July 2021
Hi @CaptainAustrali If you could please go back and edit in "inspiring and truly courageous" that would be much appreciated (and very appropriate). In my book, "inspiring and truly courageous" is exactly the same thing as "some big crazy arsed walk". Wear it with pride mate. I reckon the question you throw out to the universe is a bit more complex than the obvious, almost cliche assumptions that cancer makes you stronger, wiser (or breaks you). Absolutely. The range of how to effects and changes someone is almost as large as the range of cancers. There is absolutely no single response. I'm genuinely interested to how people have dealt with it and the range of responses. -s
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April 2021
What a journey mate, I’m glad you’re out the other side and living your best life now. I appreciate the message and the content, I’ll be in contact with you for sure many thanks Mal
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March 2021
It’s just me I’m a hugger and two arms always. So I’ll send you an invisible big man hug 🆗
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February 2021
Hey Hey The cancer treatments are designed to attack fast replicating cells in your body (like cancer), but so targetted they also can damage your vision, hearing, taste, libido, pretty much every apparatus you use to engage and enjoy the world. That's cancer for you - it doesn't just want to take your life, it wants to take your QUALITY of life too. My vision started to decline after chemo (whereas previously it had been perfect, zero issues), and there may be subtle hearing impairment too (with the tinnitus, everything gets a bit drowned out anyways). I couldn't say definitively whether it's not a natural decline after coincidentally hitting the jackpot age where the downhill slide starts ... but yeah, I reckon the chemo played a big part in my vision decline, and probably your hearing too. (Cisplatin) What I'd urge you to do, if you had radiation for head & neck cancer - vigilantly care for your teeth. The way radiation interacts with bone is a bit different, and you notice a sharp and awful decline in your dental health suddenly after 3-4 years out from treatment .. so be as diligent as you can with dental care. Sorry mate, yeah, you're going to find side effects cropping up not just in the short term, but later on as well, just have to roll with it.
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January 2021
I agree with CaptainAustrali. Conquer your issues, don't let them conquer you.
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December 2020
1 Kudo
The world's gone barking mad that I don't feel safe to say "Merry Christmas" anymore without waking up to find a transgendered anti-vaccer, COVID denying vegan protesting in my back yard. (I'm supportive of any of your causes mate, good luck to you, be well and be happy - just let me keep Merry Christmas) If you're suffering, I'm sorry. You're not alone. Christmas can be a really shitty time when you're alone, it must be hell if you're suffering. So Merry Christmas to you. If you're not alone - don't allow this cancer experience to rob you of the joys available. It's easy to be tired or depressed. If you have family or loved ones you can be with, I'd urge you to consider spending time with them, have a little Christmas drink and a little Christmas cuddle, even sing some songs if you have it in you. If you feel isolated and don't have anybody - Christmas can be horrible. I've been there. I *hated* Christmas as a child and young adult (really bad family situation, single mother, heroin junkie). So yeah, I guess binge up on Netflix and get through it ... but .... you're not alone. Even in your loneliness, there are other people going through the same things. You can reach out, and use that shared experience to make a new friend. Who knows, six months down the track you find yourself debating whether Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones was a good guy or a bad guy. Sorry, post cancer I have no/little filter, chemo-brain, and I ramble. I just wanted to send a general WELL WISHES message out into this community of people in need of hope & healing. All the best.
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November 2020
2 Kudos
I know that if there is something more, entering that state will probably trivialise our previous day-to-day secular concerns. (Or render us forgetful of them as we transition to something new). If it isn't just blackness - like a dreamless sleep - and if anybody reading this DOES find some kind of link remaining into the physical world, it would be a massive massive favour if you could muster the energy needed to come here and post a brief message like "I died yesterday, but I'm still .. something .. but I feel myself fading, stretching .. forgetting who I was.. it's a little like alzheimers .. I don't know if I'll be able to post again. Goodbye" Bring a whole new dimension to the phrase: Ghost in the Machine
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November 2020
I super agree, that is why I am just staying home. Is that how you coped too! I almost made my house like a jungle because of planting and growing plants at my backyard haha
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October 2020
Thanks so much for the wise words, but I might disregard one small bit - I'm actually thinking of travelling in high summer. For me, it's either a summer or winter thing - main logic being that autumn and spring are the worst times for snakes, but summer they're hiding from the sun & heat, and winter they're sleeping. When I walked down as a kid, I slept under a bridge and woke up with a large carpet snake (at least I think it was, I got out of there quick-smart?!) lying right next to me. This go-round, I'd still plan to sleep rough, but I'g do snake-smart, bug-smart and sun-smart. My approach will look something like this: - light pack, few clothes - good pair of shoes, replace on the road as needed - 2 days worth of food / 2 days worth of water - a light hammock, maybe even weather resistant if I can find one - a good book (thinking of taking the guitar, but I think it's too much of a hassle, maybe pick a lighter instrument like a flute or something to keep me chill and occupied while resting in the shade I had less than that the first time I went down, from memory I think I had about $30 when I left Brisbane, and a budget of about a dollar a day for tinned homebrand baked beans (x3 - it was the 80s things were cheaper) I'm going to resist the call and stage it though, I've decided to go the day after my 50th birthday (so December 2021), because my wife is studying nursing at the moment and won't finish until then, if I hit the road now it would be really selfish and cruel, she and the kids need my support. I'm going to reach out to a kids cancer charity and see what I can do about using it as a fundraising vehicle as well, but regardless that, I want the freedom to just gather my kit, hug and kiss the people I love .. and then walk. Blows my mind that I probably won't be able to get out of Brisbane on the first day, it'd probably be 2 days before I'm clear of the Gold Coast.
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