# A thread for all the cancer survivors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535 "2025-06-12T17:39:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/1 "2025-06-12T17:39:08Z")
If you or the poster you are referring to can post here, then the word “survivor” fits. My Beloved was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2010, and had her operation on June 7th the same year. Breast cancer in one breast, so she opted for a mastectomy on that one side and a modified breast reduction to even things out on the other side. No bad news since then…but you know it is the back of our minds all the time, of course. You and/or yours? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/2 "2025-06-12T18:08:15Z")
Bilateral breast cancer with bilateral mastectomies, chemo, radiation, and tamoxifen (which somehow isn’t considered “cancer treatment,” but whatever) around 10 years ago. I’ll finish the tamoxifen this summer. We hates it, Precious. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/3 "2025-06-12T19:42:50Z")
Stage 4 endometrial cancer. I’m currently 26 months post treatment and doing well. I’ve been moved from check ups every 2 months with my oncologist to appointments every 3 months with the nurse practitioner. ---
**Author:** ![Theios](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@Theios](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theios)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/4 "2025-06-12T19:55:10Z")
Cervical Cancer in Nov 2022. GynOnc was confident that surgery was the best option. Radical Hysterectomy. Have been getting a clean bill of health on all my follow ups. But yeah…. It’s always in the back of your mind. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/5 "2025-06-12T19:55:21Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’ll finish the tamoxifen this summer. We hates it, Precious. **Mrs. Magill** had stage 2b breast cancer. She’s on tamoxifen right now. She cannot wait until she’s off it, and the headache she’s had for the last three years finally goes away. The year before the breast cancer diagnosis, she was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia. She joked she was a member of the Annual Cancer Club - the worst subscription service ever. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/6 "2025-06-12T19:57:27Z")
Prostate cancer, Gleason 9 (4+5) T2aN0M0 diagnosed spring 2023, a VERY aggressive type of prostate cancer, fortunately seems to have been caught before extension outside of the prostate or metastases, s/p radiation tx locally for 20 sessions in 30 days (yowtch) and anti-androgens for 18 months (ugh). Just over 2 years out now from conclusion of treatment, monitored by PSA levels every 6 months. Prognosis: About a 13% chance of dying of this cancer over the next 11 years. Statistically it’s more likely I’ll die of something else. I can live with that. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/7 "2025-06-12T20:20:32Z")
I have a bad heart and have to get an MRI every six months. About this time last year, some tech noticed growths on my kidneys. They were big enough to require removal. The doc went in and removed them. I spent the night in the hospital and took home some super pain pills as a parting gift. A few days went by and the Doc called me. “The biopsies came back. They were cancerous but the kidney is fine. So you’re cured. That’s how kidney cancer works.” So I am a cancer survivor. It really was not a big deal at all. But it does show you that early detection is important. Now they are looking at my prostrate. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/8 "2025-06-12T21:52:49Z")
Prostate\*, diagnosed 2008 and operated 2009. As I said elsewhere, while I don’t recall the Gleason score, post-op pathology said I would definitely not have been in the “with it but not of it” demographic. I have my PSA checked every other year, and so far it’s been negligible (it doesn’t ever drop to zero). \* And reading some of the above, I feel kinda like a wimp. So be it. … ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/9 "2025-06-12T23:15:23Z")
Myeloid leukemia. Diagnosis June 2023. (Approaching two year anniversary of diagnosis in a couple of weeks). Three weeks in hospital in July 2023 for first rounds of chemo. Back in November for some of the harshest chemo you can take (will skip most of the details, but my white blood count was zero afterwards) followed by stem cell transplant from anonymous donor. So far cancer free. Fun facts, blood type changed from A Pos to O Pos, had to retake all of my childhood immunizations, and all my hair (and yes that means ALL my hair) fell out. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/10 "2025-06-12T23:31:27Z")
Breast cancer left side, 2015. Invasive ductal carcinoma, \<1 centimeter. Lumpectomy, no chemo, three weeks of radiation, five years of Arimidex (estrogen blocker). I’ve bad two biopsies since then, both okay. I had it easy compared to many. I was a freelancer for decades-- no health insurance. Fortunately, the cancer waited until two years after I went on Medicare. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/11 "2025-06-12T23:36:02Z")
I squeak in technically as a Basal cell (skin cancer) survivor. But I’ll post about Dad instead. He’s a prostate cancer survivor, 15 years out or so. I think his Gleason score was 7. He has a lot of scar tissue in that area from past surgeries, and ended up with some nerve damage causing incontinence. He has an artificial sphincter now. But he’s a survivor. PSA basically undetectable. I had a [thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-dads-urologist-wants-him-to-come-in-immediately-for-his-biopsy-results/598643/82) about it back in the day. Now he has MDS, which is kinda a leukemia precursor. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/12 "2025-06-12T23:38:27Z")
Here’s my story. I forgot to post that as I was leaving my appointment last week, a goose with its gosling (I couldn’t tell if either were male or female) were standing in the parking lot, and Parent Goose started hissing at me, just like a cat! Really, Mr. or Mrs. Goose, I was not going to kidnap your baby. > [@I had an abnormal screening mammogram.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-an-abnormal-screening-mammogram/797018): > > Yesterday, I went to another center to have a more advanced mammogram, as well as a breast ultrasound, and the doctor found something that she called an “architectural anomaly” and she wants me to have a needle biopsy, which is scheduled for next Thursday. I know women (and men too) have this done all the time, and the findings are usually benign, but I’m still terrified. Of course, me the idiot had to consult Dr. Google and really scared myself. :rolleyes: None of the images looked anything … ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/13 "2025-06-13T01:01:08Z")
Prostate cancer diagnosed in 2007. Operation a complete “success”. PSA down to 0 until … PSA back up in 2011. MRI showed likely cancer Radiation treatment in 2011. Completely “cured”. PSA down to 0 again. Until PSA started to rise in late 2016. Continued to rise in 2017. Apparent metastasized into some bones. Hormone therapy started in Jan 2018, Prognosis 3 - 5 years. But I’m still here. Hormone therapy pushed PSA back to almost zero. It’s back up around 1 now. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/14 "2025-06-13T05:24:02Z")
Your experience is YOUR experience. Mine was NBD as far as cancer goes too, but it was (and still is) very real to me. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/15 "2025-06-13T05:31:10Z")
Acute lymphocytic leukemia, 1998. Chemo. I got better. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/16 "2025-06-13T07:27:34Z")
2010, colon cancer. I was operated on, got chemo and have been cancer free the last fourteen years. I read in my doctors notes that I had 54% chance of living 5 years, but they were apparently better than that. The one metastasis in my right lung stopped growing under the chemo and has been inert since. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/17 "2025-06-13T07:51:18Z")
Sitting watching TV scratching my balls 😉 and notice little lump. At that point I was 60 ish. Apparently at 60ish men are prone to lymphoma …where was THAT in the manual!!! 🤬 Go to walk in clinic …random Dr…doesn’t like that …fall down rabbit hole. Sonogram and blood tests same day. Urologist next day. Surgery on Tuesday ( long weekend ). Start chemo and wait far too long for biopsy report ( the surgeon knew it was malignant but nooooooo have to wait for lab.) 😧 Chemo every three weeks x 6 sessions Spinal chemo 3 x radiation x 17 Now I was petrified by spinal chemo but turned into a nothing burger. Spinal fluid is amazing …crystal clear when it comes out of the syringe ( to make room for the chemo going into the spine ) Radiation I was not afraid of tho the last 4 of them felt like getting an internal sunburn I could not scratch. 🌞 Chemo …first round. Called the onco and said …should I feel BETTER after chemo than before…that would be the steroids they give you …damn midnight burgers were a regular feature. Feel energetic and even clean the house bouncy for two days…then CRASH big time. To the point getting from office chair to the bed was a challenge…about 6’. Hair departed at some point and fatigue was horrid plus the energy swings. Finally about 6 months in I walked into the onco office and I hear this mumble float across his desk …_in remission_…in a very soft voice. WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN!!! He laughed. Because I was past child bearing and they were not sure whether I had stage 1 or stage 3 he gave me the “whole meal deal”…as heavy as he could do without killing me. He said you may have another cancer in the future but it won’t be this one and 20 years on …he was correct…no repeat of that. Find something on your body you are not comfortable with for FS get it checked. Now I was lucky as 5 years earlier I only had a 30% change of a cure. A couple years before I had mine they added R to CHOP chemo. Rituximad…a b-cell depleter and the onco said after than no one was dying from it anymore and while they cannot declare a cure early on …I was cured as thousands were after that. Lucky that I had a cancer that could be cured and a breakthrough drug developed before my cancer occurred, So take away…get your body checked regularly - anything suspicious don’t delay. Don’t lose hope with a bad diagnosis as the field is moving forward insanely quickly. 🍻 ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/18 "2025-06-13T15:21:09Z")
Had an unusual sarcoma in my upper arm in 2012. Had 3 surgeries and a month of IMRT radiation followed by annual imaging for 10 yrs. Also have had 2 squamous cell carcinomas on the skin of my chest. Got both off in 1 surgery. Not dead yet! I expect it will be diabetes that gets me- or my wife taking a hatchet to me if I buy any more ham radios. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/19 "2025-06-13T15:55:57Z")
First diagnosed with stage 1 endometrial cancer in April of 2023. Aggressive hysterectomy (uterus, ovaries, tubes, cervix - I’m post-menopausal so it’s not like I would need the shut-down baby factory anyway) and I was told to have a nice rest of my life but do come back regularly for check ups. March of this year same damn rebel cells showed up, in my left lung this time, yay regular check ups. After many tests and scans it was determined it was _only_ in that location and not every-damn-where in my body. So now considered stage 4, although pretty early in the stage 4 scenario. Currently halfway through my planned chemo (six three-week cycles) after which they want me on maintenance therapy afterward (assuming the chemo does what we hope it does). I feel there is room for optimism with recent advances in therapies. One of the things they’re giving me wasn’t even available three years ago. No, I haven’t mentioned this before on this forum. Although there’s at least one post from many years ago where I stated that if it was a choice between my life and my hair fuck the hair. I can now confidently say that that is, in fact, how I feel about one notorious side effect of chemo. Well, it’s cooler for summer, that’s for sure, and I had an excuse to expand my collection of head bands and head scarves. > [@MacDoc](#): > > Chemo …first round. Called the onco and said …should I feel BETTER after chemo than before…that would be the steroids they give you …damn midnight burgers were a regular feature. Feel energetic and even clean the house bouncy for two days…then CRASH big time. Yeah, I get a boost from the steroids, too. That gives me about a 30 hour window to get stuff done before I crash _hard_. I’ve been using it to do laundry (requires navigating two flights of stairs where I currently live), house-cleaning, and other such things so when I do crash I can just mostly lie in bed for several days, except for the small bits of energy expended in finding food in the kitchen, attending to personal hygiene, and taking care of the bird. Who is VERY confused and upset by what’s going on, the change in routine, and probably mad at whoever removed my “tailfeathers”. Even so, I feel I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had queasy stomach but not actually thrown up, or even felt a real urge to do so. I’ve been able to work a normal, full time schedule two weeks out of every three (the other week I’m pretty wrecked and I am on leave from work). I’ve had more good days than bad, and have managed some normal life in between the medical visits. As I said, there is reason for optimism but I won’t know how effective this chemo has been until, probably, August. Of course there are times I fret about it. Mostly, I just try to keep getting on with life. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535/20 "2025-06-13T20:22:33Z")
Bladder cancer twice, which I detailed here. > [@In Which Trep Goes To Hospital. A Lot. (Slight Return)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-trep-goes-to-hospital-a-lot-slight-return/1009888): > > Spoiler: I’m fine. Have a laff with me. God knows, we need it. Useful Advice: If you piss blood, see a doctor. Background: Nearly five years ago I posted [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-trep-goes-to-hospital-a-lot/846092) describing events leading up to surgery for bladder cancer on 13 December 2019 Intro: Five years cancer free is frequently taken as a “cure”. Ahem. Four years and 46 weeks later…… Read on. Friday 18 October 2024, in the evening: Pissed blood. Eh, here we go again. GP surgery closed for the weekend. Monday 21 October: Called th… First was just surgery, second also had chemo (but not systemic). The third, which was less than six months after the second, turned out to be a false alarm, but in many ways was the worst of the lot. You can’t help contemplating death on #3. Everyone who has had cancer is my brother or my sister (sibling if preferred). We are all changed by the experience. j [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-all-the-cancer-survivors/1019535.md?page=2)