#oncology updates

[audley-and-cherry]

And here's a quick update on my me:

Had my colon surgery, spent three days in the hospital. Got home the following Monday and on Tuesday received the news that my cancer had spread to my lymph nodes. I went to the ER on Wednesday because I couldn't control my pain at home. Spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday shitting uncontrollably, found out it was a c.diff infection on Sunday.

Then last week I had a surgical followup on Tuesday. I really can't expect to feel normal any time soon, whee, but at least my staples are out. I'll meet with oncology on August 9, I can expect to start chemo at the end of August.

In the meantime, I've been watching Letterkenny and sleeping.

Miss you all, hope to be back at this place a little more as I become less fatigued.

[dsh-bangladesh]

Cancer day 2025

[theoreocat]

Good morning everyone,

Thought I'd give you all a little update on Oreo. We’re taking things one step at a time and Oreo and I are both doing our best. It's been quite up and down all week. He gets sick every morning right before he has to take his anti-nausea pill. Then he won't eat for some time afterwards. This morning, he still wouldn't eat after I gave him his appetite stimulant so I got quite worried. A little message from my late senior kitty, Sushine, sent me to the grocery store for some Friskies. Well, Sunshine was right. Oreo ate it and he even purred while he did. I am doing my very best to get him to keep eating. I think if we can make it through this weekend alright, he may have a fighting chance to make it to his oncology appointment on Wednesday. This is the hardest thing I have even been through and my heart goes out to anyone who is going through the same thing. He is comfortable and resting once again. It’s the best thing for him right now.

Thanks again everyone for your continued support,

Tina.

[femmequixotic]

Hello #Femmequixotic, I am a huge fan of your fics, and I've recently finished the 4th part of your Tales from the Special Branch.

Firstly, I'd like to express my admiration and love for your writing and creativity, and after reading your last post here, I hope you currently find yourself in a better place.

Now, I confess that I came here to see when you had last spoken about your work, and was incredibly excited to see that you were working on it, only to see that it has been over a year since.

I understand how life can be unpredictable, and no-one will be upset (although certainly sad) about you abandoning the series, but I came here to simply thank you for your work, and ask if there is any chance of an update (that being new chapters or the definite end to the series).

Regards,

V.

Hi, friend,

I just logged in after a significant amount of time away and saw this and some other lovely messages of support for me from various people. Thank you all so much for your kind words.

To provide an update on why I once again disappeared....well. Life is curiously, frustratingly exasperating sometimes. Just as I got back into writing last year, I started to have some health difficulties that I had to deal with. Long story short, I was rediagnosed with cancer in the spring of 2023. This recent tumor wasn't operable due to its placement, and technically was considered metastatic, so over the past year, I have been going through a very long process of two different types of radiation treatment plus five months of chemotherapy. I still have a very long stretch of immunotherapy ahead of me, and while the tumor seems to have melted away, we're not entirely certain the cancer is gone based on some symptoms I continue to have. My oncology team is awesome, though, and they're doing everything they can to help me.

I'm better than I was a year ago--or even six months ago--so that's positive, and my brain is finally starting to return back to normal from some of the fatigue and fog from treatment and from being ill. I'd like to go back to writing, and I'm feeling more creative as my strength builds back up. I don't want to promise anything, since the last time I did, life decided to immediately throw me a curveball, and to be honest, I'm still wicked tired on my good days, but I hope to complete the story within the next year. That's my plan, at least, so fingers crossed? I've always said I didn't want to abandon it at any point, and I'm determined to keep that promise to you all--and to myself.

So, yeah. That's what's been happening. I'm still here, I'm still fighting, and I'm still writing. Just super slowly, lol.

[oatmealwrites]

Masterlist

Masterlist

Updated: Jan. 2 2025

current masterlist for fics~ if you see a character / show / game not listed that you want some material just lmk and ill see what i can do. (see also my first post regarding what i will/wont write [NO NSFW unless aged up AU or ADULT characters] & if u req, give an estimation of how long u want the fic to be : one shot/ head cannon/ long [4k + words])

AO3: oatmeal writes

ANIME:

JUJUTSU KAISEN

NSFW Holiday Hoes: Frat! AU JJK winter one-shots (on going series)

GOJO SATORU

You're getting drinks with him?

One Shot - Jealous? Gojo x Gender neutral reader -> Gojo x Reader x Nanami (if you squint)

CHOSO KAMO

Coming eventually [when im done w finals hehe]

Band AU! College AU!(prob NSFW)

One Shots:

Initiation - Hematology Student! Frat Brother! Jealous! Choso x F! Grad Student! Reader

Holiday Traditions!- Veterinary Student! Frat Brother! Megumi x F! Reader

Holiday Cookies! - Finance Student! Frat Treasurer! Nanami x F! Reader

Is it casual now? - Oncology student! Frat President! FWB Satoru Gojo x F! Reader

DEATH NOTE

L LAWLIET

Catch Kira, NOT Feelings -> NSFW slowburn (multipart)

Coming soon:

HAIKYUU

ATTACK ON TITAN

MY HERO ACADEMIA

AIZAWA SHOUTA

A Night to.. Forget? (multipart)

GAMES

BG3

RESIDENT EVIL

more (upon req)

[ryan-sometimes]

any updates on your health if you feel comfortable talking about it? I hope the blood cancer scare was a false alarm, wishing you a speedy recovery either way

I had to visit the ER at 5am today because I started vomiting blood. Thankfully I wasn’t bleeding internally and it was just an upper GI tear that bled as much as it did because I unknowingly took a blood thinner (I took aspirin for a headache). I was discharged after they ran a bunch of tests to rule out more severe internal bleeding. I was given some medications to take for the next few days.

Other than that, blood cancer is unfortunately still on the table. I didn’t receive any news on that at the ER. I have been getting bounced around different doctors (cardio, pneumo, even dietician for fuck’s sake) for the last few months for symptoms that actually are symptoms of blood cancer. I lost 15lbs in the span of ~5 months that I cannot explain. I have bruises and rashes on my body that I also can’t explain. Every day I look in the mirror and see giant red marks on my skin. My friends and family have been telling me I look pale. I wake up every morning drenched in sweat even if I was cold at night, to the extent my hair is wet. I have these weird pains that come and go throughout my body that feel like they’re coming straight from the bone. Shortness of breath. I’m constantly exhausted. I’m almost never hungry. I got a referral to hematology and oncology but it could take months to get an appointment.

[angryschnauzer]

January 11th 2024

Yeah its been a while since i updated. I haven't had the energy to if i'm honest, but here we go.

Hubby had his brain surgery end of November '23. The tumour they took out was a nasty one, somewhere between the size of a golf ball and a kiwi fruit. The wound has healed well with little to no side affects apart from some double vision, but he was checked out for that and it is a common after affect of brain trauma and was remedied with an eyepatch for a few weeks.

We met with the Neuro Oncology team at Royal Marsden Hospital in London. They are one of the best (if not the best) cancer treatment centres in the whole country, and we worked through a treatment plan.

Just before Christmas hubby was also cleared to have shoulder reconstructive surgery (he broke his shoulder bone in the original seizures back at the end of October '23). There was a really small window of time between it being enough time after the brain surgery that he could go back under general anaesthetic, but also enough time to mostly heal before he started Radiotherapy and Chemo, so just 5 days before Christmas hubby was in and out of our local hospital in a single day to have that surgery.

Christmas was a quiet and subdued affair. I also herniated a disk in my back the day Hubby had surgery (i was clearing the deep freeze out ready for grocery delivery), so it meant both he and I were dosed up to our eyeballs on strong painkillers for most of the holiday, and Little Dude spent the majority of the break either playing video games or building his new lego sets.

Two days before Christmas i also had to have emergency dental work (i had been grinding my teeth and had previously cracked a tooth) and whilst i was in the dentists office some utter idiot crashed into my car. That was the last thing i needed but i simply handed it all over to my insurance company (who are aware of my husbands situation) and they arranged a hire vehicle and sorted repairs.

Onto the start of 2024. This is the first week of Radiotherapy and Chemo for Hubby. He is getting very tired and fatigued already from the Radiotherapy, but thankfully no nausea from the chemo as yet, but that could change over time. He is scheduled for a full schedule of 6 weeks of this dual treatment, where we are having to visit Royal Marsden every day Mon - Fri for the six weeks, and then he also takes the chemo 7 days a week for the six weeks.

He'll then have 4 to 6 weeks 'off' treatment for his body to relax and recuperate, but will have scans and MRI's during that time to gauge what further treatment will be, but its likely to be just chemo but a stronger dose, but no radiotherapy. The chemo is to be 3 weeks off one week on, so a 4 weekly cycle.

The one thing we have discovered isn't done is prognosis's. When we first got to Royal Marsden we were shocked as they started talking about years, and explained that although it was a really nasty tumour, it was found very early and whilst it was still relatively small for its kind. They've discussed things like 'this years treatment plan then we'll look at next years', and also for a while Hubby was being considered for a clinical trial which candidates who have prognosis's of 12 months+ are only considered for. In the end he didn't meet the criteria (his cholesterol was too high). The Macmillian Nurses also have been talking to us about Mobility Car assistance schemes where you can get govt assistance financially and get an adapted vehicle on a 2 year rolling lease. All these timings are reassuring in one way, but worrying in another - we have no idea what the future holds and it really does cement in stone that our time is limited and could end any moment, and makes it very difficult to make any long term plans. You don't realise how much of your life is preplanned until you end up in this situation and aren't sure if you can book your kid onto the school residential trip in 5 months time.

Should anyone want the mundane daily day-to-day life updates you can follow me on my personal instagram @simone_with_an_e its generally a load of utter boring bollocks, but i try to keep it updated daily with updates when i can as its a lot easier to do 1 short paragraph than a big update.

For me my mental health is a little better now that i've had time to process Hubby's diagnosis and that he is getting treatment. There are still days or hours when i fall apart, and it could be something as simple as listening to a song on the radio as i drive back from dropping Little Dude at school and i realise the song would be lovely at his funeral. I end up having to pull over and have a cry whilst switching the radio off. I'm loosing weight and aging quickly, my hair is turning grey from stress and i realised i've aged about 15 years in the last 3 from stress. My appetite comes and goes, and things like red meat now turn my stomach and i can't digest it. But i also haven't drunk alcohol since the day before Hubby had his seizure back in October. I feel like i need to stay 'alert' in case i need to rush him to the hospital for something. I don't miss it as such, but I miss the ability to fully relax. Its hard to describe but i feel like at the moment i've lost myself and am just functioning to care for those around me, going through the motions as such.

Anyway, this has been a long update. I do still lurk here, you may see me pop up in notifications liking something, but at the moment i don't feel its right to start putting fandom stuff back on here yet. I do hope to get back to writing at some point. I miss it and the unfinished stories plague my mind as i have such lovely plans for story arc's and really want to finish them.

Take care all,

Schnauz

xxx

[nochiquinn]

My roommate Sam has leukemia.

Her husband rushed her to the hospital on November 19th with severe pain and difficulty breathing. Her blood sugar was 44 (way too low) and her white blood cell count was 166,000 (way too high). Wellstar then dicked around for two days and watched her numbers fuck up, doing zero additional tests ("well you know it's a holiday weekend so it's hard to get people up here") until they finally actually transferred her to Northside Hospital's oncology center. This is where her (assumed) diagnosis changed from lymphoma to leukemia.

In no uncertain terms, Wellstar almost killed Sam. The ICU staff at Northside confirmed that if they had waited another day she would have died. "Another day and we wouldn't be discussing treatment, we'd be discussing either hospice or funeral."

Everything else is in the gofundme below, but to paraphrase: she had white blood cell buildup around her heart and lungs. Her spleen was also so swollen it was pressing on her heart, lungs, and stomach. Her kidneys started shutting down from trying to filter so many immature white blood cells out of her system. She's been on dialysis, leukapheresis, steroids, and insulin (to combat the rise in blood sugar from the steroids). She's gotten five transfusions of platelets and one regular blood transfusion. We're waiting on biopsy results for the exact form but right now it looks like acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). She's responding well to the treatments she's received so far, but it's still a long road ahead.

It's still very early days so stuff like disability and leave are still being worked out. We're going to have to start paying her insurance out of pocket, not just for her but because their type 1 daughter is also on it.

I keep calling these things "hurdles" but this might actually be a fucking wall. Scalable, for sure, but so much higher than we're used to having to climb. I was originally going to make an update on the house stuff about my partner's raise and the deal we made with the county and how it was going to make the house stuff easier, but instead I am making this post. Believe me, I do not want to be making this post. For several reasons.

The gofundme is here: Thank you and we love you.

[brunchbitch]

Big updates!

I’ve officially changed my last name with social security and the DMV (I’m dropping my maiden name completely which I sort of feel guilty about? But I love my middle name and I don’t want two middle names).

We bought a house! I am in love with it and so so excited to live there, but moving is not going to be fun. I’m worried how the girls will do - Lia especially is soooo sensitive to transitions and gets stressed out so easily ugh. At least they don’t have to go on a plane this time though!!

I put my notice in at work. It was at the end of an insane day (they’re staffing per diems permanently on the oncology floor and I was alone and it was SO STRESSFUL). It was a little impulsive bc I wasn’t planning on doing it that day - I wanted to think more about an end date that makes the most sense re: moving, finding another job, etc. but I’m just so over the job at this point. I gave three weeks notice and I know they’re bringing on a couple more per diems starting in March so that makes me feel slightly less guilty. It’s bittersweet - I’ll miss some parts of the job, but overall I just feel SO relieved. I really don’t want to do inpatient discharge planning anymore.

[vaspider]

Mila update!

An update on our pup with lymphoma. If you don't want to read about a pet with cancer which will eventually kill her, please enjoy this photo of her current favorite activity: sleeping on Emet and sticking out her lil blep, and skip the rest of this post.

We've changed Mila's chemotherapy at the advice of her oncologist. Her lymph nodes are a little swollen and her bloodwork is a little hinky, and we want to make the switch to something which will work at shrinking her lymph nodes a little better while she's still as strong as possible. We've also put her back on steroids for a bit, so it's time to get back on the Always Eating, Always Drinking, So Much Energy train. :p We might adjust to a different treatment later on, but, you know, this is a constant process, and we're really grateful that we have a good team on our side.

(And that we can afford that good team, which we totally cannot do without help. Thank you.)

Mila has gained quite a bit of weight since she started on chemo, and she's fatter than she's ever been! This is a good thing in the vet's opinion -- if she were going to be around for another ten years, putting on 20% of her body weight in a handful of months isn't a good thing, but, bluntly, she won't be. So this is a combination of 'eat while you can, have body fat to burn through when you are feeling bad later and can't eat,' and 'baby girl, you eat as much as you want to, because now is when you can be spoiled.'

If she dies fat and happy, we couldn't be happier.

Well, I guess we could, because she'll be dying, but, you know what I mean.

We'll be checking in with the oncologist in 2 weeks -- the other good thing about this medication is that it doesn't require us to get her blood drawn a week after her appointment; she won't need bloodwork again until her next oncology appointment. I'm sure she will appreciate not needing to go get stuck as often!

The goal is updated for her December needs, and I cannot thank you enough for the help you have given. I know we keep asking for assistance, and I'm incredibly grateful, because we absolutely couldn't have gotten this far with her without our community's help.

Mila's asleep right now, but I promise some Fat Tummy Video soon.

[dsh-bangladesh]

ক্যান্সার চিকিৎসায় আর বিদেশ নয়! ঢাকা স্পেশালাইজড হসপিটালে রয়েছে বিশ্বমানের ক্যান্সার চিকিৎসা সেবা

অভিজ্ঞ ডাক্তার ও অত্যাধুনিক কেমোথেরাপি সুবিধাসহ ঢাকা স্পেশালাইজড হসপিটালের ক্যান্সার/অনকোলজি বিভাগ

ডাঃ রুবিনা সুলতানা এমবিবিএস, বিসিএস (স্বাস্থ্য), এফসিপিএস (রেডিওথেরাপি) সহকারী অধ্যাপক, রেডিয়েশন অনকোলজী বিভাগ জাতীয় ক্যান্সার গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউট ও হাসপাতাল, মহাখালী, ঢাকা

ডাঃ জান্নাতুল ফেরদাউস এমবিবিএস, এফসিপিএস (রেডিওথেরাপি) কনসালটেন্ট, অনকোলজি আহছানিয়া মিশন ক্যান্সার এন্ড জেনারেল হাসপাতাল

#hospitall#medicine#painlessnormaldel#normaldelivery#besthospitaldha#ICU#nicu#HDU#ambulance#pharmacy#dialysis#emergency#operationtheater#Cancer#cancertreatment#Oncology#besthospitaldhaka

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive (Daily updates!)

As part of the COVID-19 International Research Team, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pittsburgh and Weill Cornell Medicine discovered a novel cause of cytokine storm -; the extreme inflammatory response associated with increased risk of death in COVID-19 infection.

Their findings were reported Nov. 27 in the online issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In an intensive genomic search for causes of cytokine storm, the research team used autopsy samples obtained from 40 patients who died from COVID-19. They performed genome analysis on samples taken from multiple sites, including the lung, heart, liver, kidney, lymph nodes in the chest that initially filter the virus, and the nasal cavity where the virus enters the body.

They zeroed in on some 50 upregulated immune genes in the samples obtained from nasal swabs and followed through in the genomics for the autopsy tissues.

Stephen Baylin, M.D., Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research and co-senior author, and first author Michael Topper, Ph.D., Evelyn Grollman Glick Scholar and instructor in oncology, were

familiar with many of the genes as part of the inflammasome, a protein signaling network they helped define that is activated to rid the body of virus or bacteria-infected cells.

"Some of the same genes involved in overactivation of the inflammasome appear to be key immune gene regulators of the hyperinflammatory process that leads to a new view of how these subsequently activate the "cytokine storm syndrome" and severely damage multiple tissues, says Topper.

The genes should turn on and off, Baylin explains, but when they stay on, it results in cytokine storm, the very severe inflammation that can be lethal to patients with COVID.

Essentially, immune genes in the nasal cavity, where the virus enters, send signals downstream through a system called renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) to initiate cytokine storm.

RAAS, a hormone system that normally turns on and off to help regulate blood pressure, body fluids and electrolytes, is the spark that pushes the immune response into overdrive, the researchers found, compromising the infection-fighting function of lymph nodes and causing severe damage to the lungs, kidneys, heart, liver and other organs.

The researchers also believe their findings may have implications for long COVID, a chronic condition following COVID-19 infection that is characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including fever, fatigue, coughing, chest pain, heart palpitations, headaches, joint and muscle pain, gastrointestinal issues and more. This is a focus of ongoing research, Topper and Baylin say.

In addition to Baylin and Topper, other researchers participating in the investigation are co-first author Joseph W. Guarnieri and co-corresponding authors with Baylin: Afshin Behesti (leader of COVIRT) and Douglas C. Wallace, Simon Pollett, Deanne Taylor, Eve Syrkin Wurtele, Robert E. Schwartz, Christopher E. Mason, Jeffrey A. Haltom, Amy Chadburn, Henry Cope, Justin Frere, Julia An, Alain Borczuk, Saloni Sinha, JangKeun Kim, Jiwoon Park, Daniel Butler, Cem Meydan, Jonathan Foox, Yaron Bram, Stephanie A. Richard, Nusrat J. Epsi, Brian Agan, Josh G. Chenoweth, Mark P. Simons, David Tribble, Timothy Burgess, Clifton Dalgard, Mark T. Heise, Nathaniel J. Moorman, Victoria K. Baxter, Emily A. Madden, Sharon A. Taft-Benz, Elizabeth J. Anderson, Wes A. Sanders, Rebekah J. Dickmander, Katherine Beigel, Gabrielle A. Widjaja, Kevin A. Janssen, Timothy Lie, Deborah G. Murdock, Alessia Angelin, Yentli E. Soto Albrecht, Arnold Z. Olali, Zimu Cen, Joseph Dybas, Waldemar Priebe, Mark R. Emmett, Sonja M. Best, Maya Kelsey Johnson, Nidia S. Trovao, Kevin B. Clark, Victoria Zaksas, Robert Meller, Peter Grabham, Jonathan C. Schisler, and Pedro M. Moraes-Vieira.

This researach was supported by the Division of Intramural Research, NIAID, NIH grant to Sonja Best, and DOD W81XWH-21-1-0128 grant awarded to Douglas Wallace, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant INV-046722 awarded to Douglas Wallace, Adelson Medical Research Foundation, Hodson Scholar Foundation, Glick scholar awards and Samuel Waxman Research Foundation awarded to Stephen Baylin from the Defense Health Program (HU00012020067 and HU00012120103), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (HU00011920111), and the USU RESPONSE award (HU00012020070).

Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine

Journal reference: Topper, M. J., et al. (2024). Lethal COVID-19 associates with RAAS-induced inflammation for multiple organ damage including mediastinal lymph nodes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2401968121.

Study link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2401968121

[levikra]

I have Acute Lymphoblastic Leukosis aka Blood Cancer

buckle up :D

This post should've been here for sometime now cuz I prefer keeping everyone updated across all the platforms that I use as an artist.

So - Hi! My name is Evein, on 1st of May 2023 I turned 21 and since then, from 5th of May my health decided to pull a quick one on me, propelling the events that currently make me reside at the hospital with an oncology.

It all started with a tonsillitis-like fever, accompanied by furunclosis in three places on my body, a high fever that lasted for 5 days in the first half of May itself and other unpleasant symptoms. It felt weird, I've never had such an intense streak of sicknesses kick my ass like that, but of course - I went to doctors to get checked, the classic blood testings and general examinations and stuff.

That's when on 10th of May my blood test was checked by a dermatologist regarding my furuncle problem and - after some brief moments of her talking with the main doctor at the clinic - I was rushed to the governmential hospital due to the fact that my blood results had... no white blood cells. Literally 1.83 at the accepted range being much higher than that.

Needless to say I was fucking shocked, I've never dealt with the severity of the situation and let alone while being completely on my own as a human person (working, living, providing for myself, you call it).

At the hospital, after several examinations and another blood test came the recommendation paper that doctors signed with urgency, first and foremost I needed to get to an appointment at the hematologist's. That I did on 14th of May and since that point of time, till 19th, I'd been monitored, given antibiotics for my tonsillitis-like symptoms, along with my furunclosis and after 19th we ruled out the condition to be leukosis, became my white blood cells started coming back to normal with the antibiotics aiding my immunity, but despite that - thr condition still seemed as something more reminiscent of mononucleosis (which, however, in another blood test was disproven).

After exactly a week of feeling better, albeit dealing with leftover anemia, I started developing the same symptoms back and even worse, to the point of losing consciousness and thrwoing up in an elevator on 29th of May after going out for the second pack of antibiotics my hematologist had then already approved of to use to help out.

That's when I was rushed to the hospital again and - the next day - my hematologist arranged an appointment at the big clinic that has an oncology ward specifically for my situation. On 1st of June I was officially admitted with Acute Leukosis (the diagnosis doc attached is in Russian).

Since 1st of June the treatment has been ongoing, I've received three rounds of chemo along with supporting hormonal abd antibiotic therapy. Me is balding too, ofc. :D

And thus, this story leads to a logical question - what's now?

It's day 24 of my treatment, out of 4-6 weeks of inital induction period of leukosis' treatment (the overall chemotherapy to destroy tumor cells down to <5% in my bone marrow). After the induction period, if it's proven to lead to remissions - I'm then admitted out to certain periods of time in between infusions + need to take supporting medicine by myself (hence buying it too).

As an independent freelance artist who's existence is tied to being able to do creative work out of, well, any circumstances, I was sadly forced into situation of asking for monetary support, simply because it's stupid to expect to break your own back trying to work harder when you're body is collapsing on itself.

I have a goal on Boosty open for donations and I deeply appreciate ANY and I mean ANY traction of this post. I made a similar thread on Twitter covering the situation and have recieved a lotnof incredible support that has helped me a LOT so far, but my treatment is ongoing, or to be precise - will last in its entirety for 2-3 years. With the momentary help I was able to secure my living situation and get my pet cat to live for the current time period at my friend's, but you understand how that is just a temporary measure and, of course, I don't plan on stall myself - I simply just can't afford that even while hospitalised.

BOOSTY is very sus when it comes to singular donations higher than 120$ but if you happen to donate below that or in several different ones to bypass their antifraud system (only if you wish to) - the link to a goal is here -

[daidi-dragan-glas]

Just a quick update.... Oncologist has confirmed that I'm one of the most stubborn people she's ever run across.... Almost 2 weeks ago I had my 41st infusion of FOLFIRINOX (chemo cocktail for stage 4 colon cancer with Mets to liver, lungs and lymph nodes)... I'm told that most people have to stop taking it at infusion number 12 or 15, and the most she(my oncologist) has ever had a patient handle was 38.. until me. I've NOT allowed them to reduce my chemo for "their" fear of MY side effects ... Hell, half the questions from them are "is this side effects getting worse?" Whether it's nausea, neuropathy, energy, bloodwork levels, etc, and always seemingly with an eye towards "we should cut back on this drug so you FEEL better... FUUUUUUCK THAT! I want this fucking cancer GONE... Not just reduced and I feel great until it kills me... I'll HAPPILY go thru the neuropathy that makes it hard to think, hard to work, hard to even type on a keyboard or work with a mouse, yes, that's coming from an IT person, I'll HAPPILY feel unsteady, feel like shit all day, up 5 to 10 times a night to run to the bathroom, and half of those times to actually have to clean up grrrrrrrrrrrrr, I'll happily take the vitamins, the injections, the pain pills and patches, the sore burning ass, the weakness and the frustration of it all, AS LONG AS I'M DOING EVERYTHING I CAN TO BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF THIS SHIT. And that means DO. NOT. DECREASE. MY. CHEMO. SO. THAT. I. FEEL. BETTER. TODAY. AND. TOMORROW..... YOU KILL THOSE GODDAMN CANCER CELLS, I got it, I can deal with the rest, I'm my own Huckleberry!!!

It's not as effective anymore though.. and the Mets in my liver are growing fairly quickly in some concerning spots...

I pushed my oncologist for alternatives.. even 2nd or 3rd opinions and experimental treatment... And she wrote a letter to the Mayo Clinic. I'm told the Mayo will not even consider giving an appointment unless they feel there is something they can do for you that is better than what you're getting. I had a phone interview, they got all my records, had a care team review my case in detail and a week and a half later, they called to set up an appointment.

I'll be doing some packing today (Sunday July 14) to leave Monday morning and be in Rochester MN at the Mayo Clinic facilities for appointments there on Monday, I'll stay overnight (quite probably in my car since things are fairly tight lately) and more appointments on Tuesday.

So, we will see what they say and what kind of treatment plan they come up with.

(yes, things are tight... Cancer treatment is NOT cheap y'all. Each and every one of my infusions gets billed to the tune of $42,000 per... Not including the testing, the Dr appointments, the hospital visits, the drugs to combat the side effects, the drugs given in combination with the chemo to combat the "essentially" allergic reactions to the chemo... {Yes, I had to ring the bell beside my chair once and had every nurse in the facility converge on me and work to reverse what was going on}... So, so far, me and my insurance company have been billed somewhere upwards of 2.2 million dollars since November of 2022. My insurance happens to be pretty good, so my portion is somewhere around half a million at this point, and as stubborn as I am, when they ask for payments, I stick to my guns and pay an affordable amount each month, to show that yes I'm making payments, and fuck you if you want more. I'm lucky!)

I would like to add... IF you are in a position to be charitable, please do one of the following:

go to one of your local oncology clinics, ASK them what their patients might need (I know there are many of you that found fulfillment in making masks during COVID, put that same effort into making hats for patients losing their hair, donate button down or zip down Henley style shirts (most of us have a port installed in the upper right side of our chest and easy access to that for blood draws, infusion and other treatments without having to fully remove your shirt is NICE), donate homemade afghans or blankets

And if you're really squirrelly, pick a local patient and befriend them, take them to appointments, make sure the snow is cleared from their driveway (chemo takes your strength and endurance away and it makes it HARD sometimes to do the simple things around the house). Rake the leaves, mow the grass, vacuum, Help them out with whatever they need (MORE THAN JUST ONCE). find out what they CAN eat and take it to them several times a week, you cannot imagine just how much that one small thing you do for them can make a HUGE difference in their actual survival!!!

Find an organization close to you that you can donate money towards local cancer patients medical bills.

Sorry, turned out to be not so short of an update and there's some rant in here too, sorry not sorry.. lmao!

but I'm sure hoping for the Mayo to pull something phenomenal out of their hat... I don't even care if it ruins my health or quality of life for awhile, I don't care about short term, I can deal with the shit of it, but I DO care about sticking around until people can honestly say... "Thank GOD that fucker is finally dead, let's PARTY!" Yes I still plan to live until I'm a total pain in the ass for even those few that love me, and then when I've died at 103 yrs old, they can spread my ashes on the Appalachian Trail across TN NC and VA and if they wish to visit they can go into the mountains and woods and I'll come to them as the breeze and whisper of the beauty of nature to them