Any Apolytoners with serious illnesses/diseases?

[Sarxis]

I've been suffering from the effects of Peritoneal Mesothelioma for two years now. Decided not to do the chemo because the results tend to not be curative' and the damaging effects of the treatment were not acceptable during the time when my wife was pregnant.

I have to have 8 to 10 liters of fluid drained from my abdomen every five days. That means 3 to 4 shots of local anesthetic, and then a six inch long catheter being inserted into the lower side of my abdomen to gently extract the ascites over about two hour period.

The local oncologists don't have any other options, and because of the rarity of this form of cancer, they've not even treated it before. Fortunately the hospital I go to for my drains has a charity program with the free-clinic I went through since I have no coverage, and really no hope for any medical coverage until Medicare kicks in a year and a half from now.

Fortunately I am not in constant pain, though there are times when things in my gut move just right that I do have some serious pain. Some random cramping happens, probably due to the fluid build-up every few days. Plus it can get difficult to breath when I am at maximum distention, but the constant 'expanding and contracting' every week seems to have made my abdominal wall more flexible

So.. let us know what happens! We are here for you Pekka!

[SlowwHand]

Strength be with you.

[Pekka]

I've been suffering from the effects of Peritoneal Mesothelioma for two years now. Decided not to do the chemo because the results tend to not be curative' and the damaging effects of the treatment were not acceptable during the time when my wife was pregnant.

I have to have 8 to 10 liters of fluid drained from my abdomen every five days. That means 3 to 4 shots of local anesthetic, and then a six inch long catheter being inserted into the lower side of my abdomen to gently extract the ascites over about two hour period.

The local oncologists don't have any other options, and because of the rarity of this form of cancer, they've not even treated it before. Fortunately the hospital I go to for my drains has a charity program with the free-clinic I went through since I have no coverage, and really no hope for any medical coverage until Medicare kicks in a year and a half from now.

Fortunately I am not in constant pain, though there are times when things in my gut move just right that I do have some serious pain. Some random cramping happens, probably due to the fluid build-up every few days. Plus it can get difficult to breath when I am at maximum distention, but the constant 'expanding and contracting' every week seems to have made my abdominal wall more flexible

So.. let us know what happens! We are here for you Pekka!

Holy smokes! Thanks for sharing... I have never heard of a thing where you have to be drained that often with that much fluids. Difficult to imagine what that is like for you. I googled this and while I've learned that these things shouldn't be googled as they not generalizable but every case is individual, and people have come back from just about anything imaginable... anyway, I googled to learn something about your condition. I hope your current condition is at least acceptable, and that you are doing well in the future as well. It seems silly for me to be climbing the walls like that, complaining, I never even had chemo as of yet. I don't have to be drained either, that sounds, quite frankly, bad. Have you gotten used to it? Can one get used to that?

You will be fine with the arrangement, to cover yourself and then with medicare you will be covered? Keep strong, just have to keep fighting

Now I feel like I was hysterical over nothing, but that's OK Anyway I have good news, my one year check up turned out to be fine. No changes. They said I won't get a year before the next scan because these suckers return frequently. But I'm fine for now. I feel like I have another shot to keep it away by trying to eat right, getting enough sleep and really, this time, to actually reduce the amount of stress factors. **** that doesn't matter.

Like today, after good news, I felt like nothing really matters except my family. While that is true and I know and feel this, I let things like work, bills and stuff like that get to me too much. They don't matter. We'll get by.

Thanks for everyone's support. It's really important for everyone who face these things and they will remember it.

[SlowwHand]

That's great news, Pekka.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Pekka

[Meticulous Man]

[Sarxis]

Holy smokes! Thanks for sharing... I have never heard of a thing where you have to be drained that often with that much fluids. Difficult to imagine what that is like for you. I googled this and while I've learned that these things shouldn't be googled as they not generalizable but every case is individual, and people have come back from just about anything imaginable... anyway, I googled to learn something about your condition. I hope your current condition is at least acceptable, and that you are doing well in the future as well. It seems silly for me to be climbing the walls like that, complaining, I never even had chemo as of yet. I don't have to be drained either, that sounds, quite frankly, bad. Have you gotten used to it? Can one get used to that?

You will be fine with the arrangement, to cover yourself and then with medicare you will be covered? Keep strong, just have to keep fighting

Now I feel like I was hysterical over nothing, but that's OK Anyway I have good news, my one year check up turned out to be fine. No changes. They said I won't get a year before the next scan because these suckers return frequently. But I'm fine for now. I feel like I have another shot to keep it away by trying to eat right, getting enough sleep and really, this time, to actually reduce the amount of stress factors. **** that doesn't matter.

Like today, after good news, I felt like nothing really matters except my family. While that is true and I know and feel this, I let things like work, bills and stuff like that get to me too much. They don't matter. We'll get by.

Thanks for everyone's support. It's really important for everyone who face these things and they will remember it.

You'll have a good Christmas this year Pekka... good to hear all is well!

I am used to the weekly grind; and the staff at the Gastro/hepatology department are more like family now because of my frequent visits. But anyhow..

Good news Pekka!

[rah]

Good to hear Pekka.

And good luck Sarxis

[C0ckney]

glad to hear it pekka.

sarxis, hope you're coping well and that things improve for you.

[DaShi]

Please use spoiler tags when congratulating Pekka. Some of us want a little suspense as we read his posts. Scrolling down to find his next post and coming across a bunch of "Good to hear, Pekka" comments pretty much gives away the ending.

[duke o' york]

Great stuff Pekka.

Good to see the Finns are made of steely stuff, just please keep out of my country. We've barely got over the mauling we had from the Norwegians 1,000 years ago.

I've got insulin-dependant diabetes, which is serious, but I don't view it as an illness/disability. It's just something to get over, and I can still do the same **** everyone else can.
(Hopes I won't have to retract that in later years when/if the many side-effects kick in)

[Berzerker]

death is easy, dying's the hard part

sounds like whatever you got aint overly aggressive, Pekka - so far, so good... After the first couple years you can breathe a bit easier, just dont let the stress kill you Each person is their own statistic, so when they say a disease kills eg 70% it still means 30% dont, and it aint a crapshoot. Whatever caused the problem may never show up again.

[Pekka]

death is easy, dying's the hard part

sounds like whatever you got aint overly aggressive, Pekka - so far, so good... After the first couple years you can breathe a bit easier, just dont let the stress kill you Each person is their own statistic, so when they say a disease kills eg 70% it still means 30% dont, and it aint a crapshoot. Whatever caused the problem may never show up again.

You know, I think I've heard that saying but I haven't thought about it. It is a good saying.

I figure couple of years as well and this will get easier. I'm still thinking of going to see a psychologist about this, as I think there would be benefits in it. So that the stress wouldn't kill me And like you say, what ever caused it... it might not even come back ever again, and that wouldn't even be crazy or breaking news these days.

I've quit smoking a long time ago (needless to say), and I drink very little alcohol, and then it's usually just a glass of red wine. One glass. Now I might celebrate a bit and in the name of having those relaxed moments that are important, I might have a beer or two as well more often. But quite literally, a beer or two, not twelve.

I will keep up to my weekly regime of working out, and I keep eating the cancer fighting foods. One component is still missing in this battle and it is the mental capacity to have that more relaxed and confident feeling, and also that the mental mode goes into work out session as well, the body already does that. I think this will enable me to stay healthy as long as it is meant to be. If I'm lucky, there will be better medicine for all of us available in few years. Who knows, it might be next year. But I'm tired of climbing the walls, I need to be able to deal with this better.

[Pekka]

Great stuff Pekka.

Good to see the Finns are made of steely stuff, just please keep out of my country. We've barely got over the mauling we had from the Norwegians 1,000 years ago.

I've got insulin-dependant diabetes, which is serious, but I don't view it as an illness/disability. It's just something to get over, and I can still do the same **** everyone else can.
(Hopes I won't have to retract that in later years when/if the many side-effects kick in)

Finns keeping out of Sweden? No way, too much crimes to be done.

So you need insulin, so you take those shots daily then? Or is there a pill you can take these days? Do you carry those shots with you everywhere you go? As in do you pass out really fast? I don't consider it a disability either, but it comes with serious consequences... are there possible side effects though?

[Berzerker]

this needs to be checked since I saw it on a news scroll the last couple days - but apparently German docs have "cured" (that word was in the scroll) somebody of AIDS with a "blood transplant" and another item mentioned stem cells being used to cure someone of Leukemia.

We're getting close to some major breakthroughs

or a couple just happened