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CANCER: An Uncensored Journey

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skywalker	Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:44 am
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 592 Location: California	Perhaps the UFCW members who are not currently medically insured may think that this exam is way too costly and will not have it done for money reasons? The typical cost of this exam is somewhere between $500.00----$1000.00 depending where you get it done. However, many physicians, clinics, etc. will work with you especially if you tell them upfront that you are not currently insured under your particular UFCW union contract but really need to have this procedure done. If you are over 40 years old they will usually work with you. Many times, these medical providers will even lower the cost altogether and other times they will put you on a small monthly payment plan until the cost of the procedure is paid for.. Bottom line.....just because you don't currently have medical insurance coverage there is no reason to delay having this very important exam done. Get it done and have peace of mind.....I think that is what Bill is saying....and it's the best advice a person can give to anyone else. _________________ Seek the Truth
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Bill Sable	Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:17 pm
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	SkyW...many thanks for reinforcing the message. For your efforts, I hereby award you an "Another Day, Another Finger World Tour" T-shirt when I have them made. I must observe that most of the folks involved in the "physical" exams seem to have been former meatcutters. Doug, you know anything about that Got a little concerned when during the last "physical" exam, conga-line music started playing outside the exam room. Radiation begins at the end of this week (and for the next several weeks, five days per) combined with chemo starting next week. The radiation folks made a mold of my butt (for positioning purposes) which I intend to requisition after it is over...to frame and either auction or put in the breakroom at the store. It would have come in handy last night - had a shoplifter who promised to beat my ass.
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Bill Sable	Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 11:54 pm
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	To begin with, as I have done with my store crew, I made a public statement of my medical situation at the membership meeting of Local 648 this past Thursday evening. I also requested that the Local, especially its representatives when in the stores, inform members of the need to undergo a preventative screening/colonoscopy. I hope that they do so. For my own part, I will continue to do the same thing. The basic message is the same: colo-rectal cancer can kill and can be prevented. Get the 'scope Apart from this, I began my schedule of radiation therapy the same day, last Thursday morning. This process, roughly akin to microwaving a bag of popcorn, will go on for the next several weeks. I begin chemotherapy tomorrow, which will be for three of the next six weeks. I don't mean to judge but my initial observation is that things in radiology seem a little, shall we say, "subdued". I guess it is a natural effect of the disease and its treatment but the place could use a little injection of night crew humor and energy. Now, they have some magazines, books, and puzzles in the place (and CNN on the TV) - what about using a butt-mold for a dartboard and starting a little competition?? I am open to ideas, so feel free to share your thoughts.
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SharynS	Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:11 pm
Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2940 Location: the 'puter	I don't know how they line you up for radiology but I am familiar with the chemo room. All I'm saying is be careful, a dart competition could get your ass isolated to the chair in the back room with no-one to play with. _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie
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skywalker	Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:36 pm
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 592 Location: California	Bill Sable wrote: I also requested that the Local, especially its representatives when in the stores, inform members of the need to undergo a preventative screening/colonoscopy. Excellent Bill! As a suggestion, you may want to request that the Union Reps and the Local Union itself work out some kind of deal with the Medical providers and or the Hospitals and clinics in your area to reduce their cost for the exam to any UFCW member that does not have any medical insurance. Granted, the providers may not want to do so because they may get flooded with members given the fact that over 50% of the UFCW dues paying members do not receive any medical insurance....but nevertheless, it's worth a try to work out some sort of deal for these poor uninsured UFCW members. And, given that your area of Northern California is more open and compassionate the chances are better than 50-50 that the area medical establishment may lower their normal cost for this exam. Bill, my continued prayers and good wishes for your future good health remain strong and true. You will beat this thing. Miracles happen everyday and my hope is that one will find its way toward you. You have positive Karma on your side because you are spreading good vibes all over the place and bringing the gift of life to random people because of your strong positive message. Right On Brother Bill! _________________ Seek the Truth
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SharynS	Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:44 am
Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2940 Location: the 'puter	What colour was the cool-aide WJ? _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie
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Bill Sable	Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:37 am
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	Well, Sharyn, I may not have described it but it came in a 4-liter jug and tasted like salted stale cat piss. Really salted, really stale. It also motivated the contents of the colon to flee with considerable rapidity and thoroughness...a retreat rarely witnessed in the annals (ouch...bad pun!) of human history.
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Bill Sable	Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:27 pm
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	So...what are the chances...that I could talk the radiation therapists into getting me a nice green glow for St. Patrick's Day Update: I just completed my first full week of radiation therapy plus the intial week of chemo therapy. Five more weeks of radiation to go; two more of chemo. The reason I mention it is to discuss the potential side-effects of the treatment. Thus far (and I must emphasize that it is only so far) the actual effects have been minimal, even non-existent. The most significant have been getting thrown off-schedule in order to attend the therapy festivities and wearing out the porcelain in multiple locations as a result of the sound advice to constantly "hydrate". In other words, so far, so good. What may occur down the road could be a different story. From the Department of Radiation Oncology: "Radiation therapy to the pelvis may cause some common side effects occurring approximately three weeks after your first treatment. These symptoms may continue throughout the treatment period and gradually disappear after you have completed treament... ...diarrhea...anal or rectal discomfort...bladder discomfort...fatigue...skin irritation [including] skin blisters/peeling." Chemo therapy can be a different story, although i have to say that my oncologist is pretty adamant that I will experience few if any side effects. To list the potential effects noted by the National Cancer Institute: ...anemia...appetite changes...bleeding...constipation....diarrhea... fatigue...hair loss...infection...mouth and throat sores...nausea and vomiting...nervous system changes...pain...skin and nail changes...urinary, kidney and bladder changes...flu-like symptoms. The reason for the latter is that chemo acts to destroy all fast-growing cells, of which cancer is just one type. Among other things, one's immune system gets (or can get) shot all to hell making one susceptible to infections. There is evidently no way yet to target just the cancer cells - chemo, in essence, wipes out the village to save the village. Two essential ways of circumventing this are to keep one's weight up - the radiology dietician basically told me to eat anything I could get my hands on, as much as I could get my hands on - and to boost the immune system. I cannot say often enough that my store crew has been absolutely magnificent in this (and other) respects. God bless them all... I would be impossible to thank them enough. The point of this recitation is that you can avoid all of this by the simple exercise of prevention: get the damned 'scope.
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Bill Sable	Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:55 am
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	3/20/09 UPDATE: The only exciting news is that there has been no exciting news this week. Another week of radiation is complete. Next week will (again) be combined radiation and chemo. No side-effects, except for what the British used to call a touch of "gippy tummy" or somesuch. My effort to get the radiation folks impart to me a stunning green glow for St. Patrick's Day did not succeed. Still at work and still being deluged with Chinese theraputic foods nightly by my crew. I highly recommend the bitter-melon soup. Several more crew members haved committed to get the 'scope. The campaign continues.
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SharynS	Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:04 am
Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2940 Location: the 'puter	I don't think there's a glow, but an extra bag of chemo chems coulda' put you in the green Bill. Another week under your belt, well done eh! _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie
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wm pasz	Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:06 am
Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1219 Location: Toronto	Good to hear from you Bill. Too bad about the green glow. Maybe it's just as well. _________________ Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. - Malcolm X
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Bill Sable	Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:30 am
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	Pity, indeed...the green glowstick look might have kept some of the "curious" individuals encountered this week - every night this past week - at bay. It was as though the St. Stupid's Day parade finished in front of the store. Self-professed hookers and their johns engaging in financial disputes in front of the store (and in front of a member of the SFPD), shoplifters with multiple "no-bail" warrants on them, shoplifters who insisted on returning all 20 items stolen to their precise location on the shelves - if every picture tells a story, every night holds one, as well. A lively place, replete with varieties of human behavior and encounter. If there isn't a book here, there is at least a thread on the subject. Come to think of it, years ago some other members of the crew (one of whom was the appropriately-named John O'Looney, seriously) and I began to create a heretofor unwritten volume tentatively titled "Endless Shelves" - oral literature, Homeric in inspiration if not quality or content. Might be time it sees the light of day. This brings me to another subject - well, the other subject. One of the crew mentioned a few days ago that I appear to be rather "nonchalant" in dealing with the acquired cancer. Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth. I am serious about the issue and its ramifications - all of the potential ramifications - for myself and my life. Dead serious. Having said that, I have always appreciated the saying attributed originally to Aristotle that "man is the animal who laughs". Humans, if they are true to themselves, if they admit that they are rather frail, fragile beings in a really large world and universe, have to relish their own absurdity, individually and collectively. One must laugh at one's self even while continuing to pursue the ends and goals one sets for one's self. If knowledge is power, so is laughter - laughter, genuine laughter, implies the existence of knowledge. The classical Greeks had it right: there is as much truth in comedy as in tragedy - they are two sides of the same face. So, I am really serious about laughing my way through this, come what may.
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atuuschaaw	Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:36 pm
Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 781 Location: an ahwangan	"Endless Shelves" Hell yeah! I personally would love to hear them. I'm a sucker for oral history! I couldn't agree more with ya Bro! We have to keep smiling, if for nothing else, the absurdity of the importance that the human species places on themselves! Just keep smiling...it's easier! _________________ "Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." George Orwell
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skywalker	Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:29 pm
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 592 Location: California	Bill Sable, I pray for your your full and speedy recovery. Your positive attitude and cheerful disposition will carry you through this difficult time. Keep on laughing and educating your neighbor.. You will beat the Big C.. _________________ Seek the Truth
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Bill Sable	Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:46 am
Joined: 14 Feb 2009 Posts: 272	First and foremost, thank you all for your best wishes and encouragement. Please believe that these are deeply important and, equally, deeply appreciated. Many of you have passed the word regarding this thread (and the UNCHARTED site) so that folks can become more educated in the prevention of this disease. I would certainly ask any and all of you to feel free to do likewise or to simply pass the word to folks you know, families, friends, poeple you work with, to "get the 'scope" and screening. Update, 3/27/09: Finished another week of combined therapy - daily radiation and four days of chemo. I have to admit to a touch of nausea following yesterday's chemo session, nothing major, just a feeling of being slightly off-kilter. All in all, I think I have gotten lucky. There are evidently different levels of chemo (and perhaps different chemicals used in the process) which have much more significant effects than I have experienced. A lady in an adjoining treament room yesterday is evidently going through the more serious variety and effects. Felt bad for her and relieved for myself. It also occurred to me that the medical treatment is based upon a series of inherently contradictory commands, which are not without elements of humor. For example, they tell you to hydrate, to drink gallons (sorry, Canadians, "liters") of water while advising you to eat a ton (or whatever the metric equivalent is) which is impossible if you have filled up on water and to sleep which is physically impossible if you have imbibed gallons-upon-liters of water. [Be advised: should you ever undergo this process you would do well to engage in an extensive mapping-out of every damn restroom along your routes, with backups. You will, rest assured, pee like a Trojan. Sandbags are an option. Think Fargo.] I should mention that Operation "Mother-Hen" at the store continues, night after night. The ladies I work with are absolutely tremendous - and damn fine cooks, too. I should also mention the yeo-woman's work undertaken by Shirley and my sister, Patricia, in ferrying me around from home to hospital to the various offices. War is about logistics and their work and sacrifice, day after day, has enabled me to pursue this with alot less difficulty than would otherwise be the case. Having someone along also just makes it more fun. So, bottom line: two more weeks of just radiation followed by a third week of radiation/chemo. Then, about eight weeks of R & R prior to surgery.
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CANCER: An Uncensored Journey


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