BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

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NedPlease
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:56 pm

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby NedPlease » Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:14 pm

I'm shocked and so very sad. Eric was a superhero.

N
F-54- St 4- Ascend Colon, 2 Liver mets, Poorly dif, Mutant
6/10- Folfox
9/10- R Liver Resect/Colon/Gall/Appendix
11/10-3/11- Folfox
11/11- R Lung, 1 met, VATS
3/12- 9/12- Xeloda
2/12- 6/18 Clear Scans
6/19- first time no scan
Today- NED

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ANDRETEXAS
Posts: 661
Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:01 am
Location: Austin, Texas (University of Tennessee alumnus)

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby ANDRETEXAS » Tue Jul 25, 2017 12:20 am

I am devastated. Eric was the first person to welcome me to this forum - Valentine's Day, 2014. I was looking forward to the pictorial essay of his garden he promised us June for this week. His garden is beautiful now. To a wonderful and generous human being... Andre
2/10/14 - Colon resect
2/13 - DX- Stage IIIb
6 of 18 lymph nodes cancerous
3/7 - Port placed
3/11 - FOLFOX (12 rds w/full oxi)
8/14 - Chemo finish
8/25 - CT- Inc
9/5 - clean PET
12/10- clean CT

3/2/15 - Clean colonoscopy & port removed
3/4 - clean CT
9/21- clean CT

3/23/16 - clean CT

2/22/17- clean CT

3/21/18 - clean CT
4/1 - clean colonoscopy

3/11/19 - clean CT
9/23 - Five-year release - Annual visits now !

4/13/23 - clean colonoscopy

ONE DAY AT A TIME !

ranger
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:02 pm
Facebook Username: cancerIsSOfunny
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Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby ranger » Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:01 am

I'm so sorry. He was my role model.
colon resection 3/09
liver resection and takedown 8/09
11 rounds of folfax, avastin. plus AM655 or placebo, completed jan 2010
hernia repair 3/11
http://cancerissofunny.blogspot.com/
https://m.facebook.com/Cancer-is-SO-fun ... 100303900/
@cancerissofunny
age 70, never thought I'd make it. happy.
NED a long time.
Essential Thrombocytosis, monitoring
still here.

ranger
Posts: 351
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:02 pm
Facebook Username: cancerIsSOfunny
Contact:

Re: 2017 : In Memoriam

Postby ranger » Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:04 am

Word.
colon resection 3/09
liver resection and takedown 8/09
11 rounds of folfax, avastin. plus AM655 or placebo, completed jan 2010
hernia repair 3/11
http://cancerissofunny.blogspot.com/
https://m.facebook.com/Cancer-is-SO-fun ... 100303900/
@cancerissofunny
age 70, never thought I'd make it. happy.
NED a long time.
Essential Thrombocytosis, monitoring
still here.

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Sharon Brent
Posts: 288
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2014 5:19 am
Location: London England

Re: 2017 : In Memoriam

Postby Sharon Brent » Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:48 am

RIP BrownBagger, Eric
Word, CrGuy we got your back
DH, 47yo, Dx Stg IV, mCRC, lvr, lng 1/14, Tx Capeciabine 9 rnds
Children 5 & 1
DH 48th Birthday 6 November in Hospital
Home palliative care on 12 November 2014
Called back to Jesus 4pm 15 November 2014
Life Celebration in Nigeria 8 January 2015

behconsult
Posts: 264
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2014 4:53 pm

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby behconsult » Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:21 am

Got bless you Eric! May you be pedaling the most scenic and beautiful place ever.
Stage 4 Age 56 BrafV660E 5/14
spot on perit/ Right side tumor
Resctn 6/9/2014
Folfox strt 7/2014. 6 of 12 tx
Chemo induced DM2
Pet 4 mets to lung (1 cm, 6 mm) Xeloda/Avastin 9/16 to present.
Cryo-ablation to four spots- Collapsed lung/chest tube 2x
Possible local recurrence in a spot or two on PET. Stable CT

tammylayne
Posts: 2177
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:24 am

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby tammylayne » Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:59 am

I am having trouble processing this, like so many of you are. Eric lived his life as he rode his bike...always looking ahead, but all around as well. He knew that to keep from falling you had to be balanced, and he did that so well. He peddled hard on the big tough hills life threw at him, but he coasted and enjoyed the view whenever it presented itself. He rode strong...always. And he always had a way of encouraging us to ride with him.

Be at peace Eric. Pedal on....
51 F
'06 Stage 1 CC,
'10 Stage 3 Rectal

"You never know how strong you are until you have to become your own hero."

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Maggie Nell
Posts: 1150
Joined: Wed May 27, 2015 1:57 am
Location: Central Highlands, Victoria, Oz

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby Maggie Nell » Tue Jul 25, 2017 7:29 am

Really glad that you packed in that visit to Sweden before you left, BB. You got to be the
bee found nestled in the flower at dusk; last day spent exhausted and resting on
clover petal: a life well spent.

Peace, perfect peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqhN6rvfJt4
Last edited by Maggie Nell on Tue Jul 25, 2017 11:28 am, edited 3 times in total.
DX April 2015, @ 54
35mm poorly diff. tumour, incidental finding following emergency R. hemicolectomy
for ileo-colic intussusception.
Lymph nodes: 0/22
T3 N0 MX
Stage II CRC, no adjuvant chemo required.

James65
Posts: 383
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:41 am
Location: Exeter, NH
Contact:

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby James65 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:15 am

I believe Brown Bagger and I came to this board nearly at the same time and with the same location and type of cancer. Here I am and now he is gone. I'll never understand the cruelty of this disease that would take someone so good and leave me here. If his life touched as many in his real world as he did here on this site, then there are many, many people the better for knowing him.
Diagnosed with stage III rectal tumor (though probably late stage II) January 2006.
Chemo/Radiation
Full APR Surgery
Folfox Chemo
So far NED.
Oops. Liver tumor diagnosed 10/13 after elevated CEA. Liver resection for 5cm tumor 12/6/13. So far so good.
Oops again, one tumor in each lung diagnosed 8/8/16. One too small to deal with and the other resected in late September. Wait and watch for now.
Oops, another lung Met in upper left lobe on edge of previous resection scar 11/11/19.

jean60
Posts: 427
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2012 3:47 pm

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby jean60 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:16 am

So far I've read words like 'remarkable' and 'the real deal'. I couldn't agree more. I did not have a close relationship with Eric but I was always glad to see a post from him and admired his ability to live his life, cancer be damned. I do not know how he became the incredible person that he was but I was often impressed and humbled by his approach to life.

Jean
Dx Rectal Cncr 5/12
Stage III
5 weeks Chemo (5FU) & Radiation completed
LAR with temporary ileostomy 9/12, complete response
Began FOLFOX 10/12. oxil reduced after tx 1, eliminated after tx 2. Now 5FU.
Finished 1/13
Ileostomy reversal 5/13

James65
Posts: 383
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:41 am
Location: Exeter, NH
Contact:

Re: 2017 : In Memoriam

Postby James65 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:19 am

Probably there are only a few who remember Brady. He was the guy that welcomed me in back in 2006. I've never really gotten past his loss, or that of justsing, another beautiful person who helped me through the first of what would become many stages of cancer. And now Brown Bagger. We don't get past or over the loss of these people. We learn to live with the loss.

Such very sad, sad news.
Diagnosed with stage III rectal tumor (though probably late stage II) January 2006.
Chemo/Radiation
Full APR Surgery
Folfox Chemo
So far NED.
Oops. Liver tumor diagnosed 10/13 after elevated CEA. Liver resection for 5cm tumor 12/6/13. So far so good.
Oops again, one tumor in each lung diagnosed 8/8/16. One too small to deal with and the other resected in late September. Wait and watch for now.
Oops, another lung Met in upper left lobe on edge of previous resection scar 11/11/19.

Wonderfullymade
Posts: 140
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:33 pm

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby Wonderfullymade » Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:08 pm

Oh no! I am shocked and so sad to hear this news! He will be greatly missed by me as well!
My condolences, thoughts and prayers to CRguy and to Erics family and those friends he has made along the way!
DX 3/2015 53
Stage IVa CC w/liver met
BRAF/KRAS wild type MSI-High (MLH1, PMS2) not Lynch
Folfox 3 cycles
5/2015 ER for subtotal colectomomy due to perforated colon, ovary removed
Folfuri/Pantiumumab 5 cycles
8/2015 liver resection, gallbladder removed and new LN
10/2015 CT scan new nodes
10/2015 Pembro started CEA 2.2
5/2017 stable lung things, coltis, lymph nodes stable cea 1/2017 1.1
9/2017 NED CEA 1.1 ( stopped Pembro)
2/2019 ER for DVT/ PE
2/2019 clean CT (NED) CEA 1.1

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

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby JJ2212 » Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:53 pm

I am deeply saddened to hear of Eric's passing. He was an awesome role model here.

My condolences to all his loved ones.

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

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juliej
Posts: 3114
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:59 pm

Re: BrownBagger ....... I don't know what to say

Postby juliej » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:16 pm

This gutted me...

And broke my heart into a million pieces.

Eric was like a brother to me. We bonded years ago when we were both newly diagnosed and we remained close until the end.
We were both mavericks, constantly getting both public and private reprimands from Gaelen for posting about our physical activities while we were on chemo. And what she said made some sense. But intrinsically, at the very intersection of our body and our soul, we both knew that giving up our pursuits – Eric’s bicycling and my running/mountain climbing – would damage the core of strength we needed to get through treatment.

So we cut down our mileage, but we kept our attitude and, like the bad kids in the back of the room in grade school, we privately compared how many times we got in trouble with her. In doing it our way, by declining to following the traditional lay-back-and-take-it-easy advice, we took ownership of our cancer journey, maybe even extending both of our lives. It was OUR journey, and we needed to insist on that fact.

Over the course of my journey with cancer, I’ve learned that, more than anything, cancer is about stories and friendships. And those friendships are antibodies against the depression and uncertainty of cancer. Eric’s irreverent humor made me laugh time and time again and his presence in my life made me stronger than I would have been on my own. Lately, we’d been discussing changes to the farm house he was remodeling in Wisconsin – the new hard maple floor, the tile backsplash in the kitchen that would match the porch spandrel design, whether to convert the old root cellar to a wine cellar. He loved that farm and couldn’t wait to retire there next spring. I’m glad that’s where it happened because I know that’s what he’d want.

The world is a dimmer place without him in it. He taught us all how to live a Big Life and give cancer only a small part in it. He will never be forgotten. To his wife, family, friends, co-workers and neighbors, may his presence continue to shine in your lives. And to Eric, AKA BrownBagger, I hope it’s a beautiful ride. It was an honor to walk this journey with you.

Love,
Julie
Stage IVb, liver/lung mets 8/4/2010
Xelox+Avastin 8/18/10 to 10/21/2011
LAR, liver resec, HAI pump 11/2011
Adjuvant Irinotecan + FUDR
Double lung surgery + ileo reversal 2/2012
Adjuvant FUDR + Xeloda
VATS rt. lung 12/2012 - benign granuloma!
VATS left lung 11/2013
NED 11/22/13 to 12/18/2019, CEA<1

tammylayne
Posts: 2177
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:24 am

Re: 2017 : In Memoriam

Postby tammylayne » Tue Jul 25, 2017 5:02 pm

Word
51 F
'06 Stage 1 CC,
'10 Stage 3 Rectal

"You never know how strong you are until you have to become your own hero."


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