IamA 39 year old that is now cancer free after being diagnosed with inoperable Stage 4 cancer AMA!

Congratulations!

I am currently reading "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer". I finding it incredible that almost all progress against cancer has been made in my lifetime, and almost all effective chemotherapies have been developed over my adult life (i.e. past 30 years).

Keep up the fight!

Cancer therapy has come a long way. I have friends that work for Genentech and they have some pretty amazing people there.

That is why it is important to realize that survival statistics are always lagging - they don't always reflect the latest and greatest treatments because they haven't been out there long enough.

I could not agree more.

My stats were bssically 50/50 mortality after 5 yrs. Dana Farber said f $#@ that. Try 95%. Granted I am relatively young, healthy etc. But it is true. Science rocks.

Science is awesome!

Go Genentech! I am taking their Perjeta and Herceptin to stave off recurring stage IV breast cancer. These drugs are extending my life - hopefully for years. I have much love for Genentech!

I might actually try to go work for them! Great, great company. I wish you many, many more years!

Are you a Mighty Mighty Bosstones fan by any chance (from your name)? Are you from boston?

Originally from Mass and a huge Bosstones fan!

One of the guys on my soccer team works for them doing cancer research. He's German. Nice striker. Whenever he gives me a lift home he talks about cool stuff at his work.

Tell him I said thanks for the Avastin!

I was recently told that my cancer had returned to my lungs, that its inoperable and that I have under a year to live. Not sure if I'm going to do chemo again yet, my doctor has said theres not really any hope it would do anything to prevent my death. I'm curious to know how you felt when you were told you were going to live after already accepting that you were going to die. Did you feel relief or had you come to a point where you were looking forward to dying?

EDIT: Thank you so much to whoever gave me gold and thank you to everyone else for all your kind words. I would like very much to respond to all the questions and thoughtful comments, but being new to reddit I'm not sure the best way to go about doing that since this is another redditor's IamA and it would seem rude to answer them here.

I never looked forward to dying, but I was also never afraid of it.

What advice or words of wisdom would you give someone who has never had to face their own mortality in the way you have?

That's a great question and a little tough to answer. I'd love to say I never thought I was going to die, but I cried everyday in the shower for the first few months.

I would say enjoy the time you have. Spend time with the people who love you and do all the things you've always wanted to do. If I didn't respond to chemo so well, I was going to liquidate my 401K, buy a Ferrari and drive across the country. See all the national parks and my friends scattered throughout the country.

It's tough because it's different for everyone. You never know how you'll react until you get put to the test.

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Glad to hear you're doing awesome and man enough to admit you cried it the shower too! Stay Strong Bro!

Man i cried everywhere, doing the dishes * wave of panic * <cry uncontrollably>, on the computer googling (usually about Cancer at that time) cry, i once walked out my front door and saw flowers and cried, i thought, i would never see things like that again.

I live by this quote by Paul Bowles from The Sheltering Sky

“Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.”

Edit: thanks OP and you too, the shudders and waves of panic will last a long time, but it will get better, stay strong.

Edit 2: I woke up to gold?! Thank you kind stranger. X

That is amazing! Thanks for sharing that!

The time you have.

(Glad you have more jelly beans than you thought!)

Thanks, that was pretty awesome!

Buy the car. Do the trip.

LOL, I need to plan for a long future!

:) Good advice, sir.

Sir?!?!? You just made me feel old! LOL

Omg, no. We are in the same age range...I just like sounding fancy. lol ;)

It's all good, no worries ;-)

Where are you from that only old people are called "sir"? Personally I call everyone (male) sir sometimes, even my 10 year old cousin, but every so often I run into someone that's offended by it...

I was joking good sir!

how did it get discovered with no symptoms?

I was constipated for a week and went to urgent care. They gave me a bottle of MagCitrate (digestive drano) and I was in insane amounts of pain. Went to the ER and they thought I had a burst appendix since I was relatively young and in great shape. It was a tumor the size of a softball in my colon completely blocking me, and I didn't leave the hospital for 2 weeks. They figured I was living with cancer 3 years before they caught it.

Now everytime I have constipation, I'm going to have a second of OH SHIT CANCER SOFTBALL.

Thank you for that lovely bit of terror now.

You're welcome

[deleted]

I wish him the best!

How could they have caught it earlier? Blood tests or anything like that?

Blood tests or colonoscopy. There was no reason to check either on me, so I slipped through the cracks. They don't recommend routine colonoscopies until 50.

After I turned 50, my doctor told me I didn't really need a colonoscopy. F that, my grandfather died a miserable death from it and after hearing the stories, no way was I not having it.

Had it done, and they even found and cut out a polyp. Glad I did the whole thing. By the way, don't fear it, it's really easy and I did it without anesthetic. Rode my bike back to work and kept working 20 minutes after it was over.

Glad to hear you went through with it!

Did you get regular yearly blood tests? I do with my physical but wonder what that really covers. Should probably ask my doctor :)

regular blood tests won't catch colon cancer. they need to look for CEA and that is an uncommon test.

Please put my mind at ease, I was constipated(in the tune of 2 weeks) one year ago and I went in and the doctors took an X-ray and then took the stool sample as well(fun right?). And I've had my blood drawn recently but I have the H-roids and I'm just curious if it was your fecal matter test that caught it or was it something else?

I was completely backed up, didn't poop for a week.

Well, now that you have more time than you expected here on Earth, what are your plans?

Sounds dumb and cliché, but be a better person.

I'm an engineer, so I plan of finding a job that's less stressful. There's no sense in sacrificing your happiness for a few extra dollars.

I also plan to travel, a lot!

Will you continue to cook meth?

too much heat on me now that its in the AMA!

That's not cliche at all! Good luck, and don't let the locals rip you off on the Giza Plateau!

Thanks!

As someone who's starting to study engineering near future, Im curious, what field are you in and what's your daily routine like in your current job?

I'm a Mech E that works in the semiconductor industry. I used to work in the Environmental group designing industrial water treatment systems for our factories. I would go to design reviews, perform process specific experiments to see if the treatment method would work, manage contraction of the systems and look at ways to minimize cost. Routine day.

Did you enjoy it at all? That sounds like the path I might head towards. Currently working as an Env Eng at an industrial facility doing day to day compliance work but I spend probably half my time playing babysitter for our operators and technicians. I would love to just design and maybe go as far as installation. I want no part of operation or maintenance.

I loved it, just too much chemistry, so after the diagnosis, I took a desk job.

I haven't read through the comments at all, so idk if this has been asked. I'm also an inoperable stage IV and I'm losing hope while I'm getting ready for experimental treatments. We're you able to stay positive? How?

I tried to stay busy and do things people told me I couldn't do. That helped me stay positive. I ran the Spartan Race a few months after being diagnosed!

I wish you the best, PM me if you ever need to vent. Ask about Sir-spheres if your liver is involved, they seemed to work well for me.

Did your doctor give you a certain amount of time "left" when he diagnosed you? And what did your treatment consist of? Stage 4 cancer with multiple liver metastases... how do you even treat that?

No, I asked my Dr not to talk in terms of specific numbers.

I wish my girlfriend had done this. She just found out she has 5 years at the most to live, and she's only 19 (both of us are). Now, I only sleep for maybe 3-4 hours a night because I keep thinking about it. Terminal illnesses are terrible, and not just for the people infected with them.

Having said that, congratulations on beating it, man. I wish you the best of luck! Also, since I saw in another comment that you plan to travel, I hear Thailand is super fun!

Thanks and I wish your gf the best!

Been to Thailand, amazing place!

This is the most interesting thing I'be read in this thread so far. Why not?

It doesn't do you any good to know you have XX% chance to live 5 years or XX months left. It just creates anxiety and I was trying to keep a positive attitude.

How much Meth did you cook before going into remission?

I joke, but I am genuinely happy you've beaten this fucking horrible disease and, as the partner of someone who has struggled her whole life with a brain tumor, and recently lost my dad to pancreatic cancer, I wish you all the best with your life!

Good luck! :)

Thanks! I joked around a lot about cooking the "blue"!

ya, my mom got pancreatic cancer...no such luck for her. It's basically a death sentence. The only way you can be cured is if you catch is super early. Once is spreads your done for.

I wish there were tests you could do for abnormal cells in the body or something...sigh.

As a sci-fi nerd I hate that we have to deal with diseases killing us with our short life spans. Hopefully nano bots curing basically any disease isn't too far away.

Man it would be so cool to like....be able to step into a machine that replaced your body atom for atom, cell for cell, in a way where you didn't lose consciousness...or I guess you could be under anesthetic.

Or just figuring out how to regenerate our bodies and brains like certain other animals are capable of doing.

Transferring our consciousness into a device of some sort that you can put on any type of robotic/cybernetic body you want lol.

I just feel like almost all of the answers are there. I fear though we as human beings are not really going to like what we find out when we discover what being conscious actually means. I believe that there are higher forms of intelligence and consciousness of course but I think we'd have to "die" in order to transform into it.

I mean, if a dog could all the sudden talk it wouldn't be the dog anymore right?

That's the only limitation to sci-fi writing right now. When you have books where beings have been around for billions of years they are still similar to humans as far as being conscious goes. They might be more intelligent or whatever, but they are still in the same state of mind as us...a singular brain with singular experiences.

The authors sometimes try to write about beings that experience and perceive life way different than humans but it never really makes that much sense. I suppose I could be wrong though...

I just hope as humans when we figure out what being conscious is it leads us to different ways of perceiving reality...instead of it being a dead end of sorts and we realize are lives are totally pointless and being conscious isn't 'special' like we thought it was.

Anyway, I am ranting...waiting for this stupid download to finish because if I leave my computer it disconnects for some reason. I mean, my computer doesn't even go to sleep, the only thing that happens is my monitor turns off.

I don't want to mess with my monitor though because there was a short in it because I sprayed too much water on it for cleaning purposes now there is a shadowy spot in the corner.

But ya, the download cancelling thing happened before the short so who knows. I get a 'network error'. I have never gotten a network error while still at my computer...well I have once...just once. Maybe that was just a fluke though.

So sorry about your mom. Some of the stuff from Sci-Fi would be pretty awesome.

No questions here. Just wanted to say my mum had the exact same cancer, prognosis, metastases, treatments and surgeries. She had a lung resection as well. 7 years later she is healthy and thriving. Hang in there. Good luck to you!

That is great news about your mum! Give her my best and I wish her many more years of great health!

First, congratulations! That's amazing, and I'm sure you and your family are as relieved as can be. Thanks for doing this AMA.

I have a few questions. What type and dosage of chemotherapy were you put on? Did you do anything other than your chemo to stay healthy/active? Prior to your recovery, did you do anything in particular to stave off depression and apathy?

As far as dosages, I was on 5-FU, Oxaliplatin and Avastin. The only thing I know about the dosage amounts were they were high. My oncologist was very aggressive and I tolerated it really, really well. I never had a reduction in dose, but I did get deferred a week due to low platelet counts.

I ate well before I got sick, but once I got sick, my Dr told m to jus eat to keep weight on. I also tried to exercise at least 3 times a week. I actually ran the Spartan Race in Feb of this year as a patient. My oncologist thought I was crazy, in a good way. http://i.imgur.com/TLd6P9H.jpg

As far as the mental state, I just tried to stay busy and stay off WebMD, sites like that will bum you out. Having good friends and family helped a lot too.

Thanks for the answers! I think it's awesome that you ran the Spartan as a patient and that you were able to keep active in spite of everything.

That's good advice about WebMD. That site bums me out even when nothing's wrong with me, so I can definitely see that.

Thanks! I actually tried to do a 2nd Spartan in the spring, but the chemo had taken a lot more of my stamina at that point and I had to drop out halfway at mile 4.

And yeah, I almost feel like WebMD should be banned from the internet!

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Touché....well played.... well played... lol

Some of those are radio-sensitizers, did you receive radiation too?

If so, do you have many side effects?

I had selective internal radiation or radioembolization as part of a clinical trial. I had no real side effects from that. The chemo gave me neuropathy in my fingers and toes, along with the nausea and tiredness.

That's really great that the treatment went so well for you. I have done some research with Oxaliplatin, and it's a pretty rough thing to have to take. A stage 4 recovery is amazing, and it really gives me hope that scientists can figure out the complex mechanisms involved with cancer.

The research is amazing now. In ~10 years treatment will be much better.

That's incredibly impressive. When I was doing chemo, the walk from my car to the chemo clinic alone wiped me out.

I tried to exercise to maintain some level of fitness. towards the end it got really tough though. I hope you're doing well!

It must have been terrible to be considered inoperable... How does it feel to be free of cancer, at least NED after that?

It feels good, but I still wake up on Monday mornings thinking I need to go to chemo. It was weird, I was inoperable not because I had a big tumor, but I had so many small ones.

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It's not that I had to fight them hard, I just had a decision to make at the beginning of treatment. Did I want my last days to be comfortable or did I want to fight and go for the longshot. I fought and it worked out for me, I wish everyone had my luck. My oncologist was very aggressive in my treatment since I tolerated it so well.

Did you get regular general health checkups before you discovered the cancer? Or was it only when you got cramps? Just asking as I'm 22 and sometimes get random pains in my chest or that and I always think "Oh shit I hope this is nothing serious" or other random pains that go away after a few minutes. For some reason I have a fear that I will be told I have some heart problem or something serious later in life.

I went to my Dr regularly and also participated in health screening at work. I didn't have any symptoms and if you're not high risk (family history, etc...) they typically won't screen you for cancer. I have heard "You're too young for this" more times than I wish to remember.

Honestly, if you do have chest pains, I would bring that up to your Dr. It's better you find out sooner, rather than later so they can deal with it early. I'm hoping it's nothing, but go get it checked.

No questions because I will not question a miracle.

Congratulations on beating the 'Big C'. Have many productive and happy years.

Thanks!!

I'm a cancer researcher and seeing a story likes this makes me happy beyond belief. Congrats with your progress and best of luck in the future!

Thanks, not just for the congrats but for all you do!

Having been faced with you're own mortality, what are your thoughts on death now?

You said that you may have been living with it for 3 years and showed no symptoms,in your opinion, should people act somewhat like a hypochondriac to be sure you dont have cancer?

Congrats on living through it, you sound tough as hell. I'm glad we still have another person on this planet.

EDIT: Thanks for the reply, its refreshing to hear that someone is so accepting of the unknown. I'm 19 and I've only recently realised the actualities of death, and it absolutely terrifies me.

It's weird, I was never really afraid of death, not that I wanted to speed up the process, but as Walter White said in Breaking Bad, every life comes with a death sentence. That said, I did get incredibly sad thinking about not seeing my friends and family again or them not seeing me rather.

I don't think you can live your life fearing cancer and being a hypochondriac. When it's your time, it's your time and it's best not to spend the time you have worrying about what may happen. I was a statistical outlier. That said, if you have family history, it only makes sense to get screened.

Do you have a family history of cancer?

No family history at all. I made my sister and parents all get screened after I found out, they were all clear.

Diagnosis of cancer: $30k Treatment of cancer: $300k Getting the rest of the family to suffer through a colonoscopy: priceless

Making them drink the prep is the priceless part!!

I had a colonoscopy at the beginning of the year, the prep wasn't nearly as bad as I had heard it would be. I just guzzled the liquid as fast as possible and it did the rest!

Once you drink it, you are just along for the ride LOL

So.... Did you smoke marijuana? IF not, why not and do you support it still?

Edit: changed some to smoke lol, I was 'somimg" some marijuana at the time too xD

I did and it helped!

This is simply amazing and makes me excited for more medical progress. Science really is incredible. Glad to see you're okay.

Science rocks!

I'm a 19 year old Leukemia survivor. Stopped treatment on 2 weeks ago. So when I was going through treatment all I wanted to do was ride my bike. I got health enough during to ride my bike, and thats all I did. Now that I'm done with treatment, all I do is ride my bike.

My question is... What were you thinking about during everything?

I was thinking about going to Fenway Park and watching the Sox! I live in AZ now, so its a bit far LOL

Wow, congratulations!

What were you hoping to achieve with the operation since they said it was inoperable?

How did you react when they told you it was all gone? Were the doctors surprised?

What will you do differently with your life now that you had such a scare and that is taken away?

Really congrats! You beat something they told you, you couldn't!

Just to clarify, I was inoperable at the start, but responded to chemo so well that I became a candidate for surgery and the goal was to remove the remaining cancer. Which, thank god it did!

I am still surprised by it, I still feel like I need to wake up on Mondays and get ready for chemo. My oncologist was cautiously optimistic once I started responding amazingly well to chemo. He was happy to have one in the win column, and my primary Dr cried and gave me a hug when I told her she was so happy.

As far as what I plan to do, find a less stressful job and travel like crazy!

Thanks, I hope you will find a job you love. And I loved the part about your doctor crying and hugging you. It's great to hear that they were really rooting for you!

Thanks!!!

What is something that you found comfort in while you were going through all of this?

Probably exercise. Running on the treadmill helped me clear my head and put me in a much better state of mind. Also, it sounds weird, but going to work everyday, maintaining a level of "normal" in my life.

Congrats! How are you going to celebrate?

I am going to enjoy not being on chemo and go to Hawaii and just relax!

No question, just thanks. It's nice to see a success story for a similar situation to my own. I hope to join you on a beach eventually.

Thanks! And soon enough I will be drinking a beer with my toes in he sand!

My dad was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer with spots on liver and lungs. He had no symptoms that pointed towards cancer and if anything just felt sort of lethargic for a while. They have deemed the kidney inoperable and are set to start chemo within the next week or two.

Is there any advice you can offer mostly for my dad, but also for a family that has been utterly blindsided by this.

Thanks

First of all, I wish your dad the best and tell him I said to stay strong.

My advice would be to exercise, run, jog, walk, just stay active. The statistics get better the more active you are and it helped put me in a better mood. Also, have him ask about clinical trials, I got in one early and I believe it helped a lot. I really wish him the best!

Congratulations man, that's really awesome! Now to the questions...

What is chemo like?

How did it feel to be told that you no longer have cancer? and how did it feel to be told you did have cancer?

At any point were you tempted to cook meth?

So chemo was not fun, it was like the worst hangover you've ever had and it lasted 3 days. My regiment had me wear a pump home that infused me for 2 straight days.

It was amazing when I found out I was cancer free and no longer had to do chemo, I still don't believe it some days. As far as getting told I had cancer, I was so whacked out on Morphine for the pain, when they told me, I said "well that sucks". It wasn't the response the Dr was expecting LOL

And Walter White helped me get through this, I love that show.

Because its your liver, can you drink alcohol?

I can now, but it was not recommended when I was in chemo due to the stress the treatment puts on the liver. Then, after my liver surgery, I have to wait 6 weeks for the 1/3 they cut out to regenerate.

Are you religious at all? Did your faith or lack of faith factor into how you took on the idea of death?

I am not religious at all. A lot of my friends tried to get me to go to church and I politely declined. They asked if they could pray for me, I said hell yeah, it's like having insurance!

My mum has been given ~12m by her doctors. What advice can you give me that would improve the quality of her life.

The kind of shit the person looking from the outside in wouldnt think of.

Cheers.

Sorry about your mum. The things I would say are talk to her, about anything but cancer. Talk about when you went on holiday, or when something funny happened. It meant a lot to me when people treated me like a person, not a patient.

My dad's pancreatic cancer just got restaged as stage IV. Do you have any advice?

Spend as much time as you can with him. I wish him the best and I hope he has some of my luck. Cancer sucks

Hey man... congratulations! Stay strong, love every minute and enjoy your life. You deserve it! Thanks for being a bit of inspiration for me this morning

Thanks!

So, what are your plans for your next birthday!

I plan on being on a beach somewhere tropical!

Enjoy that and many more birthdays to come!

Thanks!

I'm also the ONLY one in my immediate family who has not had cancer. Even watching my family go through it, I seriously doubt that it can be understood by anyone unless they actually experience it.

It is hard to try to explain what it is like, the emotional rollercoaster, what it does to you physically, it's pure evil. I'm sorry you had to experience so many family members going through it. I have a friend that lost his mom and only sister to cancer. F Cancer

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I just tried to stay busy so I wouldn't have time to worry. I went to work everyday, the gym... tried to keep life as normal as possible.

Congratulations! I'm really glad you've beaten this horrible disease :)

My question is: did you have to change your diet in any way at all? I've read a story about how a man beat his stage IV cancer by going vegan and refusing chemo, and I was wondering if this works with only a few individuals?

Also, what are your thoughts on alternative therapy and have you undertaken any alongside your chemo?

I actually ate much cleaner before I got sick. My Dr told me to "just eat" to keep the weight on. If you lose too much weight, it's tough to battle cancer.

I've read about vegan diets and other things like that, but the data doesn't support it curing cancer. That said, I have no doubt it's better for you, but I don't believe that's what cured him. Before I got sick I ate organic and only "happy meat" grass fed, gage free and the like from local butchers. I firmly believe in organic and supporting local farms.

I really didn't do any alternative treatments because some of them actually affect how the chemo works and didn't want a diminished response.

Thanks for doing this. I just got diagnosed with cancer myself last month. Wondering what things you wish you had known during the early stages (aside from the obvious, like that you were going to end up surviving)? And any advice you have for dealing with doctors, well-meaning but sometimes annoying friends, etc.

Glad to hear you are cancer free.

First, sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

As far as advice, write everything down at the Dr. When you start chemo your memory will start to suffer. Also, find a Dr you get along with. Mine was referred to me by half a dozen other doctors when I got diagnosed. He dropped an F-bomb 5 minutes into our conversation and I thought "this is my guy"

The friends this is tough, I lost my best friends (husband and wife) because she tried to take control over my treatment. People get weird around people with cancer, you just have to play that by ear.

Have you considered Medical Marijuana for treatment?

I have and it helped a lot for nausea and appetite.

Congratulations! That's great news!

This is a bit random. What did you do right after you found out you've been cured?

I'm technically not cured yet, just cancer free, cured after 5 years cancer free.

I went and ate a really expensive steak!

Exactly how much meth did you cook?

None, but I thought about it LOL

have you looked into cannabanoids and thc therapy yet? marijuana has worked wonders for some cancer survivors!!!

I used medical marijuana for nausea, appetite and sleeping.

[deleted]

Thanks, I was watching with you, Walt was pretty awesome!

Did you change your lifestyle in regards to health after the diagnosis? Start jogging, eating right, etc...?

I was always healthy, I ran on average a 5 or 10K once a month. I just stayed active throughout treatment, even did a Spartan Race a few months after getting diagnosed.

You won! Congrats bro!!

Thanks!

How did you pay for the chemo treatments^{imnotsayingyoumademethoranything}

I have awesome insurance, I couldn't imagine this without it.

Wow you actually replied to my lame attempt at getting karma! Congratulations by the way. I remember when my Life Science teacher, 25 and coolest teacher in school, got breast cancer. She was a real trooper and beat the shit out of it. She sees life differently now. She used to get mad at things, but now she doesn't because after being faced with death, everything seems trivial compared to it. Hope you live many more years!

Thanks! Glad she beat it!

What do you think about placebo effect?

I think the placebo effect is possible for certain things, but for aggressive cancers I think one needs to stick to the scientifically proven medicine. Look at Steve Jobs, he tried the Holistic approach believing it would cure him and it did not, he went back to modern medicine.

That is awesome. I am happy for you!

do you credit being cancer-free *more to your treatment/modern medicine, or to luck/God/something else?

I tgink modern medicine and dumb luck!

Well, I'm glad you had both on your side!

Thanks! If it weren't for dumb luck I'd have none! LOL

Don't have any questions. I just wanted to say FUCK YEAH! Beat the shit out of cancer. Way to not let it take you down. I think the mind is a powerful thing. There is some part of your survival that is due to to the will to live.

Thanks!

What do you think about the government's reaction to the healthcare reform? Do you think it is a little selfish?

I think the new system is flawed, but I like the fact everyone will have health care available. We are (were) the only 1st world country without some sort of public healthcare.

Are you sick of people asking you if you cook meth yet? Congrats on beating cancer!

It was funny at first....

Now that you're cancer-free, do you plan to do anything to celebrate?

Want to share my depressing story - My grandmother died from a situation extremely similar to yours actually. Cancerous tumor in her colon. It burst and she died from internal bleeding. This was about a year and a half ago. Glad you got through it :)

Sorry to hear about your Grandmother.

I plan to travel and have a beer with my toes in the sand, simple things make me happy!

I was wondering what your genome DNA test would say? Please check this project out, see if you are interested.

https://www.23andme.com/

I am going to try it out.

I'm doing the same thing! I hope your results are positive!!

Wha?? Positive for?? I am paranoid enough man.

I hope things are good (i.e. positive!)

Congratulations on your remission!

I lost my Uncle, and my personal hero Two weeks ago tomorrow after a two and a half year fight. I know you've seen many of your fellow patients not make it to remission, do you have any advice for family members struggling with the loss?

I am so sorry to hear about your uncle. I really don't have any advice on loss other than remember the good and forget the bad. Keep that favorite memory of them and they will always live on.

Have you broken bad yet?

Not yet

Hooray! A cancer-themed AMA who isn't a fake!

[as you're a redditor who has been here for over a year, you should understand where I'm coming from]

I have nothing to ask you. Just really glad you're doing well, and wish you a cancer-free rest of life.

Thanks!!

hey mate, i have nothing to add except congratulations! so happy for you. my mom has inoperable liver cancer atm and seems to be allergic to nearly every chemo she's tried. i'm sad for me but super happy for you. so glad to hear that there is hope out there!

Thanks and sorry to hear about your mom. I am allergic to Oxaliplatin and they still gave it to me, just pre-dosed me with a ton of Benadryl!

If our reduction is not stereospecific, then how can our product be enantiomerically pure? I mean, is 1 phenyl, 1 hyrdoxyl, 2 methylaminopropane, containing, of course, chiral centers at carbons number 1 and 2 on the propane chain?

Then reduction to methamphetamine eliminates which chiral center is it again?

Because I forget.

Walter White helped me get through this!

;)

Serious question now. I see you are taking it with a lot of humor now, which is truly awesome. How did you react to this back when you didn't really know how it was going to play out?

I cried everyday in the shower for the first couple of months, and I was ready to liquidate my 401k and buy a Ferrari! Seriously! I figured if I my time was short, I was going to get a nice car and tour the country.

Damn. Well, I hope you still get to tour the country anyway. Maybe just not in a Ferrari.

Do you have a wife/kids? What do you do for a living? How did you cover the expenses? (not a setup for another BrBa joke, I'm sincerely curious).

No wife or kids, and I'm an engineer. My insurance covered everything just about, so I was lucky. I couldn't imagine paying for this by myself.

FUCK YEAHHHHHH YOU'RE A BOSS

FUCK YOUU CANCERR

Like a BOSS!

no question from me; just a a congrats to you and your strong spirit!!! good job

Thanks!

Do you like the mighty mighty bosstones?

Love the Bosstones!

What happened to make it go away?

Chemo and dumb luck!

Not a question, but i'm really happy for you. Had a friend who was at the same stage.... he made it untill his last month of treatment before passing away due to his lungs collapsing.

Thanks and I'm really sorry to hear about your friend.

Gratz... I to was cured from lymphoma at just 39

Congrats to you as well!!!

Since most of the good stuff has been covered:

Do you find you're able to watch Breaking Bad? How do you feel your perspective on a show like that is different than the average viewer?

Breaking Bad was amazing. Walt, while troubled, had an amazing view and take on cancer. One scene that stuck out was when he told another cancer patient "every life comes with a death sentence" and about the scan and bad news "I am in control". It was inspiring.

Enjoy the years you have left to the fullest.

Will do! Thanks!

How much meth did you make? :)

Narc!

This title gave me goosebumps, rock on OP.

Thanks!

Which crossroads demon did you summon? /s

Every damn one of them!!

Congratulations on being cancer free!

My question: cancer often seems to be talked about as the ultimate bad disease to be diagnosed with. After having it yourself, do you feel that cancer is worse to have that other diseases/conditions?

I have only had cancer, no other diseases, so I'm not sure if it's a fair comparison. That said, yes, I think cancer is the worst because different types of cancers are essentially different diseases, which is why it is so hard to treat. You need to find a cure for each type of cancer.

Also, the treatment for cancer is brutal. You essentially poison yourself and hope the cancer dies slightly faster than the rest of you. Treatment options are getting better with targeted therapies such as Avastin and other new drugs, but they too have their side effects.

How many meth you cooked?

You DEA?

I have but one question: How are you on fine day like this? :D

I am well and cancer free!!! :-) How are you?

Good for you! Its all gravy now right?

Lets hope it's all downhill from here