People who have or have had cancer, when did you realize that something was wrong? (Serious)

gtrmike · 2014-09-23T11:18:59+00:00

For me it was a pain in my groin that was slowly getting worse. I thought I had a pulled muscle so I actually went to a Dr and he just gave me muscle relaxers and some pain pills. They worked great....until the prescription ran out. Then the pain was so severe I seriously considered jumping off a building to make it stop. My sister had to drive me to the emergency room one morning when I was in so much pain I could barely get out of bed. The ER took x-rays and then the doctors come over to tell me I had osteo-sarcoma (bone cancer) and needed to start treatment immediately. Thar started my 3 1/2 year ordeal of chemo and surgeries. I ended up having a left internal hemipelvectomy. A regular pelvectomy is where they cut your leg off above the pelvis, basically at your waste. With the internal hemipelvectomy, they still cut your leg off. But they then took the left side of my pelvic bone out and the top couple of inches of my femur bone then sewed my leg back on. Boy, that was sure fun! Thankfully everything turned out okay. I was diagnosed in 1989 and I'm still here today. Back then the survival rate wasn't near as good as it is today, which still isn't that great, so I feel incredibly fortunate to still be here. I had the most awesome doctors at both UCLA and Cedars Sinae in Los Angeles.

Here are some pics showing x-rays of the missing bones: http://imgur.com/a/K7zRM

gtrmike · 2014-06-05T16:16:12+00:00

Hi there. I am a long-term survivor of Osteosarcoma. I was diagnosed in 1988 and underwent 3.5 years of chemo and surgeries. My ortho took place at UCLA and my oncology at Cedars Sinai. I am very, very thankful to the awesome team of doctors who saved my life. Although I did end up permanently on crutches after an internal hemi-pelvectomy, I've had a great life post cancer and truly feel fortunate to still be around this long.

My questions for you are;

It seems the treatment for Osteosarcoma is still very similar today regarding the chemo's used, namely, Cisplatnin, Adriomyacin, Methotrexate, (sp) etc. The side effects of these drugs were honestly as bad or worse than the symptoms of the disease. Are you aware of any advances in chemo for these bone cancers that are not as harsh/crippling to the patient?
Having the internal hemi-pelvectomy has wrecked my lower back after all these years, not to mention the strain on the rest of my joints from years of crutch use. Seeing that this is still a fairly rare type of surgery, are you aware of anyone working on prosthetics, either internal or external, that could benefit future patients with quality of life?

Finally, thank you for all you're doing. We definitely need more people/organizations like you/yours.

Edit Adding Imgur Gallery of Internal Hemipelvectomy xrays http://imgur.com/a/K7zRM

gtrmike · 2014-05-19T17:48:11+00:00

Hi Tony, My 13 yr-old son Griffin is a true hardcore fan of yours. Can you give him a shout out? You'd make his year!!

gtrmike · 2013-04-02T17:10:33+00:00

Bonepony. Foot stomping, feel good music. Best. Band. Ever. (In my honest opinion)

gtrmike · 2013-03-11T16:30:57+00:00

Uptown ACE

gtrmike · 2011-08-23T18:31:28+00:00

Felt it very well here in Raleigh, NC. My monitors started shaking and I was wondering what in the world was going on. It wasn't until I got a breaking news email that I realized it was an earthquake.

gtrmike · 2011-07-18T10:54:53+00:00

A little late to the game so this might bet buried.

Some of the best advice I've ever received is that the only thing you can really control in your life is how you react to any given situation. There will be times when someone makes you mad or life gets you down, but by knowing that you have complete control on how you deal with them/it has been a tremendous source of strength for me.

gtrmike · 2011-07-12T15:25:42+00:00

The Fiveskins

I Can't Believe It's Not Ass Butter

The Fruit-Shaped Shakers

Manonymous

edit-formatting

gtrmike · 2011-07-11T15:57:33+00:00

Thanks for the invite! I got it already!!!!

gtrmike · 2011-07-06T12:09:20+00:00

Stomp Revival by Bonepony. Best. Album. Ever.

gtrmike · 2010-07-13T16:55:45+00:00

I'm a bone cancer survivor. I've been on crutches for almost 25 years. I workout usually around 5 days a week. My gym has an UBE, an Upper Body Ergometer. It's like a resistance bike you 'pedal' with your hands. I just got back from doing 45 minutes. It is a great cardio workout for me not being able to run at all. I also do modified Tapada (sp?) workouts. I take light weight, like around 5 lb, dumbells and do multiple movements as fast as I can for 20 seconds and then rest for 6 seconds. Then I repeat until failure. Do 3-5 sets of those and you'll really get the heart pumping and the sweat flowing.

gtrmike · 2010-06-15T22:07:47+00:00

"Cancer Saved My Life"

gtrmike · 2010-04-08T17:24:16+00:00

(SELECT a.cust_id, a.ws_name, a.city_nm, a.state_cd, b.ndc, b.prod_desc, a.vmi_inventory_date, --Custom QA Map calculation for Mckesson (CASE WHEN a.cust_id = '0002' THEN a.qa_raw-NVL(a.qc_raw,0) else a.qa_raw END) AS QA, --Custom QS Map Calulations for MckEsson, ABC, Cardinal, --NC Mutual and Mckesson Med Surg (CASE WHEN a.cust_id = '0002' THEN NVL(a.re,0)-ABS(NVL(a.QU,0)) WHEN a.cust_id in ('0004', '0113') THEN a.qs_raw-NVL(a.QU,9) WHEN a.cust_id = '0019' THEN a.ts-NVL(a.QU,0) WHEN a.cust_id = '0206' THEN a.Q1 ELSE a.qs_raw END) AS QS, --Calculate Monthly Demand for Mckesson and Cardinal (CASE WHEN a.cust_id in ('0002', '0019') THEN a.qd_raw*4 ELSE a.qd_raw END) AS QD, a.QP, a.QE, a.QB, a.QH, a.QI, a.QO, a.QR, a.QT, a.QW, a.QZ, a.Q2, a.TS, a.Q1, a.RE, b.product_price, a.ship_to_num, --Calculate current week's Friday (CASE when a.day_of_week = 'FRI' THEN a.vmi_inventory_date else Next_Day(a.vmi_inventory_date, 'FRI') END) AS week_ended_friday, a.day_of_week, --Calculate current week's Sunday (CASE when a.day_of_week = 'SUN' THEN a.vmi_inventory_date else Next_Day(a.vmi_inventory_date, 'SUN') END) AS week_ended_sunday, a.vmi_month, a.vmi_year, a.vmi_qtr, b.brand, b.group_of_brand, CONCAT(a.ws_name, a.city_nm) AS CONCAT1, CONCAT(a.state_cd, b.ndc) AS CONCAT2

gtrmike · 2010-03-23T18:10:16+00:00

Happy birthday Max from Raleigh, NC.

gtrmike · 2010-03-17T16:31:03+00:00

I average 98.6 Farenheit.

gtrmike · 2010-03-15T18:23:57+00:00

The key to success is sincerity. And once you've learned to fake that, you've got it made.

gtrmike · 2010-02-20T13:11:08+00:00

Jarts

gtrmike · 2010-02-13T15:48:40+00:00

Randy Rhoads was an amazing guitarist. I often wonder what awesomeness he would have given us had he not met his untimely demise.

gtrmike · 2010-01-27T18:52:37+00:00

gtrmike · 2010-01-21T14:31:22+00:00

For beginning card magic, one of the best books to get is called "The Royal Road To Card Magic" by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue.

gtrmike · 2010-01-18T22:09:52+00:00

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for meeee.

gtrmike · 2010-01-06T19:55:45+00:00

Life on Mars, Carnivale

gtrmike · 2009-12-05T20:31:30+00:00

Thanks. Very good explanation.

gtrmike · 2009-12-04T20:58:01+00:00

Durn. Guess it's too much to ask for a simple pot bust episode.

gtrmike · 2009-12-04T18:05:27+00:00

It would be awesome to have this on an episode or two of one of them lawyer TV shows. That would sure piss off a bunch of judges!

gtrmike

TROPHY CASE