GET YOURSELF CHECKED!!!

All cannabis shops have stoners in them. There are many good knowledgeable stoners!!!  I am using the name stoner loosely, just referring to a person who smokes/eats cannabis products. These are 100% the people that you want to explain cannabis to you, because they use it daily. Medical doctors, unless they are also a stoner, are not the ones to give advice on what types and dosages of cannabis to take.

I give you good thoughts and  recommend you stock up on cannabis gummies thc and cbd thc helps with pain and  your appetite and cbd supposedly  fighs cancer cells.

Where can I knowledge-up on this and sources?  I'm not going into some damn hippy shop where stoners go.  I got no problem with anyone who does.  Anyone who knows me, knows this is just not me or my style.  Too many years of reefer madness training when I went to school in the 60's conditioned me to never try any recreational drugs.  Ha!

I get the stigma that's been indoctrinated into you over the decades.  It's unfortunate, but it's real and you have plenty on your plate right now to not have to make a bunch of mental effort to break that stigma.  There are plenty of online resources where you can read up on some options for your personal treatment.  https://www.leafly.com/news/health/how-to-use-medical-marijuana-for-cancer would be a good place to start.  From there, check out delivery sites like Eaze.  Also, your local dispensary probably does curbside pickup during COVID times.

I give you good thoughts and  recommend you stock up on cannabis gummies thc and cbd thc helps with pain and  your appetite and cbd supposedly  fighs cancer cells.

Where can I knowledge-up on this and sources?  I'm not going into some damn hippy shop where stoners go.  I got no problem with anyone who does.  Anyone who knows me, knows this is just not me or my style.  Too many years of reefer madness training when I went to school in the 60's conditioned me to never try any recreational drugs.  Ha!

I get the stigma that's been indoctrinated into you over the decades.  It's unfortunate, but it's real and you have plenty on your plate right now to not have to make a bunch of mental effort to break that stigma.  There are plenty of online resources where you can read up on some options for your personal treatment.  https://www.leafly.com/news/health/how-to-use-medical-marijuana-for-cancer would be a good place to start.  From there, check out delivery sites like Eaze.  Also, your local dispensary probably does curbside pickup during COVID times.

Thanks for the info!  I knew asking a doctor would not be much use.  I also know there's got to be something behind the cannabis connection to cancer for therapeutics.  Just not sure where to begin.  Your link I'm sure will be a gateway to investigation.  I would also appreciate anyone who has experience or family with experience how cannabis helped them during their chemo.  I don't know I'll need it, but I also don't want to wait to find out and needlessly endure symptoms. 

My father was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and used cannabis during all of his rounds of chemo.  This is before medical cannabis was a thing in NJ where he lived.  His oncologist said it was the cannabis that was responsible for his body weight staying stable and him being less tired and worn out throughout his chemo rounds.  He told him that he couldn't recommend to use cannabis under the law, but he said, "don't do anything differently, whatever you're doing at home is working."  His original prognosis was a few months and he wound up sticking around for 2.5 years instead.  Obviously, nobody can say with authority how much the cannabis played a factor, but I like to think it made those 2.5 years a lot higher quality of life than if he hadn't.  He was still getting out fishing for stripers and fluke on friends boats during chemo, so I don't think he could have asked for a better last chapter.

My father was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and used cannabis during all of his rounds of chemo.  This is before medical cannabis was a thing in NJ where he lived.  His oncologist said it was the cannabis that was responsible for his body weight staying stable and him being less tired and worn out throughout his chemo rounds.  He told him that he couldn't recommend to use cannabis under the law, but he said, "don't do anything differently, whatever you're doing at home is working."  His original prognosis was a few months and he wound up sticking around for 2.5 years instead.  Obviously, nobody can say with authority how much the cannabis played a factor, but I like to think it made those 2.5 years a lot higher quality of life than if he hadn't.  He was still getting out fishing for stripers and fluke on friends boats during chemo, so I don't think he could have asked for a better last chapter.

That was very inspiring tedski.  Thanks for sharing that. 

Whatever you take as a supplement to chemo make sure you talk to the oncologist about the substance. Chemo's may or may not work well with alternative therapies. I Experienced the up and downs of my wife for six years of different chemo combos for ovarian cancer. Her oncologist told her pot and pot extracts were fine but he wanted to know what alternative oral substances she was taking to make sure they didn't interfere with the chemos. Really delicate chemical balances have to be right for chemo to work. Treatment did give her a few extra years of life, some of it good. The pot helped ease some of the pain but wasn't curative. Wish you well Jerry.

Whatever you take as a supplement to chemo make sure you talk to the oncologist about the substance. Chemo's may or may not work well with alternative therapies. I Experienced the up and downs of my wife for six years of different chemo combos for ovarian cancer. Her oncologist told her pot and pot extracts were fine but he wanted to know what alternative oral substances she was taking to make sure they didn't interfere with the chemos. Really delicate chemical balances have to be right for chemo to work. Treatment did give her a few extra years of life, some of it good. The pot helped ease some of the pain but wasn't curative. Wish you well Jerry.

+1 to this for sure.  Times have changed a lot and more and more doctors are at least more informed about THC and CBD and their interactions with other drugs/treatment plans.

Q for those whove had skin cancer dx.

What brought you in to get checked?  I had a full body derm scan two years ago, and got a clean bill.  I even asked about some spots on my face that concerned me, and they said nothing to fear at that time.

but those spots are enlarged ...

Q for those whove had skin cancer dx.

What brought you in to get checked?  I had a full body derm scan two years ago, and got a clean bill.  I even asked about some spots on my face that concerned me, and they said nothing to fear at that time.

but those spots are enlarged ...

Little pink lump on my nose that didn't go away, raised pink area on my temple, something that looked like a pink, shiny mole on my shoulder - all basal cell carcinoma. I've looked at a lot of pictures of melanoma, because I want to be sure to recognize it if I ever see it.

Better to get those spots checked again just in case.

There are a few common types of skin cancer so the answers may differ
Around 25 years ago I had a brown spot (like a freckle) on my belly.  Over a period of a month or so it formed a crusty top and grew slightly larger.  I went to the doc and he said it was nothing to worry about.  I said I was concerned and wanted it removed.  Turns out it was a melanoma, luckily it was in situ and was completely removed.
Five years ago my wife noticed a mole on my back that had uneven boarders, otherwise it just like another mole a few inches away.  I procrastinated going to the doc for a couple of months until my wife insisted.  That melanoma had a little more actively dividing cells and the dermatologist said I was lucky I came in when I did.  Still had a lymph node removed and checked to make sure.

I've had 3 moles shaved off and tested for cancer that were malignant several years ago.  Those three were surgically removed with all margins clear. Since then, I go for a full body exam by a dermatologist every year.  Luckily my insurance covers this.  So far so good along those lines.  My recommendation is that if any of yours has been diagnosed as cancer then get an annual exam if your doc says you should.  Do not be afraid of a diagnosis.  Ignoring a problem will not make it go away. 

As an update to my cancer, I am on month 5 of 6 months, having my last chemo treatments on January 26th and 27th.  Each month I get my infusions are a bit rougher than the last.  Seems 4 weeks allows me to recover some, but not all the way, so I am garlanding downward on a trend.  Frist few months were not too bad, but now I'm out of reserves.  This is wiping me out.  The infusions consist of premeds on both days that include prednisone (a glucocordicosteroid premed each time I go).  I am given Retuximab on day one with a premed of Benadryl.  Benadryl is very harsh on my veins so the steroid keeps the swelling and inflamation down for about 48 hours.  But still it HURTS going in.  I start with an IV of saline, then a hypo of about 50ml of Benadryl administered over about 15 minutes. Some Tylenol precedes this, but doesn't take much of the edge off.  About half way through the Benadryl, I get a head rush side effect.  Feels like I'm weightless and my mind stays lucid but my speech slows down.  I can be talking to myself, while talking to the nurse, as if I were observing my talk to the nurse.  I may be telling the nurse about something I did last week but thinking to myself something totally different, like maybe a book I'm reading.  A real split personality sort of thing going on simultaneously.   This lasts about an hour.  After the premeds, I get 375ml per m2 (375 milliliters per cubic meter of body mass)  I am about 2 cubic meters of body mass, so 750ml of Retuximab.  This takes about 5 hours to administer because it's also pretty harsh on my body and the Benedryl helps with the reaction I have to it.  After the retuximab, (which is a immunotherapy, comes the chemo drug Bendamustine.  This is pretty small, about 100ml and takes about 10 minutes to drip into me.  When they switch up to that bag, I know to text my wife to come get me soon. 
First 48 hours I am very lucid, happy and can't sleep.  This is the prednisone side effects.  I also start bloating and get constipation.  About 2 days after my infusion, It looks like I swallowed a basketball.  Around this time the steroid wears off and I get nausea.  I have a couple meds for that.  Doesn't cure the nausea, but keeps me from throwing up for the most part.  Compazine is one of the anti nausea meds. anti-psychotic used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Compazine is also used to treat anxiety, and to control severe nausea and vomiting.  I can't say it does anything but keeps me from puking though.  Not like the head rush Benedryl gives me anyways.  So day 4 through 7 I'm very tired from coming down from the prednisone and the nausea.  I sleep a lot.  Food starts to taste off.  The main thing I notice is that I loose the taste for sweets.  This kills my appetite and I don't want to eat anything.  Water even has a funny flavor.  By the 2nd week, the chemo has really gotten busy wiping out the B cells in my lymph system and starting in on the stem cells in my bone marrow that T cells are developed from.  After 5 months, my body is pretty much rid of B cells, most T cells and the stem cells that make those two. 
As a side note, the COVID vaccine works through RNA on the body's B cells, but since I don't have any and their source has dried up, the vaccine would have no effect on me.  My oncologist says not to get a vaccine shot.  Not that the vaccine would hurt me, but no studies have been done on the side effects or how it affects the treatment I'm undergoing.  So I need to be extra careful now and not get sick.  If I get a fever of 100.4, I need to go to an ER and give them a wallet card I've been issued that describes my cancer and treatment and how to proceed.  Pretty sure if I get the COVID, I'm a gonner. 
By the end of week two, I've got several side effects besides loss of the taste for sweet.  I have severe heartburn/acid reflux.  I have bad hiccups.  I have mouth sores.  There's a rash all over my body and my skin gets really dry.  My scalp itches like crazy as well as my beard.  I scratch myself raw if I'm not careful.  A soap with coconut oil helps a lot.  Week three I start recovering.  I can do more than just walk to the mail box and get mail and the newspaper without getting winded.  I can do yard work at a leisurely pace, even go for short walks.  Week 4 I feel much better.  Working in the garage all day, tired but a good kind of tired, like I'm recovering.  Walks are longer, about 2 miles a day.  Even fired up the chainsaw to cut up some downed oaks from the wind storm.  By now, all bloat is gone, I can button my pants again and enjoy food, including sweets.  My sore throat is gone as well as most all other symptoms.  One side effect hasn't left, that's a ringing in my ears.  It's quite distracting.  My wife says I turn volume up on the TV way too loud now to compensate the ringing. 
Doc says I have to wait at least 6 months after my last chemo before I can take the COVID vaccine.  He said he'd prefer I wait 9 months to a year when my blood tests say my immune system is back to normal. 
BTW, blood tests are done 2 days prior to each chemo to be sure I've recovered enough to proceed with the next course.  They show my liver and my heart muscle are sustaining some damage from the treatments.  Chemo is basically a way to poison all fast growing cells in your body after all, so this is something of a trade-off.  The doc says it will reduce my life probably about 5 years less than if I never got cancer due to the damage caused by the drugs.  Only time will tell, these sorts of things are based on actuarial tables, so who knows, I may be at the good end of that curve. 
In any case, one more month of treatments, then 2 weeks of difficult recovery.  After the two weeks comes a PET scan to see if the cancer is undetectable.  It's not curable, but doc figures at least 2 years before it's detected again and who knows how long after that I'll have to start all over again with treating this.  I'm hoping for 5 years between the end of this round and the next.  By that time, I'll probably opt for another round.  After that, unless there's advancement with treatments, probably not.  I'd be 76 and doc says I may live 2 to 5 years without any treatment.  Puts me at around 80.  Gotta consider the chemo has taken about 5 years off my life expectancy due to it's damage to my organs. By that time, I'm pretty sure I would not be willing to go through what I'm going through now at 65.  Quality of life and all that. 
I appreciate a place I can put down my thoughts and experience.  It's not easy for my wife to deal with or any of my family.  I'm fine with this, they are not.  I'm blessed that this cancer isn't one that takes one fast.  I have many good years ahead and plenty of time for doing stuff. 

As a reminder, if you notice anything with your body that is different than it was, get it checked.  It can mean the difference between having lots of years vs no time left.  Early treatment is always key. 

Wow Jerry, thanks for narrative. You did an excellent job describing what you are going through. Its quite an eye openner. I hope you get healthy soon and pray for your full recovery.

Thanks!  Yea, I got this.  My motivation to post is so that folks don't delay getting themselves checked.  i thought I had another hernia.  The pain was about the same.  Luckily I didn't wait too long.  Not sure how this would be different in a non-COVID alternative universe though.  Maybe not at all!  While I can't go to kayak tournaments, neither can anyone else.  Hard to feel sorry for missing out on things when the rest of the country is as well.  I suppose I'm missing out more because of my age, but realistically, I can honestly say my life isn't any worse than if I had a chronic bad cold and flu this winter.  Sick is sick.  Psyching myself out over cancer is just a mind game; I'll treat it as just another fact to deal with in life, just as any other fact that comes along. 

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you have this place to put your thoughts out there.  I also appreciate your efforts in making sure folks get checked early and often if they feel something is different. 

I appreciate a place I can put down my thoughts and experience.  It's not easy for my wife to deal with or any of my family.  I'm fine with this, they are not.

This one resonated with me.  My father was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.  I remember him expressing similar feelings... telling us all that he's fine with it and so we should be, too.  I never could get to the point of being "fine with it."  He was much younger (passed at 54), so it felt like he was being "stolen" from us way too early, I think.  Either way, it's one of two regrets I have when I think back to his final months.  First, I should have talked with him more about that and heard him out about being "fine with it" and maybe I would have a different perspective.  Maybe I wish he would have tried to have a stronger talk with me about it.  Second, I pushed him to continue another round of treatment that he didn't want to.  He had much of the same experience as you with his chemo and he had the same quality of life balancing thoughts about further treatment.  Both regrets boil down to one simple thing: communication.  My father and I were as close as could be.  We were friends more than we were father and son.  However, all of that seemed to go out the window when he got cancer due to fear of loss.  We could have been on the same page about future treatment plans and "being fine with it" if we'd talked more thoroughly about it.

Sorry to be the downer on this one... just wanted to add that if someone you love got checked and received that scary diagnosis... it's scary for everyone in different ways.  Talk to each other.  Discuss the scary parts.  Discuss the tough decisions.  Get on the same page.  Our time is too short to carry regrets after your loved ones pass on.

Thank you for sharing with us, Jerry!  I especially appreciate the education as always.  I hope you recover as well as you can be.  Lots of things waiting for your enjoyment, fishing is the least of them (or maybe the most?), so please take your time to recover.  Sending my prayers and thoughts for your well being.