Cancer Survivors Thread

[diane o'thirst]

I went back to Washington DC last week as part of Oregon's delegation for LiveSTRONG Day. We had a pretty easy time because our legislators are solidly pro-health; other delegations...well, had a bit of a tougher audience, South Dakota in particular.

Anyway, we were asking Congress to raise funding for the NIH and NCI and stumping for co-sponsors of the Harkin-Snowe Act, otherwise known as the Cancer Screening, Treatment and Survivorship Act of 2007. The bill number is S 1415 and was introduced last Wednesday.

Basically, it's modeled on the Breast and Cervical Cancer Act in that it would extend Medicaid coverage to uninsured people under 65, who have been diagnosed with cancerous conditions <i>including pre-cancerous polyps</i> and who would otherwise not be eligible for Medicaid. Since colon cancer is the #2 cancer killer in this country, they're focusing on that initially and will extend it to include other types of cancer in the future.

The way they're implementing the law is that it would create a national Task Force that would oversee state task forces; these would insure that the law was implemented on a state level and get people the help they need.

My cancer battle is almost a textbook case in this piece of legislation. I was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer at age 43 and was uninsured, and disqualified from Medicaid. My hospital bill was $41,000 — thankfully forgiven by Sacred Heart Medical — and I was given an indigence allowance at the Willamette Valley Cancer Center. None of this pays for the bloodwork, scans and tests that comes with my treatment and I'm facing thousands of dollars in bills for just that. Currently I'm enrolling in the state's high-risk medical insurance pool but pre-existing conditions coverage doesn't kick in for six months after enrollment.

About a month ago, I had a routine examination at my GE's and they found a pre-cancerous polyp where the small and large intestines join up. My doctor's a good guy and knows I'm strapped, so I get the care free and they're taking it out in July. My oncologist says that we won't be going back into chemo or radiation after they take the polyp out but the problem is that...after the full treatment, I <i>still</i> had a pre-cancerous polyp. Which means scans every year for the rest of my life, and continued need for cancer care. In short, I am REALLY stumping for this act because I have a personal interest invested in its passage.

While in Washington, I found out that Senator Wyden (D-OR) has introduced legislation that would give universal health care to everyone in the country. That's encouraging but I'm not holding my breath. The conservatives seem to have some religious proscription against governmental works like that and my bet is that it'll die in committee. But the Cancer Screening, Treatment and Survivorship Act of 2007 has a shot in the dark at passing and being signed into law.

I and my 199 colleagues at LiveSTRONG got the door open; now the ball's in the peoples' court. Call your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor S 1415, and VOTE for it. Let's get this going.

Edit: New Jersey and Ohio signed up as co-sponsors yesterday; if you live in those states, be sure to write Robert Menendez and Sherrod Brown and THANK them!

[Thecatman]

My dad died on May4, 1986 of pancreas cancer. On May4, 1996 my mother died of liver problems from drinking after my dad died. My wifes dad died in May 1998 of methoseleoma?? if I spelld that right, aka lung cancer. Did'nt smoke but was a painter for the Chicago school district in the 60s through the late 70s and got it from asbestos. I've dealt with basil cell carsenoma (mild form of skin cancer) on my back. Had it removed by surgery in 2003. Left a three inch scar on my left shoulder blade. Had three more removed by freezing them off. I have to get checked out every 6 months. SUCKS!

[pinemom]

F.U.C.K.CANCER


For everyone...because unfortunely Cancer seems to be less then 1 degree from everyone...
The BOOBY BAR will have a 4'X8' white board with sharpies available for messages all throughout the event. We will even have a small box with notepaper for more private messages and a box to include them.

The plan is to be able to let peeps message the universe to why or how come or thank you or fuck you...whatever you NEED to say about Cancer, how it effects you or yours.
Then to parade it out to the temple burn...to send.........to the universal mail system, via the wings of the atmosphere..........

[pinemom]

BTW, If anyone does anything just passing through this subject...talk to your elders...frankly! I am very lucky to be in a family where we discuss disease issues(maternal), the other side of my family (paternal) is tight lipped!
When ALL the females grt grandma,grandma, all 3 of my aunts, my mom and now myself have had hysterectomy's for one lesion of cancer strain or another,(wierd we all had different cases!)
You really must inform new generations of what family history you/we have. My 2 children both FEMALE, know everything and what to watch for as they enter into adulthood. Not to scare but inform!
When I started having the breast issue, we kinda put it off, because none of us had that cancer background....then when explaining the surguries I was going through to my father, he said oh please get that checked you great aunt died of breast cancer....I said WTF'K? How come no one ever told me that is what she died of, how come the females and shit, the males in the family dont share this information with the rest of us????
Would have been nice to know!!!
3 scopes and 2 surguries later Im still clean, but each time I have the tumurs removed they come back BIGGER, and scarier. The last time left me with half a right breast, the next time Im sure they will take the whole ball of wax!
I even thought about just having them take all my mammory glands out(a scrape so to speak) and borrowing some fat from my tummy and have that put in.
Its too scary to go through the mammograms and ultra sounds, I freak out everytime cause I dont want to have to go through what all you brave people are going through. The last case I had, I actually got a therapist to go see cause I became very depressed, and stagnant to life...so differnt from my real outlook. the mental part of it could have killed me faster then if I was diagnosed.
I have been very fortunate that I knew my family history( well maternally) and that I have educated my 2 daughters as well.
They caught mine in time and no chemo, my grandmother and one of my aunts did have to have the chemo...yucky stuff.

sorry emotionally infused words....

F.U.C.K. Cancer

[diane o'thirst]

No, I definitely heard that. FUCK CANCER.

I mentioned it in passing on Rest In Peace, but thought I'd go into it more here. In 2006, I went back to Washington DC with a lovely couple from my town, Randy and Susanne Harrelson. Randy went to the same cancer clinic as I do and was having a harder time. This last cycle was his FIFTH chemo regimen, and he'd had three surgeries to date.

Randy passed away of metastatic cancer a couple weeks ago. I forget exactly what kind of cancer he had...when you "met out," it doesn't matter except to your oncologist...but brain tumours got him. My jerk-ass ex-boyfriend used to go around spouting out "TOOU-MAH!" like Schwarzenegger did in Kindergarten Cop, randomly, when my dad was going through his lung cancer. I know it's a good movie but I hate it now, I keep hearing my ex's booming voice saying that.

Fair warning, don't ever yell that at me unless you want to swallow teeth or sing in the soprano range.

Sorry about that. Onwards...

I'm FINALLY getting my chemo-side effect cataract taken out tomorrow. I'm just waiting for the mail to get here so I can cash a check and be set up for a lay-up over the next couple days. Type atcha later.

[can't sit still]

This is very interesting reading; http://www.mayasmom.com/talk/a13632/sto ... aking_soda

[diane o'thirst]

And over a year later, WE'RE BACK!!

Okay. OldMan gave me the idea over in the 2009 Theme thread, to do a Cancer Camp for next year. I stuck my hand up and said, "I'm in!"

Anyone want to put together a Cancer theme camp for E V O L U T I O N?

Some ideas:
- Dramatic reading of Clive Barker's "Son of Celluloid" (a dead con's cancer survives after his death and does a range of classic movie homages),
- Anti-cancer meal-prep (lots of veggies, honey, whole grains, lean free-range meats, et alia),
- A camp bar that serves "Brain Tumors," and DEFINITELY tea and wine,
- Cancer survivors and their relatives welcome to camp with us,
- Cancer victim memorial,
- Artistic zodiackal interpretations of Cancer, crab decorations, et alia,
- Nightly group ritual in memoriam of those who've died of cancer,
- a comfort ritual for survivors,
- Decorate your scars with paint and glitter!,
- Give out cancer awareness ribbons, maybe armbands, as gifts,
- And of course, a big flag that says "FUCK CANCER!"

More ideas?
Anyone want to do this with me?

[skygod]

Good Idea.
I never see anybody on the forums at BM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nybMie6ZZs4

[can't sit still]

This looks good so far; http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... le+To+Cure

[gyre]

I've thought about tring to gather the family's records for years and not just for cancer.
There are many other good reasons.
My idea is to ask people that are too private to release the info after their death.
Seems like a good idea to do this.


Ran across this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marisa_Acocella_Marchetto
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/cancervixen/

[can't sit still]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... ancer.html

[brcprincess]

Cancer seems to become more prevalent with every new year. There's a million factors to consider such as chemicals in our food, pollution, radio waves, you name it. It's not longer something that happens to someone else because everyone seems touched by it in one way or another now.

I noticed a lot of notices at the Temple this year about cancer, more than any other year. Seems the beast is on the rise. Thank god for new treatments and peoples brave spirits.

[diane o'thirst]

We also lost Larry Gelbart to it today. He was diagnosed with it a year ago.

Fuck Cancer.

I'm seriously thinking of doing a cancer theme camp one of these years, and populate it with survivors.

[AntiM]

It would also be populated by the folks we have lost.

[can't sit still]

Cancer was at one time regarded as runaway growth of cells. Now, medicine is starting to understand that cancer is an infection. The more that we understand cancer, the better chance we have of preventing it. Cuba has invented a vaccine for breast cancer. An Italian doctor is having great success treating internal cancers with baking soda. Many researchers believe that cancer pathogens are all around us,,, just like other common diseases. It is believed that our modern lifestyle is responsible for making us succumb to cancer far easier that our predecessors. In general, primitive societies don't have cancer.

The 2 main factors seem to be acidity and oxygen. Raising the acidity [Ph] of the body is a sure way to weaken the natural defenses. The baking soda, of course lowers Ph.

Low oxygen levels in the body are a sure way to get an infection. There are many treatment regimens that use hydrogen peroxide to kill cancer. Our own bodies produce hydrogen peroxide at the cellular level to kill pathogens. Hopefully, some day, the "cut and Burn" industry will move on to more effective procedures.
Dan

[**burn**]

CSS - Researchers have studied dinosaur bones and there is a supported theory that many died of cancer at a similar rate as humans.

Risky

[brcprincess]

It would also be populated by the folks we have lost.

I really felt them at the Temple this year.

[theCryptofishist]

In general, primitive societies don't have cancer.

In general, primitive societies don't have life-saving techniques for major accidents, or famines, or post-partum fever and other childbirth related causes of death. And public health infrastructure isn't all that great either. We are living a lot longer than we did 100, 200 years ago. This gives us more opportunities to contract and develop cancers instead of being whacked by cholera. Raw cancer rate data isn't going to tell you much.

[can't sit still]

Not to worry. I'm well aware of all this. The number one killer is Diarrhea. You may have cholera or typhus, but, you'll die of diarrhea. Polluted water is one of the biggest killers. I travel led around India by road and got my share. It's hard to find primitive societies that don't have polluted water.. and equally hard to determine mortality.

[AntiM]

In general, primitive societies don't have cancer.

In general, primitive societies don't have life-saving techniques for major accidents, or famines, or post-partum fever and other childbirth related causes of death. And public health infrastructure isn't all that great either. We are living a lot longer than we did 100, 200 years ago. This gives us more opportunities to contract and develop cancers instead of being whacked by cholera. Raw cancer rate data isn't going to tell you much.

Fishy is right, we only have more cancer cases because more people are living long enough to die of cancer. A personal example: without modern medicine, I would have died at age 28 of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. I never would have lived long enough to enjoy being a double cancer survivor.

Plus cancer likes to eat well, a better fed population will have a higher cancer rate.

[gyre]

This may have been posted before.
They seem to only help women though.

http://www.cleaningforareason.org/

Cleaning for a reason

If you know any woman currently undergoing chemo, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning – 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor provide a note confirming the treatment.

Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code arrange for the service. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women.

[diane o'thirst]

Couple points I'd like to touch on today.

As you may or may not know, we lost Ronnie James Dio to stomach cancer last May. What was really heartbreaking is that just a couple weeks before his death, he was done with chemo, and supposedly "clean." Turned out it'd metted out to his liver and…down fast. Really fast. Four days before he died, they took him to the hospital in unbearable pain and his last two days of life were spent under sedation.
RIP DIO. And yeah, I'm still mourning. The guy meant a lot to me.

As for me…
I finally went back to my oncologist after an economically-enforced eighteen-month hiatus (on account of not having health insurance — I do now, thanks to healthcare reform).
They drew blood for the tumour-marker test, which we've been using all along. The test came back clean, and my oncologist told me that if I stay good through April, "we can do the victory dance."
I don't want to jinx it so I'm not going to blow my conch trumpet any louder than that. Let's say meet back here around Beltaine and we'll do the "Cancer, Fuck You!!" dance.

[ygmir]

crossin fingers and toes, wishin you the very best
D.O.T.

[Mojojita]

Even if you were the only person in the country helped by health care reform, it would still all be worth it.

Great news D.O.T.!!!! I am going to start practicing the Fuck Cancer dance just for that day.

[theCryptofishist]

If you want to pass that on to a couple of republican house members, well...

[diane o'thirst]

Last night I went back and read about the legislative battles we used to wage in my LiveSTRONG-related posts. The Bush years were terrible for the universal healthcare movement; pretty much, we were, in the words of the Libertarian Party of the '90s, "sending a message."
That's the best we could hope for throughout most of the Aughties. There wasn't a chance in hell that anything we pushed for would make it as far as GWB's veto stamp.
My Congressional delegation were a slam-dunk — even (especially?) the Republican, Senator Gordon Smith. Would you believe a Republican who not only <i>wanted</i> universal healthcare, but led the bipartisan task force for its implementation? His aides heard about us coming and they rolled out the red carpet. The closest the Oregon delegation gave us to a No was, "No, because we have something better."
I agree that Obamacare (since when did "care" become a dirty word?) is a Frankenstein monster piece of legislation. In the best of all worlds, President Obama would have signed an executive order that lowers the age of Medicare to 0.
Thankfully my other Senator, Ron Wyden, wrote an amendment into it that allows states to do better than the Federal legislation. Vermont's going single-payer. Oregon's moving in that direction; we will certainly have a public option, now that we have an erstwhile ER doctor for a governor.
Against healthcare for all? Ask a cancer survivor. Ask someone with diabetes in their family medical history. Ask a parent of a low-function autistic child. Ask a thirty-something roofer who fell and shattered a third of the bones in his body.
[stepping down from my soapbox]

[ygmir]

Last night I went back and read about the legislative battles we used to wage in my LiveSTRONG-related posts. The Bush years were terrible for the universal healthcare movement; pretty much, we were, in the words of the Libertarian Party of the '90s, "sending a message."
That's the best we could hope for throughout most of the Aughties. There wasn't a chance in hell that anything we pushed for would make it as far as GWB's veto stamp.
My Congressional delegation were a slam-dunk — even (especially?) the Republican, Senator Gordon Smith. Would you believe a Republican who not only <i>wanted</i> universal healthcare, but led the bipartisan task force for its implementation? His aides heard about us coming and they rolled out the red carpet. The closest the Oregon delegation gave us to a No was, "No, because we have something better."
I agree that Obamacare (since when did "care" become a dirty word?) is a Frankenstein monster piece of legislation. In the best of all worlds, President Obama would have signed an executive order that lowers the age of Medicare to 0.
Thankfully my other Senator, Ron Wyden, wrote an amendment into it that allows states to do better than the Federal legislation. Vermont's going single-payer. Oregon's moving in that direction; we will certainly have a public option, now that we have an erstwhile ER doctor for a governor.
Against healthcare for all? Ask a cancer survivor. Ask someone with diabetes in their family medical history. Ask a parent of a low-function autistic child. Ask a thirty-something roofer who fell and shattered a third of the bones in his body.
[stepping down from my soapbox]

did the reps control both, or either house, that whole time?

[diane o'thirst]

This was back in May 2006 and 2007. The Republicans were dominating in not just Congress, but held the White House and the Supreme Court in '06, and the Republicans had just lost their Congressional majority in '07. The Tea Party weren't even in the picture yet.

[Bob Bitchen]

Hugs to Pinemom and Prayers to the people in Libya who suffer. Fuck.

Yea Cancer Sucks Fuck.

My wife has had Cancer 5 Times.
But she has survived everytime Thank God
Fuck
Shes had Hogkins Disease 4 Fucking Times & almost didn't survive the 4th time. She has had Chemotharapy 2 times & Radiation 2 times.
Throughout here entire Fucking Body
Shes had Breast Cancer once. with no tratment only removal.
All went well.

She first got it when she was in here 20's & now she will be 60 this year
What a Fucking Battle Life has been. My Mom Died of Fucking Breast Cancer @ age 56 My Dad Died of Fucking Bladder Cancer @ age 64

What the Fuck Cancer Fucking Suck s
Why doesn't Cancer go Kill Itself.

Bob Bitchen

Fuck Um if they can't take a Joke & Joke em if they can't take a Fuck.

Don't sweat the petty things just pet the sweaty things

[Bob Bitchen]

FYI my wife has been in remission for her Hodgekins disease for 20 years now since her 4th time getting it.

She has been with out the breast cancer for a few years now & has had reconstruction Surgury.

She has always been nearly an A all her life & now shes a Large C or Small D.

Just want to let people know there is hope for some people.

Bob Bitchen


Quote:
Fuck Um if they can't take a Joke & Joke em if they can't take a Fuck.

Don't sweat the petty things just pet the sweaty things