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God bless every survivor and everyone who has been affected by cancer. I lost both grandmothers to aggressive breast cancer that manifested itself throughout the body by the time it was diagnosed. I lost an aunt soon after who was very dear to me. My father had a thyroidectomy last year, and my mother has been apart of a clinical trial for genetically pre-disposed BC patients (so far everythings been perfect )
Godspeed to everyone here. I wish you the strength to overcome your illness, and for family to be there in times of need.
I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 27 years old. Was up to that time healthy and rarely sick. 3 surgeries and 9 weeks of chemo.
Now I take time to talk to those who are diagnosed with cancer, champion the cause of survivorship. There hope against the disease and my effort is to prevent those from getting this disease, encourage those who are facing the disease to cope, thrive, and beat the disease.
I have hope for everyone to beat the disease, my own aunt had breast cancer and beat it. My grandmother had ovaring cancer and beat it.
My Husband died of lung cancer oct 2008 he was a smoker alll his life, then stopped about 8 years ago, started exercising etc., then he got a cold would not go away on xray, while looking for bronchitis ,the cancer showed up........one lung was removed , he did chemo,he responded excellent, 3 years approx later he started complaining of neck pain, the x ray shoed a disc been pushed out of place, so he started therapy for a slip disc, after extreme weight loss and about 6 weeks, the doctors realized something was not right, they scanned, mri, every part of him, blood test the works, nothing showed, only his cea level was high,after repeated testing the cancer showed itself again in the second long, another type of cancer, this one did not respond to chemo and could not beoperated on, and that was it.....he was g0ne in no time
my poor children i feel it for them more than me, we just had our first grandson and he only spent about a year with him
what a life, and I am so negative, dont think a cure will be found, just better forms of treatment to prolong life, but what quality of life will that be>
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raena77
I have hope for everyone to beat the disease, my own aunt had breast cancer and beat it. My grandmother had ovaring cancer and beat it.
I'm not yet certain how it is affecting me...my mother has some sort of mass that they are calling cancer but even after the second tomography (PET) they have not yet nailed it down. First they thought it was Pancreatic cancer but after the last imaging by a Oncologist there was talk of either Lymphoma or sclerosing mesenteritis...they've got it sized, called it soft tissue and slow...but WHAT exactly is still undetermined. It's between the pancreas at the back end (attached) and the spine. Something about the adrenal gland...
And there is a cyst in her pancreas.
She's going in for a biopsy this week and will be asking many more questions.
Two Anesthesiologists (married couple) friends of my parents said to tell me not to allow any surgery on my wife who had a similiar problem that you stated. They were correct. They said that they saw people who later died after explorative surgery. Once air is exposed to the tumors...death is imminent.
I had already allowed surgery for my wife...and after opening her up...air getting to the cancer tumors...she quickly passed away.
Not trying to scare...just to bring caution and some personal experience,
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Great thread! My own experience is being diagnosed with throat cancer (lymphoma) the week I was due to retire. How does that saying go, "If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans"!
Long story short, successful treatment (surgery, chemo & radiation), caught it early and recovered fine. But as to "how affected, etc.", there's nuthin' like getting "re-acquainted" with your mortality to prompt needed changes in life. Which in my case included finally leaving a failed marriage (after exhausting all options and long overdue), and relocating to another (sunnier!) part of the country.
Used to be that "surviving" was the only objective, but now that survivors have become so much more common, fortunately there's more attention being paid these days to how the whole unique experience has transformed our lives, one way or another.
BTW, I would also highly recommend that folks monitor the success of their recovery using PET scan technology, which is far more sensitive to detecting residual tumor activity, than just MRIs (which are cheaper and more often preferred by insurance)!
I am a 61-year old male with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Normally, Hodgkin's is one of the "better" cancers to have (if there is such a thing as "better"). Survival rates are over 80%. Here's my story.....
In 1996 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's. I went through 3 months of radiation, every day. I like to tell my friends that I have tatoos.....because they give a fair number to radiation patients to assist in lining-up the "ray gun" when you get your daily dose. I lost a bunch of weight (because I couldn't eat solid foods during the treatment). I still cannot grow hair under my arms or on the upper part of my chest. No biggie. And I thought I was cured.
For the first couple years I went through testing about 4 times annually. As I progressed it changed to annual testing. Clean and green until 2004.
In 2004 the annual PET Scan indicated that my Lymphoma had returned. This time, the doctors tried chemotherapy. After a couple months of bi-weekly injections the cancer was still hanging around. Chemo was tough, but I hung in there and would only miss a day or two of work with each dose. For those who have gone through this......I think the regiment was ABVD. Of course, I lost what remaining hairs this ole' bod has. Got a lot of nice comments about the shape of my head.
In the summer of 2004 I spent some time in the hospital, getting a mega-dose of chemotherapy. They called it "high dose" but it actually affected me less than the other chemo treatments. Go figure.
Numerous tests later I was informed that the only next step was a bone marrow stem cell transplant. In November, 2004, I spent some time in the hospital.....they hooked-up a machine that attempts to "grab" stem cells from the blood, to use in the bone marrow transplant. After a couple days they unhooked me, indicating that the process was not getting a suitable amount of stem cells. So, they had to operate on me, in late December of that year, to grab the stem cells.
In early January, 2005, I entered the University of Michigan Hospital (Go Blue!) for the bone marrow stem cell transplant. There are two types of transplants.....the type that requires stem cells from a donor and the type where you re-use your stem cells. I was fortunate.....I could re-use my own......which tends to have less complications.
Upon arrival they give you so much chemptherapy that you come close to "seeing them pearly gates". After a couple days of that they start filling you back up with "cleaned" stem cells. I was in the hospital for about a month.
Since then, I have gone through different tests. The usual.....PET Scans, blood tests, CAT Scans, chest X-Rays. So far so good!
I know that medical technology saved my life. Now I am due for this year's tests. Off we go, into the wild blue yonder!
Bear
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