no she had colon cancer and they said they'd gotten it out of her but it came back and they couldn't put her through therapy anymore because her health was so far gone so she died

let's all be optimistic and hope it's a pneumonia strain.

i'm making my will save to stay positive

This. This is the saddest thread.

no she had colon cancer and they said they'd gotten it out of her but it came back and they couldn't put her through therapy anymore because her health was so far gone so she died

yeah my condolences but that's not really the same thing at all. you're talking about colon cancer returning where as in my situation it's still the original mass which is why I don't know if the cure rate dropped since it never was fully remissed/removed.

the shitty thing is even if he says CURE RATE STILL THE SAME, going through chemo again will be fucking hell. my mom's also out of paid leave and currently running through her donated leave, and I can't drive to the cancer center even if I wanted to. who is gonna take me to chemo?

and then the surgery sounded risky asddffff this is all shit.

i really think you are gonna be okay, though. this won't be a comfort to you because you have to live in yourself and all that while i've just got TEXT but this seems like one of those things - to me - that people come back from. bullshit intuition that means nothing, okay, but maybe it'll make you feel a tiny piece better? i'm not just saying it, i just wouldn't post if i thought OH NO STEEL IS DYING. i don't think you will, not with how well you have dealt with it all, both medically and emotionally. i dunno how much weight to put to mental attitudes but i've got some of my own problems and i am really starting to think determination matters. i'm not talking about alcoholism, just so you know.

actually - i seriously don't know this - is your name mark or amark?  cos i've seen you say both and i dunno which one was a typo joke.

my name is kunta kinte.

gw carpool set it up, someone has to take me to chemo...

im transferrin to unc next semester and picking you up everyday on my way to class and taking you  to chemo

i am sorry this is pretty bad!

okay so I had a talk with a doc friend who explained a bit more. the lymph node is located near some major artery called the SVC, meaning it's way too risky to remove it. we expected some would remain (the tumor marker wasn't zero) but with the active node in such a dangerous location, chemo will be needed after the surgery to get rid of it. I have no idea what type of chemo, for how long, any of that, and my oncologist never replied so I won't find out till Monday.

in addition, this surgery is apparently a tricky one, so if any of you have doctor parents, ask them if they know where the best mediastinal surgeons are in the country; I'm already doing this but it can't hurt to get a list of names or places.

Lets not be disheartened.

It's a well known fact you're going to be fine. You just let your guard down and it thought it'd have a sneaky round 2. I cant see it managing much more.

Good luck with the upcoming stuff (is your mam ok?)

my mom is totally unaware how mildly fucked we are!!! hooray!!!

thats what I was saying, I know the cancer isn't the same but its not gone for you either and your doing better because you're healthy enough to go through chemo again if you have to (hopefully)

but if I would personnally take the chemo if that was the only other option for awhile and if nothing got better I'd cut that shit out while I still got a chance. I don't know if you want to talk about this, if not I'll remove my post.

nooooo

the shitty thing is even if he says CURE RATE STILL THE SAME, going through chemo again will be fucking hell. my mom's also out of paid leave and currently running through her donated leave, and I can't drive to the cancer center even if I wanted to. who is gonna take me to chemo?

so... we can start a charity fund or something if you seriously lack the monies.  i don't know if you're one of those self reliant "fuck outside help" guys but i for one would be happy to donate ducats for cab rides and the like.

okay so I had a talk with a doc friend who explained a bit more. the lymph node is located near some major artery called the SVC, meaning it's way too risky to remove it. we expected some would remain (the tumor marker wasn't zero) but with the active node in such a dangerous location, chemo will be needed after the surgery to get rid of it. I have no idea what type of chemo, for how long, any of that, and my oncologist never replied so I won't find out till Monday.

in addition, this surgery is apparently a tricky one, so if any of you have doctor parents, ask them if they know where the best mediastinal surgeons are in the country; I'm already doing this but it can't hurt to get a list of names or places.

That's a vein: Superior Vena Cava is probably the largest vein in the body and it basically carries all the blood from above your heart(Arms, head, brain) into it and yeah, I can see why a surgery there might be really delicate.

Now dude, don't rely on odds, really... Just stick to your desire to live. When my father was diagnosed with lymphoma the oncologist told us... "Prepare and say your goobyes, he's got three months at best."

But now it's been pretty much 4 years and albeit quite a few sequels (Mostly because it was BRAIN cancer), he's still kicking.

please dont donate money! we're actually okay on that front, I'm on my mom's insurance and it's been unbelievable; chemo was FREE pretty much. also the bengali community donated 3000+ dollars gosh...

no reply from the doctor. I get the feeling this is kind of an odd situation; I mean, chemo+surgery was 50% but I think they expected to get rid of it all with surgery, so what percentage would it be if you're still treating the same cancer, not one that comes back? I don't know these things and everyone says I should concern myself with finding the best surgeon (the one I saw has only two years experience soooooo) instead of chemo etc but I can't help it!

2 years is a lot of experience man, I played wow for 2 years and I was super good at it XD

mark do you think you could do my surgery.