When Life Happens

[DRAGON64]

The struggle is real! In 2013 I attended a launch with my wife and daughter, and had a great time. My wife, grabbed some nice images of flights, but also grabbed an image of me and my daughter walking some rockets to the RSO table (RSO pictured in the distance). The picture would have been sweet, had I not witnessed myself as the camera caught me... I was pushing 335#'s at the time. A number of times over the years I have posted my struggles with weight loss, and this one image hurt.

 

[DRAGON64]

Still struggling; fast forward 10-years to 2023, I had managed to lose down to 285, working with a personal trainer/certified dietician. In August of 2023, I knuckled down, and got even more serious by deciding to go low carb, and in September I decided to go no carb, with an elimination diet. By October, I had lost another 36#! However, also in October, I started noticing that I had trouble swallowing, particular with grainy meats like steak and chicken etc. I assumed it was because I sucked at cooking these kinds of meat. My doctor however, was more concerned due to my history with acid reflux and heartburn. I did indeed love the spicey foods. My doctor set me up with a booty-ostopy and and endoscopy in early November.

When Life Happens: The diagnosis was esophageal cancer, more specifically, adenocarcinoma. I saw pictures of what the doctor said was a large (7cm long) tumor blocking the entrance to the stomach. By the end of November, I was at MD Anderson going through 5-weeks of Chemo and 6-weeks of Proton therapy consecutively.

I am currently at home awaiting yet another trip to MD Anderson for evaluation of the therapies effectiveness to have shrunk the tumor enough for surgery. I should preface here that I was diagnosed by MD Anderson with stage 3 adenocarcinoma, which I am told is completely curable, so no mortal shots being given here, as I am expected to live a long and happy life after surgery. Stage 3 was given, as the tumor/cancer has spread to one lymph node.

So, when life happens, make the best of it! As of this writing, I am down 70# since September of 2023, weighing in at 215#.

On March 15th of 2024, MD Anderson will perform surgery to remove up to 2/3 of my esophagus, and a 1/4 or more of my stomach (plus said lymph node), effectively topping off one of the hardest weight loss journey's of my life.

Picture below, at 215#, and now with my goatee removed... No. I am not mad in this image, the sun was directly in my eyes.

 

[mh9162013]

Thanks for sharing and best of luck with your remaining surgery.

 

[cls]

You look ornery enough to keep fighting! That's your superpower. Hope you are looking forward to more building and flying

 

[Hobie1dog]

Wow....just wow. Those bottom two photos look not even related to each other. I appreciate you sharing all this with us, good luck with battling this.

 

[DRAGON64]

Some might ask, after chemo, why do you still have your hair... trust me, it is still falling out as I type this post. While still having trouble to swallow and chemo/proton therapies, I am struggling to get enough protein and that is compounding the issue of hair loss.

Final goal weight will be between 175 to 195, and I figure that 185 is a happy medium (also a true medium).

So what now? My bucket list just got really full, so I am upgrading to a larger bucket! Rocketry is tops right now, but with so many hobbies, my list in the bucket will be like "crabs in a bucket" A cancer diagnosis can give a person a lot of focus. This could have just as easily been far more grim, had the cancer spread any further, but it did not, so When Life Happens, you can bet I will make the best of every second/minute/hour of every day!

 

[cls]

Stay warm! I lost a lot of weight in January, now I'm cold all the time!

 

[cls]

(Ignore dup)

 

[DRAGON64]

Thanks guys, my energy levels, and my health is doing really good right, while in the recovery phase (pre-surgery), and yes, I tend to be a lot colder now, LOL.

Bonus so far, I am off that gawd-awful CPAP machine!!

Oh! And before I forget, the official cause of the cancer was Gerd, brought on by years and years upon years of acid reflux and horrible heart burn, buyer beware!

 

[Azamiryou]

Thank you for sharing, and I'm glad your prognosis is good.

I hope you'll get to a place where the time with your daughter carries more weight than your size when you look at that first picture.

Any woulda-coulda-shouldas to impart concerning reflux? I've got chronic GERD (genetic predisposition) myself. My doc knows and I treat it with OTC meds, but if your doc gave you any advice to share, I can ask my own doc about it...

 

[tsmmiller]

Bonus so far, I am off that gawd-awful CPAP machine!!

I wish you much luck on this journey.
I know how you feel about the CPAP. Wore one for years before I had to have the obstructions causing the Apnea removed.
Mine was from 10 x normal size tonsils. About 6 months after the surgery I quit wearing the damn thing.
Now it is just age related sleeplessness.

 

[Huxter]

Congrats on losing that weight - we're gonna start calling you "skinny" from now on! Best of luck to ya!

 

[tsmith1315]

So, when life happens, make the best of it!

Those are words to live by. Well done, sir!

 

[Hobie1dog]

How are you coming along at learning the guitar?

 

[jim_kc]

Great work man, that's not easy. Congrats.

 

[cwbullet]

Nothing is just GERD. Congrats on your success.

 

[bschultz32]

I suffered from acid reflux, had a medicine cabinet full of Tums, Alka-Seltzer, etc. Then my doctor prescribed omeprazole (commonly known as Prilosec). It was a doctor-prescribed medicine back then, but you can buy it over the counter now. Within two days, my acid reflux misery was GONE. It literally changed my life for the better overnight.
If you begin to suffer acid reflux symptoms, don't hesitate, try omeprazole.

 

[DRAGON64]

As it turns out, I am on prescription strength Prilosec for the rest of my life. Don't let the prescription strength fool you though... essentially two 20mg omeprazol is the same thing from wallyworld or costco.

As for antacid relief, Gavescon has been a life saver during this fight. It would seem that the proton process has burned an ulcer into the top part of my stomach, and until this gets removed during the surgery process, Gavescon is providing the protection I need from the burn. Another good antacid is Licorice root extract, wonderful stuff!

 

[Rocketjunkie]

I suffered from acid reflux, had a medicine cabinet full of Tums, Alka-Seltzer, etc. Then my doctor prescribed omeprazole (commonly known as Prilosec). It was a doctor-prescribed medicine back then, but you can buy it over the counter now. Within two days, my acid reflux misery was GONE. It literally changed my life for the better overnight.
If you begin to suffer acid reflux symptoms, don't hesitate, try omeprazole.

I also had reflux. It was bleeding so I had heme stools. Had both ends scoped and the blood was coming from the esophagus. Prilosec ended all symptoms and ended the bleeding. Haven't had problems in the 12 years I've been taking it. No cancer and the esophagus had healed up within a year.

 

[vcp]

I suffered from severe GERD in the '90s. I know surgery should be considered as a last resort, but I had a Nissen's Fundopulation, and it turned off the reflux like a switch—absolutely zero acid problems now in almost 30 years, and I eat anything. At the time, the doctor said that cancer would be possible if it weren't done. In a Nissen's they take an upper lobe of the stomach, fold it over, and staple it. This puts pressure on the esophageal sphincter to help it close, preventing acid from entering the esophagus. Done laparoscopically and home the next day. YMMV but it's something to ask about if you suffer from GERD.

 

[r1dermon]

I've had Gerd my whole life. Ppis make me so tired. Tried fasting which caused mild gastroparesis...now doing cardio and strength training, down 30lbs and Gerd is minimal. 30lbs to go.