Got Cancer?

[Ripper]

I'm glad you are home buddy. It's nice to see you posting again. Godspeed.

[Wacenturion]

Glad to hear that you are home and making a good recovery.  That excellent news.

[cohoho]

Hurry up and get well, got a spot reserved for you on the boat...  You are a fighter!  Scary stuff for sure.   

[fishseeker]

So to hear your home. heal up fast!!!!!!!!!

[whacker1]

good news - keep on the healing path.

[Mudman]

WOW!  Way to go.   Sounds very uncomfortable.  Glad your recovering well.

[akirkland]

Welcome home Ice. So glad things are looking up for you and your family. Way to stay strong man!

[actionshooter]

Good to see your home.....

[BNAElkhntr]

Man that is rough sounding... so many tubes. Glad to hear you're back home.  Glad to hear you're cancer free.  Thanks for the good news!

Hang in There

[jyerxa]

Out Standing!   

My dad never made it out of ICU. My brother is a bio-med tech so........... I know what's up. You made it and it is all thumbs up now Ice. 

[deerhunter_98520]

Right on ice! Congrats!

[Hermit]

Now just concentrate on eating and getting stronger........... It'll come fast now that your home. REALLY glad you made it.

[ICEMAN]

Here is my weekly recap....

Met with surgeon this week, he was very impressed with progress. No infections anywhere, no pnuemonia...

Surgeon authorized me to eat more solid type foods starting this week. I can now eat more solid food. A lot of items off my list still, but nice to be able to taste foods.

I still have a cough related to reinflating my collapsed lung from surgery. This causes your guts to put the squeeze on your chest, chest squeezes the new esopho-stomach and will eject my last eaten if I am coughing hard. Irritating.

Pain. Still a ton of pain. Back pain. Related to the ribs they had to fracture to get into my ribcage for the surgery. Cannot wait for this to go away. For now, it is pretty serious narcotic pain meds every four hours. I KNOW if I went five hours.... 3.5 to 4hrs is the max I want between doses.

Sleep. Sleep is obtained in the living room, reclining couch. Maybe 4 hours at a time, then the pain wakes me for now. In the future, I will need an adjustable bed, IE: sleep at an incline. The surgery causes your stomach acid to be close to the top....no much ability to shut it off like you normal guys. Folks with this type surgery are wary to lay flat ever again, without fear of acid reflux, just due to the physics of the surgery. This sucks.

Met with Oncologist doctor this week, sort of depressing meeting. They found no new cancer from my biopsy from surgery. But, in her opionion, cancer will return somewhere later, at some time. This is how cancer goes. Cancer will be haunting me, my wife, my kids forever it sounds. I get very emotional thinking about this as I want to be there for my wife and kids.

My plan.

Keep increasing amount of normal soft foods so I can sometime in the future remove the feeding tube.

Get off the pain meds as my ribs heal more.

Get down to the most raw honest emotional baseline with my wife and kids. Love more, argue or fight less.

Work constantly to prepare my family for the inevitable loss, weather it be five years or fifteen.

[Machias]

Great update!  You know those last things are probably things we should all strive for.  Even though it is always going to be a future possibility, I hope you never have to fight this again.  I hope the pain subsides soon for you.  Hang in there brother!

[turkeydancer]

You are in my thoughts and prayers Ice.  I've lost too many friends and relatives (including my 35 yr old son 2 years ago) to this awful disease.   I know how tough this battle is, but realize you are strong and fighting the good fight and can beat this thing!  My best to you and yours ....