As the title says, 18 months post. I owe SOOO many people so much...I would love to share a story of a very positive outcome with whoever will listen!

Go! There's never enough good news!

Fabulous news Chris. Simply wonderful.
Yep. Tell us your survival story.
Tammy

Welcome and glad you survived the storms last night. I am a bit east of you in Murphy/Plano. Please do share your story. Never enough good stories to cheer us all up!

Ed

I wrote this right after
www.iwishihadbetternews.blogspot.com

Welcome to OCF! Congrats on being 18 months post tx. Best wishes with your continuing recovery.

[quote=ChrisN]I wrote this right after
www.iwishihadbetternews.blogspot.com [/quote]

I enjoyed it Chris. I would add yes you are incredible to have gone through what you did. Nothing easy about it. I take it you probably went to Baylor for care? We have to hit the food trucks first in Fort Worth and then Klyde Warren Deck Park in Dallas!

Thanks for sharing. Are you getting therapy for your neck. Regular massage will help a lot. Glad you are here to talk about it.

Ed

Chris,

The shock you mentioned in your blog could easily be something called Lhermitte's sign. It is common with platinum based chemo protocols. I still have it almost 10 years later but only when looking down while walking down stairs. You might want to get a home blood pressure device and monitor that sitting and standing. If it isn't blood pressure that made you faint you also might want to have a Doppler on your carotids. They tend to get damaged by radiation and it can be very bad if there is any restriction. Similarly your LDL cholesterol should stay below 100 for life. Any cholesterol plaque buildup in the carotid that is compromised by radiation can result in a stroke.

Ed

I received treatment at las colinas cancer center. Amazing folks!

The nerve thing was definitely L'Hermittes. Still have it every now and then but nowhere near as bad as before. As to the cholesterol thing...I used to be on Lipitor before cancer. Constant muscle soreness that I attributed to working out like a madman. Quit Lipitor. No more muscle soreness. Still lift like a madman.

Right before I got sick I was running around 30 miles a week and eating very close to a perfect diet. I got cancer anyway. So, I still run. I still watch my diet. But every now and then I have a beer. Sometimes I have cheese enchiladas. If I learned anything it's that everyone passes. Even vegans. They just wish they'd had a steak beforehand.

Hey welcome!

The day I got some teeth pulled, port and peg placed I had planned on the Hotter Than Hell Hundred. I spent 5 months training. Something said get back at it. Since I saw religious statements throughout your blog I can tell you it was a God thing. They told me if I wasn't in such great shape they wouldn't be as aggressive with treatment. I think maybe they gave me a bit too much radiation but they did kill the cancer. They said they would either cure me or kill me. I'm thinking I ended up with a twofer.

We had a member years ago that met another member for lunch on a business trip and they were doing what they called "the butt dance" as the jolts were traveling down the spine and leg. It was hilarious to hear her talk about it.

Hi Chris, I'm only a few months behind you and so many bits of your story really resonate with me. In particular your reference to beer and taste. I used to have a very sweet tooth but that has definitely changed. I really enjoy bitter tastes now. I now love a nice hoppy beer and can taste elelments that I could never have apprechiated before. Quite a different experience to drinking beer before. I also now eat dark chocolate(+70%) which is an essential part of my weight maintenance (as well as cals it also has lots of protein plus other goodies). But I can't tolerate ordinary confectionary chocolate which has a stinging quality to it. As you say in your blog the person we are coming out the end of this ordeal is quite a different one to the one that went in! Great to hear about the survivors in your SPOHNC group too. Thanks for sharing. Sally

Chris,

You can help by adding your Signature Line so that each post you make will have a point of reference.

Welcome to this fantastic site.

Sally, you nailed it!! I've had such a hard time figuring out my post-treatment fascination with beer and you're right, the bitterness is pleasant. If you promise moderation I have a few recommendations: Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Left Hand Milk Stout and of course, Guiness. The bitterness we enjoy with hints of chocolate. They are heavy enough that I have one and I'm done. Enjoy!

Thanks for posting your story/blog Chris. I found several similarities while reading, especially the 2 weeks after treatment part as I just passed the three week mark and I'm still struggling. I know the light is there, I've just not seen it yet!

Best wishes on your continued recovery and NED status.

Positive thoughts and prayers

"T"

T, I swear its right around the corner!!! You've got this!

Chris, perhaps we should start a beer apprechiation thread. Any other hoppy beer lovers want to join in?! It is great to find someone with the same taste change experience. Young's Double Chocolate Stout is a fav of mine too. I'll have to see if I can find the others you mention. I'm not so keen on Guiness, however, I'm not sure I have tried it since my change in taste sensation! In Scotland and wider UK we are going through an explosion of new microbreweries with beers heavily influenced by American craft beers using American and NZ 'grapefuit' flavoured hops. I know you Texas folk apprechiate our Scottish beers - there is a website you can Google 'ScottishBrewering' which gives info on all these fantastic beers and get this, the author lives in Texas! Have a look at the A-Z list. My recommendations if you can get them are Joker IPA from Williams Brothers and anything from BrewDog, but there are many, many more.

I agree I can only manage a couple of pints in a row, my attitude to drinking beer now is to drink slowly and enjoy. The change is so profound that I do wonder if I now taste beer with a much greater intensity that my partner and friends who are also great beer lovers! So I now have this whole new hobby in life of exploring new beers and real chocolates. Oh and I have recently noticed that I am begining to enjoy cheeses again too, also with a more focused intensity! It makes up a lot for the foods and tastes I now miss out on so I am not complaining. Realising this was the point when I came to terms with my swallowing challenges. Last summer we had a holiday to Belgium - heaven for beer and chocolate. Sally

All this hoppy talks makes me want to grab a pint now. Humm.... Friday afternoon starts in an hour, close enough. LOL

It's five o'clock somewhere!