I beat Cancer ... I hope :)

yep, it's true

why would I post this here? well, there are some really great people on this board. you've helped me with the death of a dog, a cancer diagnosis with a subsequent dog, music and video stuff, travel info....all kinds of shit. hell, one member even let me crash on his couch ! the few members I have been fortunate enough to meet have been uniformly cool.

this board is a release for most of us, I think. some of us may adopt a little bit of a persona but, even with that, I think/hope the true person shines thru. in my case...no, that's not me in my avatar. it's michael phelps, the olympic swimmer. I only mention this because of all the "oh go hit your bong" comments I get . anyway, here's who I am:

I'm old :shock: . I first heard TEN when I was 35 fricking years old and was hooked. just last year I RETIRED from 25 years with Las Vegas Fire Dept. before that, I framed houses. I retired, got the hell out of vegas and moved to salt lake city last august. things were/are great (except for the obvious). I love salt lake, have a great wife, a pyscho dog and good friends. I have a new house (filled with PJ posters ), I work a little part-time job at a golf course and see as much live music as I can. The SF GIANTS are World Champs and just beat the d**gers AGAIN. My hair's getting long again, like it was in the 70s . we have enough money and everything was/is cool. then, this:

After pooping blood for months and losing weight at an alarming rate, I went to see an internal medicine guy. He sent me for a colonoscopy. I had that done on May 10. He found a "plum sized" mass in my lower colon (almost rectal). At the time, he surmised it was cancer. Pathology confirmed it. I had a CT Scan two days later and, thankfully, the cancer hasn't spread.

Yesterday, I met with a colon-rectal surgeon, a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist. The surgeon did a (painful) ultrasound and graded my cancer a Stage II due to some involvement of the surrounding muscle. Lymph nodes are clear. The plan is to get a porta-cath implanted this Monday (for 24/7 chemo infusion), start radiation on Tuesday and chemo on Thursday. I'll do that for 6 weeks to try to shrink the mass and kill any cancer around it. Then, I'll take 8 weeks off and have the fucking thing removed at the end of September. Should be a 4 hour operation. After the operation, I may or may not do another 6 months of chemo.

It is what it is. I'm not thrilled to have colon cancer but I'm not defeated either. They said I have about a year of crap to look forward to (although the math doesn't add up). All I know is, my chemo pump is not going to look good with my summer Speedo :shock:

I'm not a religious guy, but if anyone wants to pray for my full recovery, go right ahead. Sending good vibes is definitely encouraged. I am CONVINCED they helped my doggie. I hope you guys respect my/our decisions for the course of treatment. I'm good with my it, as is my great wife.

I'll end this soul baring on a light note.....when I got the news (one week ago), one of my first thoughts was the EV show I have tickets for. not life, not death...eddie vedder! it should be cool...I'll be between chemo and surgery. and then yesterday, I had the surgeon do the math on when my surgery would be. he said "end of September." I told him I needed to see PJ in Canada. He said we'll put it off until October and then asked "can I go with you?" hopefully, I'll run into some message pit buddies at the shows.

Take care of yourselves and, if you've old like me and have been putting one off, GET A COLONOSCOPY!!!!!

Rob