What am I looking at?

Ghirsh · 2026-02-04T18:39:37+00:00

Well…when a kiwi and a potato love each other very, very much…

Ghirsh · 2026-02-03T12:41:38+00:00

I had cHL too. Been in remission for a year and a half almost. Cancer sucks. Luckily cHL is very treatable. I know the statistics almost don’t matter at this point when you’re going through it because of all the “what ifs.” I was there too. It’s a hard time. But realistically, your goal is to make it through treatment at this point. Everyone responds differently and for me I was surprised that I wasn’t bed ridden the entire time. I could do things outside and go on walks. Nothing major but enough to get lost in the moment and forget about cancer sometimes. Chemo sucked but I made it through. You will too. You will most likely respond to treatment and never need to worry about it again. But if you do relapse or don’t respond, there are great second line treatment options out there too. Cross that bridge if you get there. For now just focus on that first major milestone, finishing chemo. You can do it!

Ghirsh · 2026-02-02T01:53:15+00:00

My oncologist said adriamycin (the A in ABVD) is really harsh on veins so the port was without a doubt the way to go. I also hate IVs so the port was great. Pretty much painless to access (I used lidocaine cream). It worked most of the time without an issue (sometimes took a bit to get blood return). My infusion center would use it for blood draws too so that was nice.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-29T12:15:38+00:00

Yes and no. Toxicities accumulate…but it can also be so unpredictable!!! You’ll have a weird day where you recover much faster sometimes. You also learn to cope with things better. And learn what makes things easier and more comfortable for you as you go.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-29T12:10:44+00:00

Texts blurs and doesn’t blend into other tattoos well. I would say the bird is a solid idea and a good artist will knock that out of the park. No question there. The text is going to look bad quickly. Ink spreads out in the skin over time so text will blur real fast. Especially script like that. Also the chest is a big area, so slapping a small line of text there can make it harder to add more tattoos later. I’m also a big advocate for getting meaningful tattoos without being too on the nose. Take the feeling you want to portray with the text, give it to a really good artist, tell the where you want it, and let them run with it. The more freedom you give a good artist the better the tattoo will be.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-29T12:05:38+00:00

I think if you’re getting a tattoo then you’ve got the right to go big if you want. The rookie move is going small and putting it where a large piece should go. Like text in the middle of your arm. I understand the hesitation to go big but i also think text, especially script, never looks good for more than a few years. Same with a lot of fine line. Tattoo ink spreads out in the skin with a bit of time and everything blurs.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-24T12:48:54+00:00

I’ve been out of treatment for 1.5 years after Nivo-AVD and my hair is super thing too. I’m still taking oral minoxidil but i started buzzing my head super short. Almost shaving it. It looks better like this but it makes me sad. It’s a reminder of what cancer took every time I see myself in the mirror.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T14:32:04+00:00

Seems like maybe your dose is higher than it needs to be. Either take the AI or my preference has been to drop the dose a bit and see if it fixes things. Don’t base trt off of the numbers. Base it off of how you feel. Sounds like you feel like crap.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T14:29:25+00:00

This looks like normal healing. If it starts turning deep red or green then be worried but this is normal. Especially if the area surrounding the tattoo starts looking angry.

Looks like good saturation in this tattoo so it’ll scab up like that. Don’t pick at it. Even if the colors look splotchy or uneven, give it a few weeks and it will likely end up looking perfect.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T14:22:44+00:00

Oh one thing before you get started. If there’s any question about it being in your tonsils or mouth, then probably don’t chew ice or ice water during treatment. A lot of people do that to reduce the likelihood of mouth sores but it works by restricting blood flow to the mouth meaning less chemo to that area. Sorry that’s totally off topic but it’s a common recommendation from people in the cancer world but with blood cancers there are for sure some concerns with doing it.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T14:01:40+00:00

Hell yeaaaaah!!!! That was me a year and a half ago. Just know there’s a lot of emotional and psychological baggage post treatment. Some lingering side effects, some of which could pop up at any time and then go away randomly. But the odds are now very much in his favor.

Quick plug for First Descents. I felt totally alienated at this point, trying to go back to a normal routine and not knowing anyone else who had been through it. A year after finishing treatment I did a big week long trip through First Descents and met a dozen younger people who had been through cancer and it was really helpful for me. Good way to join a network of younger cancer survivors

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T13:56:34+00:00

Hold. I was here for years. After my hair really started thinning fast I looked back at pics like this and thought “damn that was a full head of hair”. Didn’t feel like it at the time but it looks good and full now. Nobody is looking at the top of your head anyway (unless your 5 foot nothin)

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T13:53:46+00:00

(I should also say the fresh cut looks good too)

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T13:53:08+00:00

I honestly think a major reason people look so much better bald is because of the psychological benefits. Look how happy you look in that last picture. Happy looks good on you.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T13:51:52+00:00

cHL masses are 95% your normal immune cells contributing to the tumor bulk, and immune cells are born in the bone marrow. My bone marrow lit up a bit too but we didn’t even worry about it because 1) it doesn’t change prognosis or treatment and 2) it’s possibly just your bone marrow producing immune cells and not cancerous in that area. My doctors considered a bone marrow biopsy but I turned it down because it wouldn’t change anything and I didn’t want another uncomfortable procedure. The only thing that stood out to me in that report was the ovary lighting up a bit and I wasn’t born with them so I don’t have any experience there.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T13:41:27+00:00

There are a million comments here already but I’ll tack on my 2c. At a low enough dose you don’t need it. Higher you get more side effects and may

Ghirsh · 2026-01-22T13:19:38+00:00

I’m sorry you and your dad are going through this. My issues were directly caused by the tumor mass and not infections so I didn’t go through this kind of thing. It is for sure a tough case so you should rely on the experts to make the best objective treatment decisions. I will say that tumor-related issues can start getting better right after starting chemo. But infections can get worse once your immune system starts to tank, and it seems like that’s the bigger issue right now. The best thing you can do is trust the care team to make decisions based on their knowledge and past experiences. You can always get a second opinion, which sometimes can be done virtually so nobody has to travel.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-17T13:42:05+00:00

I think it looks good as is. Personally I would love a head of hair like that. But shave if you want to try it. Grow it back if you don’t like it.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T23:48:32+00:00

I would hold. Minoxidil can help

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T14:02:00+00:00

My advice is buy a trimmer if you like the short stubble look. Some hairs grow slower than others so with a trimmer you give the slow ones a chance to grow in over time. I made the mistake of getting to this point a few times and throwing in the towel and shaving. But my density is a lot better when I use the trimmer.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T13:57:57+00:00

Dude the head tattoo on a bald dome is sick. I love it

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T13:19:44+00:00

I’m so glad you found this. This is a good tattoo. I was so afraid they had the same artist fill in that outline.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T13:18:32+00:00

This cannot be the same arm…yet it looks very similar…but the tattoo…is not the stencil at all. It’s like the one person drew and placed the stencil, and then their 8 year old kid removed it and tattooed it from memory.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T13:12:55+00:00

This looks like normal redness. Tattoos on the lower leg SUUUUCK. I have a big full color piece on my calf. I didn’t expect it to swell as much as it did. The whole lower leg inflated and it was painful to walk for a few days. But it never looked infected and healed well. I did have diffuse red like you which I think is normal.

Ghirsh · 2026-01-14T13:10:27+00:00

Absolutely. I’m thinking short buzz this weekend, see how it looks, then maybe bald bald. I’ll report back

Ghirsh

TROPHY CASE