01/17/11 We have lost a good friend and taffer - *Zaccheus* (see latest posts)

jay pettitt on 3/7/2010 at 20:44

...but also :) for all the times we've agreed, and disagreed, on important internet stuff.

Marlow on 3/7/2010 at 21:51

It feels quite weird to find this thread - about a week before your original post my brother, also suffering from cancer (and fighting it for several years by now), was told it's the end and he'll probably be gone by autumn. Right now we're helping him get through it.
Not that it's comforting to hear other people are suffering too, but - I feel inspired by your attitude towards what is happening. I don't think I'll be able to say anything clever here, so - all the best to you all.........

...and how about the laptop? Can you play Thief? :)

Renault on 3/7/2010 at 22:30

Best wishes Zach - I read your blog, sounds like you've been through quite a bit. You're tough as nails, and I guess this is just one more challenge. Stay strong man, and good luck...

And hey, if you can still play Thief, maybe things aren't so bad. :cool:

Edit: Also, is there an address we can send stuff to, to make your hospital stay a bit easier? What kind of things are allowed? I'd love to send ya a six pack. :ebil:

The Fire Eater on 4/7/2010 at 08:12

how terribly I'm saddened by this thread and your blog. Just to let you know I can share some of your bouts with this nasty disease, although not near the seriousness that you are facing. I wrote in another thead about going to hospital to get an MRI but basically due to my Dr. curious about my pancreous due to my having developed diabites, staying under control with pills. However it turned out I had developed a mass in my upper right side of my colon, approx 5mm. I went in for surgery on 5 May and they removed it, it did not get into my lymph nodes but apparently was at stage 2. The surgery was successful and I have recovered very well so far. However because of my age and life expectency (will be 73 this month) chemo was an option (with maybe 2/3% benefit) but I've decided that going through all that misery just not worth it.

Surgical Dr. says he want me to get rechecked yearly but again that was such a horrible experience the last time when I had to get myself preped that I'm very leary of going through same situation possibly again. Without going into a lot of detail, I ended up with dry heaves and had to be taken into hospital via an ambulance. It was a very painful experience to say the least.

Then to make matters worse I had a pinched nerve in my upper right leg/hip, which my primary Dr. thought it might be from my back. But I said no, my back is not hurting. Xray later confirmed it was in my hip (degenerative arthritus), so I was going around with two canes while dealing with this other business. Tried cordeszone(sp?) shot but did not help, so when I got out of hospital about a week later, they sent me to a convelesant for some physical therapy. Stayed there about another week and eventually it healed so that I no longer needed canes pretty much. I think the most helpful thing I got there was a machine that generated electrical pulsating massage into my back to help relax muscles. I also got to play with a WII for the first time. :D Played a bowling game and tennis, so that was kindof fun and helped pass the time for a bit. I would have been able to borrow one of my Son's laptop but they had no WiFi and since short time there didn't want to invest in a cable hookup but they did have a TV for me to use out of services, so I did get some intertainment that way, thank goodness!

Now only time will tell as to how I fair out. My sadness for you is that you are such a much younger person while I'm nearing end of my life, but don't let that you think that I'm ready to leave this world yet, LOL, not by a long shot! So I can only say that I have enjoyed all the contributions you have made for this silly game we love to call "our first person sneaker" and hope you can get it working on that laptop to give you some pleasant diversions while you deal with this mess in your body. Since you are a religious person I hope that will also give you some comfort as well as for your family. I wish you well "Z" and may your path be gentle as well as peaceful. :)

rachel on 4/7/2010 at 08:28

sucks :(

Best wishes Zaccheus

*Zaccheus* on 5/7/2010 at 09:33

Thank you, Fire Eater !

Quote Posted by Brethren

Also, is there an address we can send stuff to, to make your hospital stay a bit easier?

Thanks for the offer but I'm not giving out any addresses. :)

Thief13x on 5/7/2010 at 19:44

in my prayers:(

EvaUnit02 on 6/7/2010 at 10:33

Damn, that sucks man. I hope that you make a full recovery. I wish that I could do more for you.

Rug Burn Junky on 6/7/2010 at 18:44

Just for the record, you guys are all obviously trying to kill him by (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16569567) telling him that you're praying for him.

I do hope for the best for you -- no pain or suffering and that you put off the "dying stage" as long as possible -- but I certainly ain't praying for you.

Sulphur on 6/7/2010 at 19:01

That's pretty damn odd. There's no direct correlation to imply causation unless they're saying that psychological factors of debatable/relatively variable importance can influence the body's ability to recover from major surgery.

Anyhow, I don't want to swerve this thread into a debate about that; like I said before, you have my hope that you kick this thing, Zaccheus.