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The Big Three Plus One => General Chat => Topic started by: SimThreat on September 18, 2008, 09:01:00 pm

Title: Cancer
Post by: SimThreat on September 18, 2008, 09:01:00 pm

As you all know I'm a pretty fair skinned person. I've been subjected to a lot of jokes about my hair and my general whiteness (see: The Gamers Den). Not really so much in the elite as in school growing up. As I've grown more confident with age it seems that whiteness isn't really an issue anymore, or rather everyone I'm exposed to is older and more mature. It's not really the point though, I'm just basically saying that my skin is fair. I was always told to stay out of the sun as a child because my skin is fair and I ran more of a risk of skin damage. I never took that fact into consideration when I was young though and went about my business as a normal kid.

A few months ago I had a mole removed from my back. It was tested, and it was diagnosed as a Level II Melanoma. The news was pretty upsetting at the time but I delt with it really well and didn't let it effect me too much emotionally. However I did have to go back and get more surgery done to remove more flesh and some of the fat from around the area of the cancer. This obviously put my life on hold for a while because I couldn't exercises for at least a month. At the same time I got another mole removed which turned out to be Melanoma in Situ. This was a lot less sever because the cancer cells are confined to the outer layer of skin and less surgery is required.

A couple of weeks later I had a mole removed from my chest which came back as another Melanoma in Situ. Additional surgery was needed again but it wasn't so bad when compared to the surgery I had to have with the Stage II Melanoma. I also got another mole removed on my stomach which luckily ended up being harmless. At this stage I was glad because it seemed that there was nothing else to remove for the time being.

A few days after a scheduled skin check with my docter 2 weeks ago I got a call saying that I have to come into the surgery. There was a suspicious mole on my back that the doctor wanted to remove. I postponed the surgery for a week so that I could enjoy going to the gym a little bit more. The mole was cut out 2 days ago and I got the results an hour ago. The mole was another Stage II Melanoma. I'm scheduled to go into surgery in 50 minutes. I delt with the last batch of cancers pretty well but this one appears to be really affecting me. The prospect of surgery is frightening to me because the last time I had to get this kind of surgery done it was a very bad experience.

Any support would be appreciated. And if anyone has dealt with cancer before (themselves or with a family member) and would like to share it that would be good too.

Thanks

-K..

Title: Cancer
Post by: wishiwasfamous on September 18, 2008, 11:44:00 pm

That sucks! My mom had some skin issues too, not sure if it was malignant or benign, but she had to get skin taken off too. But she's done with it all (must have been minor obviously), and after a week of being deathly afraid of bad news, she's back to living a happy life with no worries!

Are the moles popping up? It sounds like they're just showing up every week and you have to go under the knife to get them taken out... eh I'm sure that's not the case.

On a lighter note, you've successfully brought this back into my life

Title: Cancer
Post by: octoinky on September 19, 2008, 12:43:00 am

My mother was diagnosed with lung cancer 2 Decembers ago. It took nearly a year of radiation and chemotherapy and much struggle until she went into remission. Within a month it was back, and is now on her spine and her pelvic bones. The cancer is inoperable, and they cannot do radiation again. Stage 4 lung cancer is a pretty ridiculous thing, I'm too terrified to even look up the statistics. I've seen my mom unable to eat, lose her hair, lose all her weight, not able to walk across the house without taking a break, sitting on her bed with an oxygen tank, all within 2 years. She used to be the healthiest, youngest looking and feeling person I knew, but has suddenly aged 30 years in 2. But this isn't what is important. What cancer cannot change and has not changed is who you are. You may be forced to live a different life, but it is still your life to live. Today her cancer is not getting better, but positive thought, treatment, etc., has enabled her to have a better quality of life than 6 months ago. She can walk again, and in fact did fine in a recent family trip to Italy. While everybody probably knows but wont admit that it probably wont go away again, that isn't the point of the story or of life. Be it skin cancer or stage 4 lung cancer, you simply cannot let it consume your life. You don't know how long or how hard a fight will be, but it is always worth fighting.

Cancer is a scary thing, but you have positive things as well. The prospects of surgery are positive - they are able to remove these moles. You have obviously found things early, and will continue to be checked your entire life because of this - nothing will get out of control. While it may be the scariest thing in the world to you right now, this is a very eye-opening experience. I think while it is hard to brush aside this in your life, to just think about positives and what you can do, instead of dwelling on what you can't. If you can't work out much anymore, I'm sure you can stay in and write music. You can expand yourself as a person in new ways, and this sort of struggle I'm sure will only make you stronger.

Good luck, Karl

-Phil

Title: Cancer
Post by: RWG on September 19, 2008, 01:54:00 am

my dog had cancer and we got 4 huge lumps removed from her. She starter our kennel and really means a lot to us so we hope she will livd a few more years. I cant iamgine what would happen if this were a person I really loved having cancer... so just know Karl that you really are one of my all time role models and that I love you as much as a person who knows you solely through M can love you. Y ou're a real hero Karl... stay strong!

Title: Cancer
Post by: wheatrich on September 19, 2008, 09:43:00 am

I guess I'll share my cancer story as well. The elite knows I almost never share personal details but I guess I might as well since it's been brought up. (skin cancer is totally different though)

Well it's been over 5 years now since my father died of cancer. He was diagnosed about nine months before at stage 4. He always had that acid reflux disease and every time he went to the doctor he just told him to take tums. Eventually it caused esophageal cancer at the age of 53. The chemo and radiation (which causes cancer (lol) among other bad things) obviously wasn't going to cure it (it had spread to pretty much everything before then). Despite that though they still zapped him whenever they got the chance to rake in the most money possible and despite him being a healthy guy and never getting sick ever that shit will knock the fuck out of you for weeks and right when he finally got better--it was time for another zap. You won't be able to know when you're asleep and when you're awake, you'll forget what was said to you minutes ago, and you'll spout off completely random shit from random times in your life. Because it was esophageal he had to drink a shake through a tube to his stomach to feed himself and had to go into hospice not long after because he couldn't even get out of bed. (there's also no such thing as remission imo gives people too much false hope it really just means they don't know)

They estimated we extended his life by about 6 months of treatments. Physically that was correct but I couldn't disagree more with that treatment as he was never there in mind and it put such a strain on the family that if I ever get this there's no way in hell I'd get that treatment done. It's so clear that this treatment was purely designed to extract as much $ as possible it really sickens me as it ridiculously worsens not helps the quality of life.

(that and they'll never cure cancer--health companies would all go under overnight if that happened [the USDA would even ban it first! (like they do with other viable treatment options that don't involve drugs [[they even have a right to sue you if you give advice that doesn't involve drugs]])] so I wouldn't waste a dime donating to it and every time I hear a drive it just makes me laugh at how stupid people are. (OMG I survived cancer people when almost all of them never really had it in the first place and were completely clueless as to what it really means and is) It's like a few things in life though--it's so impossible to explain to others what it really is unless you've seen it for yourself. I hope none of you ever have to go through it obviously. It's a lot of bullshit. (not to mention the false hope really sucks--I know some people that's all they want to hear but there's some of us that just hate that and would like to at least plan out the rest of someone's life so they at least can do something with the rest of the time left)

"lose her hair, lose all her weight, not able to walk across the house without taking a break, sitting on her bed with an oxygen tank, all within 2 years. "

2 years? It was 6 months. Hair changes color as well. (btw I looked up the statistics right when I heard the stage 4 thing, though you already know what it is anyway) The fact that your mom can actually do things is pretty lucky (though again different situation--each cancer situation is). My dad just got worse and worse.

This all said, I hated my dad so his death as much as I hate to say something like this was a good thing for any relations with my immediate family (and it was the last time I'll ever speak to my grandparents so that was good too but that's another long story).

The life post from octo should apply to everyone regardless of any disease or whatever anyway.

end rant. (though I have a feeling in some post after this I'll basically have to blacklist someone from ever bothering to talk with again)

Title: Cancer
Post by: octoinky on September 19, 2008, 10:03:00 am

Yeah, I realize my mom has been very lucky. She has somehow gotten drastically better in the last few months, without her cancer getting any better (lol doctors?). I think its just because of different treatments. My mom did a lot of things to prepare and was lucky things never got completely terrible too fast. In fact, she saved her hair and attached it to hats, so she could wear the hats with her old hair. And paid thousands of dollars for professional hair wigs, etc., lol $$.


And wheat, I think one of the main reasons my mom has been so lucky is.. well actually this might not make anybody feel any better, but my dad is the controlling accountant for the local medical group, and my mom basically gets first in line for everything :-X. Yeah, money makes the world go round, especially hospitals.

Title: Cancer
Post by: NathanStinson on September 19, 2008, 10:25:00 am

I know you don't believe in God, Karl, but I'll still be praying for you anyways:)


Also, whenever I think of someone with cancer, I always think of this speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXlkqkFH6s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXlkqkFH6s)

Title: Cancer
Post by: Henning Blom on September 19, 2008, 11:33:00 am

Oh, that really sucks Karl. I have no experience @ cancer and the likes but surely I know its not anything good. Hope it turns out better for you soon (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)

Title: Cancer
Post by: vitor on September 19, 2008, 12:18:00 pm

Yeah, I'm sure you'll handle it well (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fhappy.gif&hash=7b9cd982f9a41f9aefcd7ea74682d5f1e4caf4c6) Be cool!

Title: Cancer
Post by: Thiradell on September 19, 2008, 12:36:00 pm

I'll be praying too, Karl. Good luck, man.

Title: Cancer
Post by: flukey lukey on September 19, 2008, 01:58:00 pm

i really hope the surgery goes well Karl, and hope it all ends up fine. My Grandfather died from cancer about 2 months ago,

Title: Cancer
Post by: Red Bull on September 19, 2008, 06:46:00 pm

Karl, best wishes for you. As the moment, I don't really know how bad it is. You can talk to me on AIM if you have questions about this subject, but I don't feel like posting a very emotional and sensitive story on the boards.

Hope you can tell us soon how the surgery went.

Title: Cancer
Post by: AZ on September 19, 2008, 07:33:00 pm

Best wishes to you Karl. Cancer truly sucks from what I've heard. Good luck with the surgery! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)

Title: Cancer
Post by: Carathorn on September 20, 2008, 08:36:00 am

Best wishes from me as well! keep a positive mind, try to enjoy stuff, like making music, playing guitar. Hopefully you dont stress yourself too hard for surgery.

Title: Cancer
Post by: Matis on September 20, 2008, 09:31:00 am

Hope everything works out well Karl, im sure you'll be fine. I'll be wishing for the best pal! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)

Title: Cancer
Post by: Lovins on September 20, 2008, 10:07:00 am

Good luck Karl.

Title: Cancer
Post by: Infected Mind on September 20, 2008, 12:47:00 pm

I truely wish you my best.

Title: Cancer
Post by: Time was untied when set. on September 20, 2008, 05:06:00 pm

Damn, that sucks, good luck with that.

Title: Cancer
Post by: SupaOdin on September 20, 2008, 09:39:00 pm

I don't know what to say man, just stay positive and I hope that everything works out for you. Good luck mate.

Title: Cancer
Post by: failurewarning on September 21, 2008, 05:45:00 am

This is indeed sad news.

The bets thing that you did Karl, is that you got it treated as soon as possible. The sooner something like this is picked up on, the better the propects to a full recovery. I wish you well.


Personal Account

I lost my grandfather 2 years ago to brain cancer.

My best mate lost his mum a year ago to brain cancer. She went to the doctors with a headache and with in 6 weeks she was dead.

My wifes uncle died 4 years ago from liver and kidney cancer. He went to the doctors with pain in his knees and, after a few tests was told that he had 3 - 12 months to live.
I've never seen anyone go downhill so fast. I believe that, like wheat said, the treatment may have made things worse. His youngest daughter was going through her final exams at the time. He hung on as much as he could and died 2 days after christmas. The family (myself included) have started a fund in his honour and we hold a day each summer to raise funds for charity. This was his idea before he died.

Title: Cancer
Post by: Infil on September 21, 2008, 07:48:00 am

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, Karl, though I'm glad that you seem to be able to get it treated. You clearly have a lot of support from all of us eliters!

My father has been a bit ill in the past few years with a bunch of diseases (ulcerative colitis was the big one). After a two year struggle with that, and several surgeries, we thought he was finally going to be able to get back to his normal life... and then he was diagnosed with some sort of skin cancer on one of his eyelids (??). It had apparently spread to his eye, too. Fortunately, they caught it very early and we got an excellent eye surgeon who was able to completely remove the infected area with no ill effects. So yeah, my cancer story doesn't compare to others in this thread who've lost a loved one. I hope that never happens to me.

On one final note, that was a pretty ridic bracket chain in wheat's post. He even closed them all properly.

Title: Cancer
Post by: Wouter Jansen on September 21, 2008, 12:03:00 pm

actually, his 4th alinea is missing a closing ) (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ftongue.gif&hash=7cfc888ebd66cf455a55fd5e124ee8267da91148)

also all the best wishes from me Karl!

Title: Cancer
Post by: the Blueline Goddess on September 22, 2008, 08:35:00 pm

My thoughts are with you, Karl.

There are several cancer survivors in my family - my dad and both of my mom's parents. My dad was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1997, had surgery and a ton of chemotherapy and has been cancer-free for 10 years. My grandmother had breast cancer and underwent radiation and has been cancer free since (think it happened in 1995 or 96) and then my grandpa had liver cancer and had surgery and chemo and has been cancer free since (would have been in 1993 or 94). I know my family is very fortunate to go 3 for 3, which is probably why I participate in the Race for the Cure every year. I don't care if it's naive or what, to be honest.

Title: Cancer
Post by: SimThreat on September 28, 2008, 03:01:00 am

Thanks everyone for their wishes and stories. I really appreciate it.

 

They found another Cancer on my back and I've since gotten that removed. My back is looking like a battle field at the moment. I have to get a couple more suspicious moles removed in the next couple of weeks, starting with another one on my back tomorrow.

I'm feeling a lot better emotionally about everything.

I'm to get a scan done on my abdomen this week hopefully to see if the cancer has spread. So I'm (obviously) hoping that goes well and I get a positive result.

Title: Cancer
Post by: youseinthehouse on September 28, 2008, 03:12:00 am

I haven't been able to fully digest this entire thread yet, but I just wanted to say that my thoughts and prayers are with you, man.

Get well.

Title: Cancer
Post by: gamingguru507 on October 27, 2008, 11:35:00 pm

Sorry to hear that man, hope everything's going well. Any word?

Title: Cancer
Post by: alexaxxem on October 29, 2008, 01:01:00 pm

I hope everything turns out fine man, and if i had to get surgery i would say fuck that! i dont want an iv!