Cancer....

It's something that I'm noticing a lot on this Forum.
Every day, I think about the people from here and
wondering how they are doing.

Their names just keep running through my mind. I got to
thinking about this and I don't mean to stick my nose in
anyones personal business but I was wondering how many on
here are experiencing Cancer now or have had it?

Me: Stage IV Colon Cancer, 2013, removed colon, no chemo
or radiation, cat scan every 6 months, current age: 57.

Does anyone else want to add their experiences?

Prostate cancer 3ears ago. Radiation treatment. Gone per PSA blood test. 85

Neither wife nor I have had cancer, but have been heavily affected by it through family. Right now, am really concerned about the absence of Dick2.

When Dad had cancer, he closed everyone else out, and that left him making some very irrational choices. He finally realized his mistake, but by then it was too late. He passed away not 3 days later.

Greg, thanks for starting this thread. I've also wondered, but have been afraid to ask.

Colon cancer 7 years ago.

Found out I had lymphoma early this year. Started chemo first week of March and finished in early June. The chemo did a nice job killing the cancer but it beat the heck out of me. Still recovering my strength and stamina. I feel like I am about 60 or 70% back to normal now. I think it will take until late this year before I feel normal. Every day I try and do something and get quickly reminded that I am not back to 100% strength but things are improving week by week. Started back to work part time a couple weeks ago, planning on being back full time at the end of August. Doing check up scans every 10 to 12 weeks for the next year and then they will start to space them out more. I am 53 years old.

No cancer, but had first heart attack at age 35. Second 2 years ago at 46. Double bypass in 04. Stent in 15.

lung cancer -surgery March 2012, other lung - surgery April 2013, again April 2015 - chemo and radiation, checkups every 6 months last one still all clear. Hope it stays that way. age 71, and no I didn't abuse tobacco for 50 years, I enjoyed it. LeRoy

Kenny, Excessive iron in your body is very hard on the heart...(and liver)
Many have it do not know it. It's not included in regular blood workups....
Do you know your Ferritn level ? ? I have the condition, it's genetic.

Had prostater cancer in 2007, diVinici robotic surgery, then radiation treatments, then hormone therapy. psa at 0.01 for 6 years now.
Am 75.

Diagnosis in Sept. 2014 at the age of 60 with Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia. Had 8 chemo treatments witch lasted a week in the hospital each time and that went on for a year.Now I am on daily chemo pills.

CLL ( Chronic lymphocytic lymphoma) daily pill treatment for 2 1/2 years, working very well. Small amount of prostate cancer, just watching that.

Lung cancer, currently on third chemo drug.

Prostate cancer, robotic surgery in 2006. totaly cancer free yet--psa test every year.

Colon cancer at 30, removed colon. 7 years later, duodenum. But didn't take pancreas. Soon to be 58. No chemo or radiation.

3 different cancers last 15 years, one caused by my radiation. Just like the old Timex and keep on ticking!

Thyroid cancer in 96 with complete removal, malignant melanoma in 06 with lymph node removal, bleeding vienous angioma on the brain stem in 11, just 10 months after retiring. Stroke like symptoms that should have killed me.

My wife is the oldest of seven children and every one of them has had thyroid cancer....except my wife. We are very thankful for that.
On December 24th of last year, my wife was visiting my mom's house as my mom was recovering from having her hip replaced. My aunt was there (my mom's sister) and she was also visiting my mom. My aunt felt perfectly healthy. The next day she visited the doctor because she had a slight cough. Seventeen days later, I was at her funeral. She had an extremely aggressive form of chest cancer and it raced through her really quick. She was not a smoker, if anyone is wondering.

My wife had 3 cancers, all breast cancer. 2006 a year before we met she was what 36yo, came back in 2008 and in 2013. Last one was metastatic and chewed up her hip/leg bone. She learn the hard we she had cancer the last time... her hip broke. She is in pain due to surgery and treatment (no chemo but monthly implants for helping the bones) but still alive and kicking. So all is good considering

Wife has been fighting uterine cancer for four years now. Chemo did nothing. Radiation worked in the target area but now the cancer is showing up outside that area.

Age 60. Robotic prostate removal last of January 2017. Three month PSA was non existent.. Had blood work today for sixth month appointment. Can't drive tractors yet without causing pain for days..

I bet when the truth comes out cancer is caused by all the chemicals that is put in the food and water we consume. Seems every year cancer is getting more prevalent.

Prostate cancer 2008 removed DaVinci method, no chemo, no radiation, no incontinence, pretty painless. Check PSA every 6 months and has been less than 0.01, but Doc said keep up the psa checks (had one patient's cancer come back about 20 years after removal). ED is only long term symptom.

Probably better than 100% after getting on CPAP a year ago.

Now have Chronic Lymphocytic Dermatitis diagnosed this month.

I'm 72.

Stephen Newell- "Seems every year cancer is getting more prevalent."

Or...Could we just be able to 'detect' it more readily?

I can't spell it but it sounds like HEMACHROMETATOSIS. 3 of my siblings have it but I at the other end of scale.
Led

Population is a lot bigger then it was 50-100 years ago so there are more people to get cancer. I had a middle aged relative get stomach in the early 1960s. They removed his stomach and so he had to eat little bits of food all day long. Did loose some weight but lived another 20 years.

Prostrate cancer. Was living in China when diagnosed. Radical surgery in Singapore. Doing ok now, 3 years later.

My doctor told me not to ride a bicycle, didn't say anything about a tractor haha.

me 2 ,,. cept mine got me in feb.2016,,they took a foot out of my colon on march 7..
my brother said it was his foot that he put there along time ago ,.. LOL ,.
.Greg Mite Recall my Ordeal ,.. ,,.i recovered quickly and got my planting and haying mostly done,. Dr's labeled me stage 3 ,,so, i started 12 bi monthly chemo treatments in mid may,. all went ok til mid july ,,that stuff started killin my feet and legs ,,which they feared and were watching for ,.they changed my medicine ,last treatment was sept 26 .. but my body was just going to pieces,aches and pains , i felt like a 85 yr oldman... hemoroids out of control ,.


by christmas my hands and arms ,dead feet, legs , and a diamond of numbness pain in my back and another triangle of pain in my neck and shoulders had me struggling just to feed the cows and gather firewood , i really had very poor balance too that i had to watch out for climbing around ,

BUT ,I DID IT , the farm chores kept me going, and my legs did not go weak,. Thank GOD , it was the mildest winter i can recall in my 60 yrs .. by Valentines Day ,i could honestly say i was somewhat better , by Easter ,the hemoroid problem had subsided significately,/. by planting time i was getting up and off the tractor without cussin the pain .,.,. by haying season ,my hands were good enuf to make daily repairs on my junkie Ihc haybine,..
i no longer have health insurance,. and the Dr's want to make a colonscope on me,.
i told them today ,i would rather take that $ 2500 they want to satisfy their curiosity,.and spend it for a downpayment on a new disc mower , .
.My thinkin is,, if I have To put up with this Gawdforsaken haybine another yr ,i just as soon ,not want to live ,.. LOL ,..
to be honest ,. if i knew that chemo ,was gonna age me to 85 yrsold so damfast , i would never had taken treatments ,, Just Rolled the Dice, and Took My Chances,.
n I WOULD NEVER ADVISE ANYONE TO MAKE THAT DECISION ,. Please Know , this is a hindsite observation ,.. i Do Pray that God Above is humored enough by watching my struggles in this mizerable life that he gonna give another 30 yrs of torment here on this earth before he smax me down like afly ,

and says," you aint no fun no more jim "

Kidney Cancer in 2009, removed kidney. I now have metastatic nodules in the lungs.

Steven

Prostate cancer in 2014 @ 56, robotic nerve sparing surgery, back to brushhogging in 6 weeks (I normally stand up on the tractor so only major change was turning w/brakes while standing up). 37 radiation treatments 2016, psa has dropped to less than .02 for the last year. Still a little sore at times, but overall feel pretty lucky as I had a high Gleason score. Brother was diagnosed 6 months after me, cousin a couple months ago. Dad lived with his problems till 91....

Or could it be hereditary? Good chance if a woman has breast cancer, her daughter's may too. I know a man who's dad had a rear for of cancer, he has it too.

Many cancers are linked to chemicals.
Lung cancer linked to smoking.
Some say toxic chemicals are found in fat molecules. So we eat fatty meats, we may be eating toxic chemicals.

5 years ago Dr thought I had lung cancer. Tumor in lung, many black spots in lungs. Ran be through cat scan and PET scan. Wanted to do biopsy because of hot spots on PET. I refused, because blood tests showed I had histologists.

I asked Dr lets assume I have lung cancer, how do you know if cancer treatment is doing any good? Dr said there is no blood test, we just run you the CT. Well I went through the CT 5 more times 6 months apart. Dr said, well you don't have lung cancer.

Knock on wood, 68 and no cancer that I know of.

Perhaps we have more cancer because we are living longer.

now tell me how many people in DC that have the special Medical coverage die from Cancer..there is a cure, but you think the people are out of work, just put the cure out to the public..

"Perhaps we have more cancer because we are living longer."

I think that's a good part of it, plus the chemicals we encounter, plus the genetic factor. In any case, I think this thread highlights the great strides that health care has made in the last few decades. People complain about the high cost of it, but look at the results. Most of those replying on this thread would not be able to if it wasn't for modern health care. And it don't come cheap. I always say: If you want cheap, get a guy like ole Doc Adams from Gunsmoke to come by with his black bag and stethoscope and pay him with a chicken.

Given the fact that cancer is so prevalent, why in the world do so many folks support a certain party that willfully tries to take health care away from millions? It defies all logic!

I had lymphoma at age 24,thyroid carcinoma at 39,lymphoma at 41 again,im now 48,cancer is not going to kill me,period.....

I don't want to "take health care away" from anyone. I just object to the subsidies. My wife and I are on Medicare and pay for supplemental health care (which ain't cheap). They interview people to get us to sympathize with those who "can't afford" health care and they've got tattoos up and down their arms, gold chains around their necks, fancy hair/nail jobs, cigarettes hanging from their mouths. My wife is retired, I will be retiring soon and health insurance will be first on our list of things to pay for with our smaller income. No, I don't object to people getting health care, I just don't think the tax payers should subsidize it for a select few. That's just another attempt at "redistribution of wealth".

You are right LED, Is your family line from England, Ireland or Scotland ? The Vikings spread the bad genes !!!

Hereditary hemochromatosis is a disorder that causes the body to absorb too much iron from the diet. The excess iron is stored in the body's tissues and organs, particularly the skin, heart, liver, pancreas, and joints

Prostate cancer - early detection with PSA - surgery in 2011 - no follow-up radiation - no problem

Colon cancer at 30, removed colon. 7 years later, duodenum. But didn't take pancreas. Soon to be 58. No chemo or radiation.

Oyie...no one wants to take anyone's ins away. Only the government mandate that says you have to buy it and if you dont we'll tax you for not getting it. If you want it, get it. If not, dont. You get the govt involved in our health care too much then you end up with the same situation as that baby in England.

So if you opt out of buying Health Ins. and get in a car wreck or come down with cancer or have a heart attack, you will end up in ER and I will pay for your care thru higher ins. rates and higher taxes? How is that fair to me????
Our small community hospital is struggling to keep open as it is. If Medicare/Medicaid payments end, it will surely close, as will the 4 old folks homes in the county.
It has been my experience that it is not the Government dictating medical issues, it is the Ins. Companies. My medical bills are always negotiated down tremendously by Medicare. Case in point, I recently had a cardiac stress test. The original bill was over $10,000. That was lowered to $1,500 by Medicare and my supplemental insurance picked that up. For that I sincerely thank the US Government!!! (and they did not, to my knowledge, tell my Doctors how to perform the test).

Neither Marilyn or I have had cancer but I do sympathize with those of you who do. We both have cancer in our family background, especially Marilyn's. My mother died from breast cancer in 1971 and that is the only case of cancer in my family that I know of. Marilyn's mother died from renal cancer, her older brother died from melanoma, another brother is a rare pancreatic cancer survivor, and for the last three years Marilyn and I have been helping her younger sister get through breast cancer surgeries and treatments.

I have tried to link these cases to one particular cause but so far nothing comes up except for the familial commonalities. My dad's side of the family had no cancer history. My mother's side has one, my mother, who passed away from breast cancer . She contracted polio in 1951 and was hospitalized for six months, leaving her partially crippled, then the cancer came 20 years later. A long time ago I read a study that claimed polio victims are more prone to cancer. I don't know if that is true or not. Mom ate food from our organic garden and ate home raised meat that was probably organic in the 50's, 60's and early 70's. Marilyn's mother mostly ate from the garden and enjoyed farm raised meat and milk too. She gave birth to 15 children but I don't think that had anything to do with it. She never drank alcohol and never smoked nor was she ever around second hand smoke. Marilyn's brother, the pancreatic cancer survivor, did work around some chemicals but I'm not sure of what type or how much. Her brother who had melanoma was a red headed farm boy who worked in the sun. I read another study that claimed boys and young men who are exposed to the sun during their very young years are more prone to melanoma. True or not? I don't know. Marilyn's sister who is battling breast cancer with two reoccurrences never drank, smoked or was around much second hand smoke.

To sum it up, I really don't know what to blame for the cancer epidemic. Is it in the air we breathe, is the polluted air from china coming over us? It seems like brain cancer is common in this area. Coincidence or not? A local man I knew claimed when he was in the air force they dumped old chemicals out of planes above northwest Iowa, where I live. I can only go by his word on whether it is true or not.

I'm a fair skinned Scandinavian have been in the sun for 60+ years, have breathed welding smoke, worked with farm chemicals for at least 50 years, and I don't have cancer-yet. A local man I know who grew up and made a living in a smoky hazy welding shop is now suffering from lung cancer. Maybe he would have had lung cancer is he never breathed smoke in his life. How do we know? Just some rambling thoughts.

Feb 2013, terminal Lymphoma diagnosis,first dudo (next thing in line in the digestive track after your stomach) almost completely closed, glands all over swollen into knots, abdomen had 3 the size of a baseball....dead by Christmas. Started Chemo March at a clinic 25 miles from home. 6 treatments ending in Sept. '13. Doing excellent. Checkup every 6 months. Ace my blood work. Not bad for a guy past the ? century mark. Medicare (insurance for which I paid premiums all my working life) and my co insurance paid as part of my retirement package from my employer of 36 years, were just outstanding. Couldn't ask for better. Doctor was a darling. I give "her" a hug every time I go in for a checkup.....and get one from her in return.

The chemo center is like a living morgue. Lots of terminal looking folks. I don't know how the doctor and nurses do their jobs. Doom and Gloom. I'm their "Poster Boy"....they named me. I am the light at the end of the tunnel. I remind them that their work is not in vain. Some of us will make it and excel in the process.....some won't and that can't be helped. I always bring them flowers when I come and lots of hugs. Anything I can do to make their day brighter.......no big deal you know..........I ONLY OWE MY LIFE TO THEM!!!!!!!!

(quoted from post at 13:28:22 08/01/17) Feb 2013, terminal Lymphoma diagnosis,first dudo (next thing in line in the digestive track after your stomach) almost completely closed, glands all over swollen into knots, abdomen had 3 the size of a baseball....dead by Christmas. Started Chemo March at a clinic 25 miles from home. 6 treatments ending in Sept. '13. Doing excellent. Checkup every 6 months. Ace my blood work. Not bad for a guy past the ? century mark. Medicare (insurance for which I paid premiums all my working life) and my co insurance paid as part of my retirement package from my employer of 36 years, were just outstanding. Couldn't ask for better. Doctor was a darling. I give "her" a hug every time I go in for a checkup.....and get one from her in return.

The chemo center is like a living morgue. Lots of terminal looking folks. I don't know how the doctor and nurses do their jobs. Doom and Gloom. I'm their "Poster Boy"....they named me. I am the light at the end of the tunnel. I remind them that their work is not in vain. Some of us will make it and excel in the process.....some won't and that can't be helped. I always bring them flowers when I come and lots of hugs. Anything I can do to make their day brighter.......no big deal you know..........I ONLY OWE MY LIFE TO THEM!!!!!!!!

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Don't forget the lab people that have the job of finding a good vein to get your blood out of. My wife went back to work in the lab of a local cancer care center after my diagnosis....she sees the same people as the doctors and nurses....and has the same feelings when they lose one...it is a tough but rewarding job, but is especially sad when they lose the young ones.