JFHenry

Found out I had cancer due to complications recovering from a spinal fusion.

I’m now a 3 time survivor and I’m riding a bike again. Don’t listen to the doctors, I was never supposed to walk again…
Not sure what challenges I’m going to face going forward, but I’ll conquer them.

jdawginsc 

This is awesome news! You will absolutely beat them with your Raleigh!

awac

Your not alone! Going through treatment myself for the next 6 weeks, and having a bike project keeps my mind occupied, even when I don’t have energy, the brain is busy.

polyrhythmia

I just had surgery for tonsil cancer, which may or may not have spread. Have to wait for PET scan due to high blood sugar. Will have to do radiation apparently. Not sure if I will ride again or not. Figured I would go with a heart attack or stroke, not cancer.

bruce19

Best from Lebanon, CT. Rock on.

awac

Well Brother, it is certainly a shock ain't it? Yep, had tonsils out, got infection, dear Lord that was pleasant!

I am in week 3 of 6 of radiation every day and Chemo once a week. Work start paying statuary sick pay (not a lot! £109pw) and I have 1 plus hour each way commute to the hospital (£1.48 per litre). My home is linked to my job, so recovery is obviously a concern. I have a project home (generous wording, shack more accurate lol) in France bought to retire too and work on, but bloody Brexit makes that difficult, not impossible, but difficult until retired, and now with a health concern?

Times for treatment. are varied all over the week, which makes day to day life awkward. I have a mask moulded to my face which is fitted tight, again, tight! It is twist locked to the bed so you don’t move, and I had to shave my beard for it to fit (my wife nearly fainted, she hasn’t seen that ugly face for 15 plus years lol), but moustache was ok to leave (I feel like that scene in Anchor man with Paul Rudd playing Brian Fantana puts on the scent “Black Panther” lol!)

My mouth is just starting to have some ulcers from the rads, my neck is getting redder, oh yes I had to have 3 teeth removed because they were deemed easily damaged by the rads and so at risk of infection. I now have free extractions for life if required….now never being one to refuse a freebee….

Chemo is on a Thursday, but it hits you on a Friday night and you just run out of energy and have to heed the warning and have a nap. They upped my steroid last weekend and I was euphoric, went out stripping wheels and on undoing a freewheel saw immediately after a bruise flare up on my arm where the chemo needle goes in from the effort.

Feed tube gets fitted tomorrow as a precaution in case throat closes up. Possible Speech, swallowing, nerve damage to arm on side tumour, loss of saliva production. Hearing loss/deafness due to tinnitus from previous injury a risk.

So why am I telling you this? I am still moving. I am still eating. I am still living. I have seen others who started at the same time getting lower, but I have 2 secret weapons.

Obsession.
I am planning and buying bits for my Motobécane and Carlton projects, and I am buying wheel rims because building rims is what I like doing. When I am twist locked down on the bed as I was today for example, I was thinking about cleaning a Wrights leather saddle I have just bought.
Another time is which spoke cutting machine am I going to buy after I am cured, Phil Wood or Morizumi? Oh yes, I will buy that machine (Waynes world guitar in shop window scene?), when I am better because life and my relationship to it has changed. I was going to build wheels in retirement, maybe it is something I should consider sooner?

Apathy
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, virtual, or physical life and the world.
For me, I have to not give the disease credence, nothing I can do apart from stay strong and enjoy my life and forget about it. It is a bit like a bad politician, the worst thing for them is to forget about them (no I am not going to say anything about American ones, we have far too many this side of the pond of our own for this one post lol!) and focus on what is really deep in your soul of obsession.

This all started as I was talking with my Dad across the world on video link who had gone on holiday to my sister in Australia and was diagnosed with bowel cancer and said goodbye a week after I had my diagnosis confirmed, crap, I couldn’t tell him could I? We also have no cancer in the family up to this point! Like you, never seen this coming, and I have seen my death before me twice in my life…so third time lucky I think!

Point is, not fair BUT don’t give up on riding a bike if that is what you like doing. This bike forum has helped me a lot, I am new here but I feel welcomed and the opinions are intelligent (mostly lol). Reach out with your mind and keyboard Brother to you biking brother and sisters, (and pm me if you think I can do any good), but stay obsessed….

polyrhythmia

Thanks for the reply. Had to return to hospital because of bleeding. Scary close call there. So much to look forward to hopefully in a good way.

awac

Hey you are copying me! Had tonsils out, everyone said “Oh it is going to be painful, you just got togo through it” so there I am going through it and I get some blood spots in my spit. I read up and they say go into hospital because of the proximity to the neck artery's.

I go to a local hospital and they look inside and say get to the main one you have a blood clot forming. Drive to the main one, they said take a seat in A&E and wait, “Yes but it is an emergency” …..yes of course, take a seat…wait for an hour then have to grab a coffee cup when the blood clot decides it wants out…..”Excuse me, do you think this is an emergency?” …..Oh my God, onto a ward….

LOL. 48 hours no food in case of emergency operation, then discharged. I ate like a starving horse, even through the pain of the tonsillectomy!

Yes, bloody scary, but you are back same as me. You will get through it. My specialist said the most honest thing to me, he said “I need you to give me 3 months of your life” and that is what you have to do. It is only 3 months, it will soon pass, admittedly in the most slow boring, annoying way, but it will pass. You have a new job for 3 months…..YOU.

polyrhythmia

And then Thursday morning, I started bleeding. Had to return to hospital for cautery. Still holding. Got to go to my 45th class reunion. All that weight I lost can stay lost. Really looking forward to at least riding the Kona ebike I just bought this year.

awac

That’s the spirit Brother! Pick something that means something to you and look forward to it! You've got this.

JFHenry

It’s only cancer, screw it.
I just started taking hang gliding lessons….

awac

Ha ha! What the worst that could happen! Er, I hate heights!

Do you think you could attach your bike underneath and a turboprop to the back
wheel?

JFHenry

I’m terrified of heights, all the more reason to do it…

They have all kinds of powered stuff, I like wind power, sailing, not in hurry just along for the ride.

awac

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2021...t-century.html

Not a sailor myself, but an interesting article on this website you might like.

PirateJack

Hey,...let me know if you ever want to go for a ride. I'm in Mass and also love to ride. I lost my leg above the knee to bone cancer.

Would love to check out some roads in CT. Drop me a note!

JFHenry

Thanks
The weather is finally nice for riding, trying to get out.

awac

So how is it going for you? I am through treatment and going Thursday for the scan to see if it has been successful………and if it ain't, well we will just do it all again until it is! Lol.

JFHenry

Last scan was neutral, haven’t gotten better, haven’t gotten worse.

so I’m taking hang glider flying lessons

Thanks for asking

awac

Well they say no news is good news!

Hang gliding, mad. Reminds me of a joke. A man going down meets a man going up. "Hey, know anything about parachutes?" says the man going down "No" says the man going up, "do you know anything about gas boilers?"

Good to hear from you, ciao.

bktourer1

I just finished 5 months of chemo and still found the ability to get in almost 900 miles so far.
Just waiting on an appointment for my PET scan , should be soon. Tho only thing bothering me right now is neuropathy in my feet.
Best wishes to everyone who has been on treatment routines.

spclark 

Good luck bro, you have enough drive to be a survivor! Don't Stop Moving!

bktourer1

Thanks for your support.

awac

Had pet-ct scan and going for my results this Tuesday. I tell you it is worse than waiting to hear if you have cancer, you just want to know you don’t anymore, lol! Well, you just have to cross bridges when you get to them, not before! Good luck to you as well.

JFHenry

Make your dreams come true even if it takes 50 years

awac

Whooo! Makes me feel dizzy just looking at it! Well done brother! What’s next? Space station!