Cancer.

[Pwolf]

Pwolf, quiet a family history there, hopefully you won't catch anything. Glad that everyone seems to be fine now though

And that's just Cancer, not any of the other stuff my family has. My brother, father, uncles, cousins, grandfather, and great grandfather all have/had various gastrointestinal diseases. My dad also passed away from a heart attack 8 years ago but the cause was due to the pain medication he was taking though so that's not really something I have to worry about.

[BasharOfTheAges]

You could say I've had some experience with this sort of thing, unfortunately.

My maternal grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 90s. She handled all the treatments like a true fighter and beat it back into remission. It ultimately came back and took her in October of 99.

In 1996 or 1997, her sister (my great aunt) was found to have an advanced form of cancer that was believed to have started in her lungs or breast - it had advanced so fast, and she had neglected to go to the doctors for so long, that it quickly spread to her brain - she died Christmas Day 1997.

Around the same time, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy soon after my grandmother's cancer came back and everything on that front was fine. Her other severe problem, chronic alcoholism, led to her living a vagabond life where she was routinely homeless, never taking her medicine, and in horribly poor health. It's believed the cancer came back and coupled with all her other problems, led to her death in January of '10.

My maternal grandfather has been living with a tumor on his spine for the past 6 months or so. It's very malignant and his stubbornness to not have to go through what his wife did led him to put off the surgery to the point where it's almost inoperable. His doctors have said that he has about 6 months left.

The other side of my family tree isn't much better. Grandmother suffered for over three decades, bedridden with MS; My grandfather survived colon cancer, and my aunt is a breast cancer survivor who's now very active in fundraising campaigns.

I've recently switched doctors and had to go through the reflection that comes with filling out a detailed family medical history report that took several pages of notes and an hour long session with my doctor to go over.

[EvaFan]

My moms side of the family is riddled with cancer. They think its hereditary but its still decently rare through her family tree. Her brother though found out he has cancer just recently actually. Its sad cause he just broke his drug addiction and had a new look on his life and family, even turned towards god. My moms talked to him recently and he said that he thinks this is gods way of testing him. He's not giving up after having just got his life back together and going through chemotherapy and something else i forget to try and shrink it to possibly remove it surgically. He's pretty strong willed, I've talked to him a few times even when he was a druggy back in california. I doubt this will break him.

Not really cancer related but thought I'd share:
My dad has renal failure which is basically total shutdown of the kidneys. He also has thyroid problems and neuropathy. His health is pretty much a total reck right now but he still trucks along like its nobodies business. He even recently has been applying for jobs. They live on disability right now but he wants to work pretty bad even though he can barely walk due to the pain in his feet.

I remember you saying you had pain in your feet as well. You might want to flat out ask your doctor if its not the beginning stages of neuropathy cause apparently its common among cancer patients too. Not to scare you, more like inform you. I doubt you actually have it already. That and my dad waited too long to seek medical help, it could have been prevented.

There is a 50% chance that me and my brother will have it cause its hereditary. Doctor told me I should get tested for it and I told him I'm better off not knowing till knowing is critical.

All of this is actually why I recently changed my profession from writing to med tech.

[Zarxrax]

Almost 10 years, ago, we lost my step-mother to cancer. She was only in her 30s, and they caught it kinda late, so she only lived for a few months after that.
A couple years later, my father found out he had cancer in his throat, but after some extensive radiation treatments, he was cured. About a year ago now, he found out he had a cancerous tumor, on his head, but it was able to be removed with surgery.
I also had an aunt who fought cancer for over 10 years before finally passing away in this past year.

I think I'll probably get it one day. It runs in my family pretty hard on my dad's side.

[TritioAFB]

How odd, my patients believe that I already know everything about cancer, when in reality there are several unknown facts about it. Why some normal cells that suddenly started to change, why some of them appear at certain age, why not all the people are affected, are still facts that we keep studying everyday.

Hoping this should work fine Magnus

[ngsilver]

A few years back I lost my Maternal Grandmother to Lung Cancer. She smoked pretty much most of her life, so we expect that is to blame. She had a whole slew of other problems and complications though with her diabetes. She had surgery to remove the effected part of her lung and that went well. She was recovering nicely, even battled through Staph, but ultimately she suffered from a stroke and a heart attack that sent her over the edge. I was actually living with her at the time this all happened. It's really changed the family dynamic a lot now that she's gone.

[Magnus]

Thanks for sharing all your stories, I have read them, but is currently not feeling very well - so I will reply to them asap.
(is currently hospitalized and undergoing new chemo-blend = feeling pretty crappy)

Thanks for all the response. I will share my own in proper form as soon as I've shapen up a bit.
It's a horrible illlness, and something that shouldn't be shunned.

Thank you all for sharing.

-Magnus

[JaddziaDax]

don't stress, and do what you need to do, we are all rooting and hoping for your recovery!

[TritioAFB]

don't stress, and do what you need to do, we are all rooting and hoping for your recovery!

x2. Also, what did my mates say about the sessions of Chemo?

[drewaconclusion]

Well, to be technical, I haven't had cancer; but I do have a genetic condition that would have pretty much guaranteed me to develop colon cancer down the road. It's called familial polyposis, which basically causes hundreds to thousands of polyps to develop in your large intestines by the time you're in your 30's (if you want more info, look here). My father has it and discovered he had it in his late 30's; thankfully in time before any of the polyps turned malignant.

Anyhow, I discovered I had it too when I was about 15 (with a few hundred polyps if I recall correctly). So when I was 16, I had all but two inches of my large intestine removed (a very bizarre and painful experience I might add). That whole process eliminated the prospects of developing colon cancer, thankfully. All that's left now is a whole set of scars & I have make sure to drink a lot of water each day and such.