Merry Christmas, lbj.

Merry Christmas and blessings to you and your family, lbj.

Merry Christmas, lbj.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Tom.

Merry Christmas lbj!

Merry Christmas, and may God continue to bless you LBJ.

Thanks all for the Christmas wishes.

I am blessed in the sense that if I were as sick as I was at the the time of my diagnosis, and if this was 5years ago, I would already be dead.

Now, I get to see the grandbaby enter this world, and perhaps live long enough for a birthday or two.
I don't know how much better things could be.

If and when we either stop the Opdivo or it doesn't work anymore, there are options, but we have not really got into such details.
I don't think the medical community is wild about removing lymph glands these days, so I am not sure surgery is a viable option.

Since the Nivolumab is working well, we will stay the course for now.

Again, lots of good things happening late in life.

Wonderful news, and Merry Christmas

I n ever tire of your avatar and thank you, Merry Christmas.

I guess I made the right decision regarding buying ammunition and in general, just getting on with living in general.

I am not an optimistic person by nature, or at least did not used to be.
However, I think just keep on keeping on has worked well for me so far.

It would appear that I will be able to shoot the ammunition at the range that I have recently stockpiled.
I am even thinking of buying an MCX... and one not involved in the recall.

I really figured last January I was a goner, but apparently I am not, at least for now.
As I stated earlier, all things emanate from God, therefore there is no conflict between Him, and science and medicine.
God create us and we use our intelligence in many ways, doctors, medicine and healthcare dovetail perfectly with the way I view things.

In some ways for a very long time, it has been difficult for me to accept gifts. I will post about why this is sometime later.
It is still difficult to accept most gifts, however, who am I to argue with God's gift to me.
When the Creator bestows a gift, one must answer the call and humbly accept His gift.
And I do.

That said though, just why I have received this recent gift is beyond me. I mean, just what have I ever done to deserve such a gift.
I have thought long and hard today about this and all i can come up with is the possibility that my extended life isn't about me but what others who may need my help, ie my daughters and wife.
It may be deeper than that, I will continue to think about all this.

I have to say that being terminally ill has caused me much introspection.

Awesome outlook LBJ, Merry Christmas to you and the family. I always found it interesting how ones perspectives changes as we age and realize our own mortality. While it may seem inappropriate, or just weird to say, thanks for the insight through this journey of yours, while, at 52 I may be years away, things can change in a literal heartbeat. Best of luck to you in the coming year.

If anything I have posted in this thread helps anyone, then mission accomplished.

To be honest, I am surprised at the huge amount of support I am receiving, thank you all.

I had infusion today, and have reread my posts today and see all the mistakes I made, formatting, spelling, running words together.
That's the Nivolumb as it effects my brain after treatment.

Ya'll probably don't see it but I struggle with my posts.
Every post I have made since June requires me to edit at least 3 times and maybe more.

My thinking is fine, I am not confused or hindered therein, however, my brain communication with my hands on the keyboard is another thing entirely.
There seems to be a disconnect.

There are always consequences in life.
The trick is if one can pay it or even wants to pay it.
What I go through seems like a small price to pay.
My skin though, may beg to disagree.
All you have to do is look at my skin and red blood circles appear in it. It takes a week for them to disappear.
Also, while I sleep, and sometimes while I read the net or talk with someone, suddenly I find I have been itching and I'm bleeding with long open cuts from dragging my finger nails across it.
It's odd too as it doesn't take much to break the skin.
I have thought recently that I need to start wearing a long sleeve t-shirt as I sleep, because in the morning, long cuts appear on arms and legs when I wake up.

Ah well, again, and for now, a small price to pay for my continued existence on the planet.

Merry Christmas to you and your family Tom.

Thanks and Merry Christmas to you.

Talking with my doctor today, she had some interesting things to say about Opdivo.

It seems no one is really sure of the end game.
It is extending lots of lives for sure, however, Opdivo has only been available for a short period of time.
13 months ago, the FDA approved Opdivo for use to treat kidney cancer.
Opdivo was originally designed for lung cancer.
My doctor says Opdivo is proving to be way more effective for treating kidney cancer and melanoma than lung cancer.

There is also so much success with Nivolumab (Opdivo) that it has opened up a whole new world of research for immunotherapy drugs.
Basically, the medical community is beginning to make major changes in some treatments for certain cancers.
The new thinking is to live with certain cancers as a chronic condition keeping it in check and living with it.
That's a major switch from my vantage point.

I remember thinking that early in my cancer treatment that I wanted some high powered poison to kill the cancer.
I mean, that's what they used to do.
When one has rats, rat poison seems to be a good idea.
After seeing what the Nivolumab is doing, I have changed my mind about treatment just like the medical community is doing.

That is a major switch, and one I hope will become more the norm for many people going forward. I am grateful it seems to have extended your life. I am especially grateful to read of the experiences you have reported where you are enjoying quality time with your family.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:

Everything is continuing to shrink.

Thank you Lord and Merry Christmas to all!

Great News Tom

Amen

Merry Christmas lbj and thank goodness for the great news.

We did have a very Merry Christmas here at our home.
The details of the December 23rd CT scan and potentially a slightly longer life have helped things around here.

The daughters were also thrilled with their Christmas.

This is the first year we have had a more "traditional" Christmas like those from my childhood.
We actually did a tree and decorations this year. In the past and being busy with the football enterprise, it was just too much to decorate and tear down. This year was different.
We opened gifts, had a nice breakfast, relaxed a bit, then had a ham dinner.

The daughters say this is the best Christmas ever, both in celebration and gifts.

The upside is that the gifts for the girls went over well too.
They each got $250 gift certificates to Victoria's Secret, the same amounts for Macy's, 1/2oz gold Maple Leafs for each, a couple hundred bucks in cash and some sort of Conair brush type hair straighteners.

In the end, it was a great Christmas, the day went smoothly and there was not even a hint of bad feelings and or arguments. That's quite a feat in and of itself.

Yep, times were and are good.

I was driving my car the other day and and started chuckling a bit.
I realized that while I am proceeding with living, there are some things I have been ignoring... like my car.

It needs a lot of work as it has 180K miles on it.
It occurred to me that since I may live for up to 2 years, I will need to have this car repaired.

Funny.

More good news in 2016.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
I was driving my car the other day and and started chuckling a bit.
I realized that while I am proceeding with living, there are some things I have been ignoring... like my car.

It needs a lot of work as it has 180K miles on it.
It occurred to me that since I may live for up to 2 years, I will need to have this car repaired.

Funny.

That is a WONDERFUL problem to have!!! I love hearing that!!