Author Topic: Cancer update! From Kboards  (Read 4536 times)

DmGuay

Cancer update! From Kboards
« on: November 30, 2018, 06:32:20 AM »
Last year, on Kboards, y'all gave me a ton of support when I was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal kidney cancer. I was told most of you moved over to this forum, and that I'd missed all the hubbub. Anyway...

I just wanted to give you an update. It's been a wild ride. I nearly died, literally, in June, because my cancer meds made my brain swell. I was in the hospital for a total of 13 days that month, three of which I don't remember because I had seizures. Things looked pretty dark then.

But, I started immunotherapy (the guys who developed it just won the nobel prize) and I am happy to announce that my tumor has shrunk nearly 50 percent and has not spread to other areas AND I feel like a normal, not sick person now. It doesn't change the long-term (terminal) ending of my cancer, but I have been given the gift of more time, and the bonus gift of feeling-good time.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.

I'm hoping to have a new book out in January, now that I feel good enough to finish it!
 
D.M. Guay | Web site
 

angela

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Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2018, 06:43:07 AM »
That's wonderful news!!  :heart:
 

Maggie Ann

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2018, 07:46:17 AM »
Wow! What a wonderful gift.

 :band:

 :cheers

 :clap:

 :tup3b

 :banana:
           
 

The Doctor

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2018, 08:03:17 AM »
Fantastic news!
 

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Post-Crisis D

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2018, 08:03:56 AM »
Good to hear!  More time is always better.  :pdt
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Marigold

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2018, 08:12:10 AM »
Glad to hear that the immunotherapy has shrunk the tumor and bought you some more time, @DmGuay. Sending prayers and best wishes your way. The fact that you are planning on releasing a new book in January is awe-inspiring to me. 
  :Tup2:
 

DmGuay

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2018, 08:14:55 AM »
Glad to hear that the immunotherapy has shrunk the tumor and bought you some more time, @DmGuay. Sending prayers and best wishes your way. The fact that you are planning on releasing a new book in January is awe-inspiring to me. 
  :Tup2:

Thanks... I was actually in the middle of my final revision/edit of that book when I was diagnosed last December. I finally feel well enough to finish it. It's the last in a trilogy. The second book ended on a cliffhanger, so my handful of dedicated readers have been giving me a joking hard time about it, saying it would totally be a jerk move to end on a cliffhanger then die without letting them know how it ended!

I don't want to be a jerk!
« Last Edit: November 30, 2018, 08:16:56 AM by DmGuay »
 
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Kyra Halland

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2018, 08:21:16 AM »
Wonderful news, and welcome to Writer Sanctum!


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LilyBLily

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2018, 08:31:52 AM »
Congratulations and best wishes for confounding the doctors' prognoses.
 

idontknowyet

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2018, 08:52:22 AM »
Glad to hear that the immunotherapy has shrunk the tumor and bought you some more time, @DmGuay. Sending prayers and best wishes your way. The fact that you are planning on releasing a new book in January is awe-inspiring to me. 
  :Tup2:

Thanks... I was actually in the middle of my final revision/edit of that book when I was diagnosed last December. I finally feel well enough to finish it. It's the last in a trilogy. The second book ended on a cliffhanger, so my handful of dedicated readers have been giving me a joking hard time about it, saying it would totally be a jerk move to end on a cliffhanger then die without letting them know how it ended!

I don't want to be a jerk!

 :smilie_zauber:
 :banana: :dance: :banana: :dance: :banana: :dance: :banana: :dance: :banana: :dance: :banana: :dance: :banana: :dance:
 :clap:  grint  Grin  grint

Your post on kboards was so hard to read. I am thrilled to hear you have more time with you family.
 

David VanDyke

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Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #10 on: November 30, 2018, 09:30:18 AM »
Great news. Having lost family to cancer (like most of us, I imagine) it's nice to hear some good news.

And, I hope this comes across right: terminal is only terminal when it's all said and done. Until then, there's always hope. Keep fighting the good fight, and we'll keep supporting you.
Never listen to people with no skin in the game.

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~ Dorothy L. Sayers
 
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Vijaya

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #11 on: November 30, 2018, 11:43:01 AM »
This is the best news I've heard all day!!! Prayers for your continued healing and congratulations on the new book that'll be out soon!!! :cheers


Author of over 100 books and magazine pieces, primarily for children
Vijaya Bodach | Personal Blog | Bodach Books
 

ilamont

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #12 on: November 30, 2018, 12:13:43 PM »
Great news, and welcome back!
I am the author of Lean Media: How to focus creativity, streamline production, and create media that audiences love. Lean Media website, Lean Media blog. I am also the publisher of IN 30 MINUTES guides.

Follow me on Twitter at @ilamont.
 

M R M

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #13 on: November 30, 2018, 12:25:06 PM »
Welcome to the sanctum and welcome back to the fold! I am so glad to hear of your positive news. Every extra day is a day closer to a cure, somebody once told me, while they were holding positive to hope throughout the dark times this illness brings. Your gift of time is a wonderful thing, and that you can have that time with some semblance of life, well, that is just amazing.

This is seriously the best news I've heard all year. I hope to see you posting about your new book soon, and pray for many more to come.
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Jeff Tanyard

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #14 on: November 30, 2018, 01:24:45 PM »
Rooting for you, D.M.   :cheers


The second book ended on a cliffhanger, so my handful of dedicated readers have been giving me a joking hard time about it, saying it would totally be a jerk move to end on a cliffhanger then die without letting them know how it ended!

I don't want to be a jerk!


 :icon_lol2:
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VanessaC

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #15 on: November 30, 2018, 11:47:11 PM »
So glad to hear this - sending you all good wishes.

     



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VisitasKeat

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Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #16 on: December 01, 2018, 01:02:26 AM »
Stay positive and condition your mind with positive assertions. :clap: :tup3b :Tup2:

We all love real life HEA stories! grint
 

She-la-te-da

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #17 on: December 08, 2018, 12:58:05 AM »
So glad to hear this! Like others, I've lost family and friends to cancer, and every day I'm hoping to hear there is a cure. It will happen one day, and I sincerely hope you are still here to reap the benefits. Good luck with the book, and the next, and the next...
I write various flavors of speculative fiction. This is my main pen name.

 

DmGuay

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #18 on: December 31, 2018, 02:10:30 AM »
Just blogged about surviving my first year with terminal cancer, so if you want to read about the good, bad and ugly, here's the full story! It's been a wild ride!

https://dmguay.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/im-fking-still-alive-hallelujah/
 
D.M. Guay | Web site
 
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Denise

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #19 on: December 31, 2018, 03:49:51 AM »
Thanks for the update.

I'm sending you all the best wishes and positive vibes.

 
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Alan

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #20 on: January 04, 2019, 05:18:25 PM »
Awesome news! Immunotherapy is amazing! in 2014 my wife was diagnosed with stage four neuroendocrine cancer that had spread to her bones. No cure. Chemo worked at first but it made her feel terrible. Then it stopped working and things were looking bleak. Luckily her oncologist is wonderful and although there was no history of treating neuroendocrine tumors with immunotherapy he wanted to try it since she was running out of options. The immunotherapy worked almost right away! Very little side-effects (a bit of fatigue the day of infusion). Within a few months, she was feeling like herself again. She was no longer looking frail and gaunt. Her hair grew back and then the R-word... remission! Within six months she was back at work and feeling good. She's still on immunotherapy (every six weeks she visits her doctor and gets infusion treatment). And in November we had a big bash for her 50th birthday. A milestone that seemed unattainable a few years ago!

I'm so happy immunotherapy has worked for you. Thank you for sharing your story and for spreading the word about immunotherapy.
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DmGuay

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #21 on: January 05, 2019, 02:40:49 AM »
Awesome news! Immunotherapy is amazing! in 2014 my wife was diagnosed with stage four neuroendocrine cancer that had spread to her bones. No cure. Chemo worked at first but it made her feel terrible. Then it stopped working and things were looking bleak. Luckily her oncologist is wonderful and although there was no history of treating neuroendocrine tumors with immunotherapy he wanted to try it since she was running out of options. The immunotherapy worked almost right away! Very little side-effects (a bit of fatigue the day of infusion). Within a few months, she was feeling like herself again. She was no longer looking frail and gaunt. Her hair grew back and then the R-word... remission! Within six months she was back at work and feeling good. She's still on immunotherapy (every six weeks she visits her doctor and gets infusion treatment). And in November we had a big bash for her 50th birthday. A milestone that seemed unattainable a few years ago!

I'm so happy immunotherapy has worked for you. Thank you for sharing your story and for spreading the word about immunotherapy.

That is wonderful! All my infusion nurses say immunotherapy is the future. So many people who wouldn't have made it get up and walk out basically cured. I'm hoping for that kind of miracle, too, and in the meantime, I'm trying to set up and fund new kidney cancer research at my hospital. You probably know how it feels to get a rare cancer. Unless you get breast or prostate cancer, there's almost no research into cures.
 
D.M. Guay | Web site
 
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GFXJames

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Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #22 on: January 05, 2019, 03:30:34 AM »
I have read your entire article.  You are going to win this, you seem tough ! My best wishes.  :)

Jeff Tanyard

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #23 on: January 08, 2019, 04:24:21 PM »
Awesome news! Immunotherapy is amazing! in 2014 my wife was diagnosed with stage four neuroendocrine cancer that had spread to her bones. No cure. Chemo worked at first but it made her feel terrible. Then it stopped working and things were looking bleak. Luckily her oncologist is wonderful and although there was no history of treating neuroendocrine tumors with immunotherapy he wanted to try it since she was running out of options. The immunotherapy worked almost right away! Very little side-effects (a bit of fatigue the day of infusion). Within a few months, she was feeling like herself again. She was no longer looking frail and gaunt. Her hair grew back and then the R-word... remission! Within six months she was back at work and feeling good. She's still on immunotherapy (every six weeks she visits her doctor and gets infusion treatment). And in November we had a big bash for her 50th birthday. A milestone that seemed unattainable a few years ago!

I'm so happy immunotherapy has worked for you. Thank you for sharing your story and for spreading the word about immunotherapy.


Alan!  I didn't know you were here.  Nice to see you post.  Looking forward to many more.   :cheers

Also, it's terrible to hear about what your wife went through, but it's also great that she's doing so much better now.  Please pass along my best wishes.
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Demon_Lord

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Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #24 on: January 12, 2019, 05:47:45 AM »
Just blogged about surviving my first year with terminal cancer, so if you want to read about the good, bad and ugly, here's the full story! It's been a wild ride!

https://dmguay.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/im-fking-still-alive-hallelujah/

I'm so glad that you're winning this war! And doing your best to help others.
 
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DmGuay

Re: Cancer update! From Kboards
« Reply #25 on: January 12, 2019, 05:54:58 AM »
Just blogged about surviving my first year with terminal cancer, so if you want to read about the good, bad and ugly, here's the full story! It's been a wild ride!

https://dmguay.wordpress.com/2018/12/28/im-fking-still-alive-hallelujah/

I'm so glad that you're winning this war! And doing your best to help others.

Thanks. I'm not sure I can win, but I'm gonna try. I'm also learning (sadly) that it's really hard to raise money for a good cause. Hospitals have so many rules about giving, that unless you have a staff of 100s of volunteers it's almost impossible. Which is sad, because small amounts add up!
 
D.M. Guay | Web site
 
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