O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

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raym
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Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:08 am
Location: South Central PA

O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby raym » Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:34 pm

We were fortunate to have the resources to be able to get away to a warmer climate for a vacation (Dominican Republic). I can say that I have never been so relaxed before, I wish there were a medical prescription for everyone to get away from the pressures of life. I had posted some of my exercise work during the trip in the exercise thread and was asked to post some pictures. I figured I would share them on a main thread. Still saying FU to cancer.

Heading in from Kayaking

Image

Horseback riding (that really hurt as I don't know how to ride and there was a lot of trotting involved

Image

Enjoying the sunrise

Image

Yoga in the morning (3 days in a row)

Image

Relaxing on the beach

Image
3/11 IIIC +/FOLFOX
4/12 HIPEC
6/12 Chmo/Rad
9/12 XELIRI+Avast/Zltra
9/13 Plvic Absc,stpd chemo
11/13 Tumr rmvd frm Lap Port incis
12/13 Xeloda
1/14 Cardiac Issue no Xeloda/5FU
3/14 Irinotecan
6/14 Stopped chemo
8/14 Clin Trial
9/14 Infectn - Stpd Trial

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lohidoc
Posts: 454
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:37 pm

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby lohidoc » Sun Mar 02, 2014 3:14 pm

I think I know that place! Blau Natura, Punta Cana right? I was there 2 years ago.
"Half of what I know is wrong. I don't know which half."

Age 56
Dx 19/7/11
R. hemicolectomy 25/7/11
IIIc, 7 / 23 nodes,
no mets
Folfox 21/8/11
CT Scan 6/3/12 NED
CT Scan 21/6/12 30+ lung mets, 2 retroperitoneal tumours
marcdu4.wordpress.com

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raym
Posts: 1263
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:08 am
Location: South Central PA

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby raym » Sun Mar 02, 2014 4:09 pm

lohidoc wrote:I think I know that place! Blau Natura, Punta Cana right? I was there 2 years ago.


The resort is Dreams Punta Cana.
3/11 IIIC +/FOLFOX
4/12 HIPEC
6/12 Chmo/Rad
9/12 XELIRI+Avast/Zltra
9/13 Plvic Absc,stpd chemo
11/13 Tumr rmvd frm Lap Port incis
12/13 Xeloda
1/14 Cardiac Issue no Xeloda/5FU
3/14 Irinotecan
6/14 Stopped chemo
8/14 Clin Trial
9/14 Infectn - Stpd Trial

KWT
Posts: 3214
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:22 pm

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby KWT » Sun Mar 02, 2014 4:23 pm

SWEET.

JJ2212
Posts: 268
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:54 pm
Location: Montréal, QC

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby JJ2212 » Sun Mar 02, 2014 5:14 pm

Ditto what Ray said. I've just come back from a 1-week trip to Jamaica, and it was a perfect escape from this cancer journey. It was the first time in a year where my mind wasn't constantly focused on cancer. I'm working hard on living in the moment, but taking a trip somewhere makes it a whole lot easier.

Now back to chemo #10 and my first post-surgery CT scan this week. Scanxiety will probably hit hard but at least I had an amazing, perfect break last week.

Janie
Rectal cancer dx 04/13 @ 42, MSS, KRAS positive
T3N2M1 (1 lung met)
5 weeks xeloda+radiation finished 07/13
APR 9/13 (permanent colostomy), 27/31 nodes positive :-(
12 rounds of FOLFOX 04/14
Lung met growth 11/14
26 cycles Regorafenib (Stivarga) from 11/15 to 01/17
New lung met and chest/neck lymph nodes 01/17
1 cycle Folfiri

AussieLad
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 9:59 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby AussieLad » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:16 pm

Hear Hear!

In May 2011 we booked a holiday to Europe/UK to celebrate 1 year of NED following adjuvant chemo and surgery (Stage III at that point). 5 days before we were due to fly out we got the results of what we thought was a routine CT scan showing evidence of several growing mets in my wife's lungs. As we have now done a few times - we raced to the edge of the abyss and peered down expecting to be hurled down against our will.

We decided to proceed with the holiday - partly because it seemed better than sitting around in despair and partly because there was doubt that we'd be able to claim on travel insurance. We fully expected this to be a horrid experience and many times contemplated cancelling - right up until boarding the plane really. I remember sitting in the departure lounge feeling dejected as I looked out at all the other exuberant travelers brimming with joyous anticipation. Our son had just turned 3 the day before and I could see that he could sense something because he kept coming in for cuddles more so than usual.

We boarded the plane like deported asylum seekers and well I can only say that we must have left our despair behind in the departure lounge somewhere between the over-priced cafes and the duty free shops. I'm convinced that it was in part because of our 3 yo son's excitement of being on a big plane - and lets face it a child's enthusiasm is more contagious than an airborne zombie plague. But I really think it was simply the ghosts of holidays past possessing us in the moment. Whilst we couldn't ignore the undeclared baggage sitting in lung class they played little role in the holiday and in fact, dare I say, they may have indirectly enriched the experience - even if it was just to focus us on what we did have - right there and then in the moment. (Although I did hope that quarantine would confiscate them every time we passed through a border control point - alas it was not to be). We had a fantastic 5 weeks away and were relatively steeled for the many battles ahead. In fact many of our most profound decisions about out futures were made on that holiday.

We cant afford to do holidays like that anymore but we do now make a point of small trips away closer to home and we've even taken to camping (as long as its within driving distance of a coffee shop, liquor store and usually a Queensland beach!) There is something about the ghosts of holidays past and the distance away from the daily reminders of what you're going through that just keeps you focused on those beautiful simple things that seem to invoke the biggest questions. We've also taken to day trips in and around our own city most weekends to invoke the same spirit of day trips past.

Thanks Ray for reminding me of these brighter moments...may there be many more.

Image ImageImage
DW 43yo Stage IV w lung mets
Dx: Oct 2009 (age 39)
Resection: Oct 2009
Adjuvant Folfox Nov-May 2010
Lung mets det May 2011
Xeloda + Avastin May 2012 - now
MRI Scan Jan 2014 shows lung mets stable for 9 months
Colonoscopy Feb 2014 = Clear

kiwiinoz
Posts: 1170
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:44 pm

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby kiwiinoz » Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:08 pm

Ray,
Thanks a lot for posting the pictures. Really appreciate that you always bring the best of out any situation and find your posts quite inspiring.
Kiwi
Stage IV Rectal Cancer (39 Year old male at dx)
pT3N0M1 (wish that was M0)
Diagnosed 05 Dec 2012
LAR 05 Jan 2013
VATS 27 Feb 2013
FOLOFX April 2013 - Sep 2013
Clear Scan 03 Dec 2013 - August 2020
Port Out 26 March 2015

pog451
Posts: 799
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:11 am
Facebook Username: andrew.morgan

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby pog451 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 4:40 am

Stonehenge in the rain - The classic UK holiday experience ;-)
09.11 Dx @ 46, uT3uN1M0 G2
11.11 radio+Xeloda
01.12 LAR
03.12 Xeloda
09.12 Liver mets, 2 LN
09.12 Folfox+Avastin
02.13 Resection
04.13 Folfox & Avastin
11.13 Local recurrence
02-07.14 FOLFIRINOX
08.14 Re-rediation
Left us 28.05.2015

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Maia
Posts: 2443
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:00 am

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby Maia » Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:34 pm

So so happy for you, Ray. Thank you for sharing.
Keep living large and 'FU, cancer'.

musicluvr
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:07 pm
Location: Grand Rapids MI

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby musicluvr » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:18 pm

3.5 dayz in AZ is where I will be just before my upcoming surgery! :P
58 yo female
Dx CRC 2/17/14
perm colostomy 3/14
12 rounds 5FU
Small bowel obstruction 8/14
Multiple nodules both lungs 6/15
FOLFIRI + ERBITUX started 8/11/15
Irinotecan reduced 40% , October
12/15 NED, holiday next 2 treatments, then 5FU only
Mets are back 3/16
Erbitux + Irinotecan only; dropping 5FU
CT Scan 6/16 shows mets still there
5/17 been on Erbitux only
chemo break for 3 months
5 mets now on CT Scan. Back to Erbitux
1/18 lung Mets all increased slightly
Adding Irinotecan back

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horizon
Posts: 1669
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:10 pm

Re: O/T - Best Medicine - Getting away from it all

Postby horizon » Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:18 pm

AussieLad wrote:We boarded the plane like deported asylum seekers and well I can only say that we must have left our despair behind in the departure lounge somewhere between the over-priced cafes and the duty free shops. I'm convinced that it was in part because of our 3 yo son's excitement of being on a big plane - and lets face it a child's enthusiasm is more contagious than an airborne zombie plague. But I really think it was simply the ghosts of holidays past possessing us in the moment. Whilst we couldn't ignore the undeclared baggage sitting in lung class they played little role in the holiday and in fact, dare I say, they may have indirectly enriched the experience - even if it was just to focus us on what we did have - right there and then in the moment. (Although I did hope that quarantine would confiscate them every time we passed through a border control point - alas it was not to be). We had a fantastic 5 weeks away and were relatively steeled for the many battles ahead. In fact many of our most profound decisions about out futures were made on that holiday.



I enjoyed reading this so much. Thanks for sharing.
I'm just a dude who still can't believe he had a resection and went through chemo (currently 13 years NED). Is this real life?


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