Idiot

^ Don't bring that shit in here guys, of all places.

Keep fighting, Ed. I've been following your thread since you were diagnosed and you really are an inspiration and tougher than I'll ever be. God bless.

I can not agree more with patteeu!! Ed, you're a champ, no matter what happens and when the time comes.......hopefully later than sooner....you will be missed.

I was at the Black Sabbath concert and I got a lot of THC second hand that night! There were many clouds floating around of that stuff.

Thank you very much. It's overwhelming hearing all that from you all, but not in the get away from me kind of overwhelming. One of the nurses, one who usually jabs the needles in my chest, told me I was the greatest man she has ever met. I was taken by surprise by that and I really didn't know what to say so I just blinked and said, "Me?" She said something about how I am facing cancer compared to the others she sees. I was beyond humbled and really couldn't say much to her other than to say thanks and I appreciated that very much. Whenever I die, I won't be made a saint, and not just because I am a Lutheran. Maybe part of my strength comes from being bullied and pushed around a lot when I was a child. Cancer is very much like a big nasty bully, too. Now I can fight back, and bullies piss me off to no end. I have had my fill of excrement sammich in this life. Now, if someone or something comes and tells me I have to take a bite, it's going to be a fight.

Wow. You are a big man.

What an inspiration you are.

Did you get laid?

\m/

Your courage is definitely inspiring, as is all of this travel! Keep it up!

Laid? What the hell is that? Let me search my memories... back, back, baaaack... oh, that. No. I did not.

Darn it. Sounds like there was potential.

Not much... she is about 60, I think. Late 50s for sure and married, but I still was totally not expecting the compliment she gave me.

Awesome post.


Agreed, thank you so much ed.

Hey man. Older chicks need love too.
They don't tell, they don't yell, they don't smell and they're grateful as hell.

As Jason said, this is a quality post... And I agree, along with fighting like hell a thank-you is just as well deserved.

Okay, so I've started with the chemo pills. Some of the worst side effects like becoming anemic and needing a blood transfusion are not unique to the pills. My nurse practitioner told me that since my very first treatment long ago, they've monitored my blood cell counts in case I need a transfusion. Throwing up blood was also a possibility with the previous treatment, but I just don't recall reading or hearing about that. I took 4 pills last night, and 8 today (4 after breakfast and 4 after dinner) and so far, I really don't feel much different than I did before I took them. Except for a lingering stomach ache along the left side of my stomach, I can't tell that I am having any side effects at all. I am not more tired than I have been, I have no nausea at all, no chemo runs (yet...), no sores along the sides of my tongue, and so on.

I know it is early on, and the side effects can strike at any time, so I am not ready to hop around in joy and say, "No side effects!" But, on the other hand, so far, so good. My body does not feel tired out, either, so I might just lift some weights tonight and try to get toned up and stronger for my trip.

I should have added this to the previous post. My chemo pill schedule is going to work out in my favor big time. I am to take them Monday to Friday, weekend off, Monday to Friday, weekend off and then 2 weeks off, repeat. At the end of the second cycle, it will be two weeks off of the pills on the day I leave for Denmark, so if any side effects do show up, they should be well out of my system that day. So that means I should be feeling good and strong the day I leave and I won't have to worry about getting the runs on the plane!

Some good news there!

Totally this...

Okay, the chemo pills are weird. They make me feel a bit queasy pretty much all day long. For a split second at times, I feel like I am going to throw up, but I end up sneezing and it goes away. At least my rash is clearing up finally. My body is not feeling drained and weak like it was on the chemo IV bags, so that is a big plus.

I am gearing up for my trip and got some wild, fantastic news from Denmark. My cousin who is the CEO of a HUGE company called EnergiDanmark and has become very wealthy off of wind energy just bought a huge farm with a nice "house" on the property that has a name: Rosvang. It's not a castle, but looks like a little one. He has many farm buildings and at least 800 pigs. Man, could that keep me in bacon for my whole trip or what? I attached a photo of his new home and I will be visiting there, too, and I am very pumped to see it and the farm. I am in awe of my cousin and very proud of him. Three years ago, he said his company had a 2.4 billion dollar (not kroner, but dollar!) turnover. Yeah, he is making some serious money, hence the digs suitable for a viscount.

Nice! You're going to have an awesome time!

Extremely pleased to hear about the somewhat lesser side effects of this round of chemo, bro

Cant wait to see some interior pictures of "Skyfall" :D

Was that built with Lego's? :D

That house is incredible. And yes, he won't notice if some "bacon" goes missing. :)

Ed,

Is Irish bacon like American bacon, Canadian bacon, or something different entirely?

Have fun on your trip!

the pigs are drunk :)

Ed that is quite the digs to shack up in! Does it come with wenches ?

I have no idea about Irish bacon, never had any yet. I do know that Danish bacon is much better than ours because they don't just let the pigs gorge themselves on slop. They "starve-feed" the pigs, meaning they feed them a bit, let them go until they get very hungry, feed them a bit, and repeat. It produces a long, lean pig and I kid you not, the ratio of fat to meat on Danish bacon is just about the inverse of typical American bacon. My cousins have come over here and seen ours in the stores and can't believe it is even for sale.

My cousin does have a new girlfriend, so I guess it comes with one wench. Now if that were MY manor house, ohhhh yes, it would come with wenches in very low cut, tight cinched tops. No tattoos or implants allowed! Ah, to dream...

Holy shit. If he wants me to come run his farm, I'm game.

Glad to hear the chemo is not quite so viscous.

I go in on Tuesday for a doc visit and blood draw. They will be checking my blood counts to see if I need a transfusion or not. I am thinking I won't, since my body is feeling stronger than it has in months and I am not plagued with side effects, at least so far. I think my neuropathy is easing up a little, too. My fingertips don't feel like someone is pinching them so much and my feet are feeling slightly less like my socks are full of sand. I have been getting swollen ankles and parts of the top of my feet, though. I need to remember to ask if I can have grapefruit again, since most of my meds and the chemo stuff make it off limits. When it gets warmer out, I just love a cold glass of grapefruit juice. Over in Denmark, they have very good grapefruit sodas, too.

Hang tough Lone, you're still in my prayers.

What a rough night I had... I am not sure if it is related, but after having two whole shot glasses of beer, I started to feel terrible. I finished the chemo pills the day before. My joints began to ache, starting in my hips and shoulders. Eventually, even my ankles and wrists hurt, but my right wrist felt like I had almost sprained it. I had a headache and chills and felt very queasy, too. Sleep was fitful and I woke up at 4:15 am feeling like I might throw up and feeling parched as well. So, I got up and had a big glass of water with two Tylenol pm tablets to try to make my headache better and allow me to sleep.

I slept for 5 hours after that and feel better than I did last night, but I am far from 100%, or whatever 100% is for me these days. I think it will be best if I forgo any more beer until I land in Denmark on April 26th. I will have been off the chemo pills for a bit over 2 weeks by then, so that stuff will be well out of my system then.

Still keeping you in my prayers, Fast Eddie

Ed, sorry to hear that you are having a rough go of it at the moment. Hopefully you will be feeling better in a month for your trip.

Thanks, I hope so, too! I was in bed most of the day and I have chills that come and go. My appetite was not so good this afternoon and evening, either. I started feeling stronger as I was watching the Walking Dead, but a couple of hours after that, I started going downhill again. I drank a pot of green tea, so I should be hydrated and up during the night to send it on its way. My joints don't ache like they did yesterday. I feel very tired now even though I was in bed for about 17 hours today, though not all at the same time. I hope I am not becoming anemic. I really don't know how to tell.

Good idea to lay off the beer till your trip big man. Have a blast my friend

Hope you're doing alright, Ed.

This stuff is pretty good. I like the blackberry myself but they have this grapefruit version as well. They sell them at Costco.

https://www.izze.com/wp-content/uplo...uit-can-lg.jpg

They sell them in bottles at Price Chopper and HyVee too, in the health food area. They're pretty good.

Thanks to being on Xarelto, I can't have grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and should even avoid grapefruit sodas. Damn! Oh, well. Over in Denmark, I like the orange sodas the best, in particular Nickoline brand with 15% juice. The lemon-lime is also terrific. They get Schwepps lemon as well and that is awesome.

I just knew you were gonna say this...

The thing that bugs me most about it is that in the summer when I come in from mowing or whatever, there is NOTHING that makes me feel better than a huge glass full of cold grapefruit juice. I can't get it into me fast enough. Hopefully, I will be off the Xarelto before I die. Blasted blood clots...

sassafrass tea. its good for the gut.

Consider mixing vodka and grapefruit juice. You will thank me later.

What happens if you drink the grapefruit juice?

MNT explains that furanocoumarins found in grapefruit inhibit the body's CYP3A4 metabolizing enzyme from properly breaking down medications. As a result, more of the drug winds up in the bloodstream, and toxic drug levels or overdose can occur, resulting in:

•respiratory failure
•gastrointestinal bleeding
•bone marrow suppression in patients with weak immune systems
•renal toxicity
•acute kidney failure
•sudden death

where can i find sassfrass tea at?

I haven't really looked for it, but doubt it is available at my local Price Chopper. Google it and see what pops up for online ordering. You might find some good prices that way, too.

found some here. its a concentrate. when you first open it, it reminds me of home.

Sassafras has significant safety concerns associated with it. I'd do your homework or ask your doctor before using if I were you.

The oil which makes the plant poisonous is still present in tea preparations at several times the safe level even in those preparations which claim to have removed it. The oil is a known carcinogen and can cause liver damage in higher amounts. I am not sure a physician would permit a patient with a complex medical history to use it.

That sounds like something I should avoid! My liver is rather a mess.

Well, I am sure you have a great team of professionals to ask rather than get medical advice on CP, but I'm sure you know that ;)

You might ask about other things which do have some support behind them for gi discomfort like ginger, turmeric, peppermint oil, slippery elm, cinnamon.

Except for slippery elm, the other things are pretty regular parts of my diet. One thing I was told is that the new cancerous lymph node is swollen and pushing on things, causing my discomfort.

Tonight, I had one of those warm your heart moments. Some background first... my best friend was killed when I was 12 but I stayed close to the family, since he and I were twin sons of different mothers. His sister is my big sis and I was a father figure to her two children when they were young. I even changed the girl's diapers once. She was just here with me tonight learning how to cook Danish meatballs and Danish white gravy with parsley. In my mind, it was not that long ago that I changed her diapers. She has been accepted to the KU School of Medicine to become a nurse practitioner. I am so proud of her and it is such a joy to see the capable, confident, focused young lady that she is now at 23 years of age. I could not be more proud of her if she was my actual daughter. Spending the time with her, showing her how to make one of my favorite dishes, and letting her do a lot of the cooking after I showed her what to do was beyond wonderful to me. It makes me envy those of you guys out there who are fathers. Isn't it amazing how those precious little girls work their way into your heart?

Yes ed. Yes it is.

I surely hope she is not into photography of the anatomy as a side hobby :shake:

No, she is not! We talked a bit about that and she had heard all about it.

:D

Excellent job and keep fighting good man!

You are a good man, Ed. Wish everyone could focus on the important things in life like you do! I pray for your total and complete recovery so that you can continue to be a beacon for others for many, many years!!!

Thank you very much for that. But, if things do go poorly and I end up dying from this, remember what I have said: I didn't lose my battle with cancer. I won. I aim to kill the stuff, and if I die, it dies, too, so I win either way.

Damn I Know it's cliche and been said a ton but damn Ed you really do
Inspire me my friend. Your in my thoughts daily and just keep at it big man. Again have fun on that trip :)

That's some heavy shit man.

Always rootin for ya

Tomorrow, Monday, I start up on the chemo pills again. I will take my anti-nausea meds earlier this time if it affects me the same way. I have an appointment at 10:15 am on Wednesday at the cancer center, and I am unsure if that will be the last one before my trip or not. As of tomorrow, it will be 3 weeks until I leave. I've gotten my pre-trip research done on new places to see, bus and train schedules written down, flight information, and all that other stuff. I like to do as much work on my trip before I go so that I don't have to look things up over there, thereby maximizing my time to enjoy my surroundings, not to mention downing pints in my pubs.

I am getting in better shape, slowly, but better than not at all. My arms in particular have a lot better tone now than they have in months. I just tire out easily since my blood cell counts are low. I walked around outside quite a bit today and noticed that I was not breathing hard, so having 2 weeks off of the pills does help me a lot. That is good to know since I will have to drag my luggage from where the bus station is to the apartment I am renting in Løkken, and it's not quite a third of a mile walk. I will have been off the pills for 2 weeks by that time, just like today. My friends' café is about 500 feet from my apartment, and I always stop in there to let them know I am in town, so if I am tired from hauling my stuff, I can sit down and rest for a bit.

Whats all this talk of things going poorly, of peace with the enemy?

Sounds like you better have a talk with the Full Bird

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There is no peace with the enemy here. I hate my cancer like nothing I have ever hated before.

oh, now they tell me!!! :banghead:

all through cub scouts and boy scouts we drank a ton of sassafras tea, using plants we pulled from the forest floor... :huh:

didn't have any daughters but have three granddaughters and a grandson...

makes me wish i had started my family sooner and not to have been so much older (in body but not in spirit) while the grandkids are growing up and then starting off on new lives...

but i sure can relate to your taking such well-deserved pride in your budding nurse practitioner; congratulations for having contributed to her becoming the person she is today... :clap: :clap: :clap:

winner...

damn straight!!

winner!! :thumb:

I started on the chemo pills again Monday and it was not fun. It felt like someone kicked me in the gut and I was in pain all day and into the night. Luckily, it was not bad the next day and I caught up on sleep for the most part. Wednesday, I had my appointment at the cancer center. Initially, I was very pleased to see a nurse who usually was in the treatment area on the third floor, but she was going to jab me and do the blood draw. The last time she did that, it felt like she merely pressed her fingertip against me. Not this time. Even though she does it the same way every time, it hurt! I winced and twitched, saying OW! It even bled when she took the needle out of my port, which is very unusual. Sure, there is a drop or two, but this time, it was running. She felt bad, but I know it was not her fault. I can't explain why, but every time is different. It varies from no pain at all to feeling like a nail instead of a needle. Often, it's between a big mosquito bite to a bee sting regarding the pain involved.

Anyhow, after that, I waited almost 90 minutes before my doc came into the exam room, and I had to keep asking him stuff to keep him from running off. He spoke with me for not even 10 minutes. We went over my trip, I asked him if my feet and ankles swelling up should be something to worry about and he said not so much, and I got a double prescription so I won't run out of my xarelto and metoprolol during my long time in Europe. I teased the nurse later when she double checked what I needed from the pharmacy. I said if she can't get me double on the blood thinners, I will just drink more alcohol over there to keep my blood clots at bay. She scolded me even though I think she knew I was just messin'.

Now I just have to get through this cycle of pills. Two more days, then I have the weekend off, then Monday to Friday next week and I am done with them until I get back. Oh, and I told my doc about feeling like I am about to throw up often, but I end up sneezing instead. He has never heard of such a side effect. I've had several new ones that medical science has not yet seen. I just know I am going to end up in some lab soon where they will study me like I am some kind of mutant. It better pay well, dammit.

This morning didn't start off so well. Eight or nine dry heaves turned my guts into a pretzel and even though it was 2 hours ago, my insides still hurt from that! :grr:

:( man I sure hope to hear some good news soon

Try to grin and bear it, or you could just gin and beer it!

Sounds like the side effects of the drugs are in full swing. Let's hope that the primary effects of the drugs is also in full swinging that the drugs are kicking those cancer cells' ass. Hang in there, buddy.

I had Mexican food tonight and it calmed my stomach down a bit. Is that good?

Ed, even though I've been gone a while, I've never stopped praying for you and Dave.

Chin up.

I appreciate that very much. Say, speaking of Dave... I wonder how he is?

Ed you will know how good the Mexican food is when morning rolls around and you are sitting on the growler. :D If you're like me, I like my Mexican food with the super hot salsa which tastes great at the time, but the next morning can be a bit of an adventure. You're still In my thoughts buddy.

Medium hot is all I can tolerate anymore and nothing I had was beyond mild, but it was very tasty and settled my stomach down, which was a welcome relief. I am glad I have two days off the chemo pills and I hope it is noticeable. Thanks for all the support out there!

If you don't need asbestos toilet paper the next day then it wasn't hot enough. We had some green chili in hunting camp a few years ago that we accused the cook of causing forest fires from self-ignition.:fire: