Balt, I hope you have not had the effects of radiation that does not quit after it has done what it was wanted to do. With me, it has continued doing what it has wanted to do after it stopped the cancer from spreading. I was declared cancer-free about seven years after the treatment stopped (and my wife would have rejoiced to hear that if she had still been living), but I have other difficulties as a result of the radiation's continuing activity. I give thanks that I am still able to travel in civilized comfort (I am starting another trip early in the morning).
Johnny
Murphy SidingThose steroids will show up in your system for years and will probably keep you out of the Olympics.
Don't you just hate it when that happens?
Hang in there Ed.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
I'm grateful that, in the cases of both me and my daughter, the radiation has done what it's supposed to do, and not destroyed much more than that. My own radiation was in the "nether regions", and had the immediate side effect of lactose intolerance, plus a loosening of bladder functions that persists (I'm going through physical therapy for that, and the therapy has me making good progress). In Linda's case the radiation was to her brain, where her cancer had spread. She was doing fine until the last week or so of the radiation, when she lost her hair fairly quickly (it won't grow back). Fortunately, the feared cognitive impairment did not take place, and she competed on Jeopardy! roughly a month after her radiation was completed (if she lost any brain function it couldn't be proved by her performance on the show).Linda continues to have problems with chemo (she can't think tonight because the effects are bugging her). She recently started on steroids because the medications she's getting to build bone marrow make her bones ache. She also takes opium-based drugs to ease her pain. She's able to function (barrely), and retains her sense of humor and gets around with the aid of a cane. Considering that, statistically, she should have been dead several times over by this time, her day-to-day existence is pretty good, and she's making the most of whatever time she has left.The only advice I can give you, Ed, is to make sure that your doctors have backup plans in place for the inevitable time when your chemo stops doing its job. Linda went months without any treatment when that happened, and that's when the cancer spread to her brain. Her markers are improving again as of now, but she's far above where she was at this point last year when the chemo started giving out.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
DeggestyBalt, I hope you have not had the effects of radiation that does not quit after it has done what it was wanted to do. With me, it has continued doing what it has wanted to do after it stopped the cancer from spreading. I was declared cancer-free about seven years after the treatment stopped (and my wife would have rejoiced to hear that if she had still been living), but I have other difficulties as a result of the radiation's continuing activity. I give thanks that I am still able to travel in civilized comfort (I am starting another trip early in the morning).
The two or three weeks after the end of the radiation treatments were a little dicey - Imodium was my friend, however, once things settled down everything has been fine. Started out, after the end of both radiation and chemo, with monthly follow-ups, then quarterly, then semi-annual and then annual. After 15 years nothing.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
edblysard Well, Right now I have radiation treatments that leave me a little nauseas and with a headache, but steroids seems to cut that back some. Waiting to see if chemo is once again on the menu!
Ed
Your attitude is positive, you've got your family, you're in one of the best, if not the best (I'm assuming MD Anderson) treatment centres in the US and you've got us, warts and all, beside you!
Charlie
Chilliwack, BC
Ed, I deeply appreciate your keeping your (support team) informed.
Ed as one Houstonion ( well I grew up there ) to another, hang in there.
I have been off the forums for a bit and I am just seeing this today.
I happened across and old thread where we were discussing the old Hardy street engine facility.
keep in touch.
23 17 46 11
Thanks for the report and all hopes the pills will work. Worked for me.
edblysard….MRI in a month to see whats what.
Ed, I hope you hear what I heard after a head MRI a few years ago: "There was nothing there."
The missus interpreted it differenly from my take, but then she's been saying that for years in one way or another.
Ed, does your doctor know about this study?
Beyond childhood directives from the doctor, it has been definitively proven that eating fruits daily reduces the risk of developing blood and lymph cancers - including Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia.
It has also been shown to cut the risk of contracting a variety of malignancies including lung, bladder, gastric and esophageal cancer; and eating tree nuts (not peanuts) minimizes the danger of recurrence and death from colorectal cancer. A study on tree nuts found that eating almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia, pecans can reduce the risk of obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, and cut the danger of the recurrence of colon cancer by 46% and death from it by 53% compared with patients who did not consume nuts.
A study conducted at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine found that the balance of seven genes in glioblastoma model systems may predict a significant prolongation of patients' lives.
Glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, is known to be particularly violent. Some 97% of patients die within 14 months of diagnosis, and many die within a few months. An experimental group has long existed within the population itself - Professor Lital Keinan Boker, deputy director of the Health Ministry's Center for Disease Control, reported on findings from the National Cancer Registry that while "the Israeli Arab population has lower incidence rates than the Jewish population for most cancers, the rates in the Arab sector are increasing over time, thus narrowing the gap with the Jewish population." With high smoking and obesity rates, the consumption of a more Western, urban diet, and reduced fertility, Arab Israelis are putting themselves at higher risk for cancer.
Aw man this sucks, I'm just catching up on this.
Ed, hang in there and keep up the fight.
Have fun with your trains
Dave,
I will only say that cancer treatment has progressed exponentially in my lifetime.
In the seventies a high school friend died of breast cancer. The ability to treat it effectively was simply not available. She passed within a year or two of being diagnosed. Ten years ago another close woman friend was diagnosed and today she is still with us and going strong. Just one example of how treatment has improved. She went through chemo, surgery, and radiation yet she came back to work as soon as she was able and the only thing I heard her complain about was that the chemo made her tired ad wanting sleep.
I, like all others here, wish nothing but the best possible outcome for Ed. My sister beat the desease for more than ten years and I hope Ed is still with us for a long time to impart his knowledge and wisdom of railroading on us while treasuring time with his family and friends. IMO, the latter are far more important than his contacts here.
Ed,
I still recall you posting a photo of your grand daughter and asking if we would buy a used locomotive from her. That was a precious moment.
As Spock would say; "Live long and prosper". The medical community has many tools and have made strides in treatement they didn't have twenty years ago.
Hang tough mister and fight it every inch of the way.
Norm
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