Chat With Reyn

Depending how much one had, of course, or in combination with other items.

I have quite a list of items that are on my "do not eat" list. Pop, for example, is a complete no-no, along with coffee, tea, etc.

Ah, you learn to live with it.

Secret: Prunes worked wonders for me! :wink:

A friend and I (on the right) getting ready to go camping in the mid-'60s.



You'll notice that I'm prepared for a flood.

My friend's name was 'Mendel'. A somewhat odd name, I guess. He was a sad case. Bright kid. Got good grades. Threw it all away when he was in Grade 12. Ran off.

I later found out that he had become heavy into LSD (it was the '60s after all).

Odd thing. At one point when I was wandering around the residential neighborhoods of downtown Vancouver, I accidentally ran into the fellow. He was staying in a boarding room.

I never saw him after that.

This was the tough part. When I told my parents about it, they said that I should mention it to his parents. My friend had sworn me to secrecy, and I felt bound to not revealing his whereabouts. I did say to them that he appeared to be "okay", and he would contact them if he wanted to return.

I've always wondered if I had done the right thing.

You did, Reyn.

Right or wrong, it was his decision whether or not to contact them.

Thanks. Eva. I left out another little bit. The marriage broke up, possibly as a result of the son not being there. It might have happened anyways, but the son might have been holding it together.

Why is it sometimes the bright kids do some of the stupidest things going? Here was me, extremely averge in school, never touched drugs of any kind, and turned out (at least in my opinion) a pretty good citizen.

Today (November 1995), it's been 10 years since I completed 20 radiation therapy treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Just had this year's check-up yesterday. I'm confident that all will be okay.

In my case, when I was originally diagnosed, the doc accidentally came across my little problem while looking at my stomach via a "scope". I had problems with excess stomach acid and was checking that things were healing alright.

It was quite a shock when I was told I had cancer. I was 44 at the time.

Ah, another survivor!

There is quite a group of us here. I had thyroid cancer ten years ago at the age of 40. My husband had tonsillar cancer the year before, also at age 40. Our doctors called us the "throat cancer twins." It all happened right around the time our son was born. Very difficult days.

We are both fine now, except that my husband will always deal with chronic pain. It's manageable, though. Neither of us has to go in for check-ups any more.

I hope you get another good report!

Thanks, Eva. It's always a relief when I get another good one. With the lymph system, you always have to be careful.

How come you don't do follow-up checks? Did you have surgery?

hey reyn, que pasa?

No, Dys, I don't think my wife's serving pasta tonight.

I'll let you know in about an hour what I have for supper.

I'm having tacos. I don't like them with cheese.

I had burritos and chicken caldo.

Tacos and burritos are good. What's chicken caldo?

Dys, I had leftover chili from the other day. It was delicious. :wink:

No tocos today. I made turkey with gravy...it finally got cold enough to use the oven.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. Life happens. Let's see...the answer to your question...yes.

(Warning: Boring Medical Discussion Ahead)

They caught my cancer while it was still in the microscopic stage, and it's got a 99% cure rate. This type of cancer only originates in thyroid cells, so if they can eliminate every single thyroid cell in your body, they can effectively guarantee there can be no recurrence. They removed as much thyroid tissue as possible surgically, then followed up with radioactive iodine (nuclear medicine) to kill off every remaining bit of thyroid. Thorough scans showed not a single cell left, so it is permanently gone.

I have taken replacement thyroid hormone every day since and will for the rest of my life, monitored by blood tests every 3 months. This has actually solved some other problems as a bonus...no more dry skin, no more acute sensitivity to cold, no more low normal body temperature, better energy levels, less sleep needed (7-8 hrs. instead of 9), etc. etc. A silver lining to every cloud, as they say.

Okay, back to the fun & games!

Thanks, Eva. You were indeed fortunate that your surgery and type of cancer was practically a guarantee of no future problems. I wish I could feel as confident.

I've been told that I've been "cured", but I'm somewhat skeptical. I prefer to think of it in terms of a very long remission. I've heard stories of some who thought that they were cured, but 10, 15, 20 years down the road, their cancer came back.

Perhaps I will be one of the fortunate ones....

Me, as a young brat in Holland.



An early school photo before I had glasses.

By the way, if you're just new to this site, or new to this topic, feel free just to jump right in and post what's on your mind. I certainly don't expect anyone to go through the previous 40-odd pages here. :wink: Although, there are a few neat photos you'll be missing.

The word "chat" is not to be taken literally either. Posting light or meaningful stuff is okay by me.

Prosecutor: "Now, Mr. Claus, did you or did you not call my client a 'ho', not just once, but three times?"

Good morning, Edgar. Good joke!

I'm off to work now.....

Anybody got any more jokes to tell Reyn?