OT - Fuck Cancer

Submitted by Cali Wolverine on
Looking for positive vibes, thoughts and prayers today from the board for a fellow Wolverine. As some of you know, my wife has been battling cancer for over 5 years. Unfortunately, we found out that she has developed a brain tumor. She is having the tumor removed today and her surgeon is very optimistic. Fortunately, for us we happen to have one of the best neurosurgeons in the country performing the surgery, and like my wife and I, he of course is a University of Michigan graduate (both undergrad and medical). So we are in good hands. Go Blue! On a side note, I really appreciate this blog. It is an amazing place to find all things Michigan and to get away from the real stresses of everyday life at times and for that I am grateful. EDIT: Our MGoDoctor attacked the cancer with an enthusiasm unknown to Mankind. This Doc is the Harbaugh of neurosurgeons. Doc said surgery went really well, and got the tumor out safely. Hopefully, there are no complications and my wife can get back on her feet quickly to battle the rest of the cancer that has metastasized in her lungs.

y2mh

September 29th, 2016 at 3:54 PM ^

 

 Brother, your wife is in my prayers. Unfortunately I know too well what you are going through. My wife was in remission until last year, and this year has been living hell. Hers has spread to the GI tract and is inoperable. Must be our move to the Bay Area. :P

 I want SO much for your wife to have a successful result and she kicks that disease to the curb for good. Be her support, her rock, her anchor in this fearful, uncertain time for her. Know my thoughts and prayers as I am sure many others are with both of you.

Hemlock Philosopher

September 29th, 2016 at 9:23 AM ^

Cali - my thoughts are with you. My fiancee was diagnosed with a glioblastoma last year. Chemo and radiation are working well to quell the bastard, but also doing a number on the good cells... Best wishes for your wife and you as her caretaker. Truly and surely: FUCK CANCER! 

RGard

September 29th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^

My brother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer 5 years ago.  He's done the chemo, radiation and is now doing immunotherapy.  While it has been rough for him, he has maintained a positive attitude the entire time, "I'm not dying from this shit".  I'm convinced his positive attitude has helped.

Keep the positive thoughts going. Your wife, you and your family are in my prayers.

Mr. Elbel

September 29th, 2016 at 9:25 AM ^

my fiancé just had a prophalatic double mastectomy done in May to prevent breast cancer. she's a high risk. her sister is doing her 2nd round of chemo after her breast cancer metastasized into her bones. this crap is heavy and this blog has been one of the things to help me through some aspects of it, along with our support group/church/that God dude. glad you've found some solace here too. prayers for you and your wife this morning.

Mr. Elbel

September 29th, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^

Yes, both of them have BRCA. I forget which number. The one with the higher risk to breast cancer as opposed to ovarian cancer. Her sister has had both breasts and her ovaries removed, went through chemo once, and is now living off a really expensive pill basically. She's taken everything very well though. One of the strongest human beings I know right there.

Same goes for my fiance. It was difficult for her to even do the surgery, but once her sister's cancer came back with a bleak outlook, she started the process of getting it done. Once she hits her mid thirties we'll be looking into the other operation as well.

ScruffyTheJanitor

September 29th, 2016 at 9:40 AM ^

I remember the first time I heard that high-risk women were just REMOVING THEIR BREASTS to prevent cancer. When just lopping off a part of  your body (and, rightly or wrongly, a very important part of many womens identity) is a preferable option, you are dealing with some nasty stuff.  I can't imagine going through that-- let alone while a sister is going through chemo at the same time. Here's to hoping you and your family stays strong and gets healthy. 

Mr. Elbel

September 29th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^

It is really difficult. Thankfully, she was able to go direct-to-implant, which helps with the identity thing. She has a great support group and I've tried to validate that she's not anything less of a woman because she went through that surgery. I'm really proud of her though. Even just to reach out for support...she didn't want to at first because she thought that everyone would think it's just a boob-job, when they are two completely different things. In one, you're adding to what's there and you can still feel everything. In the other, everything is taken out and replaced with something that is not of your body. She basically can't feel her chest anymore. So that was hard for her to even admit all of that and tell people, but she did it, and I couldn't be prouder of her.

Thankfully, after having 6 weeks out of work, she has fully recovered. They tested the tissue they took out and found nothing, so it seems like we did it early enough. Her risk for breast cancer went from about 70% to less that 1%. I now have more of a risk of breast cancer than she does. Her surgeons basically told her that we didn't need to come back and see them for another year, so great news with that.

ScruffyTheJanitor

September 29th, 2016 at 1:48 PM ^

We had a family friend whose insurance wouldn't pay for implants. After her mastectomy, a sleezeball jackass moved in on her and, because she was depressed, she didn't see what a scumball this absolute piece of shit was. 

Two seperate loans for 10k later, and she is broke and he is gone. The last time they spoke, he told her that the only reason he dated her was because she wore dentures (a car accident and infection when she was young), then made some joke about her lack of boobs. I'd kill that MFer if I ever saw him just out of principle. 

In other words: keep on keepin' on, Mr. Ebel. Sounds like you are an awesome husband. 

RationalBuckeye

September 29th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^

Thoughts and prayers, man. I'm visiting my neurosurgeon today for the pathology on a tumor I had removed from my brain last week, so this one hits a little too close to home. I hope your wife has the support and the luck she needs to get through this a-ok

DaBoss90

September 29th, 2016 at 11:37 AM ^

Sending good vibes for a positive result.  Should make people remember how unimportant "team loyalty" is compared to something like this.  Best of luck, and I hope you know that while people here can be jerks sometimes, there aren't too many groups of anonymous message board posters that are as compassionate and supportive as this bunch when it comes to what is really important.