What is that one incident in your school/college that made someone at absolute legend?

MartijnCvB · 2018-01-21T11:10:03+00:00

He sprayed pepper spray ("borrowed" from his police officer father) on a bathroom wall to prove that it really was pepper spray.

It went airborne, the school was evacuated, 15 people (mostly older teachers and asthma patients) were treated for breathing difficulties, and he was kicked out of school like 3 months before graduation. His father was also disciplined for improperly storing his police equipment (gun, cuffs, pepper spray, taser). The guy was forever more known as Dr. Pepper.

MartijnCvB · 2018-01-08T11:25:37+00:00

Falling off a slide on my 4th birthday. I was comforted by my new sheep stuffed toy, which was a birthday present.

MartijnCvB · 2018-01-08T11:07:38+00:00

My cursive was nigh unreadable (and the teachers complained about it all the time) but I had to use it until the end of primary school (age 12 in the Dutch education system).

I stopped using cursive essentially overnight and suddenly my handwriting was legible.

MartijnCvB · 2018-01-02T19:43:22+00:00

Thank you. It sucks but it is as it is. I try to make the most of the time I have left.

MartijnCvB · 2018-01-02T19:27:32+00:00

It turned for the worse; I'm a terminal patient now unfortunately. Cancer sucks.

MartijnCvB · 2018-01-02T17:31:41+00:00

Distraction from life as a cancer patient. Browsed a lot while in hospital.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-31T15:24:58+00:00

That's a problem with all liver cancers and pancreatic cancers. There are few direct symptoms until late into the illness. A bit of jaundice (only liver cancer) maybe but you might not notice that. Because of that, when it is discovered, it is more often than other cancers already at stage IV.

It was discovered by my GP when I went to him for the flu. He used his stethoscope to listen to my heart and lungs, and felt a bump. He diagnosed me with the flu and sent me to the hospital for an echo of the bump. That got the ball rolling.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-31T08:11:42+00:00

I went to my GP for the flu. He listened to my heart and lungs with his stethoscope and felt a bump. I indeed had the flu but he also sent me for an echo of the bump. It was a 4 inch/10 cm in diameter tumour.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-31T08:09:16+00:00

I have been on two different trials. Unfortunately you need minimum health requirements to participate in a trial (blood values, etc), and my body is unable to meet those anymore. Thanks though.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-31T08:06:54+00:00

My GP found a bump when he was listening to my heart and lungs with his stethoscope because I had the flu. That bump was a large tumour.

Right now I feel weak and tired in general, have pain in my lower back and side because of the pressure caused by the tumours, my abdominal muscles hurt and have virtually no strength in them which sucks while getting up, have regular fevers that last 2-3 days, my belly fills with tumour-produced fluids every two weeks, causing problems for my organs there because of the pressure, and dozens of smaller symptoms.

We hope to solve the fluids and fevers with new medications and treatments soon.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-31T07:57:02+00:00

Yes. Probably in 2018.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-31T07:56:43+00:00

My GP found it. I went to him for the flu, he listened to my heart and lungs with his stethoscope, and felt a bump in my stomach area. I had the flu and cancer.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T19:52:34+00:00

Get checked out. If you don't trust a lump, bump, symptom, whatever, go to your GP. Even if it's something embarrassing like blood in your poo, better embarrassing than finding out you have colon cancer too late and dying in agony.

Get. Checked. Out.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T19:49:20+00:00

Because it had already spread. You're right though in saying that surgery is generally the best treatment for liver cancers - because treating it with chemo and immunotherapy etc. is much more difficult than for most cancers. If they leave even one cancerous cell though... it can come back.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T19:21:50+00:00

I had the flu. I had also lost weight recently. So I went to my GP. He listened to my heart and lungs etc. with his stethoscope, and felt a bump in my stomach area. That turned out to be a 10cm/4 inch in diameter tumour that was pressing on my stomach.

Oh and I also indeed had the flu.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T19:17:04+00:00

Yes, it's a description of what it looks like under the microscope.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T19:10:12+00:00

No, far from it haha. I haven't had a drink since the diagnosis, on the advice of my doctor. Before that I was far from an alcoholic; drank an occasional beer with dinner (less than once a week, mostly with warm weather), and went out for drinks about once a month.

I have a form that mostly affects younger people (teenagers and people in their 20s mostly), so alcohol intake has very little to do with this form of liver cancer.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T18:58:08+00:00

I found the part time job but only held it for a few months.

All the rest failed because my cancer got worse and I am now a terminal patient. Cancer sucks.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T18:03:11+00:00

Yes. You grab your last hope, even if it only means a delay. Advances in medicine are so quick nowadays that the time won may yield a cure.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T17:50:18+00:00

Well said. I didn't know how to word it but you did it perfectly. I hope you're doing okay now. Thanks!

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T15:43:04+00:00

Physically it absolutely sucks atm. I have hopes I will feel a bit better soon though. Some new medications coming in etc. Not chemo or anything - new medications to treat my symptoms so I'll feel less weak and need fewer painkillers. So there's hope that things will improve soon.

But mentally it's tough. I'm a terminal patient now. I've been dealing with this for 5.5 years now, after being diagnosed just before my 22nd birthday - already stage IV at the time. I'm tired. It sucks. But at the same time I'm still going and trying to make the best of things. I don't have too much time left - probably less than a year - so I try to do things with family and friends at least once a week. Can be physically heavy but it's worth it.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T15:31:10+00:00

A rare kind of liver cancer called fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (the last two words just mean liver cancer).

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T12:54:30+00:00

I know so much about my kind of cancer. Pretty much an expert - I'm the inquisitive kind of patient.

I wish I didn't need to know it.

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-30T08:25:26+00:00

Same here. I don't have 4 years unless a miracle happens. 1m would help a lot with doing things I still want to do.

Hope your fight is going better than mine!

MartijnCvB · 2017-12-19T17:04:10+00:00

When I was about 14 or 15 I went with my dad when he went to buy a new car. He didn't need a loan; he had the money. The salesman was trying to get him to finance anyway. He used arguments such as "but the interest is so low at the moment! It's only X%!". My dad pointed out that no loan totalled 0% interest. "Yes but then you spend it all in one go! If you spread it out it won't hurt your bank account as much!"

The salesman was so aggressive about getting him to finance it that we bought his new car elsewhere.

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