Hi Malcolm    How is progress ?   I started my chemo today. It sucks balls and hasn't even been 24hours.   I've actually been good at recovering weight since surgery. I started at 93 and back to 91, but I haven't recovered it as muscle. Still we need fat too. I'm just trying to keep moving and extend my exercise daily.    Now with chemo starting, another life adjustment. I'm keen to keep exercise frequent to fight fatigue and weight loss.   I hope you are doing well. Hang in there.   Cheers   Phil ... View more

Hi fungry_04,   It can be hard to take in and take some time to adjust to the new reality that you and your husband have just been told about. For me, the reality of the situation really started to sink in after the surgery had been booked in and waiting for the surgery date. That can be a little difficult. Are you going to discuss with your girls? The whole thing is hard and it sucks.  I've always done my best to remind myself that the numbers and statistics are just that. -s ... View more

Hi Captain...     Agree with that laundry list.  Three months outta Chemo N Zap my last Salivary gland set online takes a vacation anytime I reach for a Pabst (and God Help me if it's a Heineken!).  Same goes for that old Latin Espresso.    I'm still able to enjoy the Arizona Summer Sun if I ignore the swelling of the neck (no more Tanning-now its Swelling after sun bathing...).    I've taken a regime of extreme exercising and have found that gaining that 23 lbs I lost seems like a pipe dream (and never mind gaining muscle density-I'm Super Sparse)...but only hard work and exercise keep fatigue at bay.    Weird but the day I take it easy means two days wanting to play couch potato.     Its a different life and outlook...for us Cancer Veterans.     Regards ... View more

I've been loving your posts @PhilPepper!     ... View more

Hi SpunOut   Staying positive would be a real challenge for you. Drawing from my experience, I am finding it difficult. I have stage 3 bowel cancer. Just met with the Oncologist and I'm starting chemo next week. I feel like a bit of a tool. Reading your story and many of the other hard cases on this site, it makes my cancer seem like a walk in the park by comparison. Yet, being positive is still a challenge for me. I've been fighting off depression the last few days. The whole chemo thing is very confronting.    When I've not been feeling positive, I've mostly been angry or depressed. I kind of think they are the same thing but anger has energy, where depression has none. Anger seemed to work for me, but not advocating that it was particularly good for me. Someone else on this forum advised me to channel the anger against the cancer. That helped, but I was kind of doing that already.   Anyhow, I don't know if I'm offering much in the way of support. I wish I could tell you everything will be alright. I am not the kind of person to patronise others with unrealistic sentiments. You have a tough battle ahead and it's a real shitty situation. Hang in there and keep fighting. I think everyone on this forum will tell you that cancer has altered their lives significantly. Things will never be the same. You will need to reinvent yourself as you move forward. I hope you emerge from this experience as a stronger person with a grounded view on the important things in life.   Stay strong. Don't give up.   Phil   ... View more

Hi LG,   Yes, I felt the embarasment too.  I didn't want everyone to know as if it was some judgement on me.  Somehow my fault.  Something I did or didn't do.  You just have to come to terms with the fact that you've been diagnosed and it is a shock to the entire system.  I just have to remember that bad things happen to good people.  I watched a film called the C word and it heped me to get things into perspective.     I have adenoid cystic carcinoma of submandibular gland and it starts when two genes just decide to switch on.  It's not genetic or inherited.  Still doesn't make it feel any better.  I was diagnosed in May 2019.  Very early days yet.  Starting Radiotherapy later this week following surgery on 10th July.  I think the diagnosis also makes you go from fiercely independant to suddenly dependant on others and that's a difficult adjustment.  I had retired earlier this year so it's completely changed my plans and trajectory.     Unfortunatly, it's a shock and luckily you're getting counselling to help you deal with the shock.  It's also quite traumatic because you're dealing with something you hoped would never happen to you.  I think it take time to comprehend all the new information and changes.  Just take it slow, day by day if you can.  I hope things improve for you greatly and that the love and support around you, help you get through this in the best way that you can. ... View more

It's ironic - the one thing I want, above all others, is for my children to outlive me.   I just don't want it RIGHT NOW, please and thank you.   My kids are aged 6-10.  Youngest was 4 when I was diagnosed.  Middle guy (now 😎 is autistic, and we have a special bond.   The idea of him coping with the grief of losing his dad ... it .. it wounds me in a way I cannot describe.  It oppressively crushes down on my soul, it's just awful.   But .. I'm not dead yet, in fact, I'm lucky, my treatment worked and I'm (touch wood) cancer free.   I hope your treatment trajectory gets better, it sounds really bad that the cancer has spread.  As your son is 15 years old, the only suggestion I can put forward is two-fold:   1) whether it's a month, a year, a decade or longer:  love the bugger as hard as you can for as long as you can (goes for wifey too) 2) get a camera, and record messages to your future son - if you survive, you can still watch them together and celebrate that you're alive .. but if you're not, I think it will comfort him to be able to connect with his dad on his 21st birthday, or after he marries, that kind of thing .. just think of those future milestones and record little messages and save them on a memory stick marked "I love you, Dad" (you know what I mean, just name the files for what they're about "21st Birthday" "Feeling Blue?" "Graduated High School" .. and don't taint them with your grief, be as natural as you can - he'll always have that to keep you alive in his heart)   Just my two cents - sorry if the suggestions are gross or creepy to anybody, but I personally, were I bereaved, would love to have messages from the loved one (maybe not at first, but later, after that first period of ravaging grief has passed) ... View more

Hello Phil and sch,   Thanks for your replies. It was a very anxious time but it is all over now. I have no more bleeding. I went to my GP and also called the cancer Council helpline. I found out that traces of blood was normal but if significant bleeding occurs, with pain, I must visit emergency. I was also able to ask the surgeon through the nurses- a bit later in the week. Same reply. I increased the painkillers which helped in opening and emptying the bowel and hence less frequent toilet visits. Less toilet visits meant less straining and abrasion on the wound and hence reduced bleeding. Gradually it disappeared in about a week.   I thought my experience might be beneficial to others. ... View more

Hi Frankie   I'm not experienced yet. My chemo is still to come. I am told I won't need such a strong treatment and may not lose my hair.   I'm not sure what to expect. I'm treating all the advice I get as a good guideline, weighing towards the positive. I'm not worried if I lose my hair. I was told it will grow back, but thinker and fluffier. I'll be happy if it grows back with less grey.   I think it's fine to avoid the wig. If you are confident to do it, then go for it.    All the best... ... View more

surgery chemo radiation immunotherapy Id get strong chemo like the stuff that makes your hair fallout and scans but some hot stuff surgeon can get you out in less than a week HO ... View more