I got the MRI, which changed things for the worse. I had a large tumor which they determined to be cancer. I also had to get a CT to see if it had spread to the lungs and it showed some small nodules in my lower right lung. They can't be sure it is cancer or not yet. If they shrink during the treatment, then it is cancer.

The treatment I am undergoing is called Immunotherapy, a targeted drug which adheres to the chemical that cancers put out to trick the body into thinking they are normal tissue. Once it binds, the body sees it as foreign tissue and tries to kill it.

Obviously, all the other issues have taken a back seat. If the treatment works, I could live for some time. If it doesn't, I am looking at an estimated 4-6 mos.

I don't know when or if I will be mentally recovered enough to start posting again. No matter what, though, I appreciate all of you.

No hepatitis per tests, had another 15 liters of fluid drained today. One way to instantly lose 34 pounds I guess. MRI moved to mid month and then an upper gi scope so they can see if I am one of the people who can be affected by enlarged varices in the throat and stomach. If I am, I might get to experience another fun side effect apparently, vomiting blood.

This is beyond depressing. But they did say it looks like I might have 2-5 years before the liver fully goes tits up.

Went to the ER, fluid buildup was making it hard to eat/drink, or breathe.

They drained 8 liters before they decided not to take anymore. Then I got to sit for 4 hours while they dripped Albumin back into my arm.

I also had some abdomen pain, but not as much as I do now. It's hard to say if the stomach expanding or the loss of appetite was the first symptoms. I went to my gastro doc first thinking it might be something celiac related, but when it kept getting worse I went to a doctor at austin regional clinic. He said it sounded like a gallbladder issue and sent me to the sonogram. Now I have to go back to the gastro doc on the 28th, which I was lucky to get thanks to how covid is hitting all the docs, and see if we can drain the fluid.

I'm hoping it doesn't start hurting to the point where I have to go to the emergency room and get it drained before then. It's just crazy, my mom died in 2019 from liver/kidney failure but she was in her 60's with many bad habits. I'm only 48 and other than being overweight I don't, I quit smoking many years ago and I almost never drink, but here I am. Now I have to wonder if having covid before I could get vaccinated accelerated the failure.

Anyway, I'll post when I know more. Just really down atm.

I guess I have some bad news. I noticed my stomach was getting larger even though I had no appetite lately. I had my sonogram on Monday and my doctor told me that I have cirrhosis with ascites, which means my liver is failing enough that it is forcing liquid into my abdomen. I also have gallstones, but the doctor said not to worry about those right now.

I gather I am going to have to go have a needle inserted to drain the fluid and then we will see if I am in end stage liver failure. I'll update as soon as I know more.

On the good side, my wife is almost fully healed from the mohs surgery. I hope to be back soon, but right now I am depressed and worried AF.

Will be away a few days. Wife had skin cancer removed and they ended up taking a lot more than they thought with the mohs surgery.

I know why bob posted this, but it's funny. I'll give him a vote for that. Laughing at our leaders is something we are sorely lacking today.

*isdupe

*doublepromote

There is no spoon, Mr. Wick. But there is a pencil.

Definitely a crazy weather event for people not in North America. The geography of the rest of the world doesn't usually allow high rating tornados.

I'm from Texas. I support Abortion. No contraceptive is 100% effective, not even if you combine them. If you don't understand that, study how percentages work.

Secondly, kids are hormonally driven creatures. They are literally under the influence of natural chemicals driving them to procreate.

Not every school or parent teaches them about contraceptives. In fact, you will find most 'Christians" only support abstinence. This is the equivalent of telling a chemically dependent addict to "Just Say No!" How well did that work in the drug war back in the day? (Hint: However, despite DARE's bold claims, research has shown that the program has failed spectacularly.)

Third, the people who are most affected by this new law are the people that can least afford the better contraceptives or having a child in a non-stable family environment. This won't bother a middle class or rich family at all, they can just send the kid off to an "aunt" in another state until the issue is resolved. Those kids from poor families will just be forced to have the kid and likely it will ruin their lives. This doesn't even take into account that the new law doesn't have ANY exceptions for rape or incest.

Fourth, the USA was founded on religious freedom. In other words, you get to believe what you want and others get to do the same. This means that if a religious person tells another person that something they are doing is forbidden due to morality contained in their religion, that other person can tell you to fuck right off. Church and State are supposed to be separate, but the Christian right think they should be able to legislate their religious ideas on others. Do you not see the hypocrisy here?

I'm nominally a conservative. Sadly that means that I get lumped in with you ultra far right wackos that want to turn the USA into a religious state like Iran or Afghanistan. I'm not leaving my home state because some religious nut jobs think it is OK to kill adults by lethal injection but that it is BAD to kill some cells that are multiplying.

Btw, the cardiac activity detected on ultrasound at six weeks is not a true heartbeat. It results from electrical activity, but the valves of the heart have not yet formed. And the sound does not indicate the pregnancy is viable. Women typically don't notice they are pregnant until they miss a period. So if they are unlucky, they may already be close to four weeks pregnant. That leaves them two weeks to confirm it with a doctor, since home tests are not 100%, get together money for the abortion, find a clinic, and schedule an appointment that falls within the remaining time period. Since this law will cause even more clinics to close in Texas, you can add travel and patient backlog to the time. A teen could do everything right and still miss out on the lottery for an appointment, dramatically changing their life for years.

But at least some smug religious person can sip their coffee and be proud they enforced their morality on some evil women that dared sleep around out of wedlock.