hi...
glad you are here man....in alot of ways.....I hope we don't disappoint....I hope you enjoy our company as much as I think we will enjoy yours.....good luck buddy....I wish you the best

and we add 1 to the tally....nice...

Glad to hear you are doing well!

Question ... my husband has had melanoma so I'm curious ... did yours go to the lungs? His was caught early so it didn't get that far but we were told that melanoma likes to go to the lungs. At stage four, I'm wondering if yours went into the lungs and if so ... WOW .. you managed to beat it?!?!!!!! Good for you!

Welcome back Warrior,,,so happy to hear you are winning the battle....

Bright Blessings,

Des

Very glad that you are doing better. Welcome back. Now get better and stick around we need you here.

All the best to you. Looking forward to your updates. I'm hoping that they will all be good news.

Welcome Back!

It sounds as if your new name was appropriately chosen.

Looking forward to hearing more from you.


Johnny

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
"The Doctors say how lucky I am that the biochemo worked like it did on me. It only does that for about 12-15 percent of the patients who must go through it."
Said differently, the doctors are used to giving people a treatment they know will be useless on almost 90% of patients.
That is quite a statement.

Perhaps, but it is more of a statement regarding the ferocity of the disease. What is more relevant is the number of survivors without the treatment. Then one can decide how much they like the odds.

To the OP, welcome aboard/back. Cancer sucks...been there, done that, got the tattoo.

Welcome back dude
And congratulations on your victory
It's said to fully appreciate life one needs to have first faced death
Give thanks for every day and make the most of em bro

Wonderful news of your recovery Warrior!
Hope your homecoming here is a long, healthy,happy one!
Peace & love to you

Thank you everyone for the encouraging welcome! I met with the head and neck surgeon a few days ago and had another Brain MRI and CT scan. The doctor said that the sinus tumor did not light up when i was injected with the contrast dye and was most likely dead tissue stuck up there. I have my surgery scheduled for the 26th where they will put me under and remove the mass with a endoscope. He said it would take an hour or so and that its good that the tumor has moved up and not back further where theres lots of small bones and arteries. I was thinking of asking him to put it in a jar as a paperweight or something crazy like that...heheh. The mass in my right lung is now just a tiny spot that he also thinks is dead tissue. The gamma knife they used for my brain tumor is not instant and takes 6-8 weeks for the tumor to disappear. I dont have any new tumors or metastases anywhere and my body is healing up slowly but surely from the Biochemo.

Even though I'm not totally outta the woods yet, when i take a step back and look at everything that I've been through the last 6 months I can't help but marvel at the fact that I'm still alive. Tears are falling on the keyboard as I type this. It took nearly dying for me to fully appreciate my life and the people in it. I'm a stubborn person by nature and even though I was having nosebleeds and progressively worse headahes, I did not go to the ER until the sinus tumor had almost grown into my brain. I was worried about missing work of all things. My ears still ring constantly from hearing loss due to some of the drugs I was on. I still have headaches even though the tumor is dead because of destroyed tissue and nerves in my sinus cavity. I can't feel my feet or two of the fingers on my left hand because of neuropathy from the chemo, my bones still ache from the marrow trying to repair itself, I still have almost no energy. My hair is a different color, I'm just now starting to put some weight back on because the treatments make you physically sick to your stomach, even smelling food makes you throw up. For 4 months while on the biochemo my skin turned Red as an apple and peeled off like a sunburn constantly. Not to mention watching my wife cry herself to sleep every night as I layed in the hospitol bed miserable. And you know what? I'm grateful for every bit of misery. Every bit of adversity I've went through has taught me some important lessons and strengthened my faith and relationship with God. And I believe that all the problems I've dealt with in life up until then has prepared me for dealing with Stage 4 cancer. It has taught me that there is no shame in letting other people help you when you're down. It has taught me that there is alot of people in this world who may not know you personally but do care and WANT to help. Before, I was a very cynical person when it came to people and their intentions. I've learned to be happy because it really is a choice in the end. I know it sounds strange, but as unlucky as getting cancer is, I'm such a lucky basterd for getting it.

I've lived through some things in my 33 years that I probably should not have. So that tells me that I have some kind of purpose here yet to be revealed. I can only hope that I have the oppurtunity to help someone and to give back as much as I can of the blessings I've been recieving from my friends and family and even strangers. God bless each and every one of you ATS, I'll let you know how the surgery goes

I remember your first post about your cancer, so very pleased to hear things are going well/ I have a grade 4 Brain Tumour so can understand the "facing your own mortality" bit.

It's funny all the things it makes you consider, what I find strange is how quickly I forget about it all and returned to taking life for granted. It was only 4 years ago I was being advised to write my will. Seems like a lifetime ago.

So thanks to the wonders of modern medical science I'm still around and I'm sure with the treatments your receiving, you'll be around for a long time to come.

Best of luck with the rest of the treatments, sounds like you are in good hands.

Cancerwarrior,

Sorry to hear you have such a rough time of it. Have you been scheduled for a operation yet?