A Much Needed Update

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Comments

  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #22
    foxy said:

    Another long timer.

    Hi Ron, good to hear you are also still around. I too have many problems, including a heart attack last year, caused by a clot from femoral artery surgery.  I now need a walker to get around, and I can not do very much. Still I am still here, but now have four collapsed lumber vertebrae.  Foxy.

    Bowed but not beaten

       Mate i don't think that it really matters what has been cut off ,has fallen off or is not working as long as we are still running we are still in the race. I was just talking to my nephrologist yesterday about levamisole. He said that the diseases it is causing amongst cocaine users in America(illicit drug dealers are using levamisole to cut cocaine) are so rare that they are giving rats levamisole to try to cause the same diseases so they can study them. Perhaps we could volunteer.I am sorry to hear about the heart attack . I have spent the past two years going to a cardiologist for frequent ventricular and atrial ectopic beats. He decided this year that he did not need to see me. The fact that I was still alive meant they were not a problem. Hard to argue with logic like that. I have been on oxycodone for the past 18 months for lower back problems. Now I have to get off it because it is causing pain. If that is the case I should give up doctors. It appears the only thing not trying to kill us is cancer. Try and stay as well as you can and happy anniversary for Christmas. Ron.

  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    #23
    Hi Phil:

    Thanks for an update on how you are doing.  None of this crap is easy to deal with, for the patient or caregiver.  We just plug along and do the best we can.   Surviving a stage IV diagnosis and wondering each day if it will come back and pop up somewhere else must be a tough thing to deal with psychologically.   Seems like you are doing your best to handle it the best you can.   In reality that is all we can do, handle things the best we can. 

    Take care my friend and I wish you continued stability with your cancer.

    Tina

  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #24
    Thank you ALL

    I know we all have each other's backs with this. Mainly the focus is on physical treatments and not so much the other stuff. I know I'm not unique and overall I handle it very well. Part of it (for me) is setting up boundaries because I've taken on greater tasks as far as cancer goes. It's a little complicated but I enjoy doing what I do and I also feel a commitment to the community.
    Sorry I'm so friggin cryptic about this

     Took these today.
    Look up people, there's beauty all around us!

    image

    Ra, Ra, Sis Boom Bah!
    Ra is the Egyptian Sun god

    image

    A very rare Double Sun Halo with a side order of SunDog

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,796 Member
    #25
    PhillieG said:

    Thank you ALL

    I know we all have each other's backs with this. Mainly the focus is on physical treatments and not so much the other stuff. I know I'm not unique and overall I handle it very well. Part of it (for me) is setting up boundaries because I've taken on greater tasks as far as cancer goes. It's a little complicated but I enjoy doing what I do and I also feel a commitment to the community.
    Sorry I'm so friggin cryptic about this

     Took these today.
    Look up people, there's beauty all around us!

    image

    Ra, Ra, Sis Boom Bah!
    Ra is the Egyptian Sun god

    image

    A very rare Double Sun Halo with a side order of SunDog

    Beautiful!

    I especially like the first picture. Is that your fist in shadow. 

    And you are right. So much beauty all around. 

    Sue - Trubrit

  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #26
    Trubrit said:

    Beautiful!

    I especially like the first picture. Is that your fist in shadow. 

    And you are right. So much beauty all around. 

    Sue - Trubrit

    Knuckles?

    Fist??? It's my head!!!

     Tongue Out

  • janderson1964
    janderson1964 Member Posts: 2,215 Member
    #27
    PhillieG said:

    Knuckles?

    Fist??? It's my head!!!

     Tongue Out

    Very funny Phil. It took me a

    Very funny Phil. It took me a second to get that one. So maybe I am a knuckle head too.

  • KAS1966
    KAS1966 Member Posts: 1
    #28
    Hi Phil!! I am brand new to

    Hi Phil!! I am brand new to the site and was diagnosed Stage IV in July.  I, like you, it sounds, are usually the positive one and believe any moment feeling sorry for myself is a waste of making a good memory.  That being said, I think we all have moments that we go through different emotions and I think we have to ease up on ourselves and say we are entitled. From catching up and reading your previous posts, I'd say you are an inspiration to many and give hope that there is life beyond the two years they gave me. Please, keep the faith but yet take the time to reflect you need to.  

  • beaumontdave
    beaumontdave Member Posts: 1,280 Member
    #29
    Phil, seems you veterans of

    Phil, seems you veterans of the blog develop an outlook and calmness that the rest of us can find reassurance in. I would never presume that it gets"easy" after a while, it certainly hasn't in the eight years after my diagnosis. I'm keenly aware of my hold on life, and conversely, how beautiful the simple pleasures[ like your prismatic skies] are. But it's nice to hear folks adapted to this new normal with all it's anxious moments and tedious reminders. Thanks for the steady voice[ Yeah, I know it's typing]......................Dave

     

     

  • Helen321
    Helen321 Member Posts: 1,459 Member
    #30
    It's so weird how you get

    It's so weird how you get used to things but underneath, you're not really fine, you just manage.  I went from hell back to a new normal.  I still remember my old normal and I miss it some days.  My old normal was fantastic.  Most days I'm just living this new normal and getting through it the best way possible.   The psychological effects are huge.  I sat in my doctor's office and cried for a full two hours recently.  My doctor told me that I need to go back to the therapist.  Congrats on your stability, sorry about the infection, those sure do hurt.  You're the one who told me "cancer is not a death sentence" my first night on the boards.  That became my motto. 

  • fedester
    fedester Member Posts: 753 Member
    #31
    Phil

    Hi buddy,

    Great to see you are doing well. I am doing ok.

    Like Ron said we have other problems we deal with after chemo. Myself i have had congestive heart failure and high blood pressure which is being treated by meds. I had total knee replacements 2 years ago.  I was finally let go from my job in march 2015 after 27 loyal years.  At age 57 you become expendable and i am considered a displaced worker.  I have been on unemplyment since then and the state is sending me to school to add to my skills set. I have had no luck yet finding a job but i have to keep looking and applying as i have a disabled son that we take care of and i have many years to contribute to society. All the best to you in the future and maybe we can get together and have lunch and exchange stories about our journeys.

    Never ever give up!!!

    bruce

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