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My Newest Project - Me !?!?

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
My appointment for this Wednesday got cancelled due to the "named after a popular Mexican beer brand mass hysteria situation" that is currently unfolding.

For the best, since I am still a bit "immune compromised", and the people at the cancer clinic definitely are.

So, a 8 week reschedule/reprieve. :shrug:
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
My appointment for this Wednesday got cancelled due to the "named after a popular Mexican beer brand mass hysteria situation" that is currently unfolding.

For the best, since I am still a bit "immune compromised", and the people at the cancer clinic definitely are.

So, a 8 week reschedule/reprieve. :shrug:

Probably a good call. Still feeling well?
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
I went to my Oncologist yesterday, blood work looks good :woot:

I am now on a 6 month schedule, so I go back in November for blood work and a CT scan.

Statistically speaking, with the type of cancer I had, IF you make it 2 years past chemotherapy without a recurrence, odds are greatly in your favor to NOT have a recurrence :fingerscrossed:


On a kind of related/relevant topic, driving into the "big city" of New Orleans yesterday was like driving into a ghost town. There is more traffic in Biloxi during "rush hour" now than in New Orleans, due to the "current situation". Even with the bad weather yesterday, it only took an hour from my house to the Tulane parking garage, it usually takes at least 2 hours due to traffic.

I parked on the 2nd floor of the parking garage, right next to the "pedestrian walk over bridge". Saw three people in the hospital, only 6 people in the cancer center waiting room. I was very glad to not see a huge crowd. Talking to my oncologist, he said that none of their cancer patients/staff have come down with the "current pandemic", which is obviously great news.

Anyway, glad to finally be kicked to a 6 month maintenance schedule :thumbsup::wave:
 
Last edited:

jatepper

Basic User
Lifetime Member
City
Vail
State
AZ
Great news, Raymond!

We just found out Monday my father has cancer. He's 72 years old and takes baby aspirin because it's supposed to be good for your blood at that age. Turned out it could have saved his life.

Father urinated blood a couple times about 2 weeks ago. He called his doctor and doctor said quit taking baby aspirin until further evaluation. He had a catscan of his kidneys which checked good then got the old camera up the pecker. Turns out he has a small cancerous tumor in his bladder. My grandpa (his Dad) died from bladder cancer too! But without taking the aspirin, it probably would not have bled and got detected this early. We think it got detected early enough, but won't know for sure until 5/13, which is when they're going back in there. This has really got me depressed the past few days, but I'm remaining optimistic.

Congrats on your continued remission!
 

Belizeit

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
City
River Ridge
State
La
Glad you are doing great ! I'm on the west side out near the airport. I'm amazed at the traffic I do see. It just might have been the weather yesterday. Not much aircraft traffic for sure
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
Great news, Raymond!

We just found out Monday my father has cancer. He's 72 years old and takes baby aspirin because it's supposed to be good for your blood at that age. Turned out it could have saved his life.

Father urinated blood a couple times about 2 weeks ago. He called his doctor and doctor said quit taking baby aspirin until further evaluation. He had a catscan of his kidneys which checked good then got the old camera up the pecker. Turns out he has a small cancerous tumor in his bladder. My grandpa (his Dad) died from bladder cancer too! But without taking the aspirin, it probably would not have bled and got detected this early. We think it got detected early enough, but won't know for sure until 5/13, which is when they're going back in there. This has really got me depressed the past few days, but I'm remaining optimistic.

Congrats on your continued remission!

Thanks man :thumbsup:

Sorry to hear about your dad, but the treatments today are so much better than even 10 years ago. Praying for you and yours :wave:

Very good news that they found it early :fingerscrossed:
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
Went for my first 6 month check up, and unfortunately, I am getting kicked back down to the every 3 month interval again :(

All my bloodwork was good, EXCEPT for 1 of the 3 "tumor markers" they look for in my blood - my AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) was higher then what it has been historically, but still well within the "normal range". The normal range is 0-8, I am usually 3.1-3.4, this time it was at 4.2, so well over a 20% increase. The strange thing, I had/have "seminoma" cancer, which usually does not show up as an increase in AFP. Before surgery, after surgery, before chemo, after chemo, my AFP has been stable. So, either (hopefully not) I had/have a "mixed" cancer instead of a "pure" cancer, or something else is going on.

My CT scans were all stable, EXCEPT my liver has slightly enlarged itself since last December. The increased AFP mentioned above MIGHT tie into my slightly bigger liver. The AFP CAN go up IF something is going on with your liver. Since I have probably drank less then a case of beer since last December, pretty sure alcohol abuse is not the reason. I don't have any Hepatitis or Cirrhosis of the liver, hopefully not liver cancer. CT did not reveal anything else strange about my liver, except that it is "slightly bigger" then what it was last December. Your liver should pretty much stay the same size, as mine has over the last 4-5 years since all these CT scans started. No pain on my right side tummy, no jaundice/yellow eyes, no symptoms of any major liver issues.

My oncologist is going to consult with some other doctor's about the AFP/increased liver size and get back to me. If they are not too worried, I will go back in 3 months and do another full blood lab. Hopefully the AFP will be back to normal :fingerscrossed:

The only thing that I can think/hope happened to my liver/AFP - A few weeks ago I had a wisdom tooth cut out of my jaw AND a cyst removed from my back. I was on some pretty strong anti-biotics for 3 weeks. MAYBE the anti-biotics slightly inflamed/temporarily damaged my liver and it has not fully gotten back to normal :fingerscrossed: This happened to one of co-worker's wife, she ended up in the hospital for a few days, BUT she also had other major symptoms.

The oncologist was NOT too worried (not as much as me LOL) about the increased AFP. He says he has seen this happen to quite a few patients this far out (2-3 years) past the last chemo. One check up it will be higher, then back to normal. I read a medical journal article about this, too. They were using seminoma testicular cancer people as the "test group" in a study of AFP in other types of testicular cancer patients, during the post chemo surveillance period. The journal mentioned seminoma patients had this happen well past the cancer relapse time frame, and the anxiety it causes:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6364670/

Anyway, I give this visit/check-up a "B" grade.

Seems like I am still good to go as far as the cancer goes, hopefully my liver gets back in shape by the next lab visit :fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed:
 
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