MDX-1106 part 6

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Comments

  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    foxhd said:

    luck
    Attitude, luck, persistence. When I was 17 I had a fight with my demoralizing alcoholic father. On the verge of breaking down I decided that he would no longer project his inadaquacies on me. A few years later I was exposed to Dale Carnegie's, "How to win friends and influence people." I made a concious decision at that point to always carry a positive attitude. I never state that I'm "Not bad." It's always "Great, excellent, wonderful" or something similar. Basically, if you are in a bad mood then you put everyone in a bad mood. Smile, say you are great, and it rubs off on them. I seldom ever use a negative connotation in any situation. ( well, I do acknowledge many of my golf shots SUCK). This mindset has made my career as a physical therapist successful and effective. I have always been known for this. Try telling a joke when your angry. Then try again with a smile and a twinkle in your eye. It is a way of life. Not a phoney act. When I had my first scan looking for that kidney stone,the ER Doc came to me very solemn. "You have a tumor" he said. It was early in the morning. I could see that he had a bit of difficulty telling me this. What a way to have to start his shift. I told him to tell me again with a smile. Told him,"Don't let me ruin your whole day." I know his day went better from that point on. (then I had to work on my wife) In any event, everyone can smile and use positive frame of reference. It is easy.

    next year
    I have already made some plans with my buddies for riding and camping next year. But until then, I am going to concentrate on rebuilding my 1970 VW camper. (old vw's. another wackey culture I enjoy). Muscle cars out. Air cooled in. So much to do. Now if I had any $, I'd be golden.
  • I am alive
    I am alive Member Posts: 315
    foxhd said:

    luck
    Attitude, luck, persistence. When I was 17 I had a fight with my demoralizing alcoholic father. On the verge of breaking down I decided that he would no longer project his inadaquacies on me. A few years later I was exposed to Dale Carnegie's, "How to win friends and influence people." I made a concious decision at that point to always carry a positive attitude. I never state that I'm "Not bad." It's always "Great, excellent, wonderful" or something similar. Basically, if you are in a bad mood then you put everyone in a bad mood. Smile, say you are great, and it rubs off on them. I seldom ever use a negative connotation in any situation. ( well, I do acknowledge many of my golf shots SUCK). This mindset has made my career as a physical therapist successful and effective. I have always been known for this. Try telling a joke when your angry. Then try again with a smile and a twinkle in your eye. It is a way of life. Not a phoney act. When I had my first scan looking for that kidney stone,the ER Doc came to me very solemn. "You have a tumor" he said. It was early in the morning. I could see that he had a bit of difficulty telling me this. What a way to have to start his shift. I told him to tell me again with a smile. Told him,"Don't let me ruin your whole day." I know his day went better from that point on. (then I had to work on my wife) In any event, everyone can smile and use positive frame of reference. It is easy.

    Smiles
    You're absolutely right. We can choose to be happy, no matter what, and that simple decision will color everything in our life. You know, I don't like the term "cancer victim" because I don't feel like a victim. I figure terrible things happen to people everyday. Most of us carry our share of heartaches. Cancer is just one kind of heartache. Sure, it can end your life. But none of us are getting out of here alive. Don't get me wrong - I'm only 60, a baby! My daughter is just starting her sophomore year of college. I want to be around for a long, long while! But if cancer has taught me anything it is to live in the moment. As my father used to say, "Hey, I woke up this morning. That makes it a great day." I don't spend a lot of time projecting into the future, but I do keep moving forward.
    Back to attitude, when I was first diagnosed 8 years ago, one of the first oncologists I went to for second opinions and such met me unsmiling and grim. At that point I asked how much time do I have? (I don't ask that question anymore. I like to think of the whole process as open ended. Why not?) And he said he didn't know. "3 years, 5 years, maybe (and here he paused) 10 years," but his inflection gave the impression that 10 years would be a stretch. The next doc I consulted with walked into the room all smiles and positive energy. He radiated life. And you're right - if someone smiles at you, you smile right back. He started by saying this was a great time to have kidney cancer, then he made a joke about it. He rattled off a litany of latest advances in treatment and said more were on the way. He introduced the notion of living with cancer, viewing cancer as a chronic condition, like diabetes. He said he had a patient going on 14 years living with his kidney cancer. My prognosis? Absolutely open ended. I left the office buoyed and even happy. I left smiling and hopeful. That was his gift to me. And in large part because of it I've lived these past eight years happy and hopeful rather than devastated and depressed, counting down the clock. Now I've got more mets and am in a clinical drug trial, but hey - I'm thrilled to be in the trial! Like you, I feel lucky. And I'm still smiling.
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member

    Smiles
    You're absolutely right. We can choose to be happy, no matter what, and that simple decision will color everything in our life. You know, I don't like the term "cancer victim" because I don't feel like a victim. I figure terrible things happen to people everyday. Most of us carry our share of heartaches. Cancer is just one kind of heartache. Sure, it can end your life. But none of us are getting out of here alive. Don't get me wrong - I'm only 60, a baby! My daughter is just starting her sophomore year of college. I want to be around for a long, long while! But if cancer has taught me anything it is to live in the moment. As my father used to say, "Hey, I woke up this morning. That makes it a great day." I don't spend a lot of time projecting into the future, but I do keep moving forward.
    Back to attitude, when I was first diagnosed 8 years ago, one of the first oncologists I went to for second opinions and such met me unsmiling and grim. At that point I asked how much time do I have? (I don't ask that question anymore. I like to think of the whole process as open ended. Why not?) And he said he didn't know. "3 years, 5 years, maybe (and here he paused) 10 years," but his inflection gave the impression that 10 years would be a stretch. The next doc I consulted with walked into the room all smiles and positive energy. He radiated life. And you're right - if someone smiles at you, you smile right back. He started by saying this was a great time to have kidney cancer, then he made a joke about it. He rattled off a litany of latest advances in treatment and said more were on the way. He introduced the notion of living with cancer, viewing cancer as a chronic condition, like diabetes. He said he had a patient going on 14 years living with his kidney cancer. My prognosis? Absolutely open ended. I left the office buoyed and even happy. I left smiling and hopeful. That was his gift to me. And in large part because of it I've lived these past eight years happy and hopeful rather than devastated and depressed, counting down the clock. Now I've got more mets and am in a clinical drug trial, but hey - I'm thrilled to be in the trial! Like you, I feel lucky. And I'm still smiling.

    bone mets
    I saw the radiation MD yesterday. I am now scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. Then it will be targeted radiation to clear the bone mets. They are concerned with growth approaching my spinal cord. We know THAT can't be good. Well, we all have to have something to do this september.
  • alice124
    alice124 Member Posts: 896 Member
    foxhd said:

    bone mets
    I saw the radiation MD yesterday. I am now scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. Then it will be targeted radiation to clear the bone mets. They are concerned with growth approaching my spinal cord. We know THAT can't be good. Well, we all have to have something to do this september.

    bone mets
    Know we're all thinking of you and pulling for a quick fix and your return to no pain. Need to get you back to your "boom boom pow" FLY mode.
  • DMike
    DMike Member Posts: 259
    foxhd said:

    bone mets
    I saw the radiation MD yesterday. I am now scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. Then it will be targeted radiation to clear the bone mets. They are concerned with growth approaching my spinal cord. We know THAT can't be good. Well, we all have to have something to do this september.

    Thinking about you
    Hi Fox,
    I'll be thinking about you and sending even more positive energy your way. I appreciate you and everything you do each day to help all of us. --David
  • love_of_my_life
    love_of_my_life Member Posts: 77
    foxhd said:

    bone mets
    I saw the radiation MD yesterday. I am now scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. Then it will be targeted radiation to clear the bone mets. They are concerned with growth approaching my spinal cord. We know THAT can't be good. Well, we all have to have something to do this september.

    Hope all is well
    Hey, wanted to let you know that we are thinking of you while you go through this.

    Tom and Holly
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798

    Hope all is well
    Hey, wanted to let you know that we are thinking of you while you go through this.

    Tom and Holly

    MRI
    What's the latest Larry? A lot of us here are waiting anxiously for news and praying it's not too bad. Good would be better.
  • alice124
    alice124 Member Posts: 896 Member

    MRI
    What's the latest Larry? A lot of us here are waiting anxiously for news and praying it's not too bad. Good would be better.

    MRI
    Hey Mr. Wedge,

    He's FOX on this Board!
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    alice124 said:

    MRI
    Hey Mr. Wedge,

    He's FOX on this Board!

    MRI
    Hallo Foxy of course he is!
  • tacyarts
    tacyarts Member Posts: 73

    MRI
    Hallo Foxy of course he is!

    Fox
    Just to let you know that I'm thinking alot about you and hope that you get good news.
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    tacyarts said:

    Fox
    Just to let you know that I'm thinking alot about you and hope that you get good news.

    MRI
    Thanks all. First off, I've had less pain for several days. So maybe I'm still improving from the MDX. The MRI took almost 2 hours of staying motionless. I felt like a teenager on a saturday morning. Now I wait to get a call.
  • jam66
    jam66 Member Posts: 55
    foxhd said:

    MRI
    Thanks all. First off, I've had less pain for several days. So maybe I'm still improving from the MDX. The MRI took almost 2 hours of staying motionless. I felt like a teenager on a saturday morning. Now I wait to get a call.

    Thinking of you...
    And crossing all fingers and toes, Fox.
  • MedScanMan
    MedScanMan Member Posts: 107
    foxhd said:

    MRI
    Thanks all. First off, I've had less pain for several days. So maybe I'm still improving from the MDX. The MRI took almost 2 hours of staying motionless. I felt like a teenager on a saturday morning. Now I wait to get a call.

    Waiting
    Waiting and hoping you get just the results we're all hoping for. Checking in on you every day here Fox. Now.......please hold still. I bet you heard that all day.

    Jeff
  • NewDay
    NewDay Member Posts: 272

    Waiting
    Waiting and hoping you get just the results we're all hoping for. Checking in on you every day here Fox. Now.......please hold still. I bet you heard that all day.

    Jeff

    Hi Fox,

    Just want to chime in that we are all thinking about you.

    Kathy