I have malignant salivary gland cancer

A buffalo chicken wrap lol. My eating habits are all messed up bc they removed from the salivary glands, so what little saliva I can maintain gets sopped up quick by bread and basically anything that’s not moist. I miss my peanuts and wheat thins but Im fucking with some acai smoothies these days lol.

 

I suggest applesauce and ice cream.
You can't go wrong with applesauce and ice cream.

If any doubts, drop the applesauce and double the ice cream.

Most of all, have a great Friday, @swingline!
Take the day off and just walk around feeling happy some more.

 

Congratulations, CD Boogie! Great news. I second Slacker's suggestions. Plus pudding, yogurt and jello. And creme-filled doughnuts.

 

Truly, honestly delighted for you. I'm sending along a celebratory burger; I think there's some moisture in there somewhere.

 

I dunno, that burger looks dry as hell.

 

Wonderful news! I'm very happy for you. Continuing to inhale and exhale is underrated until for some reason it is in doubt.

 

Merits the best in celebration tunes

 

Huzzah!

 

It’s taken a lot of nerve for me to write this, albeit to relative strangers, but I have an update on my cancer condition that is not good. My reticence is because I don’t want sympathy, and my sharing is borne of hoping to help people who feel alone.

My cancer has returned and it’s in my lungs and it’s Stage IV. On the face of it, it’s terrible news, but at the same time it’s predictable bc this is the most likely manifestation of adenoid cystic carcinoma. It started in my salivary gland in my right cheek, which had to be removed, with the chasm replaced by a filet from my left leg. Frankenstein. My surgeon at Yale was a wizard and actually left me with an additional dimple and didn’t cut my facial nerve and leave me with palsy.

I’m too stubborn to ever quit but brass tacks it’s been beyond. At the same time, it’s been a blessing because I’ve never appreciated life more. I haven’t told anyone about the recurrence beyond family and closest friends because I want people to treat me like the same overly opinionated asshole I’ve always been, and moreover I don’t wanna receive pity.

That said, this is the loneliest ride I can ever imagine and I’m leaning into my Stoicism and Epictetus.

The latest CAT scan last week said the tumors in my bronchia are static since January, so they said just come back in three months. No chemo yet; it’s called active surveillance, which is its own private hell.

Meanwhile, I had a flare up on my PET SCAN in my groin, so had to have an ultrasound Wednesday.

That came back negative, so I’m relieved I don’t have a new front to battle. But every physical anomaly makes you think the worst, making me a hypochondriac of sorts. Well, fuck that.

My wife is a saint and I feel blessed in a weird way because I’ve been made to stare into the abyss and take an accounting. Never been more appreciative of everything, the whole sensory spectrum. Life is a gift.

I am grateful to be alive and will try to embody that. But I try to be sensitive to the fact that everyone is going through something, something they don’t necessarily pronounce, so be kind, always be kind.


Boogie

 

It's OK for Lazy Centrists to send prayers. Sending mine.

 

Thank you for that post, CD Boogie. Really.

So bad. But so good, too.

 

I'm so sorry to read this, CD. I wish I had something more profound to say than I'm thinking of you & I'm hoping you get better news, and that I join you in hoping we can all be a little kinder to everyone.