I have cancer...

[bigboxes]

Sorry to hear that. Prayers sent up!

 

[mztykal]

Wishing you the best and I know you’ll beat this!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. It means a lot to me.

It's funny, my insurance company (through work) has assigned a healthcare advisor to me and she was asking me questions about my mental state, if I've had any suicidal thoughts etc. Um, no... I want to live! Anyway, I'm trying to remain positive despite all the poking and prodding. I think I have a good team of doctors and my stem cell team at Moore's Cancer Center in San Diego is the best in the area so I'm in good hands. I will beat this. And I haven't lost my hair yet but that is inevitable.

I have a port installed in my chest, which has healed up nicely, to make it easier to administer the chemo treatments which is annoying but seems to be the best solution for this sort of thing.

 

[snoopy7548]

Good luck, man. You'll kick its ass.

 

[nisryus]

I wish you best of luck.

Just like what snoopy7548 said, go kick its ass!

 

[bbhaag]

Sorry to hear that man...... My dad is a two time cancer survivor so I know that there is hope for you.

 

[skyking]

All the cool people have ports. Keep on keeping on, and your hair will come back different. My brothers was darker and thick. Hoping for only the best for you, Jules.

 

[Chaotic42]

Damn dude, I'm sorry to hear that. Kick it ass, man.

 

[herm0016]

Good luck Jules. You can do it!

 

[Muadib]

Sorry to hear this. You can beat it though!

 

[burninatortech4]

Any updates, Jules?

 

[JM Aggie08]

Godspeed, homie. Great reminder for me to make sure that my bone marrow donation profile is up to date.

 

[pmv]

Sorry to hear that. Good luck! (Don't know whether "like" is really the appropriate reaction emoji, but I absolutely agree with your final line, so went with that...)

 

[lxskllr]

(Don't know whether "like" is really the appropriate reaction emoji

This place really does need more emoji. We had a ton of them awhile ago. Could've used a little pruning, but the ones left are insufficient.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

First time seeing this thread. Good luck and hope your treatments are going well. Hopefully OP is kicking cancer's ass!

 

[sonoma1993]

good luck and I hope you beat cancer ass

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Hang tough brother, you got this. 💪

If you have not already done so, get involved with support groups. Chock-a-block with good advice.

https://www.cancercare.org/support_groups/tagged/mantle_cell_lymphoma

https://www.lls.org/support-resources/support-groups

We are the same age. Back at the turn of the century, I went through 6 months or so of tests and surgeries, grinding it out because it was strongly suspected I had Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Went to my Doc because the lymph node under my chin felt like a walnut and I was waking up drenched in sweat. He went from his usual jovial bedside to super serial like flipping a switch, after the say AHHH part. Blood work results had him downright grim. He referred me to an ENT. He too got super serial just looking at my right tonsil and reading my files. CT, MRI, biopsies, exploratory throat surgery plus a tonsillectomy. Then further months of uncertainty before getting clear with the Oncologist.

I don't do the deities thing, but I am the power of positive thinking type. It was removing the malignant tonsil that saved my ass. But I choose to gaslight myself that focusing my mental energy on destroying my adversary, including visualization, and being indefatigably positive the whole time, helped with the positive outcome.

I'll 🍾one for you to help celebrate after you have beat MCL by KTFO.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Hang tough brother, you got this. 💪

If you have not already done so, get involved with support groups. Chock-a-block with good advice.

https://www.cancercare.org/support_groups/tagged/mantle_cell_lymphoma

https://www.lls.org/support-resources/support-groups

We are the same age. Back at the turn of the century, I went through 6 months or so of tests and surgeries, grinding it out because it was strongly suspected I had Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Went to my Doc because the lymph node under my chin felt like a walnut and I was waking up drenched in sweat. He went from his usual jovial bedside to super serial like flipping a switch, after the say AHHH part. Blood work results had him downright grim. He referred me to an ENT. He too got super serial just looking at my right tonsil and reading my files. CT, MRI, biopsies, exploratory throat surgery plus a tonsillectomy. Then further months of uncertainty before getting clear with the Oncologist.

I don't do the deities thing, but I am the power of positive thinking type. It was removing the malignant tonsil that saved my ass. But I choose to gaslight myself that focusing my mental energy on destroying my adversary, including visualization, and being indefatigably positive the whole time, helped with the positive outcome.

I'll 🍾one for you to help celebrate after you have beat MCL by KTFO.

Thanks brother. I appreciate you. I’m glad you didn’t need to go through what I’m going through. I did MRI, multiple CT scans, two PETCT scans and a bone marrow biopsy (that was fun). The ones where I had to remain still for 20-30 minutes were excruciating because my lower back was in such pain and lying flat in one position was very painful. Once I started chemo my lymph node inflammation decreased pretty quickly so I’m not in pain anymore. It was the lymph nodes in my abdomen that were inflamed and that was causing my lower back pain.

I am actually in the hospital right now for more chemo, which I seem to be tolerating well. It really hits me a couple days after returning home which consists of feeling tired and weak with some nausea but I have drugs that help with that. I’m supposed to get out of here tomorrow. I have two more of these stints in the hospital and then a stem cell transplant in November. They are doing this bit of chemo on an in patient basis because it is administered every 12 hours and out patient facilities near are not open long enough to provide that kind of service.

I have my wife and family and friends who have been wonderful support through this emotional roller coaster and overall I am feeling pretty positive.

 

[SunnyD]

God I think I need to stop checking in here. It's like all I see is bad news.

Cancer sucks. Hope you're making progress beating that shit. Best wishes!

 

[Captante]

Hang in there Jules .... and I believe I speak for everyone here with the below: