[quote]PS... highly recommended.... . a chocolate/peanut butter porter that's like drinking a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup... Paired with a piece of pumpkin or pecan pie and it's a no brainer! Mmmm smile[/quote]Well, sounds like the new "normal" for you! I can do porter but not if it tastes like a candy bar. LOL

It's called "Sweet Baby Jesus". A chocolate/peanut butter stout that's more of a dessert beer than one to drink watching the game on Sunday but truly a wonderful experience. Here's my review:

Sweet Baby Jesus � DuClaw Brewing Co., Baltimore, MD

This porter beer pours thick and is a prelude to what follows. You can smell the chocolate and peanut butter as you pour it and it has a bit of hops and the malt you would expect of a porter. The taste?...Very chewy for sure! It�s like a dark chocolate Reese�s Peanut Butter cup in a glass. More a dessert beer than an everyday drinker but just plain sinful all around! Serve this with a spice pumpkin or chocolate pecan pie and it�s a no-brainer. 6.50%ABV

One more to try...

Breakfast Stout � Founders Brewing Company � Grand Rapids, MI

Wow! I have to thank Coe at the Woodstock Caf� for this one. I asked for a �chewy� dark beer and this was his recommendation. The label is cool so that�s a good start. This beer pours thick with a beautiful head and exquisite lacing. The aroma was heady with coffee, chocolate and malt overtones. The longer it sits and breathes, the better the aroma. The taste? What�s not to like? Everything and more than what you expect from what I consider the perfect stout. Coffee up front and a sweet chocolate aftertaste that just begs for another sip. At 8.30ABV you better be careful or you�ll stumble upon trying to get up from your chair after 2 of these!(experience speaking). In my college days this would have been the perfect brew with cold pizza in the morning after a night of touring the frat houses! (Warm or chilled). If this was available back then I�d be wondering if I had a few unaccounted for children in the world ~lol~ 5 star! Thanks Coe!

Positive thoughts and prayers

I've been struggling with the question of whether to have a few drinks now and then or not at all. A few of my doctors told me I shouldn't drink at all, some said in moderation. I am HPV- with unknown primary which leads me to believe that my OC had a good chance of coming from my previous alcohol consumption (3 or more drinks just about everyday for the past 40 yrs.) It sure sounds like an awful lot and really is but, I'm quite healthy ( except for the OC ). I've had a few drinks now and then since the completion of my treatment but, I just can't get over the thought of having another bout with OC because I wanted to drink again. So I have decided to quit completely. I loved my cocktails, and this will be hard to do. Whether alcohol was the cause is just my opinion based on my own research. It's just not worth the risk for me.

Calhoun, I went through the very same thought process. I had not yet started my first treatments when I read (courtesy of Google) that 70% of patients who did not quit drinking when they were diagnosed, had recurrences.

Like you, having just heard a litany of horror stories concerning the treatments I was about to undergo, I finished the drink I was working on (2 oz of 9 year-old Knob Creek over 4 ice cubes;) rinsed my glass and had 2 oz of Black Seal dark run, and quit drinking.

Then, just over a year later, I had my first (of 5) recurrence which was a distant metastasis in my liver.

Well shoot, now that I did have a recurrence, I asked my MO if it made any difference whether I resumed drinking or not. He laughed and confirmed that the horse was out of the stables and there was nothing to be gained by resuming moderate drinking.

I am currently finishing a cup of coffee, sweetened by an Oz of Knob Creek 9 year-old.

Trust me, it is with nothing but brotherly love and compassion that I say that I hope you never have the same opportunity to have another drink. But if you do, enjoy it to the fullest!

Bart

I too made the decision to take the advice of the one of my oncologists who said not to drink. The other said it was okay in moderation. But I figured better safe than sorry. At this point it's been at least 4 years since I last had a drop and although from time to time I think about it, on balance I'm good with my decision.

One downside of alcohol is the vagal neuropathy many of us acquire. Alcohol is potentially a trigger for some episodic excitement. I had some Cream de Cassis last Sunday night and have been barely able to breathe all week, forced to do constant breathing treatments.

Viva the vagus

Thanks for your thoughts Bart, David2 and Uptown. I'm fine with my decision. I had a lot of good times with drink and a lot of bad. Never could get a handle on that moderation thing.
Whether I caused a recurrence remains to be seen. It's time for another PET soon. At least I still have my opiates for now. I guess I'll have to follow Huey Lewis's quest. Thanks again.