Certainly worth a go Julie. Best of luck with it ,I haope it works for you,Ron. ... View more

As soon as my cancer was surgically removed I felt like a survivor. Despite what my surgeon and oncologist thought ,I knew it would not get me.Nearly 15 years later and it still hasn't. Yes Swim72 you are a survivor,hugs Ron. ... View more

Hi Julie, I had several hits of dry needling on the trigger points down my spine to try to ease the pain in my lower back. Unfortunately it did not help and the physio doing it said if it hasn't worked by now it probably won't. Ron. ... View more

Hi, For years I was unable to find out much about one of the chemo drugs I was on,namely levamisole. I have now found that it was banned in the US in the early 2000's because of fatal side effects. Odly enough there is now plenty of information availible about it. Seems that levamisole is now the substance of choice for drug dealers to cut their cocaine. Cocaine addicts are now turning up at es's with serious side effects not from the cocaine but from the levamisole. I suspect that It may be the cause of my neuropathy,kidney and other auto-immune problems.Ron. ... View more

Hi Cheryl, I am a colon ca survivor. I was stage3c which means it was into six lymph nodes . Fortunately I had no mets to oyher organs .I had surgery and a year of chemotherapy. The chemo is more effective these days and they usually target the liver mets to shrink or eliminate some of them prior to surgery. The most common chemo is stuff called 5fu ,it's not too bad. They will probably add some of the patinum based drugs. They cause some problems with neuropathy so ask your oncologist if he can suggest any thing to minimise the side effects. Good luck with the treatment,Ron(nearly 15 yrs clear). ... View more

Hugs Lorraine,sorry for your loss.Ron. ... View more

G'day Dasha, It is amazing I have a cosiderably shortened exhaust system yet I suffer as much from constipation as diahorreah.Over the years I have found that the best form of relief for me is epsom salts. My gastroenerologist suggested I take half a spoon full in warm water. I tried that . If she had have been close I would have throttled her after I stopped gagging that is. The solution I came up with was to buy a bag of gel capsules from the chemist. They hold just the right amount and are easy to swallow-no taste at all.I have used them whilst on diuretics(odema) and methotrexate and arava. They are considerd mild and not habit forming. One of the new colonoscopy preps requires taking around 150 of them so they are not dangerous. I found they did not work at that dose ,I think the gel in the caps clogged up the works. When I was taking codeine based pain killers they were life savers. I don't have any worries now ,diabetes drugs have the oposite effect for me ,I'm just careful not to sneeze. All the best to you and your husband,Hugs,Ron. ... View more

Hi Carme, Cancer is a lonely disease. It doesn't matter whether you are starting the journey,in the middle of treatment or like me a decade or so beyond it. It isolates us . At one stage my wife told me that it was us fighting the cancer not just me and that I was taking it too personally. A few years later she decided being in the fight was too hard and we separated. I now live alone but I don't feel lonely anymore or if I do I choose to ignore it. I have made friends when I went thru a year of chemo. They are all gone. I have been on another support room in the US since 2001 . I have made countless friends and lost countless friends there as well. There are no regrets all of those people were worth knowing. What is the worst that can happen ? We can die ,but that's going to happen anyway. Some of the treatments we go thru makes death look like a walk in the park. I like to think that we all choose to survive and I think that there is probably no better way to survive than to get on with your life,just live it. Hugs Ron. ... View more

They still don't know what is wrong with my kidneys Sharon. I lose up to three gramms a day of protein thru my urine. I have had three kidney biopsies now and they all show problems with my kidneys but nothing that relates to the known kidney diseases. My rheumatologist and nephrologist both believe it is from chemo I had 14 years ago. They enhanced it with stuff called levamisole. It is a vet drug used to kill parasites in cattle and sheep. My rheumatologist is an ex oncologist and he is quite scathing on its use on people. The only drug that has helped my kidneys is methotrexate and that stopped working after a couple of years. My nephrologist and rheumatologist both want me to try humira and my neprologist has suggested cyclosporin,cyclophosphomide and imuran. I'm not going there ,I have had it with poisons.I do a 24 hr urine collection every three mos to monitor things. It has stayed static for a couple of years but I have had peripheral neuropathy for several years and it is getting worse. I have just been dxed with type two diabetes. It is starting to look like cancer was the least of my worries . Hugs to you and your husband I hope something turns up soon to help you,Ron. ... View more

Hi, I can't comment on the type of ca your husband has (I was colon)but i can certainly comment on the watch and wait. I have been ca free for over fourteen years. For the first five or six it was a case of you are doing well ,but you are not out of the woods yet. When you throw in the three monthly blood tests ,the yearly scans and the yearly colonoscopies it is a strain . For the first year I was in chemo. My wife could not even walk into the chemo clinic,it smelled strange and it frightened her badly. My operation was extensive ,from sternum to groin. My surgeon warned me that a lot of nerves and muscles would be cut. He was right and for my wife and I that was the end of intimacy. For her it was also the end of our marriage. We struggled on for a few years but she was sick of me constantly being sick and worrying about medical expenses. She eventually asked me to leave. I did. We are still good friends. I understand her reasons. I now live alone and get by as best I can. The one point that I will make about ca is that it involves the whole family. It is not about individuals. We all have to survive the best way that we can. In answer to your question ,I don't believe that it gets any easier but I do believe that we get stronger. I hope that your husband weathers the storm. I hope his ca stays in remission and I hope that you can find a way to be there for each other. I wish you strenghth. Ron. ... View more