs" - "Oh? what" With that Id grab a small clump of hair and pull and say "I learned how to shed". as a chunk of hair would easily pull out. The jaw dropping facial expressions were priceless.
Oh and if you do loose your hair. You loose everythig but your eyelashes. Aint so bad till it grows back in. And your wife/ GF may find it a bit sexy
Take it all in stride as best you can. Keep your spirits and humor up.
Im gussing you had a lymphangiogram. Trippy experience peeing turquise huh?
Wait till ya get to pee in peach color.
Cat scans suck unless they fixed the taste of the stuff. You have to drink beforehand. Not the test itself. Just the stuff you gotta drink
Lots of stories to share. Interesting experience. both before and after.
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Falcon, there are a lot of us here that have
fought different types and degrees of Cancer.
If you need to talk or anything, I'm sure any of us
will be more than happy to. You'll beat it for sure :aok
:cheers: Oz
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Great attitude! May your recovery be a speedy one. :salute
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I hope for a speedy recovery! You are not alone. We just found out my wife (only 31) has thyroid cancer and we are going to see a specialist at Moffit Cancer next Monday to talk about the procedure recommended. Like you it is a high probably of cure but it is still scary non the less. Keep your head and you are in our thoughts! :salute
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as everyone has noted keep a positive attitude, and drediock as far as humor goes thats funny stuff about your hair man, I had issues with my hair a few years back. The wife had noticed a small patch of hair missing on the back of my head, bout the size of a quarter. I was thinking it was my beenie cap so I changed hats. Well that didnt work, all of my hair was just falling out, I developed patches that were missing, so I just had the wife shave it all off instead of calling myself patches :lol then I noticed my arm hair, eye brows, everything was falling out. I was told it was from mold and there was no treatment. But anywho my buddy nicknamed me powder, I turned pale white and had absolutely no hair. Took almost a full year for hair to come back and it was white and like a very old persons hair. I could "shave" in about 2 mins, and never rinsed the razor off :lol the only hair that didnt fall out was my leg hair from knees down. It seemed each time I shaved, the hair would grow back, a little quicker and a few normal colored hairs. 4 years later all of my hair came back but twice as thick and darker than it was before it fell out. everyone was asking if I was doing chemo and was like ummm no. keep a positive attitude and find some kinda humor in whats going on :aok and your going to beat this crap down :rock
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:salute sir.
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Feeling ok about it because the doctor says its high 90 percent curable. So I'm going to beat this. Period.
Falcon
Stage 2 is early,could be better if it was stage 1 but still you seem to have good odds!
No matter how bad it gets keep positive,oh and find something to keep your mind occupied,I used AH between bouts of sticking my head in a pail.
:salute
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Falcon best wishes and like someone else said keep your humor. I found my port made life during chemo easier. IO was lucky that only my last treatment made me feel sick. The good news is that 9 years after stage 4 colon cancer there is no trace, I'm sure you will have the same results!
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Keep hanging in there. We're in your corner.
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My doctor said they'll use 2 chemicals and he will try his best to not to use a real nasty third chemical that will damage my lungs. The side effects will be possible hair loss (I'm gonna shave my head), tingling fingertips and nausea/vomiting, possible hearing loss etc.
I didn't drink anything for my first (to see if the cancer had spread, this was weeks after my operation) CT Scan. They put dye in my vein to make it better to see. They'll probably will do that for my end round scans but I don't know for sure. For the nausea/vomiting, the doctor said they'll put meds in my port for that and probably give me some for home use. I figure I'll be bed ridden for real this time on my second round of chemo so I won't be updating you guys which sucks. The support here is just amazing :rock . Thank you.
Falcon
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Falcon,
Try to stay mobile,you'd be surprized how fast you lose strenght when you are bed ridden!
Even if it's just to go to the kitchen and get a drink,do it yourself and try to have some activity as it helps pass the time if nothing else.
You will be stronger mentally after you get past this!!! :aok
:salute
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Yeah I hate being bed ridden it sucks. I like to be in my wheelchair anyway. At least I can try to do things by myself if I was in my wheelchair. But if I get too tired I will lay down though.
Falcon
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Keeping you on the Prayer list Sir!! :salute
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Yeah I hate being bed ridden it sucks. I like to be in my wheelchair anyway. At least I can try to do things by myself if I was in my wheelchair. But if I get too tired I will lay down though.
Falcon
My bad Falcon,I had no idea you were in a chair.
:salute
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My bad Falcon,I had no idea you were in a chair.
:salute
no worries :). thought you saw the post made by my good friend Karaya about my cancer. he posted a pic of us when he was at dayton air show in 08.
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My doctor said they'll use 2 chemicals and he will try his best to not to use a real nasty third chemical that will damage my lungs. The side effects will be possible hair loss (I'm gonna shave my head), tingling fingertips and nausea/vomiting, possible hearing loss etc.
I didn't drink anything for my first (to see if the cancer had spread, this was weeks after my operation) CT Scan. They put dye in my vein to make it better to see. They'll probably will do that for my end round scans but I don't know for sure. For the nausea/vomiting, the doctor said they'll put meds in my port for that and probably give me some for home use. I figure I'll be bed ridden for real this time on my second round of chemo so I won't be updating you guys which sucks. The support here is just amazing :rock . Thank you.
Falcon
For me the tests were among the worst part. for many of them there was a monitor in the room that I could see. Interesting to look at but at the same time I was looking to see something and I had no idea what it was I was looking for. Then waiting on test results.
It was then I found the old saying of "no news is good news" to be true. If you have to wait a while for results its often because they didnt immediately see anything and want to cover their arses by having others concur so nothing is missed. Anything they see right away they usually come back to you ...right away.
Hope the nausea meds work for you. They gave me what was at the time the strongest stuff they had But there was one chemical they used at the end of the treatment (they called a "push" )that came in a big red syringe that gave me a perfume taste in my mouth that would have me getting sick right in the chair. In fact it got to the point where they would just hand me a wastepaper basket just before they did the push.
To this very day. When a woman wears too much perfume or a certain type (dont know what only that its the occasional older women that wear it) And I smell it I get nauseous .
Again remember this was 20 years ago and a lot of improvements were made from what I understand.
I used to get sick in the morning when I let the dogs out and took a deep breath of fresh air. but it was alot like morning sickness, Where it would come on. I'd puke. then feel normal again.
Again. If the doc tells you to stay active STAY ACTIVE. You will feel better then if you just lay there. I cant stress this enough. Course if you are too weak thats another story. But do what you can.
Oh On top of the tingly skin, You may find your hands to become hypersensitive to rough edges like opening a beer. Just use a bottle opener. Course if you drink some of the better beers. You need a bottle opener anyway
BTW Pot does help some. But dont expect it to be a cure all. For me it didnt do anything much for appetite. But did help with some of the nausea and feel like I could function better.
I found for ME. I was better off just smoking enough to get a slight buzz rather then outright stoned. Your results may vary
Again. For different people it may work differently.
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Falcon...anything you'd like? You have any movies you like? Music? Do you have an iPhone or iPod? I guess I'm asking for something we/I might be able to get to you so that the time passes a little quicker for you. Something that might help yesterday get in the rearview mirror a little bit quicker.
You don't have to post it here. Please PM me and if I need help getting it, I will get help getting it.
Crush it...
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Cancer sure makes the world a small place. Both my wife and I have had it. I got off easy though as surgery took care of it, so far. The wife went through chemo and radiation. The advice about staying active is spot on. It will feel like you've been run over but you will bounce back much faster if you get as active as you can. You'll want to just lie there and veg but if you get out of bed even for a few minutes it will help both mentally and physically.
Keep the attitude, hell just get downright mad at the cancer. You can get over it and will be stronger for the fight by staying as happy as you can. Easy to say I know but the attitude is about half the recovery fight.
Prayers OTW for you buddy.
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no worries :). thought you saw the post made by my good friend Karaya about my cancer. he posted a pic of us when he was at dayton air show in 08.
Falcon,I may have but I have a case of sometimers,I only remember some of the time....... sux getting old dont it? Youth is wasted on the young.... :furious
:salute
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Stay tough dude- you will beat this. :salute
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That's exactly what we wanted to hear.
Indeed!!! Falcon it's been a while but thoughts and prayers man. Kick its posterior!!!!
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Falcon...anything you'd like? You have any movies you like? Music? Do you have an iPhone or iPod? I guess I'm asking for something we/I might be able to get to you so that the time passes a little quicker for you. Something that might help yesterday get in the rearview mirror a little bit quicker.
You don't have to post it here. Please PM me and if I need help getting it, I will get help getting it.
Crush it...
Thanks for asking but I'm good. I got an I-POD classic and the first Kindle fire (for comic & manga reading, got a IDW Godzilla comic subscription for it) and I got tons of real comics & manga and aircraft books (technical stuff, history etc) too and PC Gamer magazine subscription. Again the support on here is awesome :rock
Falcon
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Falcon,I may have but I have a case of sometimers,I only remember some of the time....... sux getting old dont it? Youth is wasted on the young.... :furious
:salute
Yeah getting old sucks big time. but I feel like a kid still in my heart. Still reading comics, watching anime and collecting Godzilla figures :D. Doing stuff like that keeps you young mentally imho.
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Thanks for asking but I'm good. I got an I-POD classic and the first Kindle fire (for comic & manga reading, got a IDW Godzilla comic subscription for it) and I got tons of real comics & manga and aircraft books (technical stuff, history etc) too and PC Gamer magazine subscription. Again the support on here is awesome :rock
Falcon
Just let me know
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Just let me know
Will do Changeup :cheers:
Falcon
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Yeah getting old sucks big time. but I feel like a kid still in my heart. Still reading comics, watching anime and collecting Godzilla figures :D. Doing stuff like that keeps you young mentally imho.
Agreed! I made models,watched cartoons and old black and white movies on TCM. Dont have the time for models but I still keep up on the old movies and cartoons..... :D
:salute :salute
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Falcon, How about this. My son and I just finished a 1/72 scale P-40C...would you like a couple of models? We can grab everything you need paint-wise and send it on.
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Thoughts and many, many prayers.
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Agreed! I made models,watched cartoons and old black and white movies on TCM. Dont have the time for models but I still keep up on the old movies and cartoons..... :D
:salute :salute
Used to do kits but with my disability it was very difficult. So I found out about diecast models. I have a small air force in diecast :). But my passion nowadays is Godzilla. I grew up watching the movies back in the day and the newer ones (1999-2004) are awesome imho. I recently pre-ordered a 12inch vinyl figure of the 1964 Godzilla suit for 130 bucks. Here's the link http://www.anime-island.com/products/godzilla-godzilla-12-vinyl-figure-1964-toho.html
Most of my collection is from the newer suits. I met with the suit maker and suit actor of the newer films last year in chicago at G-Fest, an Godzilla convention. I would post pics but I don't know how in this forum. Anyway they signed a figure I bought there :)
Falcon
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Falcon, How about this. My son and I just finished a 1/72 scale P-40C...would you like a couple of models? We can grab everything you need paint-wise and send it on.
Nah I'm good. Besides my right hand isn't reflexable as it should so it'll be hard to do a kit.
Falcon