I have Cancer :/ -- now not so great, new nodule 3/18/25

[IndyColtsFan 325]

48 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Update!  Had scans today for the first time in 4 months, still essentially all clear.  We met our new oncologist today, as my previous one retired recently.  He said something which is how I've felt for some time, which was basically the following:  "we don't call people in your situation 'cured' because we've never had that historically.  But, it seems that some people are being cured by these new (in my case, Keytruda) treatments."  We also moved the next scans out to 6 months, so February ish.  That's extra cool because it seems every year I have scans in December and it stresses me out to go into Christmas with bad news.

I'll never be called cured, see above, but I'm feeling pretty dang good today.   

Kick ass, man! Great news!

[MTSkiBum 1,620]

[jerryskids 6,442]

28 minutes ago, Strike said:

Yeah, I've never heard of a cancer patient referred to as cured.  It's always "in remission."  Glad to hear all is still well. 

Had my cancer not metastasized, it would likely be considered cured at this point.  Once it metastasizes though, it's (historically) never considered as such.  It is when, not if, it will come back to kill you.  Which is why this is potentially new territory, as my onc said.   

[patweisers44 790]

Awesome news "skids !  No excuses next yesr in Edex Cup. 

[DonS 3,289]

Congrats my throat cancer Eskimo brother! 

[bostonlager 2,664]

Good to hear, Jerry. I look forward to taking more of your EdEx money for many years to come. 

[supermike80 1,756]

LOOOOKKKKK ATTTTT MEEEEEE!!!!!

Just kidding man...great news.   Hope the continued progress continues!!

[jerryskids 6,442]

Update... not great.  I had my first scans in 6 months a few weeks ago, and for the first time in 3.5 years, there is a new nodule in my lung.  Well, apparently not new, as there is evidence of it in my prior August and April scans, but it was too small to register.  It's still small, 6 mm, so too small to biopsy or to see on a PET scan (needs to be 10 mm to reliably see).

Given my history, and because there is just the one nodule, we've decided to have it surgically removed.  Benefits of this is that it will definitely be removed (with chemo, immuno, and/or radiation, you never really know), and they will biopsy it while I'm still out on the table, so we'll know if it is cancer.  It's less clear to me if they can conclude it is from my past metastasis, or if it might be some unrelated, less-threatening thing like an adenocarcinoma.

Surgery is on Tuesday, 4/8.  Because it requires collapsing my lung temporarily, they want to keep me overnight. 

Ending on a positive note, there are a few things in my favor.  One, it is reassuring to have a plan.  Two, in addition to the above adenocarcinoma, it could be benign.  For instance, I occasionally aspirate (fancy for leak) food and drink from my esophagus into my trachea (and thus my lungs).  If a particulate settled somewhere, my body might build a nodule around it.  Given it's growth over the past year, unlikely, but maybe. Three, it's in my right lung, whereas my past tumors (lung and throat) were all on my left side.  The lungs are interconnected via the trachea so the doc doesn't put much credibility in it, but the engineer in me finds it odd that there would be a single dormant nodule on the other side.  Four, speaking of dormant, my original cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) is typically like a yip yip dog -- supposedly it either grows like a week and kills ya quick, or you kill it first.  It's not like some breast cancers that lie dormant for a decade or more.  Relatedly, it grew very fast the first time around, whereas this growth has been much slower.  Five, I've never smoked and I exercise regularly, so my lungs are as awesome as 57 yr old lungs can be.

The surgery is Masters week, so for my EdEx buddies, I'll probably have to come up with a plan to finish the draft (hopefully we can make my part of the 3-4 turn on Monday).  I also have not only approval but insistence from my wife that I sit on my ass recovering and watch the tourney all weekend.   

Anyway, that's it for now, I'll update things after the surgery.

[Alias Detective 1,376]

Keep on keeping on.  You are an inspiration to many.  .

[shadrap 204]

Good luck & keep the good attitude!

[Hardcore troubadour 14,715]

Toughest guy in this cesspool. Best of luck. 

[MDC 6,939]

Best of luck brother. 

[wiffleball 4,777]

TLDR.

So, you got a little dog ?

 

 

 

Hang tight. Sounds like you have this thing locked down. But wouldn't expect anything less from you & your amazing support team.  

 GB. In my prayers. 

 

[BiffTannen 819]

All the best to you, buddy.  
 

through it all you’re planning your EdEx draft .  That’s why we love you 

[Fnord 1,943]

Best wishes, Jerry. Fuk cancer.

[Voltaire 5,121]

Less 'not so great' than I feared when I opened  the thread. There's a high chance this is nothing and your streak of cancer-free months continues. Maybe upwards of 70%. If it isn't, that means you're not actually out of the woods after all which is the worst of it. Its still there. But this particular nodule seems easily handled. You've been through and dealt with much worse.

[TheNewGirl 1,303]

Thinking of you and your family, jerry.  

[jerryskids 6,442]

Somebody posted a laugh emoji on my update.   

[jerryskids 6,442]

5 minutes ago, Voltaire said:

Less 'not so great' than I feared when I opened  the thread. There's a high chance this is nothing and your streak of cancer-free months continues. Maybe upwards of 70%. If it isn't, that means you're not actually out of the woods after all which is the worst of it. Its still there. But this particular nodule seems easily handled. You've been through and dealt with much worse.

I appreciate the percentages, but in reality I'm likely wishcasting.  Occam's Razor says it is my old buddy back for more fun.

One thing I didn't say, since I had typed too much already, is that my immunotherapy treatments ended in fall 2023.  This nodule first showed up in scans April 2024.  One might conclude that the immuno had not killed it but rather kept it in check, and once the immuno ended, it started growing.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- if it was just this one stubborn tumor, the surgery definitively gets rid of it.

Either way, I expect I'll get back on a 3 month scan schedule (vs. 6 months) after the surgery.  If other things pop up, I'll probably end up back on the chemo/immuno plan.  It's been a while since chemo so that would be fine.  

As my wife says, we just need to keep me alive long enough for advancements in areas like targeted therapies to be available.   

[Tebok 172]

58 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Update... not great.  I had my first scans in 6 months a few weeks ago, and for the first time in 3.5 years, there is a new nodule in my lung.  Well, apparently not new, as there is evidence of it in my prior August and April scans, but it was too small to register.  It's still small, 6 mm, so too small to biopsy or to see on a PET scan (needs to be 10 mm to reliably see).

Given my history, and because there is just the one nodule, we've decided to have it surgically removed.  Benefits of this is that it will definitely be removed (with chemo, immuno, and/or radiation, you never really know), and they will biopsy it while I'm still out on the table, so we'll know if it is cancer.  It's less clear to me if they can conclude it is from my past metastasis, or if it might be some unrelated, less-threatening thing like an adenocarcinoma.

Surgery is on Tuesday, 4/8.  Because it requires collapsing my lung temporarily, they want to keep me overnight. 

Ending on a positive note, there are a few things in my favor.  One, it is reassuring to have a plan.  Two, in addition to the above adenocarcinoma, it could be benign.  For instance, I occasionally aspirate (fancy for leak) food and drink from my esophagus into my trachea (and thus my lungs).  If a particulate settled somewhere, my body might build a nodule around it.  Given it's growth over the past year, unlikely, but maybe. Three, it's in my right lung, whereas my past tumors (lung and throat) were all on my left side.  The lungs are interconnected via the trachea so the doc doesn't put much credibility in it, but the engineer in me finds it odd that there would be a single dormant nodule on the other side.  Four, speaking of dormant, my original cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) is typically like a yip yip dog -- supposedly it either grows like a week and kills ya quick, or you kill it first.  It's not like some breast cancers that lie dormant for a decade or more.  Relatedly, it grew very fast the first time around, whereas this growth has been much slower.  Five, I've never smoked and I exercise regularly, so my lungs are as awesome as 57 yr old lungs can be.

The surgery is Masters week, so for my EdEx buddies, I'll probably have to come up with a plan to finish the draft (hopefully we can make my part of the 3-4 turn on Monday).  I also have not only approval but insistence from my wife that I sit on my ass recovering and watch the tourney all weekend.   

Anyway, that's it for now, I'll update things after the surgery.

Damn, you deserve a forever break from this stuff, but your courage and positive mindset is inspiring.

[jerryskids 6,442]

28 minutes ago, BiffTannen said:

All the best to you, buddy.  
 

through it all you’re planning your EdEx draft .  That’s why we love you 

Dood, you should have seen us trying to find a date.  The surgeon offered 3/27, we originally signed up but... wait, that's opening day for the DBacks, we never miss that, so I rescheduled.  We moved it to 4/1, but my wife has some super important corporate meetings that day and the next.  I pushed back on 4/8 because it would impact the draft, but since she's working and I'm retired, I reluctantly acquiesced.  Priorities and all. 

In the giant scheme of things, 1.5 weeks won't matter for this procedure.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,192]

Damn Jerry sorry to hear brother.  Let me know if you need anything. 
 

[Ron_Artest 970]

Wishing you the best Jerry.

[Strike 5,055]

Thanks for the update.  Bummed to hear it's not as optimistic as the last few.  As always, hoping for the best. 

[patweisers44 790]

'Skids, you are one of the good guys here. Wishing you nothing but the best in your continued battle. 

[WhiteWonder 2,636]

3 hours ago, jerryskids said:

Somebody posted a laugh emoji on my update.   

this made me laugh...  not the update, but your comment about someone laughing  

sorry to hear, hoping the engineer in you is right regarding why would one pop up on the other side. You got this  

[jerryskids 6,442]

44 minutes ago, RaiderHaters Revenge said:

Damn Jerry sorry to hear brother.  Let me know if you need anything. 
 

Will do, thanks.   

[Frozenbeernuts 2,014]

Have you gone to any healers at all? I would start doing all the woo woo stuff. Past life regression, raki, stem cell healers. Vibration bowls. Meditation.

Glad to hear it's not too serious as of now.

[Reality 3,071]

Damn, good luck man.

[thegeneral 2,785]

Very sorry to hear this…you’ve got your plan and you’ve got some good docs. Best of luck beating this.

[SUXBNME 1,448]

My couch is always open for you, my frined 

[MLCKAA 535]

Damn.  You are one tough nut brother.

[KSB2424 3,141]

So you're saying there is a chance I can get back in the EdEx? 

Just kidding Jerry, you are one of the Geeks here why I keep coming back and checking in.  HT said it best.  "Toughest guy in this cesspool. Best of luck."

 

[Strike 5,055]

55 minutes ago, SUXBNME said:

My couch is always open for you, my frined 

Damn, I thought you like Jerry.

[Gepetto 1,252]

1 hour ago, Frozenbeernuts said:

Have you gone to any healers at all? I would start doing all the woo woo stuff. Past life regression, raki, stem cell healers. Vibration bowls. Meditation.

Glad to hear it's not too serious as of now.

 

[Gepetto 1,252]

Sorry to hear this for you, but surgery, etc. sounds promising. I hope all goes well and you are (or become) cancer free.

[Bier Meister 1,632]

Continued thoughts bud

[HellToupee 1,484]

Holy hell sorry to hear this. We’re all behind you, . Stay strong and please keep us updated 

[shorepatrol 1,866]

You are still trached correct? Aspiration is not good my man. Have they done a swallow test? 

[BunnysBastatrds 2,223]

 Glad to hear you’re being positive all of this. After they found three growths in me after the MRI,Pancas, and lower intestine, they want me to come back April for another round of testing so see their progression. You’re an inspiration to me and all.I thank you for it. You got this brother.