Jesus. I read the first 7 or 8 pages of this thread and then have skipped to the end. I was greeted by the poo post. 1st of all you are hilarious, I love that Canuck sense of humor. 2nd I wish you the best of luck and my prayers are with you (I do not actually pray, but I'll be sure to tell someone who does). Finally I'll join the kick-that-cancers-ass bandwagon, YOU CAN DO IT!

Merek, I have a gargantuan roid, and it helps me a lot to eat a ton of vegetables. In fact, I'm in serious trouble if I don't eat a lot, and it's been that way for at least 10 years for me. I need not just high water content food, but plenty of it.

I usually eat both an apple and an orange before bed, and I try to make a big(!) salad either my dinner or lunch. Additionally, I'm really careful to take it easy on the rice and nuts, both of which are low moisture and can practically cast themselves into concrete in your intestines. I also take fish oil caps and a couple tablespoons of olive oil per day. And drink a lot of water.

Some or all of that may help others, but I know that if I don't do it, it's pretty much like have Andre the Giant fist my ass from the inside out.

Also, vaseline is kept both at work and at home ...

I have never been more thankful for being very very regular than I am right now.

Love your reports Merek. Keep fighting man!

Hey Vantek, that was an amazing post. Thank you. Do you know what those may be on your neck? I would assume lipomas, which are perfectly normal though absolutely disgusting.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/34...flopped-43144/

Haha, aww thanks. No not lipomas. They're really tiny. I'm not even sure if I should be calling them tumours.

This makes things really interesting with how we figure it into the health care industry. Americans tend to treat way more cancers than we probably need to. Once you treat someone, even if they maybe didn't need it, you get to take credit for their survival. So we have better survival statistics than the Canadians and Brits. Which then justifies the amount of money we spend on treatment?

I'm not sure on overtreatment? Insurance companies pinch every penny and try not to spend. It would surprise me.

NOW survival stats. Smoke and mirrors from every side. Cancer Groups count every case, even the ones that have not had a problem in 20 years to help fund raising, drug companies "design" tests for results, everyone fudges cure numbers up or down to fit thier need(usually by changing the definition of cured to a different length of time with no marker/symptom/death/etc)

Where there are stats, there are lies. 89.3% of the time

fail.

OK, you decide what the hell? You have nothing better to do this summer and that chemo stuff was getting boring. Why not try out that bone marrow transplant thingy everyone says is so fun?

Step one - prove you are healthy enough. So the plan for Wednesday is;

1. 8am - Lung Function test
2. 9am - blood test and hand in 3 gallon bucket of urine you have been collecting for last 24 hrs. (you try going to another city, staying with friends and collecting ever drop for the next 24hrs. I suggest go light on the coffee while out )
3. 10am - RVG heart test - no idea what RVG stands for.
4. 11am - Chest xray
5. 12 - search for food
6. 1 pm - ECG
7. 3pm Vein Check and stem cell collection briefing with Apheresis doctor. If you pass all tests proceed to step 8.
8. 4 pm - buy 3-4k worth of Stem Cell Colonization drugs for G-CSF injections - take home and put drugs in fridge by grapes.
9. Go for Indian food.

Good luck tomorrow! Make lots of stem cells!

Ya, Good luck Merek.

Why did you have to collect urine for 24 hours?

That way they can tell what is normal and what is random alcoholic drink residue.

I finished the thread.

Not a fail ftw btw previous to the not finishing of the thread, I did after all send my best wishes and prayers (second hand). Looking forward to the pot talk (though I've recently mostly quit myself).

And fwiw you are ROCKING cancer, OP. Continue doing so.

Had Raditoactive isotope injection.

As radioactive spider bite gave Peter Parker super powers, I am now waiting for mine. Hopefully cool powers like super-strength or ability to find good sushi places. However, I do fear my power will be to drip acid from my veins, as the guy that injected me looked like Jerry Garcia.

Stem Cell Drugs $3,145

Province pays $645
Insurance Company pays $2,500
I paid $8 dispensing fee

Niceeeeeeeee

Damn, that's a sweet set-up.

Stem Cell Collection Day 1

5 1/2 hours with a large needle in the left arm and the arm tied down as you could not move it. A smaller IV in the right hand. Blood is taken out of the left arm, goes into a cell seperator machine, stem cell section is filtered out to another bag, the rest of blood goes back in the right arm. They run all the blood in your body through the machine 3 times and end up with a cup and half of stem cells(3 million).

Aside from the needle stabbing.... mostly painless and endlessly boring. You can't read as the one arm has to stay straight and the other would hurt if you tried to hold a book. All you get is bad TV. The same news repeated every hr.

Tomorrow we repeat this as were need 2 million more for enough to do two transplants. Stem Cells are apparently like that brownish thing in your freezer that you keep meaning to throw out. They keep for 5-7 years if frozen properly.

Hopefully we get to go home tomorrow night. We are getting fat going to friends for dinner, eating out at all the types of restuarants that small town home lacks. Indian, Malay, Singaporian, Mexican, Shenzhen, Persian, Sushi, Beard Papas, Chocalte berry philo rolls.....still hoping to hit some Koren and a Japanese izakaya. Trying to eat it all before they Chemo away my tastebuds

Bummers at losing tastebuds. Forgot about that happening.

What's a Japanese izakaya? And what's a Beard Papas?

Sounds really boring, Merek, but not painful is always a pretty huge plus. Too bad you don't have one of those portable DVD players you could put on your belly or something. Getting a nurse to put a new one in every hour and a half probably wouldn't be too much to ask.

Thanks for the update Merek. That does sound like a pretty boring procedure. The dining out does sound nice though.

Keep hanging in there man. I know I am pulling for you and I am sure there are a lot of other people here who are as well.

This. No laptop?

Glad to hear you're getting the stem cells you need!

My GF is Self employed and does writing and desktop publishing. She was in the middle of a press release for the city for a "Pubilic Private Poop Partnership"...so she neeeded the laptop. They do have a TV with 50 channels, just not much on at 8am-2pm.

Hopefully just one more day of this and on to the transplant in 2 wks.

Beard Papas is a touristy eclir/cream filled pastry - touristy chain I think

A Izakaya is a Japanese Tapas Pub. When we were in Japan we got some great food at several and had a good time. Vancouver, due to the large #s of japanese tourists and ESL students has 10 or so Izakayas downtown.


And I have been very happy on the taste buds. I expected 2-3 months of no taste as the first rounds of chemo would kill the taste buds or give me a metal taste in my month, but got very little of this. Some acidy stuff like red wine and OJ was not good on some days but overall it has been good.

Jerry Springer imo
Nothing like watching complete ****ups to make you feel better about you own situation.

More than a half hour of Jerry Springer and I'd be begging them to take me off life support even if I wasn't on it.