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]
Sassafras has significant safety concerns associated with it. I'd do your homework or ask your doctor before using if I were you.
The oil which makes the plant poisonous is still present in tea preparations at several times the safe level even in those preparations which claim to have removed it. The oil is a known carcinogen and can cause liver damage in higher amounts. I am not sure a physician would permit a patient with a complex medical history to use it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Cochise:
Sassafras has significant safety concerns associated with it. I'd do your homework or ask your doctor before using if I were you.
The oil which makes the plant poisonous is still present in tea preparations at several times the safe level even in those preparations which claim to have removed it. The oil is a known carcinogen and can cause liver damage in higher amounts. I am not sure a physician would permit a patient with a complex medical history to use it.
That sounds like something I should avoid! My liver is rather a mess. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
That sounds like something I should avoid! My liver is rather a mess.
Well, I am sure you have a great team of professionals to ask rather than get medical advice on CP, but I'm sure you know that :-)
You might ask about other things which do have some support behind them for gi discomfort like ginger, turmeric, peppermint oil, slippery elm, cinnamon. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Cochise:
Well, I am sure you have a great team of professionals to ask rather than get medical advice on CP, but I'm sure you know that :-)
You might ask about other things which do have some support behind them for gi discomfort like ginger, turmeric, peppermint oil, slippery elm, cinnamon.
Except for slippery elm, the other things are pretty regular parts of my diet. One thing I was told is that the new cancerous lymph node is swollen and pushing on things, causing my discomfort. [Reply]
Tonight, I had one of those warm your heart moments. Some background first... my best friend was killed when I was 12 but I stayed close to the family, since he and I were twin sons of different mothers. His sister is my big sis and I was a father figure to her two children when they were young. I even changed the girl's diapers once. She was just here with me tonight learning how to cook Danish meatballs and Danish white gravy with parsley. In my mind, it was not that long ago that I changed her diapers. She has been accepted to the KU School of Medicine to become a nurse practitioner. I am so proud of her and it is such a joy to see the capable, confident, focused young lady that she is now at 23 years of age. I could not be more proud of her if she was my actual daughter. Spending the time with her, showing her how to make one of my favorite dishes, and letting her do a lot of the cooking after I showed her what to do was beyond wonderful to me. It makes me envy those of you guys out there who are fathers. Isn't it amazing how those precious little girls work their way into your heart? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
Tonight, I had one of those warm your heart moments. Some background first... my best friend was killed when I was 12 but I stayed close to the family, since he and I were twin sons of different mothers. His sister is my big sis and I was a father figure to her two children when they were young. I even changed the girl's diapers once. She was just here with me tonight learning how to cook Danish meatballs and Danish white gravy with parsley. In my mind, it was not that long ago that I changed her diapers. She has been accepted to the KU School of Medicine to become a nurse practitioner. I am so proud of her and it is such a joy to see the capable, confident, focused young lady that she is now at 23 years of age. I could not be more proud of her if she was my actual daughter. Spending the time with her, showing her how to make one of my favorite dishes, and letting her do a lot of the cooking after I showed her what to do was beyond wonderful to me. It makes me envy those of you guys out there who are fathers. Isn't it amazing how those precious little girls work their way into your heart?
I surely hope she is not into photography of the anatomy as a side hobby :-) [Reply]
You are a good man, Ed. Wish everyone could focus on the important things in life like you do! I pray for your total and complete recovery so that you can continue to be a beacon for others for many, many years!!! [Reply]
Originally Posted by Meatloaf:
You are a good man, Ed. Wish everyone could focus on the important things in life like you do! I pray for your total and complete recovery so that you can continue to be a beacon for others for many, many years!!!
Thank you very much for that. But, if things do go poorly and I end up dying from this, remember what I have said: I didn't lose my battle with cancer. I won. I aim to kill the stuff, and if I die, it dies, too, so I win either way. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
Thank you very much for that. But, if things do go poorly and I end up dying from this, remember what I have said: I didn't lose my battle with cancer. I won. I aim to kill the stuff, and if I die, it dies, too, so I win either way.
Damn I Know it's cliche and been said a ton but damn Ed you really do
Inspire me my friend. Your in my thoughts daily and just keep at it big man. Again have fun on that trip :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
Thank you very much for that. But, if things do go poorly and I end up dying from this, remember what I have said: I didn't lose my battle with cancer. I won. I aim to kill the stuff, and if I die, it dies, too, so I win either way.
Tomorrow, Monday, I start up on the chemo pills again. I will take my anti-nausea meds earlier this time if it affects me the same way. I have an appointment at 10:15 am on Wednesday at the cancer center, and I am unsure if that will be the last one before my trip or not. As of tomorrow, it will be 3 weeks until I leave. I've gotten my pre-trip research done on new places to see, bus and train schedules written down, flight information, and all that other stuff. I like to do as much work on my trip before I go so that I don't have to look things up over there, thereby maximizing my time to enjoy my surroundings, not to mention downing pints in my pubs.
I am getting in better shape, slowly, but better than not at all. My arms in particular have a lot better tone now than they have in months. I just tire out easily since my blood cell counts are low. I walked around outside quite a bit today and noticed that I was not breathing hard, so having 2 weeks off of the pills does help me a lot. That is good to know since I will have to drag my luggage from where the bus station is to the apartment I am renting in Løkken, and it's not quite a third of a mile walk. I will have been off the pills for 2 weeks by that time, just like today. My friends' café is about 500 feet from my apartment, and I always stop in there to let them know I am in town, so if I am tired from hauling my stuff, I can sit down and rest for a bit. [Reply]
