Had my four year checkup yesterday: no cancer return!

[marble falls]

Eight years in the fight and it seems I am winning!

Had to restart the clock three times.

[malaise]

1. Great news

[marble falls]

3. It's the mangos!

[Diamond_Dog]

2. Congratulations marble falls!

That’s terrific news!

[marble falls]

4. Rock and roll turned up to 11 has something to do with it, i'm sure.

[Diamond_Dog]

11. Heh heh!

Only if it’s Maggot Brain!

[marble falls]

20. My absolute favorite late night instrumental smoke a doobie music. Those were the best years of ...

... of my life.

[Diamond_Dog]

27. Those were the days all right.

Seems like just yesterday and a lifetime ago both at the same time.

[electric_blue68]

16. Energy and Joy - Very Good Things! 🎸🎼🎶🎵 ................. (I know 😄😉 )

[marble falls]

35. I've been going through this with VA (nothing but good things to say about VA), I knew it ...

... was the right place when I read Va did a study that pot was a good treatment for my cancer.

[electric_blue68]

46. Oh that's interesting (re: pot & your cancer)!

[marble falls]

82. Navy medical researchers found the same thing. Ironically it's thought my cancer was caused by ...

... second hand tobacco smoke.

[electric_blue68]

84. Oh, dear! 😔 And, yeah, that IS Ironic...

My mom was a smoker ?1/2 - 1 1/2 pack a day but I barely remember (if at all) it.

She got severe asthma when I was around 5 1/2 and gave it up.

I hated the smell - HS girl's bathroom. Gak. Never took it up. LUCKILY!

[marble falls]

86. After the big surgery, we went to a VFW hall and I got so sick from the smell I had to RUN out ...

... of there. I always worked two jobs, the 2nd gig was always in hospitality. So I had double shifts of mad dog Texas smokers. We non smokers actually breathe smoke in deeper than smokers do.

[Spazito]

5. Congrats!

That is such good news!

[marble falls]

10. It is!

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Good For You!

That's solid news!

[marble falls]

12. Top ten solid gold.

[phylny]

7. Wonderful news! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[marble falls]

17. I got sooooo much support when the news wasn't so good. DU and DUers were part of the support team.

[wnylib]

25. CONGRATULATIONS! This is a BFD as our

esteemed president would say.

[electric_blue68]

8. Excellent!!!

[marble falls]

15. You bet!

[Fla Dem]

9. Woo Hoo! Fantastic!! So happy for you!

[marble falls]

14. And I'll feel the same for you when Gov Ron leaves in scandal and shame!

[Fla Dem]

22. LOL, Well you being cancer free is just a tad more celebratory!

But I agree, there will be dancing in the street when that mega maniac is shown the door!!

[panader0]

13. Excellent news!

[marble falls]

18. Almost as good as your news posting record!

[Rhiannon12866]

19. Thank you for sharing your good news!

We've worried about you here, you know...

[marble falls]

24. I knew you were sending vibes. You're the only one who knew how uncertain I was of the outcome.

[Rhiannon12866]

31. And you can be sure that I kept that in mind...

[niyad]

21. That is such excellent news! I am so happy for you!

[marble falls]

36. Thankyou!

[TexasTowelie]

23. Congratulations!

[marble falls]

37. I certainly feel congratulated!

[louslobbs]

26. I'm so happy for you and

those who love you💕👍🏻

[marble falls]

39. There sure was a lot of love from DU when I recounted the struggle after that last mama lama ...

surgery. I did not expect to make it.

[louslobbs]

112. I'm so glad you did

I know the love and support here at DU helped….I look forward to hearing about your full and complete recovery. Keeping you in my thoughts. 💕💗. Big hug 🤗

[marble falls]

114. I plan on being here to collect another hug!

[sinkingfeeling]

28. Congratulations!

[crickets]

29. Great news!! So happy for you! 🎆

[marble falls]

65. Thanks for the chirps!

[FakeNoose]

30. Awesome news! Here's my Happy Dance

[marble falls]

40. I want a dog like that dog.

[LoisB]

32. Great news!

[marble falls]

43. It is, in spite of the budget cuts the GOP want to make with the VA. The Urology dept that ...

... treated me is right now only 17% staffed.

[LoisB]

53. That is disgusting. Maybe they will be happy if staffing is at 0%. I wonder why they hate the

military, veterans, and their families?

[marble falls]

56. Corporations want to privatize it. They've been fighting hard for this since W. they shut down ...

Last edited Tue May 2, 2023, 10:21 PM - Edit history (1)

... very specific VA centers to compel vets to travel far enough that they are compelled to use more local civilian hospitals.

I drive 80 miles round way to Austin for my primary care physician, and I drive 170 miles round way to Temple for the serious stuff.

We have a pretty good Baylor Scott & White here in Marble Falls. I'd rather drive to the VA. Most of the Doctors I have, I had from the beginning, since 2008. I've had Cadillac health care before and VA is so much better.

When I got out of the Navy in '73 my first job was at the Brecksville VA Center outside of Cleveland. My first day I made my wife promise me I would not end up in a VA hospital. It was bad.

When I needed to use my insurance I was working in 2007, we discovered it had been cancelled because my schedule got below 32 hours per week. My wife actually signed me up for VA because I wouldn't do it. My wife saved my life. VA has changed since the bad old days when VA was where a vet ended up when he could go nowhere else and died in a VA hospital bed.

I have stories.

But there's money in it: I know the value of all my treatment is over a million dollars. A private insurance company'd have delayed treatment hoping either I or the cancer would just go away.

[LoisB]

75. I will be you do have stories. If some hedge fund or venture capitalist were to get their hands on

the VA, the primary concern would be the bottom line. I remember hearing horror stories about VA hospitals in the past.

[marble falls]

77. When I was 14 or so I worked as a mason's laboror for my dad's construction company summers ...

... he had a bricklayer - Turk Turkovitch. Turk was the youngest son of a Ukrainian family and he was single and the designated caretaker of his aging mother, he lived in the basement and it was understood he would inherit the house when his mother passed. His life was laying brick, drinking beer at the High-Lite tavern listening to C&W and taking care of 'mom'.

We used to pick him up and got to the job site, usually in Cleveland (we lived in Akron). One morning we picked up Turk and he was in pressed bluejeans and flannel shirt, his Sunday work boots. He had a grocery bag folded like a big lunch bag. When he got in the pickup, I moved over and nobody said hello or made the usual jokes. We didn't stop in the town where the job was and we drove into Cleveland to the East Side where Wade Park VA Center was (it's now the Carl B. Stokes VA Medical center), went around to the circle leading up to the front door, stopped and Turk got out with a "see ya" to and from my dad. I figured when he pulled away my dad would park and we'd wait for Turk. When we drove off the Center and got into traffic, I asked my dad if we weren't going to wait and he said "no," I asked how Turk was going to get home, and my dad said "Turk isn't coming home."

And I understood then: VA was were you went to die when you had nowhere else to go.

That was my introduction to VA and everything I learned at Brecksville only carved it all in stone.

I don't know if you're familiar with the underground cartoonist Harvey Pekar, but Wade Park VA was where he had his day gig for years.

[LoisB]

87. What a sad story about Turk. That was a terrible introduction to the VA for a 14 year-old.

I admit I had to look up Harvey Pekar. Interesting.

[marble falls]

88. I still think about Turk from time to time and wonder about his whole story. He lived to take ...

... care of mom. The neighborhood has changed and I'd be surprised if the house was still standing.

[Karadeniz]

33. Yay...you're a good test taker!!!

[marble falls]

44. And I forgot to bring my cheat sheet!

[mercuryblues]

34. Loving it!!

[marble falls]

45. Me, too!

[spanone]

38. Fantastic News!!!!

[marble falls]

47. I'm the drunk who keeps losing his straw boater.

[TeamProg]

41. That's great news. That's quite a fight you're winning. nt

[marble falls]

48. Realized - it's been thirteen years, not eight! Thank G*d Barack Obama kept VA going after W ...

... almost gutted it.

[brer cat]

42. Wonderful news, marble falls.

Keep it up!

[marble falls]

49. Doin' my best, for sure!

[pandr32]

50. That's how you do it!

[marble falls]

54. I'm going for 100 and I'm 3/4s there.

[sheshe2]

51. You fought and won.

Bravo, marble falls.

[marble falls]

59. Your ability to shoulder a burden was some of my inspiration. I figured I needed to as dedicated ...

... to myself as you were to your family member.

[sheshe2]

68. We all draw on our strengths when needed.

Love and hugs to you.

[marble falls]

70. Funny how we go to the well just one more time and there's a bucket full still in there ...

... thanks for showing me there's a way even when it gets tiring with no end in sight. Bless you abundantly!

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

52. excellent

[marble falls]

61. And how!

[bcledfoot]

55. Great news!!

So glad to read this. Congratulations!

[marble falls]

62. Why thankyou, and welcome to DU.

[AllaN01Bear]

57. eggscllent.

[marble falls]

58. It went over easy!

[mountain grammy]

60. Happy for you.. very good news indeed! Keep it up.

[marble falls]

64. Doing my darnedest, grammy!

[Nevilledog]

63. Yay!

So happy to hear this good news.

[marble falls]

66. Even happier for me to share it!

[BumRushDaShow]

67. Congrats on that milestone

and I know you are elated and relieved!

[marble falls]

69. This is the longest by two years I've gone so far. Got up to two years, once. That was discouraging.

[woodsprite]

71. Congratulations!!! So glad to hear!

I know how difficult this journey can be. I’m 18 mo out myself (for the 2nd time).

Many wishes and good thoughts being sent your way!

[marble falls]

73. DU and DUers gave me so much support through this ordeal, it made a big difference ...

... three cancers and two big surgeries and almost two complete goes at BCG infusions.

There is light at the end of all this stuff they do to pull us through.

Please, please feel free to PM me if you need someone else's perspective. I'll give you my e-mail if you need it.

You can do this. You can find the strength.

[bdamomma]

72. Great news

you must be elated.

[marble falls]

74. After two resets, you bet I am!

[MyOwnPeace]

76. Happy for you, friend.....

good people are very worth keeping around!

[marble falls]

79. I hope I meet that criteria, I'll do my best. And of course, thankyou.

[dai13sy]

78. AWESOME

I am so happy for you. Life opens up like a flower when you are free of that villain.

[marble falls]

80. It's an amazement to me.

[RussBLib]

81. Outstanding!

We are very lucky to be living in an era where many cancers are no longer death sentences.

Excellent news.

[marble falls]

83. And they claim that a cancer vaccine will be available in five to ten years. We live in ...

... interesting times.

Life is good!

[Deuxcents]

85. 🔔 congratulations. A great accomplishment

“Ring this bell, three times well.
It’s toll to say my treatments done.
This course is run and I am on my way”


Navy Seal Admiral (ret) Irve Le Moyne

[marble falls]

90. Way cool. I'm ex Navy.

[Deuxcents]

92. So was my mom.

[area51]

89. Yay!

[marble falls]

91. I'm at least 20lbs lighter than yesterday morning. Spring in my step has returned.

[Baked Potato]

93. Good for you!!

[marble falls]

95. Yeah, and I'm still walking on air. No telling what I'll feel next year, the fifth and last year ...

...check-up.

Thanks!

[TdeV]

94. Congratters!

[marble falls]

96. Thanks! I savor all my victories.

[Maeve]

97. Good to hear!

[marble falls]

98. Been a while since we've bumped into each other, good to see you, thanks!

[murielm99]

99. Yes!

I am so glad to hear this!!!

[marble falls]

100. As was I! Thank-you!

[Sucha NastyWoman]

101. That is so good to hear

Go celebrate!

[LuckyCharms]

102. So happy to read this.

Congratulations!

[highplainsdem]

103. Great news! I'm very happy for you!

Cancer treatments have become so much better in recent decades.

[snacker]

104. Hooray!

Thanks for sharing your happy news with us!

[ailsagirl]

105. That's wonderful!!

Congratulations!!

[marble falls]

109. Thank you.

[Moostache]

106. Congrats! I know the relief from those words "cancer-free" all too well. Keep on going! (n/t)

[marble falls]

108. One year to go, but I have no worries.

[cate94]

107. That's awesome!

Congratulations!

[marble falls]

115. Thank you!

[underpants]

110. Yes!

[marble falls]

116. And how!

[sellitman]

111. That's wonderful.

That's a great report. So happy for you.

[marble falls]

117. It is great and I am happy for me, too!

[hunter]

113. My wife lost a cancerous chunk of herself in one of these medical adventures...

... at about the same time you first did. It hasn't come back.

It still terrifies me.

[marble falls]

118. I am very happy for her, and we're both in it to win it. Hang tough. You know she is!