So I just found out I have cancer..

[RobertK]

The Dr. says it's Stage IIa mainly because he could see a little in the upper chest area that I didn't catch when looking at my PET scan.

I know Tara and everyone else was hoping for Stage I but I knew deep doen that is a rare catch (maybe if the doctors hadn't jerked me around for 2 months they could have caught it as Stage I). I was just excited that it wasn't Stage III+ but I could tell Tara almost lost it in the Dr. office. It's been particularly hard on her since the day I had to tell her because she lost her dad to metastatic Pancreatic cancer when she was 17. In her mind all cancer = death.

So the regiment is 4 months of ABVD Chemotherapy every other Friday starting this Friday. Once that is finished up then I will go for radiation treatment to follow up.

In the meantime I've decided to take the 48hr fast before chemo approach to help shield my healthy cells from the chemo and hopefully recover faster from it's effects.

I'll try to get some pics from the chemo pit when I go. Tara has been with me every step of the way and it's helped calm my nerves.

[Vedubin01]

Keep the spirits up and we are all pulling for ya! :)

[Jand3rson]

I want to know how they figured out blasting you with radiation would help to treat cancer. Weren't they at least a little bit afraid of you turning into a 15 foot tall green psycho when you got angry?

[joshh]

This is more serious than I originally thought.
Good luck man. I'll drink a cold one for you on Friday.

[318isbmw]

Sad its not 1a but atleast it isn't worse. Glad to see your still joking about it.
Still praying for you and hoping it gets better for the family as well cuz I can only imagine.

[OOMPH!]

God Bless you man! You are in my thoughts and prays! Get well!

[mtechnik]

Happy to hear that it's still in the earlier stages. Your wife, Tara will come around.

[Huff]

Well, I'm just some dude on the internets whom you haven't met and probably won't meet in person... But your story and what you've shared here is unbelievably moving and I can now say your fight is truly in my thoughts. I know everyone has out their two cents in, but know you and your wife are now something I'm going to think about until this struggle is won. Good luck to you and your family.

[RobertK]

Thanks everyone... I have no doubts I will beat this down.

I started my fasting as of 9PM last night. Not that waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles juice fasting but real nothing but water fasting. I'm a big guy (6ft 230lbs) and I like food so my stomach is not very happy right now. I can also feel that my blood sugar is a little low so I'm a little drowsy.

My hopes are that from fasting I will protect my body from as much of the collateral damage that chemo causes and hopefully tone down the after effects. It takes a few hours to metabolize the chemo and get it out of your system so hopefully I will get to have a nice dinner Friday evening if I'm lucky enough to not have bad nausea.

After that I plan on getting some good nutrition in me to build up my healthy cells again. If I'm lucky I will finally lose the 40lbs I always wanted to and get back to my target weight (and stay there afterwards).

[mtechnik]

Much strength with the fasting. I like my tummy too. :)

[Psyops]

Just a thought...you might reconsider the fasting thing. Talk with your medical team about your plan and ask about a nutrtional regimen to bolster your immune system. Often they will tell you to simply maintain a well balanced diet prior to chemo and to be sure to stay well hydrated. Have you discussed this with your oncologist? I would not make any radical changes in diet without first discussing it with your MD.

[RobertK]

Just a thought...you might reconsider the fasting thing. Talk with your medical team about your plan and ask about a nutrtional regimen to bolster your immune system. Often they will tell you to simply maintain a well balanced diet prior to chemo and to be sure to stay well hydrated. Have you discussed this with your oncologist? I would not make any radical changes in diet without first discussing it with your MD.

I have and of course he said no don't do it... but I know that's the common answer for people fighting cancer. I've read much online and many of you might have already about some of the srudies.

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080401/fasting-before-chemo-protects-healthy-cells.htm

I will only be fasting for a short period of time and then Friday evening and the next 11 before the next treatment I will be loading up on nutrition like crazy.

I know the fasting before chemo is still in clinical trials but I have a good gut feeling that it will help with the chemo side effects. Besides I'm technically 40lbs overweight so I have plenty of reserves.

[Scotaku]

The chemo takes a lot longer than a few hours to work it's way out, believe me. I've got two more 5FU rounds to go and they are no laughing matter... though I've kidded "5FU" really means five times effed up. ;)

A good friend of mine is a nutritionist at Hopkins and her specialty is therapy and recovery diets. When I asked about fasting/liquid diets before chemo she encouraged me to instead eat lightly and not go cold turkey before a round. It's going to make you feel crappy before the chemo makes you feel super crappy. The stuff works by poisoning the cancer cells as they eat... but all your other cells are eating too. By cutting off the supply of nutrients, you trigger your body into the early stages of fat burning... but then the chemo floats by and looks so delicious that the cells consume it too, possibly at a higher rate for the period set off by the fasting.

Without a doubt, drink LOTS of water. The poison is not fully consumed and some of it will pass into your bladder and bowel where it can concentrate. Dilute the hell out of it to avoid the hell I've been through.

[BobombETA]

A co-worker of mine just beat Hodgkin's. She did the chemo and radiation routine, with surgery. More than anything though I think it was her positive outlook that helped her the most.

But it looks like you already have that part covered.

Best of luck to you. Keep your spirits high and you can overcome anything.

[SamE30e]

I want to know how they figured out blasting you with radiation would help to treat cancer. Weren't they at least a little bit afraid of you turning into a 15 foot tall green psycho when you got angry?

That'd be fucking awesome!!