I thought I'd start a new thread for updates on my cancer treatments and whatever else is going on, since the bad news thread title is misleading now.
My last treatment went better than the previous two and my chest wound is still closed up, which is a good thing. My arm is getting slightly stronger and I hope to resume lifting dumbbells next week. I need to build up my strength again, because I am going back to Denmark in May and I am extremely pumped about that! I'd like to be able to schlepp my own checked bag and not have someone else lifting it for me.
It's going to be a fabulous trip, 6 weeks and a couple of days for me. My brother is going along as well as my friends Chipp and Rod. Chipp is staying close to 3 weeks and has not gone with me over there since 2006 so he is also very pumped to be going. It will be Rod's first trip and he will be there for 2 weeks. I will get to be a tour guide. Also, I am throwing a party in my favorite pub of all, the wonderful, ever-magnificent Irish House in Aalborg on May 7th. The owner and I are friends and he will give me a little discount. We'll have Irish stew and brews in the cellar and I hope to have around 25 family and friends there. I might bill it as the "Fu** Cancer Party." A few months back, I was not sure I'd ever be able to go over to Denmark again or if I'd even be alive, but the cancer hasn't gotten me yet. I'm doing a number on it, instead.
Some other cool things I plan to do when I am back in my ancestral lands include a wine tasting in a castle, touring another castle and the northernmost manor home in the country, and visiting Skagen, the top of Denmark, where you can stand on a little patch of beach and have one foot in one sea and one in another. They also have a brewpub up there I am wanting to check out. I will start and end my trip in Aalborg and spend 5 weeks in an apartment I rent that is very close to the beach. I can hardly wait for May 4th to roll around! [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I've been out of it for several days now with a lack of energy so I have not been on here. The bags are off my drains and the one in the center of my abdomen hurts me when I get in and out of bed or off the sofa. It leaks a lot, too, which concerns me but not the docs. I have new meds to take with the ones I already have, and am waiting for Walgreens to get it together and fill one that is marijuana based. Insurance is causing the delay, going on 5 days now. I am weak due to muscle and weight loss. My arms are spindly and my face and neck are very thin. Those who met me at Barley's a while back could see that was not the case. I was a bit chunky then. I hope the weed med will boost my appetite because I look scary being so thin.
I started on some immunotherapy last week and go in again Thursday and then the 20th. So, three treatments under my belt will hopefully shrink and kill some tumors. The way I am now, I'd have to cancel my trip and that is causing me stress.
Maybe look into getting some real pot? It would certainly help the appetite [Reply]
Ed. Just left the sanctuary after an early morning prayer session for you. Hope you are at peace. Keep pushing forward. God is always with you. [Reply]
Ed, so sorry to hear about your latest setbacks. I really hope you beat this once and for all, but know one thing, you have touched many here with your words and spirit. You have the spirit of Bushido in you and it is inspiring to all of us. Get well my friend, but even if you don't never doubt if you mattered, you did to 100s of people, many you never even met. And to me as well. [Reply]
I have very bad news. My blood tests had terrible numbers and my body is just worn down while my liver is getting ever worse. I can't handle more treatments and I am getting hospice care. I have two or three weeks left to live.
I want to thank all of you so much for the prayers, support and love. It has made a difference. My final battle awaits and I will win because the cancer dies with me and I am the one who will kill it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I have very bad news. My blood tests had terrible numbers and my body is just worn down while my liver is getting ever worse. I can't handle more treatments and I am getting hospice care. I have two or three weeks left to live.
I want to thank all of you so much for the prayers, support and love. It has made a difference. My final battle awaits and I will win because the cancer dies with me and I am the one who will kill it.
You have been an inspiration to us all, the lounge will bear your name in pride remembering your struggle and bravery. You have had an amazing journey through this crazy thing we call life.
I can only hope when my time comes I can face it with the grace and courage you have displayed here for all to see. I am so sorry, no words can properly express the depths of my personal sorrow. I know you have lived well and your actions discussed here in this thread have inspired many to contemplate their own mortality and life choices. It has helped me focus on what is important and meaningful in my life. Thank you for that.
I hope others will come forward and let you know what watching your battle has meant to them. It is a hard thing to do, we are after all men and this is not our nature. I love you man and you will be sorely missed.
I will make you this promise. If the Chiefs ever win the superbowl while I yet live, I will pour a separate drink and place it next to me, in your honor. [Reply]
I am so sorry to hear this. I cannot thank you enough for your bravery in freely sharing your journey over these past years.
I am watching one of my colleagues who has been a great friend, supporter and mentor to me progress through the stages of a fatal disease. He is man who has impacted thousands of people over a 50+ year career and is now staring his own mortality in the eye. It is hard for me to accept. He has led a full life full of wonderful relationships, meaningful contributions, and doing what he loved every step of the way. No one could ask for a better life. But even at 82 years old his appetite for life isn't close to being satiated. It is never enough.
