Cancer. My turn in the barrel.

BWR1953

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,621
Haven't seen me much? 👀

I'm fighting throat cancer. Lifelong non-smoker. Non-drinker, never used drugs. Had benign throat polyps for years, but it went bad and they turned malignant. Doc says it's "just one of those things." Survival rate is high but radiation treatment is going to knock me down pretty hard. Might have chemo after radiation for cleanup. Maybe.

Symptoms started in late July. Ignored them for a month. 🙄

Diagnosis confirmed by biopsy on 1Sep 26. Been doing a lot of prep stuff and will be meeting Oncology the first time on 1 Oct 26. Lots of appointments happening. Had three yesterday. Plenty more coming.

Wife had a bad mammogram a couple weeks ago. Still waiting on more appointments for her.

Ancient Chinese curse: "May you live in "interesting" times."

Keeping things interesting here! :sneaky:
 
aspeck

aspeck

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
19,877
I will be praying for you and your bride. Hang in there. Let us know if there is anything we can do for you two.
 
J

jlh3rd

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
1,182
I don't know you. But, yeah, just not fair to us non - smokers, drinkers, druggers.
All we can do is fight it.
 
A

airshot

Admiral
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
6,746
I hear ya, helped grandaughter thru her cancer battle during her senior year in school, now, I have surgery for suspicious thyroid on monday. Life can throw you curves. We are thinking of you, good luck !!
 
BWR1953

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,621
The docs tell me that my cancer is very survivable. :)

Survival rates are 85-90% after 8 years, so that's good. The radiation treatment is the really tough part. It'll be M-F for 6 to 7 weeks. I'll likely have tube feeding at some point. One doc told me that it will feel like I have a really bad sunburn inside my throat, even after having pain meds. 😬

Once the radiation is done, they'll evaluate me and maybe I'll have chemo after, which is also very tough. :cautious:
It's tough as can be, leaving side effects which can be permanent and continued treatment symptoms for up to a year or even more.

Plus I have dental issues. Y'all might remember my high dose prednisone from years back. I had that treatment for 8.5 years and subsequently lost a lot of teeth due to bone loss and other prednisone factors. Then in March, a molar bridge failed and I was down to almost nothing. The team checked and they'll remove everything remaining, because they're likely to be damaged by the radiation. No teeth left. Dentures in my future. Maybe I can get implants if the jawbone isn't too damaged.

And I have a ton of stuff left to do here on the ol' homestead! Gonna get busy now that the weather is breaking and try to get as much done as I can before I become too weak from the radiation treatments.

Such is life. But I'll keep on keepin' on. 😁:cool:

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Sprig

Sprig

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
676
May God bless you sir. The dreaded C word (cancer) is something no one ever wants to hear. I heard it 5 years ago, prostate cancer. Fortunately it was early low grade cancer. Had brachytherapy (radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate). Today I am considered cancer free with a normal life span. I know I am very fortunate. So may God bless you with a normal and full recovery.
Kick cancers a$$
Lastly since it’s mostly guys here I’ll just say be sure to get an annual psa test. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. 1 in 8 will be diagnosed with it. Caught early it’s very treatable and curable.
 
BWR1953

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,621
Sprig said:
May God bless you sir. The dreaded C word (cancer) is something no one ever wants to hear. I heard it 5 years ago, prostate cancer. Fortunately it was early low grade cancer. Had brachytherapy (radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate). Today I am considered cancer free with a normal life span. I know I am very fortunate. So may God bless you with a normal and full recovery.
Kick cancers a$$
Lastly since it’s mostly guys here I’ll just say be sure to get an annual psa test. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. 1 in 8 will be diagnosed with it. Caught early it’s very treatable and curable.
Click to expand...
Thanks. My best friend from my USAF days fought prostate cancer for 17 years before it finally got him. He was 70 when he passed in 2021. Knew him 41 years and he was always a part of my life. Technology and medicine have changed dramatically since then, so I'm glad to hear how well you're doing.
 
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