Cancer (and its treatments) sucks!!!!


MrShorty
 Share

Recommended Posts

Approaching the half-way mark of the radiation (+ a little chemo) phase. My first thought when I entered the radiation room with the large linear accelerator they use was of the computer game Theme Hospital (which has morphed into its modern version, 2 Point Hospital). Brief summary of the game -- it's a simulation type of game where you are tasked with managing a hospital (in a world with some rather amusing ailments). Part of your job is building rooms and machines that diagnose and/or treat the different diseases. My first thought as I entered the linear accelerator room was to think that this looks an awful lot like something out of Theme Hospital.

Anyway, the first couple of weeks weren't too bad. I was recovering from chemo and the radiation hadn't really started to effect (or affect??) me. At this point, I am beginning to feel the effects of the radiation. Biggest effect so far (if it's not TMI) -- well I'll leave it to your imagination -- but I expect people can make reasonable guesses at what might happen when you start to burn and irritate the bottom end of your bowels.

A little over 3 more weeks, then I'm done with all of the oncology stuff (assuming we've managed to kill everything outside of the main tumor). Then we can talk about surgery (but let's not hurry to get there).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, MrShorty said:

Approaching the half-way mark of the radiation (+ a little chemo) phase. My first thought when I entered the radiation room with the large linear accelerator they use was of the computer game Theme Hospital (which has morphed into its modern version, 2 Point Hospital). Brief summary of the game -- it's a simulation type of game where you are tasked with managing a hospital (in a world with some rather amusing ailments). Part of your job is building rooms and machines that diagnose and/or treat the different diseases. My first thought as I entered the linear accelerator room was to think that this looks an awful lot like something out of Theme Hospital.

Anyway, the first couple of weeks weren't too bad. I was recovering from chemo and the radiation hadn't really started to effect (or affect??) me. At this point, I am beginning to feel the effects of the radiation. Biggest effect so far (if it's not TMI) -- well I'll leave it to your imagination -- but I expect people can make reasonable guesses at what might happen when you start to burn and irritate the bottom end of your bowels.

A little over 3 more weeks, then I'm done with all of the oncology stuff (assuming we've managed to kill everything outside of the main tumor). Then we can talk about surgery (but let's not hurry to get there).

Thanks for the update. Stay strong my friend. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Well, the oncology stuff (radiation and chemo) is all done, and all that is left is to wait a couple of months and go under the knife.

Radiation treatments have been rough the last couple of weeks. Not quite as debilitating as the chemo, but a daily battle with fatigue and occasional concerns about making it to the bathroom on time, and it hasn't been fun. In theory, things should improve over the next few weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

After several weeks, I feel great (after 6 months of chem and radiation, I had forgotten what it feels like to be myself). Follow up tests are showing no cancer remaining, so the chemo and radiation were very successful.

Now the surgeon is giving me a choice. Stick with the tried and true treatment plan and cut the offending part of my gut out, because we know through years of experience what the risk of recurrence is (pretty small). Or forego surgery (a less tested and less understood course of action) and see what happens.

The idea of skipping surgery is, naturally, appealing. But I'm just not sure I want to take on the uncertainty. If the cancer were to come back, there would be the regret of not having done everything we could now to prevent recurrence. If we do surgery and it comes back, well, then we shake our fist at God until we get it out of our system, then submit to His will.

If only there was a way to see into the future, but there isn't, so I feel inclined to go with the known risk rather than the unknown risk and have surgery. It's a bit of a tough decision, but that seems best with what we know now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, MrShorty said:

After several weeks, I feel great (after 6 months of chem and radiation, I had forgotten what it feels like to be myself). Follow up tests are showing no cancer remaining, so the chemo and radiation were very successful.

Now the surgeon is giving me a choice. Stick with the tried and true treatment plan and cut the offending part of my gut out, because we know through years of experience what the risk of recurrence is (pretty small). Or forego surgery (a less tested and less understood course of action) and see what happens.

The idea of skipping surgery is, naturally, appealing. But I'm just not sure I want to take on the uncertainty. If the cancer were to come back, there would be the regret of not having done everything we could now to prevent recurrence. If we do surgery and it comes back, well, then we shake our fist at God until we get it out of our system, then submit to His will.

If only there was a way to see into the future, but there isn't, so I feel inclined to go with the known risk rather than the unknown risk and have surgery. It's a bit of a tough decision, but that seems best with what we know now.

That is WONDERFUL news.  I'm happy for you.  We've been praying for you, so thanks for the update.

It looks like you've got a pretty important decision ahead of you.  I'm not sure if you were asking for advice.  I'm not an oncologist.  But as a common sense method of going about such a decision, it is important to consider what the original cause was.  Is there a way to reduce the risk by addressing the cause?

Sometimes cancer doesn't seem to have a cause. The onco-genes just erupt, and there is no explanation. In that case, who knows?  If the cause was a lifestyle thing (like smoking => lung cancer) then concentrate on avoiding whatever that was.  Anything in between... ya know.

I'm glad to hear the news.  May the Lord inspire you to make the correct choice for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...

Mr. Shorty,

Back when my wife and I were in our early thirties (and about 10 years before the missionaries found us), my wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was found to be non-cancerous (sorry I don't recall the proper medical terminology, I'm a truck driver and can't remember most medical terms a day later... so it's especially unlikely I'll remember them 27 years later). Anyhow. the tumor was on her pituitary gland, and she (with my asked for advice) had to decide whether to have it surgically removed, with a roughly 50/50 chance the optic nerve would accidentally be touched, rendering her permanently blind in both eyes... or choose a medical alternative, a medication that she would stay on for the rest of her life, and which would supposedly keep the tumor from growing further, but which also carried the risk that at anytime in the future, the tumor could still become cancerous.

With our limited understanding of miracles (although not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we did consider ourselves Christian), we asked for guidance and for a miracle from God, and with a great deal of faith (which we sorely lacked), we received both. We opted for surgery and today my wife is healthy (and has her vision). I know we are not to be commanded in all things, but we can certainly ask for advice and direction, and it will be lovingly shared. As a convert from in my 40s, I often feel I'm walking a few steps behind everyone else, in knowledge, understanding, and even sometimes my ability to have faith. The Lord has proven to me time and again, that even with just a kernel of faith, He can perform mighty miracles.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I go under the knife this week. I will lose a portion of my GI tract, get a temporary ileostomy (small intestine exits the abdomen into a bag 🤢 ), then wait several weeks until he can put my GI tract all back together. As well as the cancer responded to preliminary treatments, we're all optimistic that I should be done with cancer after this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/28/2022 at 3:12 PM, MrShorty said:

Now the surgeon is giving me a choice. Stick with the tried and true treatment plan and cut the offending part of my gut out, because we know through years of experience what the risk of recurrence is (pretty small). Or forego surgery (a less tested and less understood course of action) and see what happens.

A post surgery thought. After removing the affected portion of my gut, they examined it under a microscope and found residual cancer cells invisible to the MRI. So, in hindsight, the choice to proceed with surgery was the right one.

I've gotten fairly sensitized to the observation that God doesn't always intervene (for the better) in everyone's lives, so I'm a little uncomfortable enthusiastically attributing my good fortune to God. At the same time, I recall the point of making the decision to proceed when the thought came seemingly unbidden that, after everything we had done and suffered so far to have the best chance of full cure, it would seem unwise to take on additional risk after trying so hard to minimize the risk. In hindsight, that thought seems almost prophetic.

My own story isn't complete, so it's too soon to make final declarations. And I'm still very much aware that not everyone experiences these little miracles, and I have no explanation for why. But I am grateful today for a very small thing that makes me feel more confident in my future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Here I sit in the hospital after the ostomy reversal. Assuming I am truly cured of the cancer, this should be my last step in treatment (and maybe my last post to this thread). The surgery went well and, after only a day I'm optimistic (maybe unrealistically so) that I will recover quickly.

It has been a long and difficult year. I still have years of follow up to monitor my body for any recurrence, with no promises. Statistics and other indicators suggest all kinds of reasons for optimism.

Thanks to all for your prayers and just for being a virtual part of my support team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share