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 am about to head to the cancer center to see the liver doc and get results from my scan two days ago, and also to find out what direction my liver treatment will go. I am not sure if I will start with chemo again today, but if I do, it will be treatment number 20.
Good luck, Brother. We are ALL praying for you. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Good luck big man.
20 rounds. That is incredible. Hopefully they think 19 is sufficient.
Thank you all so much. 19 treatments was for when I had both the colon and liver cancers. Now that they hacked out 9 inches of my colon, the liver is my only battle front, and my liver is what was originally diagnosed at stage IV from the primary colon cancer. [Reply]
I got mixed news today. My liver tumors grew, but that was expected since I have not had chemo in 7 weeks. My lymph nodes have not gotten bigger and the doc said that was good news. I am going to start a new regimen of treatment next Tuesday, with Folfiri and Panitumumab. The possible side effects could get brutal: hair loss, rashes, the runs, nausea, swelling of ankle and feet, and I am to avoid alcohol. Son of a...! It's Octoberfest Season now! :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I got mixed news today. My liver tumors grew, but that was expected since I have not had chemo in 7 weeks. My lymph nodes have not gotten bigger and the doc said that was good news. I am going to start a new regimen of treatment next Tuesday, with Folfiri and Panitumumab. The possible side effects could get brutal: hair loss, rashes, the runs, nausea, swelling of ankle and feet, and I am to avoid alcohol. Son of a...! It's Octoberfest Season now! :-)
Focus on the good, Ed. We'll pray for the elimination of the bad. :-) [Reply]
I just got a case of Hacker-Pschorr Marzen beer, so I will have to chill a few for tomorrow and the weekend, then it's off beer for a long time. Sigh... [Reply]
Keep it up, and follow their recommendations to a T. Clinicians will tell you that your attitude matters and being radically committed to the fight matters. Keep battling! [Reply]
Whats one Octoberfest when your shooting for many more to come. Follow your Doctors and we all will look forward to stories of Eds many Octoberfest to come.
Ed, Dave and now Sacopoo our thoughts and prayers are with you guys. [Reply]
She never said anything about this being over anytime soon. She did mention "extending my life" again, and I asked if I'd be here until the 18th of February, because if I died before then, I would be very angry. She looked puzzled and I said I scored 4 tickets to Black Sabbath on the 17th. I said there might be some THC showing up in my blood test after the show, because when Ozzy plays Sweet Leaf when it's just his solo act, the crowd lights up. At the last Sabbath show... it's going to be hazy in there and a contact high will be unavoidable! My doc looked worried when I said that. I didn't tell her I was planning on using the chainsaw today, too. There is just so much I can subject the poor woman to! [Reply]
