COdogman
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
I’m a pretty private person - I am way happier asking other people about their lives than I am talking about myself. Over the years I have met so many people whose lives and families have been changed by cancer. I always did my best to offer help and words of encouragement but you really never know exactly what to say because words don’t change anything.
That dynamic changed for me last year when I ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery because a tumor I didn’t know I had on my small intestine ruptured and caused severe internal bleeding. I had lost enough blood the team actually had to do a massive blood transfusion and I was very near death from that alone! A week later I found out I had a pretty rare form of cancer called GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor). I had never heard of it before that day and now I was diagnosed with stage 4. The surgery removed the largest tumor that had started bleeding (along with 8 inches of my small intestine), but they found several other smaller tumors that were inoperable.
There is no cure for GIST unless they can remove all of it via surgery - traditional chemotherapy and radiation do not work on these tumors. There are some oral chemo drugs that are fairly effective against it and as of now I have been taking the first line drug for a year with good results. There is no way of knowing how long that will last, but I’m not worrying about that yet. One day at a time as they say!
So now I’m one of the people everyone tries to find words of encouragement for, which is very uncomfortable for me. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and I’ve honestly lived a very full life so far at 48. I plan to keep trying to do that for as long as I’m able. I was actually back at work 2 weeks after getting out of the hospital because this all happened right before a busy holiday season at our business. Not ideal, but I’m glad I did that - I didn’t give myself the chance to stop moving and living life.
Buying my R1T is a bit of a YOLO purchase for me, as I’ve never been one to spend that kind of money on myself. It’s certainly hard to justify as anything other than a “want”, not a “need”…. Don’t get me wrong - I plan to enjoy every second of it!
If there are any other cancer patients, survivors, family members who want to share their stories or need a virtual hug or high five, please feel free to do so here. If you would rather not share that here then just know you aren’t alone! If you see me out and about in CO definitely say hello - I’m the guy with the “fuck cancer” tattoo on his forearm
That dynamic changed for me last year when I ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery because a tumor I didn’t know I had on my small intestine ruptured and caused severe internal bleeding. I had lost enough blood the team actually had to do a massive blood transfusion and I was very near death from that alone! A week later I found out I had a pretty rare form of cancer called GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor). I had never heard of it before that day and now I was diagnosed with stage 4. The surgery removed the largest tumor that had started bleeding (along with 8 inches of my small intestine), but they found several other smaller tumors that were inoperable.
There is no cure for GIST unless they can remove all of it via surgery - traditional chemotherapy and radiation do not work on these tumors. There are some oral chemo drugs that are fairly effective against it and as of now I have been taking the first line drug for a year with good results. There is no way of knowing how long that will last, but I’m not worrying about that yet. One day at a time as they say!
So now I’m one of the people everyone tries to find words of encouragement for, which is very uncomfortable for me. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and I’ve honestly lived a very full life so far at 48. I plan to keep trying to do that for as long as I’m able. I was actually back at work 2 weeks after getting out of the hospital because this all happened right before a busy holiday season at our business. Not ideal, but I’m glad I did that - I didn’t give myself the chance to stop moving and living life.
Buying my R1T is a bit of a YOLO purchase for me, as I’ve never been one to spend that kind of money on myself. It’s certainly hard to justify as anything other than a “want”, not a “need”…. Don’t get me wrong - I plan to enjoy every second of it!
If there are any other cancer patients, survivors, family members who want to share their stories or need a virtual hug or high five, please feel free to do so here. If you would rather not share that here then just know you aren’t alone! If you see me out and about in CO definitely say hello - I’m the guy with the “fuck cancer” tattoo on his forearm
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