Thread: Cancer sucks

We get "sicker" - we get "weller" slowly? "Time takes time".
Mate, you probably will not enjoy BUT saturate yourself with "meetings bloody meetings" - "leave the old ideas at the door" - "live one day at a time". You know all the "shake rattle & roll".
What have you got to lose? No rules, no membership dues - unique? - a bit like your other pursuit?
"Clarity" will come - slowly.
When you are sober, everything is possible. No sobriety - a slow & painful death. Your call!
Soon, TD members will be telling me where to get off - get off the pulpit.

Many years ago I had read a booklet Do you really need glasses?
There were many miraculous cases of cured people described and how to train your eyes, since they are getting more and more lazy (by using glasses ). As any other body parts when not being exercised.

How huge the industry that would go in the losses. Do you see how many new optic shops now shooting up in Thai cities? And there are many private people who drive to remote villages offering glasses. It's said this is the best profit (beside laan ahaan).

Originally Posted by cnx37

Mate, you probably will not enjoy BUT saturate yourself with "meetings bloody meetings"

90 meetings in 90 days - then you are on your journey - good luck.

Originally Posted by Klondyke

Many years ago I had read a booklet Do you really need glasses?
There were many miraculous cases of cured people described and how to train your eyes, since they are getting more and more lazy (by using glasses ). As any other body parts when not being exercised.

I tried that without any success.

Originally Posted by Takeovers

I tried that without any success.

I tried the bikini watching exercises without success - prescription sunglasses accomplished much.

A Gaelic blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Cheers...

My throat cancer (stage 4 - base of tongue) is in remission. My "friend"/bedmate is PAIN from the after-effects of radiotherapy. When I say PAIN - it is very real!
My Oz doctor says -
a) no more Fentanyl - very addictive
b) no hyperbaric chamber therapy - just a $$$ making scheme for medical fraternity
c) if no b), forget proposed teeth extraction
d) "forget" "Mary Jane" - illegal & quality control
He has been a quality doctor/friend for > 30 years. Only once did I NOT follow his advice - I returned to LOS after going to Oz 2 years ago as a result of complications with morphine/Fentanyl. He urged that I stay in Oz permanently - better medical care. He may be right - he may be wrong. Here, I have a loving, caring family. Oz - aresholes.
Oz doctor suggests 'avantis a...'? - a potential "future". If I pursue this strategy, my future - a slow & very painful death?
I feel "uncomfortable"; my Thai family feel uncomfortable with "Mary".
My ony "friend" is not really a friend - xylocaine viscous - 2%.

Time over again? Nature or Gun!
PISS OFF PAIN, please.

cnx37;

Good luck to you. As far as pain management you need to continue your investigations into pain management/control - any and all avenues.

Anything that can help improve your quality-of-life. With the big C all bets are off. Seek second opinions and alternate options. It is all in your hands. The actions taken affect you and your family. As only you suffer the consequences of the path you choose, only you can make the decisions.

Alternative to the Gaza vacation, perhaps a visit to the hilltribes in the golden triangle.

Good Luck with your investigations.

Hilltribes - anal bleaching an option?

Originally Posted by cnx37

Hilltribes - anal bleaching an option?

Well, everything has its price and you do get what you pay for, although, in this case I would be seriously concerned about what the translation would actually provide.

The, uhm, "anal bleaching"?, appears to be the latest fad in the gay community. Probably why its prevalent in the Gaza, (not intending to dis the gays). Hey, whatever trips your trigger.

Of course, entrepreneurs will provide a cheaper alternative for the full blown anal bleaching cosmetic to make a buck. You can't help but wonder about the clinical trials and supporting testimonials (by actual users, not actors).

So, to do this on the cheap, google and buy discount creams online before you travel all the way to the Gaza Strip.

Originally Posted by cnx37

There is an additional incentive to go to Gaza now.

It is rumored that the Tourist Visa fees and restrictions have been sharply reduced in the hopes of restoring the diminished tourist trade resulting from the recent political unrest.

Published on Sep 4, 2014

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new immunotherapy drug to treat advanced melanoma, signaling a paradigm shift in the way the deadly skin cancer is treated.

The drug, Keytruda, was tested on more than 600 patients who had melanoma that had spread throughout their bodies. Because so many of the patients in the early testing showed significant long-lasting responses, the study was continued and the FDA granted the drug “breakthrough therapy” status, allowing it to be fast-tracked for approval.

The largest Phase 1 study in the history of oncology, the research was conducted at UCLA and 11 other sites in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

Keytruda, formerly known as MK-3475, is an antibody that targets a protein called PD-1 that is expressed by immune cells. The protein puts the immune system’s brakes on, keeping its T cells from recognizing and attacking cancer cells, said Dr. Antoni Ribas, the study’s principal investigator and a professor of medicine in the division of hematology–oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Learn more at Health Care, Health Information, Cancer Services, Neurosurgery, Heart Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery | UCLA Health - Los Angeles, CA

News Releases | UCLA Health

^ This is the drug MrLick stated (post #326) he is being treated with now in the UK.

That's right Kitty. AKA Pembrolizumab.

Sadly after 2 infusions (of 4) of MK-3475 there has been more metastatic progression. However, the specialist is confident that positive results from this drug don't really appear until after the final 2 doses, so will know more in late September.

If more progression is evident then an alternative drug, Nivolumab - Nivolumab - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia may be administered.

Originally Posted by Mr Lick

Sadly after 2 infusions (of 4) of MK-3475 there has been more metastatic progression. However, the specialist is confident that positive results from this drug don't really appear until after the final 2 doses, so will know more in late September.

All the best Mr Lick

It would be interesting to know what the source of the antibody they are using.
Something we will never know given the giant financial interests involved.

Originally Posted by Mr Earl

It would be interesting to know what the source of the antibody they are using.
Something we will never know given the giant financial interests involved.

Here you go. Knock yourself out. It is a humanized mouse monoclonal antibody.

NCI Drug Dictionary - National Cancer Institute

Originally Posted by Clive James

:
Your death, near now, is of an easy sort.
So slow a fading out brings no real pain.
Breath growing short
Is just uncomfortable. You feel the drain
Of energy, but thought and sight remain:
Enhanced, in fact. When did you ever see
So much sweet beauty as when fine rain falls
On that small tree
And saturates your brick back garden walls,
So many Amber Rooms and mirror halls?
Ever more lavish as the dusk descends
This glistening illuminates the air.
It never ends.
Whenever the rain comes it will be there,
Beyond my time, but now I take my share.
My daughter’s choice, the maple tree is new.
Come autumn and its leaves will turn to flame.
What I must do
Is live to see that. That will end the game
For me, though life continues all the same:
Filling the double doors to bathe my eyes,
A final flood of colours will live on
As my mind dies,
Burned by my vision of a world that shone
So brightly at the last, and then was gone.

Terminally ill Australian author, critic and raconteur Clive James has detailed his revelations of life and death in an emotional poem.
The prolific writer was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2010 and is battling terminal emphysema - a condition that prevents him returning to Australia from the UK.
The poem Japanese Maple was published by The New Yorker, and is being lauded as James' last work.
In it, James predicts his death is "near now" but will be "of an easy sort" as "so slow a fading out brings no real pain".
The 74-year-old also describes his growing fascination with nature as his condition deteriorated, and writes about the beauty of the Japanese maple tree given to him by his daughter.
"Come autumn and its leaves will turn to flame," he writes.
"What I must do is live to see that."
The poem ends with an acknowledgement by James that he led an extraordinary life.


Clive James writes heartfelt poem Japanese Maple about facing his death - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Looper
I have reflected on death numerous times - no poems yet.
Very easy to "chat" about it - I am an expert.
The "real thing" - I am a "swinger". Today - bring it on. Tomorrow - postpone.
3 days after my departure, I will provide a vivid description of the "real thing".

cnx37;

Good luck, may you be enjoying all sorts of culinary delights shortly.

Go slow, find your own pace, plenty of Thai aharn mai pet available. Your wife will take care of you.

Good luck.