Fuck Cancer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

Today is the first day I have been really grumpy about not skiing and fighting cancer instead. 12" of new at Targhee and still snowing 2" an hour. Hubby just got picked up to head up the hill. I've been gracious and accepting (for the most part), but today I am just plain pissed. Even without the cancer problem I still need a knee replacement, which was supposed to happen this April, now put off til god knows when.

Fuck cancer. Fuck winter.

---

Sometimes anger is better than quiet resolve, it denotes fight. Missing a big winter sucks.

How are you feeling otherwise?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zion zig zag

Sometimes anger is better than quiet resolve, it denotes fight. Missing a big winter sucks.

How are you feeling otherwise?

---

I got plenty of fight, that's for sure. Trying to come out of this strong too. It's a rollercoaster, but I'm able to go to the gym, nordic ski, fat bike (which is GREAT for the knee and really fun w puppy). Only one more of the really heinous chemo, then I'll reward myself with a trip to Sedona to ride. Then 4 more of the less-heinous chemo, but 3 weeks apart not 2. Then time to recover, and then X weeks of radiation, not clear yet.

The whole "possibility of recurrence" thing is freaking me out a little bit. Life is short, folks, enjoy every minute.

thanks for asking. Holler when you come back up to the tetons.

First of all heartfelt condolences to you MS, please hang in there.

We seem to have quite a tradition with cancer too with several family members losing the battle in the past. More recently my wife had to battle cancer for over a year and, at least until now, held the upper hand. Lucky us.

Next in line was my daughter who was diagnosed with cancer 6 months ago. She is a tough cookie and still fighting, scheduled for surgery in two days. Keeping fingers crossed for a positive outcome, we plan on a family skiing trip early April to hopefully celebrate victory.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hicks

First of all heartfelt condolences to you MS, please hang in there.

We seem to have quite a tradition with cancer too with several family members losing the battle in the past. More recently my wife had to battle cancer for over a year and, at least until now, held the upper hand. Lucky us.

Next in line was my daughter who was diagnosed with cancer 6 months ago. She is a tough cookie and still fighting, scheduled for surgery in two days. Keeping fingers crossed for a positive outcome, we plan on a family skiing trip early April to hopefully celebrate victory.

---

I would be a total and complete mess if one of my daughters were fighting cancer. Sending positive vibes your way Hicks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hicks

First of all heartfelt condolences to you MS, please hang in there.

We seem to have quite a tradition with cancer too with several family members losing the battle in the past. More recently my wife had to battle cancer for over a year and, at least until now, held the upper hand. Lucky us.

Next in line was my daughter who was diagnosed with cancer 6 months ago. She is a tough cookie and still fighting, scheduled for surgery in two days. Keeping fingers crossed for a positive outcome, we plan on a family skiing trip early April to hopefully celebrate victory.

---

Shit man, that's a doubly heavy load to carry there. You and yours have my best hopes and best wishes, really.

Wishing the best, Hicks


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Awesome hms, it's truly great to see that.

OTOH, my wife passed away a week ago after a courageous and strong-willed 7 year battle with ovarian cancer. It's been terrible.

---

Man MS, I am very sorry for your loss.

Sent from my SM-G950U using TGR Forums mobile app

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BC13

I've never been a volume poster on TGR. I've offered answers when I thought I could help and just read when I had nothing of value to share. But here goes it - Fuck Cancer!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6b3fb6131c.jpg

Jimmy, ever easy to find on the slopes in his orange coat. Always wearing a welcoming smile, a great guy with a big personality and a bigger heart.

As one of two close friends who spent most winter weekends over the past 5 years selflessly helping me keep track of my kids on the ski hill, Jimmy became, as my kids say, "one of our people". Jimmy was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in December and is resting peacefully as he continues to fight this awful disease with family and friends by his bedside. Jimmy and his family could use any prayers, thoughts and positive energy you could send their way.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7f319a146e.jpg

The above paragraphs contain the sanitized version you can share on FB or a group email.

The reality is that he has gone from sitting in my living room after Christmas to being intubated and sedated in ICU in 4 weeks. It was as though he fell off a cliff 2 weeks ago. Last night I texted his wife and she told me he was mentally out of it and not himself. I drove over and immediately knew he needed to get to an ED. We assumed he was having a reaction to meds.

2 hours after arriving in the ED he was in the ICU. The confusion which led us to call 911 was soon followed by severe chest pain and great difficulty breatuing. It turns out the confusion was caused by an infection and nearly 6 liters of fluid in the pleural space of his right lung.

Tonight this gregarious fun loving friend lays in an ICU bed sedated and intubated sleeping peacefully while docs try to figure out if they can find and stop bleeding from the lung and treat the infection. If they can he might get a chance to start the targeted chemo he was to start today. Chances are that will not happen.

The last few months and especially the last day and a half has been heart breaking. My 9 year old twins and my wife love him dearly. The pain of seeing him suffer and knowing he will likely pass soon is overwhelming. Any and all positive vibes, prayers and thoughts sent his way would be appreciated!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ebbce8b811.jpg

A favorite of mine. Jimmy suckling wind after we spent more energy than we expected Billygoating our way around Snowbird last March.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6d4cb581f6.jpg

Jimmy and my childhood friend Christian (we reunited through skiing after not seeing each other for 20th years) skiing with me and my son.

So FUCK CANCER! Thanks to the community for letting me share the feelings that are so hard to share when you are trying to "keep it together".




Sent from my SM-G900V using TGR Forums mobile app

---

A little over a month ago I posted about my good friend Jimmy. The doctors did not give Jim much hope of lasting more than a couple of days when I posted. WELL FUCK CANCER as Jimmy is home and better than he has been since before Christmas!

I brought the kids to see him today and it was surreal in a fantastic way. As my 9 year old daughter said "he is really skinny but it is the same Jimmy!"

He is far from being out of the woods with cancer, as he only started chemo 2 weeks ago, but he is once again breathing with two lungs and smiling. And for that we are thankful!

Thanks to all for well wishes and vibes. The same being sent to each and all of you who are, or who have a loved one who is, fighting cancer!



Sent from my SM-G950U using TGR Forums mobile app

That's fantastic news! Jimmmmy!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

I got plenty of fight, that's for sure. Trying to come out of this strong too. It's a rollercoaster, but I'm able to go to the gym, nordic ski, fat bike (which is GREAT for the knee and really fun w puppy). Only one more of the really heinous chemo, then I'll reward myself with a trip to Sedona to ride. Then 4 more of the less-heinous chemo, but 3 weeks apart not 2. Then time to recover, and then X weeks of radiation, not clear yet.

The whole "possibility of recurrence" thing is freaking me out a little bit. Life is short, folks, enjoy every minute.

thanks for asking. Holler when you come back up to the tetons.

---

Recurrence is always a possibility. My wife went 8 years before her cancer came back. Starting in breast now its in hip, pelvis and some other places too. In the future if you have any pain at all, go to the doctor to have it checked out. Jen's hip is so fragile now she can't ever ski again. So count your blessings for now. You will ski again!

MS, so very sorry for your loss.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BC13

Man MS, I am very sorry for your loss.

---

Thanks man, and thanks for updating us on your friend. It's nice to hear good stories like that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Millsie1

MS, so very sorry for your loss.

---

And thank you too. My sincere best wishes for your wife and you.

Oh man, MS, I just read what happened, I had no idea. wtf. So sorry.

I too missed the news from Meadow Skipper. I'm so sorry.

Go Jimmy!

I spent a lot of time with Ruby over the weekend. She's started to experience some troubling neuromuscular side effects from the trial drug she's taking (entrectinib). She's become noticeably weaker and less coordinated and complains of pain in her legs a lot. Not many people have taken that drug at all, let alone young children, so they don't know what the short- or long-term effects could be. Stopping isn't really an option tough. She's still very well off compared to a typical child cancer patient ravaged by chemo, but it's unsettling and hard to see nonetheless. Fingers crossed that it's temporary.

Damn MSkipper, so sorry to read that this has happened. Condolences from the top to the bottom of my heart. You'd be welcome to visit here. Is there anything I could do? You're one of the gud wons.

ice, Buster, DTM, thank you for the kindnesses.

DTM, that's rough about Ruby. I too hope it's temporary. IME spending time, being there for patients is the best thing.

Jeez I feel ashamed for complaining when elsewhere in this thread there's a kid with cancer, a late stage guy in remission, MS loses his wife, and Millsie and his wife are fighting hard.

Fuck cancer.

Sent from my HTC6535LRA using TGR Forums mobile app

Lynne

Don’t feel guilty. It’s people like me who should feel bad for complaining about life.

I've sorta been sitting on this because of all the other stuff in this thread (and I didn't even know some of it), but since this involves somebody that quite a few people here have met, I'm gonna go ahead with it.

I was supposed to be at Solitude 3 weeks ago with my buddy Doug, who has been coming to Utah with me (and on his own also) since the powmag days. We had planned the trip before I fucked up my hip but the condo was empty and Doug had the time so I told him to go ahead and use the place. We were talking while he was out there and he was complaining about being exhausted and hardly able to tour or even go uphill at all. Doug's always in phenomenal shape and loves to tour, so obviously things weren't right.

He called his Doc who told him to go to a lab in SLC and get bloodwork done and it came back that he was seriously anemic. His Doc ordered a colonoscopy/endoscopy at some hospital in SLC and Doug had that done that done the next day. They found a bad esophageal cancer.

Doug flew back to Pittsburgh Wednesday, met with a Doctor Thursday and had surgery Friday. The Doc is supposedly one of the best in he country. They're confident (or they expressed confidence at least) that they got all of it, but they did find a couple spots away from the original tumor. He's been in the hospital ever since.

My understanding of this is very limited but apparently they had to take a bunch of lymph nodes out and for whatever reason one of them keeps draining, and he's had two more procedures to stop it, including one yesterday. I've been in touch with him a little, and with his girlfriend a bit and he seems to be keeping his chin up so far and they still expect him to be released shortly. And if he is, and they did get all of it, then the prognosis is good. So time will tell.

So, Fuck Cancer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

Jeez I feel ashamed for complaining when elsewhere in this thread there's a kid with cancer, a late stage guy in remission, MS loses his wife, and Millsie and his wife are fighting hard.

Fuck cancer.

Sent from my HTC6535LRA using TGR Forums mobile app

---

Seconding what mikey b said. No reason to be ashamed.

Fuck cancer is right.

Jeebus, this thread...

hms, no, no, no - do not feel bad. I want to hear about what pisses you off, because I've been pissed off about what I've missed. And I want to hear about you coming through and kicking cancer's ass and tell us about it here. And keep making TAR better and better, the last issue was so good. Fuck cancer.

ice, all my best wishes to your man Doug. Good to hear that his prognosis is good.

So yeah, hell yeah, fuck cancer.

Sorry to hear about your friend, iceman. That scenario sounds a lot like the one I had, but a little lower (stomach) and in my case the anemia didn't look as bad to my doc as it felt to me (same symptom--poor aerobic performance) so we went about 9 more months from blood test to finding it and 13+ from first noted drop in performance. Good on him getting at it from the earliest possible sign!

Side effects from surgery suck, but hopefully they got it--and didn't have to mess with his valves? I had a couple of spots on my liver and swollen lymph nodes that had every doc I saw ashen-faced, but they all turned out to be non-cancerous. Hoping the same for Doug. Just looked at a 9-month scan last week and my liver looks the same as always--and no sign of disease.

Keep kicking ass in the fight, HMS! As much as any battle is tragic, every win is a win for us all. If you can get out there when the snow is good, get some! Even the shortest days of "active-standing" were huge motivators for me, and I would usually feel a little better the day after. I'm sure I got lucky in tolerating chemo relatively well, and it won't work for everyone, but in my case I could usually work up the mental game to drive up the hill before I could convince myself to walk around the block. Whatever works for you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

Jeez I feel ashamed for complaining when elsewhere in this thread there's a kid with cancer, a late stage guy in remission, MS loses his wife, and Millsie and his wife are fighting hard.

Fuck cancer.

Sent from my HTC6535LRA using TGR Forums mobile app

---

Please don't feel ashamed. The reason I post about we're going through is to help everyone understand what could happen and to be prepared. We were told by ortho oncologist that "Cancer sucks, you have to live your life!" Surgery and chemo are hard. Its ok to bitch. Just know you will get past this and be good again. Maybe not where you were but keep moving forward.

Ice, so sorry to hear about your friend. Couldn't be worse than finding out on your vacation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper

Jeebus, this thread...

hms, no, no, no - do not feel bad. I want to hear about what pisses you off, because I've been pissed off about what I've missed. And I want to hear about you coming through and kicking cancer's ass and tell us about it here. And keep making TAR better and better, the last issue was so good. Fuck cancer.

ice, all my best wishes to your man Doug. Good to hear that his prognosis is good.

So yeah, hell yeah, fuck cancer.

---

OK I won't feel bad. In fact, today I feel great (just in time for chemo on Thursday). A 5-star workout at the gym, powder skiing on Sunday (boy was I tired afterwards... so deep). But it deeply pleases me to read your nice words about TAR. I had to jettison all my ski guiding and avalanche classes, but kept the TAR work as I am so devoted to it personally and professionally.

I want to be able to say, "today was worth living for!" every single day, no matter how many of them I have left. The recurrence topic likes to whisper in my ear at 3am, but most of the time I can ignore it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

OK I won't feel bad. In fact, today I feel great (just in time for chemo on Thursday). A 5-star workout at the gym, powder skiing on Sunday (boy was I tired afterwards... so deep). But it deeply pleases me to read your nice words about TAR. I had to jettison all my ski guiding and avalanche classes, but kept the TAR work as I am so devoted to it personally and professionally.

I want to be able to say, "today was worth living for!" every single day, no matter how many of them I have left. The recurrence topic likes to whisper in my ear at 3am, but most of the time I can ignore it.

---

^ That. Was. Sweet.

Thanks Huckbucket, MS and ArtShirk for your wishes. Best wishes for all the others affected here as well.

Daughter's surgery went well and we are carefully optimistic for a positive outcome. If it stays like that then it's the family 2 Cancer 0. Keeping fingers crossed....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

Today is the first day I have been really grumpy about not skiing and fighting cancer instead. 12" of new at Targhee and still snowing 2" an hour. Hubby just got picked up to head up the hill. I've been gracious and accepting (for the most part), but today I am just plain pissed. Even without the cancer problem I still need a knee replacement, which was supposed to happen this April, now put off til god knows when.

Fuck cancer. Fuck winter.

---

Best wishes for a positive outcome.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

The whole "possibility of recurrence" thing is freaking me out a little bit. Life is short, folks, enjoy every minute.

---

That's got to be the toughest part, keep your head as busy as you can and find ways to relax when you can't.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

Holler when you come back up to the tetons.

---

I will for sure. Hoping for a corn trip this spring.

Ugh, my turn. Found out this morning that one of my and my wife's best friends got bad news in a regular scan. This is the second time her cancer has returned, and this time it's in the liver and bones. She's been crushing it over the past ~3 years despite the setbacks, and had a clean scan as recently as November. Hers was already an uncommon type of cancer, so now she's in clinical trial territory. I can't even comprehend, just have stared blankly into the screen at work all day. God Mother Fucker.

Oh man, that is not good. My Mom has already lost one dear friend to cancer, and has another that is borrowed time right now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigKuba

Ugh, my turn. Found out this morning that one of my and my wife's best friends got bad news in a regular scan. This is the second time her cancer has returned, and this time it's in the liver and bones. She's been crushing it over the past ~3 years despite the setbacks, and had a clean scan as recently as November. Hers was already an uncommon type of cancer, so now she's in clinical trial territory. I can't even comprehend, just have stared blankly into the screen at work all day. God Mother Fucker.

---

So very sorry, Kuba. In the liver is never good.

BigKuba, that's rough - I'm sorry to hear that. Words aren't enough, but I really hope it turns out well.

@BigKuba
Vibes to your friend. Can relate because another of our female friends got terminal cancer as well.

Here's to a positive story, my daughter got her cancer entirely removed it seems so indeed family 2 cancer 0. Can't wait for the family Easter skiing trip and celebration to come.
Fuck cancer!

Excellent news about your daughter, Hicks!

Great news!

My SIL was having some kidney issues a few years ago so they did an MRI. They found a huge malignant tumor on the other kidney. Removed the tumor along with about half of the kidney and she's remained cancer free since. Renal cancer is pretty much a death sentence if it spreads. She was so incredibly lucky.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hicks

@BigKuba
Vibes to your friend. Can relate because another of our female friends got terminal cancer as well.

Here's to a positive story, my daughter got her cancer entirely removed it seems so indeed family 2 cancer 0. Can't wait for the family Easter skiing trip and celebration to come.
Fuck cancer!

---

glad to hear it, hicks.

What a range of emotions this thread stirs up...

Always happy to read positive news in this thread!

Fantastic, Hicks!

I mentioned a year ago my SIL had cancer in this thread, she died this summer. Her family is not well without her. She was in some bands in Savannah before she had her daughter, there is a nice write-up of her career: https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/articl...d-flying-fists

My sister got diagnosed with colon cancer this summer, she has already done radiation and almost all signs are gone already. So she did kick cancer's ass pretty damn good. Highs and lows, such is life.

Sorry for you loss, MS.

muted, I'm sorry about your SIL, she sounds way cool.

My best wishes for your sister, and everyone in your family,