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From Leo (phiber) tri-owner of A Band of Brothers CC, who is battling cancer

Tue, Nov 18 2014 5:12 PM (105 replies)
  • rollone
    777 Posts
    Tue, Jul 8 2014 3:03 PM

    LEO-

    I said it before and ill say it again. If i can be even a 1/4 of the man you are, i will have acomplished something spectacular. Stay strong and we think about you everyday!

  • mgbirish
    4,019 Posts
    Fri, Jul 11 2014 2:56 PM

    Just received this from Brother Leo, (phiber) Praise the Lord!:

    Just got off the phone with Amanda, and she tells me that she didn't see anything in the images, nothing at all.  Looks like we are going to be taking a vacation from Chemo for a while.  She told me to not make any plans until she confers with the radiologist and with the Oncology Staff but she said she didn't see any spots, lesions, tumors, no dark spots, just some scar tissue on the Liver and that was it.  

    Now, I don't know if that means that the cancer is all gone of if that means that it's just dormant right now, but what it means to me is that all the prayers from all my friends worked and I thank God in Heaven and I thank all my friends for helping me with their thoughts and prayers.

  • WGTdbloshoe
    2,840 Posts
    Fri, Jul 11 2014 3:13 PM

    mgbirish:

    Just received this from Brother Leo, (phiber) Praise the Lord!:

    Just got off the phone with Amanda, and she tells me that she didn't see anything in the images, nothing at all.  Looks like we are going to be taking a vacation from Chemo for a while.  She told me to not make any plans until she confers with the radiologist and with the Oncology Staff but she said she didn't see any spots, lesions, tumors, no dark spots, just some scar tissue on the Liver and that was it.  

    Now, I don't know if that means that the cancer is all gone of if that means that it's just dormant right now, but what it means to me is that all the prayers from all my friends worked and I thank God in Heaven and I thank all my friends for helping me with their thoughts and prayers.

    That is fantastic!!!!!

     

    - WGTdbloshoe

  • AgentBrown123
    907 Posts
    Fri, Jul 11 2014 3:28 PM

    Awesome stuff!

  • frappefort
    3,994 Posts
    Fri, Jul 11 2014 6:59 PM

    I am smiling ,  we will not stop praying or thinking about  you .   Keep getting good news  mon ami .

  • phiber
    2,795 Posts
    Sun, Jul 13 2014 12:52 PM

    Thanks to all you great folks and the thoughts and prayers you offer up to the good Lord!   We had a clean scan on Wednesday and it looks like a short break in the chemo which I welcome.  

    I am blessed to have people like you thinking of me and offering up prayers.  My Little Brother (mgbirish) has been one of my biggest influences (both in the game and in my battle with cancer).  The words of encouragement from all of you and from others in similar environments help give me the strength to fight this thing and as many of you know, it is a huge battle.  

    Spent time talking with my Oncologist yesterday and we are taking a break so my body can heal some from the devastation of the chemo then we are going right back after this beast.  Soooooooooo happy that so many folks have my 6

    God Bless you all

    Leo

  • WHOSYOURCADDY4
    323 Posts
    Sun, Jul 13 2014 3:14 PM

    GOD BLESS YOU BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • mgbirish
    4,019 Posts
    Thu, Jul 24 2014 12:37 PM

    Ok, no glitches, and 12 is coursing my veins as we speak!

    Amanda said that the "new spot" is nothing but a spot and while it is too small to measure accurately we are going after it with a vengeance!  What a great Doctor, I lover her dearly!~

    She also told me that the stint will not happen!!  I think that is good news!!  She said that partial blockage is entirely possible with this type of chemo and the reason is that the Oxaliplatin MUST be delivered with a 5% dextrose solution, Saline solutions make it harden in the arteries.  The problem arises from post delivery of the chemo, the port has to be cleaned out with saline and all it takes if for some of the oxaliplatin to still be in the artery and it can harden.  Not to worry thought because it usually goes away.  She talked to us about a couple of clinical trials, will have to think about them for a while before we do anything about them.  She said that if the next 4 chemo infusions didn't get rid of the spots on the liver completely that we will go to the next battle plan which could include a CI at Vandy!!

    At any rate she praised how I held up through the last 3 hot shots and was amazed that I actually gained 7 pounds exactly over the last visit.  She told us that could be the result of the diabetes.  She told me not to worry about it but to try to stick to a bread free diet...I told her that was like eating popcorn with out butter on it.  She did tell me to get off ANYTHING that has sugars, natural or processed, because that is what feeds the cancer...back to the blueberrys, cherries, and green leafy stuff!

    Feel the steroids kicking in so I will do a roster this after noon.  Probably get that done in about 20 minutes then find something else to dol

  • mgbirish
    4,019 Posts
    Thu, Aug 7 2014 7:42 PM

    From Leo today:

    13 is off and running!!  hot load of Oxaliplatin and 5-FU coursing the veins and causing all sorts of problems!  

    Amanda says that we will shoot this one, one on the 21st and shoot a CT scan on the 10th and make a decision from there what to do next.  She says there is no real reason to suspect that the Oxaliplatin has stopped working but we need to be sure so we do another CT scan.  If we have nothing new, we keep on truckin....if we have something new to look at, we change over to Paclitaxel and Ramucirumab!  (I think they have to take special courses just to learn how to say the names of some of these medicines)

    She said my weight was good, and that I looked healthy and if she didn't know better she would just think I was trying to get all this attention by telling evereyone I had cancer,   I told her to live a day in my mind and she would better understand my level of comprehension of this stuff and how to deal with it.   

    Think at times I might be holding up better than my significant other...she sure is a strong and dedicated best friend, wife, partner, confidant!

    wow, 13 times now and no end in sight....that last part of that  sure does sound good to me.

    love you guys

  • MichaelStroke
    2,066 Posts
    Fri, Aug 8 2014 6:41 AM

    I think I can safely speak for all of WGT when I say we're all in his corner.

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