Hi everyone -- I've been a little quiet on the board for the past couple of months, for good reason. I was hit with a bit of bad news recently, and I hadn't shared this with anyone except Paul, but thought I would now share with the rest of you.

On March 28th, my wife Sarah was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer. We thought she just had gastritis, so hear that cancer diagnosis was a real body blow.  I sort of went in into a daze, wondering whether I had heard the doctor correctly. But that was only the beginning of the news.  The doctor said she wasn't a candidate for surgery, and she might have a life expectancy of five weeks, or it might be five years. Believe me, these are words you never want to hear.

Apparently what we thought was a small problem in her lower stomach had actually spread out to the peritoneal fluid, which is the thin liquid that surrounds your vital organs like your kidneys, liver, stomach, etc.  Consequently, it was effectively everywhere in her abdomen.

She immediately started chemo and has been getting the chemo treatments every two weeks. On May 29th, she will be getting a CT scan to see whether the cancer is spreading (bad), staying in check (still bad, but buys us time), or regressing (good, but depends on how quickly it is regressing).

Sarah has been a real trooper in all of this -- she has maintained her normal cheery disposition despite feeling like shit half the time -- if any doesn't deserve this crap it is her.  It has certainly helped me to keep my life view in perspective.  I'm doing my best to be there in the moment for her and be supportive, but it's hard sometimes because I let my mind drift to what could be and I hate myself for that.  That is not a pleasant place to be, to be honest.  I'm trying to be optimistic, and maybe when we get an update on May 30th it will let me continue with that optimism.

People have asked what, if anything, we need.  We don't need money, let me make that clear. We have a great insurance plan and almost everything has been paid for from a medical standpoint.  I guess if you're into praying, then we could use those.  If you're not into religion, then  just good thoughts and vibes can be sent our way, especially around May 30th.

Anyway, not trying to be a downer, just thought I'd share this thing we're going through and to let you know I may or may not be an active participant on these boards for a while, but I do think of you guys and gals often and I'll try to occasionally pop in and give you an update.  Hopefully maybe even write something again sometime -- I haven't written a word since getting the news, which is understandable. I may need to just throw something on the page just to gain some sort of release.  Maybe that's what I'm doing now.  

I love my wife dearly.  We just celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary, which officially makes us old, I guess, but I can't imagine my life without her, and I feel helpless not be able to take this evil away from her. All we can do now is trust in the great doctors and nurses at MD Anderson in Houston, which is probably the greatest cancer hospital in the world, and we're very fortunate to live just a few miles away from the facility.  If anyone can make this miracle happen, it is these fine people.  Send good thoughts their way as well.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support as we head out on this journey.

Gary

Gary
Praying for your wife and you.
God bless
Dave

Really sorry to hear about this, Gary. I can't imagine how difficult something like this would be. I'll keep you guys in my thoughts. Really hope you guys get some good news soon.

Wow, Gary. So sorry to read this. I've been married 35 years as well. I can't imagine something like this happening to your partner after that length of time. You're almost one person by then.

I'm not religious, but I will definitely send positive thoughts and keep you and your wife in my thoughts.

Leitskev/Kevin here at SS was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer last fall. It's scary, but apparently there are big things on the horizon soon as far as treatments go.

I'm sorry if this comes off as clumsy. I never know what the right thing to say is in these situations.

Pia

Gary, I'm sending good wishes yours and Sarah's way. I hope it does some good for you and look forward to that update.

Oh dear, that's just not fair is it. So sorry to hear this news, Gary.

Sending you both prayers, hope, and strength.

Cannabis oil has turned out to be quite the miracle for some. I keep trying to get my GF's mom to have it who has stage 3 bladder cancer but she refuses. She's having chemo and is due to have her bladder removed soon. She puts her faith in the doctors because they helped her survive leukemia back in the 1980s. She was one of the first 5 people to have, what was then, pioneering bone marrow transplant. At 60-years-old now she is also the longest survivor from that group.

Good luck. I hope you get through this.

Life can be an utter shitbucket sometimes. On occasion, I actually believe I’m in hell and the only reason we are allowed to love is because the pain is much more severe when that love is threatened. I’m so sorry to hear about your wife. I’ve been married to my soulmate for 17 years but we’ve been together 30; part of me believes we’ve been together in countless lives. One day we will lose each other in this one, it is inevitable but each day I am grateful when it’s not today.

You both have my thoughts, prayers and well wishes for a full recovery.

-Mark

It’s hard to know even what to say to someone in this position. You are brave to share this, and it’s a testament to the SS community — that we are all like an extended family who will understand, feel your pain and try our best to offer support and sympathize.

My wife is a cancer survivor. I’m sure yours will be too.

Hi Gary

I went through a lot of this last fall with lung cancer. Doing well now and living with plenty of hope. I don't know anything about stomach cancer. In my case I was eligible for a targeted therapy that starves the cancer, which had spread very widely through my body and brain. Eventually the cancer will adapt, but for now the therapy is working. I hope they can have something similar for your wife. It is my personal belief that science is rapidly advancing on cancer. I think within 10 years, and maybe within 5, they'll be able to give people a cocktail of drugs tailored for their particular cancer. That cocktail will allow them to manage the cancer like a chronic disease. So for me the challenge is somehow surviving 5 years. With advanced computer tech they are able to find new therapies and bring them into use quicker. I hope the scan for your wife goes well. Scan weeks are anxious times. But there is hope. Science is giving us a lot of hope.

Kevin

Quoted from leitskev Hi Gary I went through a lot of this last fall with lung cancer. Doing well now and living with plenty of hope. I don't know anything about stomach cancer. In my case I was eligible for a targeted therapy that starves the cancer, which had spread very widely through my body and brain. Eventually the cancer will adapt, but for now the therapy is working. I hope they can have something similar for your wife. It is my personal belief that science is rapidly advancing on cancer. I think within 10 years, and maybe within 5, they'll be able to give people a cocktail of drugs tailored for their particular cancer. That cocktail will allow them to manage the cancer like a chronic disease. So for me the challenge is somehow surviving 5 years. With advanced computer tech they are able to find new therapies and bring them into use quicker. I hope the scan for your wife goes well. Scan weeks are anxious times. But there is hope. Science is giving us a lot of hope. Kevin

Kev, thanks for that -- I'm happy to hear you are doing better. I know each day is a challenge for you but hope there is continued improvement.  I agree that medical advances continue to amaze us and that hopefully sooner rather than later we have something to significantly delay or completely eradicate this horrible disease.  Keep up the good fight.

Quoted from DustinBowcot Cannabis oil has turned out to be quite the miracle for some. I keep trying to get my GF's mom to have it who has stage 3 bladder cancer but she refuses. She's having chemo and is due to have her bladder removed soon. She puts her faith in the doctors because they helped her survive leukemia back in the 1980s. She was one of the first 5 people to have, what was then, pioneering bone marrow transplant. At 60-years-old now she is also the longest survivor from that group. Good luck. I hope you get through this.

Dustin, funny you should mention that.  Our daughter surprised us this weekend by saying one of her friends offered to provide my wife with some weed to help with the nausea.  Unfortunately, we're in the great backward state of Texas, where anything and everything that can be helpful to you (like medicinal marijuana or cannisbis oil) is deemed either a misdemeanor or a felony (depending on the amount you have in possession).  But I have read of the effect as well, and maybe we'll have to travel to Colorado or some other state to get what we need for her comfort.

Hey Gary, so sorry to hear this news.

My thoughts and prayers will come your way.

Try and stay positive, and believe in miracles, as they do come true.

Check PM Gary.

Hey Gary, sorry to hear that news. Can't really imagine how I'd be able to handle that news.

I'm in the minority as being a complete fuddy-duddy about recreational use of cannabis being passed off as "medical," but the thing does have an actual medical use. Eons ago when I worked as one of the IT geeks in a pharma company, one of the products the company handled was Dronabinol (a.k.a. Marinol or Syndros) which is cannabis with the THC taken out of it, and specifically labeled as a treatment for nausea due to chemotherapy.

Should be legal (with a prescription) even in Texas.

Quoted from Gary in Houston Dustin, funny you should mention that.  Our daughter surprised us this weekend by saying one of her friends offered to provide my wife with some weed to help with the nausea.  Unfortunately, we're in the great backward state of Texas, where anything and everything that can be helpful to you (like medicinal marijuana or cannisbis oil) is deemed either a misdemeanor or a felony (depending on the amount you have in possession).  But I have read of the effect as well, and maybe we'll have to travel to Colorado or some other state to get what we need for her comfort.

Yeah, it's great for nullifying the side effects of hardcore treatments but it also can in some cases cure cancer. The human body has an endocannabinoid system that helps regulate cellular growth and prevent cancers from forming in the first place. Sometimes a failure in this system helps cancer cells grow, so, luckily for us, we have a plant that shares a symbiotic relationship with us. It grows what we need inside little trichomes.

Here's a medical article on it:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4958360/


Here's a woman that survived:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohU32VLYQCg


Clearly this is not the full story for everybody... because it doesn't work for everybody.

I still feel weird pushing this stuff. I was doing this 15-years ago and being called a conspiracy nut. Even though a lot has changed since then, it still makes me feel as though I sound like a nutjob.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7034441/New-dawn-cancer-war-Scientists-develop-revolutionary-drugs-stop-resistant-tumours.html

Just came out today. It's a matter of surviving a few years to get where the new tech/drugs can give us a longterm solution.

I spent a month exploring THC and CBD. I have tons of links. And I spoke to a retired oncology nurse who had her own anecdotal stories. I concluded that THC oils are unlikely to have an effect on most cancers. But we can't rule out that it helps with certain types of cancer. But contrary to the beliefs of many THC proponents, it has been pretty widely studied by mainstream science. And is still being studied.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife. Sending prayers your way.

The THC proponents I know all knew that pharma had already put massive amounts of study into it. The cancer-curing properties have been known since the 1970s - but the information was suppressed.

Gary,

So sorry to hear this.  We are all thinking about you and your wife and hoping for the best possible outcome.

Don

Hey, Dustin. I know we've had our disagreements, this is not one. I know you mean well here.

Anyone facing cancer has to do their own research and they have to be very careful. THC has a lot of advocates, but few if any of them are really scientists. And the industry is not suppressing anything. That's a myth. Research with THC goes on to this day, in a lot of places. THC was shown in labs to kill cancer cells. But we're talking in a test tube. There are many compounds that do that, but are useless in the human body. There are compounds that work in mice, but not humans.

I don't think big pharma suppresses. But if there is something they can't get a patent on, they don't invest the hundreds of millions needed to get a drug through clinical trials. However, THC is still tested in govt and charity funded institutions.

I simply could not find more than anecdotal stories that showed THC killed cancer in humans.

And, with my life on the line, I researched the bloody hell out of this. I even bought a couple of vials(which I ended up not using).

People with cancer have to research it and make up their own minds. If there are no other good options, it might be worth trying. But there is another downside. The "protocol" involved 90 days of dosing with THC every couple hours, then less frequent dosing after the 90 days. The dosing leaves you high all the time and often sleeping. And it's very expensive. The 90 day protocol should cost you several thousand dollars.

Again, I open to all possibilities short of holy water. But people have to be careful.

I'm sorry you and your wife are going through this. My thoughts are with you, and I hope by reaching out here you are getting that little bit of extra support we all need in trying times.

I agree it isn't being suppressed now, because vast profits can be made. However, it doesn't have to cost that much. There are home growers all over the US that will supply it far, far cheaper than pharma's. I'm not much to do with that scene any more, but I know quite a few growers still that would help. The cost shouldn't put anyone off as it can be circumvented. If that is all that is stopping you, there's a huge community of people out there willing to help if you want it.

So sorry to hear that Gary, sending positive thoughts!

Best wishes, mate. Stay strong.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Gary. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your wife. Hope you get some good news soon.

My thoughts, prayers, and positive vibes go out to you.

Gabe

Gary: All my best to you and your wife. So sorry to hear that you guys have to deal with this.

Just seeing this, Gary and I'm so sorry. Such sad news. I wish everything turns out alright, I'll pray for your wife.
So one day you wake up and hear this, how dreadful that must be.