Shameless Beggar

[Coop]

1 hour ago, Tom King said:

Here's a picture of my Wife winning a Group Four in a 3,500 dog show with one of our stud dogs, while doing chemo.  They know so much more about it these days, and getting better.  The recent finds by Duke about it hiding in bone marrow I believe will make a Big difference.

Beautiful lady. Hopefully Rick's wife and Beth and thousands like them, will be as fortunate!

Eric, pm me, as your mailbox is full.

[Eric.]

4 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

 

Eric, pm me, as your mailbox is full.

I think it might be your box that's full, Coop...I tried sending you a PM and it failed.  My box was at 76% and I just deleted most of that.  Double check?

[Tom King]

Eric, about what size person is Beth.  I have a very strong opinion about something that directly applies here, if she is a small person.  It's from personal experience with chemo, my Wife, and another small friend.  I'll leave this public, instead of PM, in case anyone else might get something useful from it.

[RichardA]

39 minutes ago, Tom King said:

Eric, about what size person is Beth.  I have a very strong opinion about something that directly applies here, if she is a small person.  It's from personal experience with chemo, my Wife, and another small friend.  I'll leave this public, instead of PM, in case anyone else might get something useful from it.

PM me, my wife is presently going through chemo, for the third round!

[Eric.]

44 minutes ago, Tom King said:

Eric, about what size person is Beth.  I have a very strong opinion about something that directly applies here, if she is a small person.  It's from personal experience with chemo, my Wife, and another small friend.  I'll leave this public, instead of PM, in case anyone else might get something useful from it.

She's fairly small.  Probably 5'5", maybe 110 pounds?

[BeautysBeast]

The wisdom that you impart on this board is worth way more than I can afford to donate, but I will give what I can. True friends are rare, and should be cherished as you cherish yours.

Gods speed.

[Eric.]

12 minutes ago, BeautysBeast said:

The wisdom that you impart on this board is worth way more than I can afford to donate, but I will give what I can. True friends are rare, and should be cherished as you cherish yours.

Gods speed.

Thanks man!  What's your first name, for the record?

[BeautysBeast]

Mark.

[Eric.]

3 hours ago, BeautysBeast said:

Mark.

 

Thank you for the donation, Mark.  Much appreciated!

[Tom Cancelleri]

Just saw this post. Good on you for raising money for this E. I did a metric century ride in the Diabetes Tour De Cure 6 years ago that ended my long distance bike riding hobby due to injury. I lost both my grandmothers, and one of my dogs to cancer. I'd say I'm happy to donate, but more along the lines of I'm sad that we have to donate and fight it. 

Advice for long rides:

Hydration - I did double 24 ounce bottles on my frame, and wore a camelbak hydration pack.

Stretch - warm your muscles and stretch before your ride. 

Pace - Start slow and keep a rather comfortable and steady pace. By mile 45 you're gonna be glad you did. The last 5 miles are always the worst. 

Energy - I kept Clif Shot Bloks in my bike jersey pocket, along with some 

Chafing - Chamois Butt'r. Also known as Nut Buttah! Helps keep you from getting chffing after riding so long and sweating. Hopefully you're wearing bike shorts for this (Please no tight spandex pics on the forums EVER)

Best of luck in the ride, let us know how it goes.

 

[BeautysBeast]

Eric. do you do long distance cycling? I have completed 4 century rides, and numerous shorter rides. Love to ride.

[Tom King]

Eric, that's about the same size as my Wife.   RichardA, I'm just going to go ahead and post it here, since she's already started, and probably already has a port.

My opinion, and this is strictly my opinion, is about ports in small women.

When we (my Wife, and I) were in the middle of everything going on, we got to the point where they were scheduling the beginning of Chemo treatments.  We knew nothing about it.  This was the first time we had even heard the name "port" in this context. 

A chemo port is an entry point directly into a major vein, not too far from the heart.  It requires another small operation, and the port is installed so the IV can be easily, and supposedly more safely, administered.  They show you scary pictures of what happens if you don't have a port, and the meds end up outside the vein. I don't know anyone in the place we were, with the experience we had, would have said not to get the port.  I'm sure they are taught this in school, and believe it themselves, or else they might not be so convincing.

The patient also has to take blood thinner to supposedly prevent clots around the port.

Now I'll tell a little bit about what the chemo treatment is like.  You go into a nice, big room, staffed with very pleasant nurses, and nice looking, comfortable recliners lining the perimeter of the room.  The chemicals are given by a slow drip IV that might take and hour or two.  There are a few nurses servicing 15 patients.  Almost everyone you see has a port hooked up.

The ports make it much easier for the whole process to take place, and without them, it would require much more staff.  The reason it would take much more staff is because of the worry about the chemicals going outside the vein, one of the nurses has to sit there and watch it go in the whole time.  I was told that there really isn't much worry, if the IV is hooked up correctly to start with, but someone has to watch the whole time anyway. 

There is always someone in there without a port for one reason or another.  If no one had a port, it would require one nurse per person the whole time.

If someone doesn't have a port, or if a port becomes clogged up, and they can't flush it out, a nurse is sitting there watching.

My Wife was scheduled for six treatments.  After the third treatment, her port became clogged up, and they had to start doing a manual IV with a nurse sitting there watching.  Pam's port not only became clogged up, but it sent her blood pressure going wild up and down, and we spent 7 hours in an Emergency Room until they figured out she needed emergency surgery to get the port out.  I saw the Ultrasound while she was getting it, and there were clots downstream from it just like I've seen in mountain streams when the water was below freezing but moving, and in the still parts behind big rocks, there were streamlined shaped blocks of ice bobbing a little bit in the turbulence.

Pam had her last Chemo treatments without a port.  I always went with her.  I asked the nurse how many people had the problem of the chemo getting outside the blood vessels, and she very indignantly said that it NEVER happened there.

I'll leave that story alone, and go to the next one.

Another small lady friend of ours was about to the point of scheduling chemo.  We were sitting with her, and her large family members.  She is some smaller even than my Wife.

My point about small women is that they have smaller blood vessels, and not as much blood flow as a larger person.  Back to those mountain streams, and the smaller streams with less flow had larger blocks of bobbing ice than larger, faster flowing streams.

Our friend's family got very worked up that I had only had the one experience, and certainly the nice, educated medical staff knew a lot more about it than I did.

Long story shortened, the exact same thing that happened to Pam happened to Renee.  The rest of her chemo went uneventful without a port.  I was very disappointed in myself that I didn't make a stronger stand against Renee getting a port, but I doubt anyway that it would have been an argument that I would be able to win.

Both now have a large dented scar in their chest where the port was.

I don't want anyone to take this as a recommendation.   I'm just passing along the way I see it.

I'm not a real large person, but not small like these ladies.  Anyway, if I ever have to undergo chemo myself, I'm not getting a damned port.

 

 

[RichardA]

40 minutes ago, Tom King said:

Eric, that's about the same size as my Wife.   RichardA, I'm just going to go ahead and post it here, since she's already started, and probably already has a port.

My opinion, and this is strictly my opinion, is about ports in small women.

When we (my Wife, and I) were in the middle of everything going on, we got to the point where they were scheduling the beginning of Chemo treatments.  We knew nothing about it.  This was the first time we had even heard the name "port" in this context. 

A chemo port is an entry point directly into a major vein, not too far from the heart.  It requires another small operation, and the port is installed so the IV can be easily, and supposedly more safely, administered.  They show you scary pictures of what happens if you don't have a port, and the meds end up outside the vein. I don't know anyone in the place we were, with the experience we had, would have said not to get the port.  I'm sure they are taught this in school, and believe it themselves, or else they might not be so convincing.

The patient also has to take blood thinner to supposedly prevent clots around the port.

Now I'll tell a little bit about what the chemo treatment is like.  You go into a nice, big room, staffed with very pleasant nurses, and nice looking, comfortable recliners lining the perimeter of the room.  The chemicals are given by a slow drip IV that might take and hour or two.  There are a few nurses servicing 15 patients.  Almost everyone you see has a port hooked up.

The ports make it much easier for the whole process to take place, and without them, it would require much more staff.  The reason it would take much more staff is because of the worry about the chemicals going outside the vein, one of the nurses has to sit there and watch it go in the whole time.  I was told that there really isn't much worry, if the IV is hooked up correctly to start with, but someone has to watch the whole time anyway. 

There is always someone in there without a port for one reason or another.  If no one had a port, it would require one nurse per person the whole time.

If someone doesn't have a port, or if a port becomes clogged up, and they can't flush it out, a nurse is sitting there watching.

My Wife was scheduled for six treatments.  After the third treatment, her port became clogged up, and they had to start doing a manual IV with a nurse sitting there watching.  Pam's port not only became clogged up, but it sent her blood pressure going wild up and down, and we spent 7 hours in an Emergency Room until they figured out she needed emergency surgery to get the port out.  I saw the Ultrasound while she was getting it, and there were clots downstream from it just like I've seen in mountain streams when the water was below freezing but moving, and in the still parts behind big rocks, there were streamlined shaped blocks of ice bobbing a little bit in the turbulence.

Pam had her last Chemo treatments without a port.  I always went with her.  I asked the nurse how many people had the problem of the chemo getting outside the blood vessels, and she very indignantly said that it NEVER happened there.

I'll leave that story alone, and go to the next one.

Another small lady friend of ours was about to the point of scheduling chemo.  We were sitting with her, and her large family members.  She is some smaller even than my Wife.

My point about small women is that they have smaller blood vessels, and not as much blood flow as a larger person.  Back to those mountain streams, and the smaller streams with less flow had larger blocks of bobbing ice than larger, faster flowing streams.

Our friend's family got very worked up that I had only had the one experience, and certainly the nice, educated medical staff knew a lot more about it than I did.

Long story shortened, the exact same thing that happened to Pam happened to Renee.  The rest of her chemo went uneventful without a port.  I was very disappointed in myself that I didn't make a stronger stand against Renee getting a port, but I doubt anyway that it would have been an argument that I would be able to win.

Both now have a large dented scar in their chest where the port was.

I don't want anyone to take this as a recommendation.   I'm just passing along the way I see it.

I'm not a real large person, but not small like these ladies.  Anyway, if I ever have to undergo chemo myself, I'm not getting a damned port.

 

 

My wife already has a port, and going through these sessions, she's been lucky as far as clogging goes, no problems as of yet. Gets flushed every Tuesday if she's getting a treatment or not!  The only problem she's had and it was a major one, is that the pain meds they put her on, are opiates and they told her she "might" get constipation.  Fact:  Opiates shut down the bowel's function and it's ability to pass the waste. It nearly killed my wife! Her system was so clogged up with feces, and it caused enormous pain!  After some research, we determined that the pain meds were killing her faster than the cancer.  She forcefully told all three of her Doctors that she was stopping the pain meds, and they had better figure out a way to clean out her bowels, or there will be legal action.....  They found a way, but it took almost a month, and now she's handling the pain without opiates and her bowels are free and clear.  I get the feeling that Lawyers scare Doctors!   Thanks for your input, and I'm glad your wife is doing well !  We keep our fingers crossed for all that have to go through this!   

[estesbubba]

Eric - just watched the video and your friend has one of the best treatments - a positive attitude. It's easier said than done, but I'm a firm believer that staying positive and continuing to enjoy life can make a big difference taking cancer head-on, or any sickness.

Richard - we're all pulling for your wife and you guys will win this battle.

Cancer took my Mom 15 years ago, diagnosed in my Dad a year ago (still fighting), diagnosed in my youngest sister 6 months ago (removed with clean margins), and I beat it 44 years ago (removed right kidney, chemo, & radiation) and beat it again a year ago (removed part of left kidney, clean margins). 

100% going to research is awesome - I'm in!

[Eric.]

Wow Mike, that's a lot of cancer for one family.  Glad to hear you're toughing it out and beating that bastard.  Thanks for your donation buddy!

[ghost]

Eric, i saw on another post that you are in St. Charles county.

I, unfortunately will be in St. Charles in a couple of weeks because of the turd that is causing you to have a bike ride.

my sister has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the brain and lung, and a couple of other places. diagnosis is 6 months.

i can only make a small donation, because of getting the wife, daughter, and my self there. i pray your friend has a positive outcome on this battle she is in. 

ride with a purpose, and think about those that are fighting the good fight.

 

[Eric.]

10 minutes ago, ghost said:

Eric, i saw on another post that you are in St. Charles county.

I, unfortunately will be in St. Charles in a couple of weeks because of the turd that is causing you to have a bike ride.

my sister has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the brain and lung, and a couple of other places. diagnosis is 6 months.

i can only make a small donation, because of getting the wife, daughter, and my self there. i pray your friend has a positive outcome on this battle she is in. 

ride with a purpose, and think about those that are fighting the good fight.

 

Thanks for the donation man, and my thoughts are with you and your family.  Under different circumstances I'd say stop by the lumberyard for a while and let's shoot the breeze, but you'll have your hands full I'm sure.  I hope the doctors can help your sister.  So sorry to hear that.

What's your first name?

Thanks again.

[ghost]

Paul

while i can't do anything, where is the yard? St. Charles?

thanks for the thoughts.

at this point it is more quality of life than heaing. thanks again

[Eric.]

Thanks again for the donation, Paul.

Yeah the yard is in St. Peters which is a suburb of St. Charles County.  U-Pick Hardwoods.  If you're going to Siteman Cancer Center, you'll be less than 10 minutes away.  (Siteman is one of the two main recipients of the Pedal the Cause donations, the other being Children's Hospital.)

[Virginia Mark]

Eric, I'm glad to help, I lost my Dad 16 years ago to cancer. I still thinks about him every day.

[Eric.]

Thank you Mark!

[ghost]

Eric, small world, i'll be off Kisker, Whitmoor Country Club.

anyway, raise a ton of $$$, and have a great ride!

[Eric.]

4 minutes ago, ghost said:

Eric, small world, i'll be off Kisker, Whitmoor Country Club.

anyway, raise a ton of $$$, and have a great ride!

Definitely a small world.  The owner of the lumberyard lived in Whitmoor up until about a year ago.

[ghost]

Eric, did you meet your number?

[Eric.]

1 hour ago, ghost said:

Eric, did you meet your number?

Yeah Paul I did, actually on the first night I posted this thread, to my amazement.  My pledged contribution was $350...we've totally surpassed that...raised $1500 from the WTO peeps!  Awesome.

Donations can still be made through September.