On the other hand, Sin, it’s very possible that Arac knows exactly the severity of his problem, and didn’t want to worry anyone too much. Whether or not you think that’s a good idea isn’t really up to you - it’s up to him, and you should think about what HE intended. It’s his thread, his news, and his life. How he wants to break it to us is up to him, and perhaps you should be more sensitive to those kinds of things. Even if you find it sickening how people have responded in this thread, this is how Arac dictated it with the tone of his announcement. When you have lymphoma, you can break it to us however you’d like.
Sorry…the tone of my message is really rude. I don’t mean any offense - I just wanted to offer you a different perspective; maybe that was how Arac wanted it, and if it was, who are we to take that away from him? If you think that you’ve got what it takes to change his mind about undergoing treatment, and you think that you can help him make a life-saving decision, you should perhaps do so in private.
Arac isn’t breaking 1 news. He is breaking 2 news. The first news is that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma, which is fucking awful. The 2nd news is that he doesn’t want to do anything about it, which is the whole point of my diatribe.
It is , as I said, “The statement was directed at the forum goers, not him. If anything , my saying it is my way of slapping him upside the head as I undoubtedly would if I was presented with the oppurtunity.”
Let me put it another way, how would you all react if a regular forum goer said he was going to commit suicide? Would you stop it at “oh , its his life”?
What the fuck ever, I’m sorry you’re a robot and can’t see any reason to say nice things to someone when they’re in a bad situation. People say crap like this all the fucking time just to be polite, it’s not like I’m implying that he should take a path of actions that will lead do his demise. I don’t know his exact situation, and even if I did, how much pull is some random dude on the internet gonna have over any decision he makes? That’s right practically none, so the best I could do is give a little bit of encouragement, and with that I threw in a little joke which related to him blocking someone’s fist with his face. That’s my fucking point.
That’s actually what one of the doctors said, strangely enough.
For sure. I’ll go on a tour of ever 24 Sussex Drive in the world, hunting you down. You will know no peace until I am hugged, Seifer, this I avow!
A bunch of my stoner friends are pissed I’m not using my free ticket to medical marijuana, since it’s legal here.
I noticed swollen lymph nodes, and it’s not too late for treatment, I’ve just, right now, decided against it.
Can we compromise on 59, since then I’d die at '76, the kindasorta birthyear of punk? It’s either that or 69, so I can die at its 100th anniversary.
I’d call your bluff, but some things just aren’t worth risking. I won’t die until the stars align properly for us to be on MSN at the same time again. So I’ve got like 30 years, minimum, the way that usually goes.
I’m terrified of you; I’ve been martial arts tournaments, and I’ve been in skank pits. I usually end up hurt worse in skank pits, when people aren’t even trying to hurt me. If it was aimed at me, I would be destroyed in one of those dramatic anime deaths where the screen goes white and I’m just not there when it comes back. I saw Jesse Michaels do it to a man back in '96.
Because I’m a dirty hippie.
Really, it’s because I have some time to think about it before the odds of survival will change all that much with treatment, and I’d rather not make a knee-jerk decision I can’t reverse, which is much more true of cancer treatments than waiting to see if they become necessary.
Dude, listen, shut the fuck up. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you, but I’m not going to become an insane, existential mercenary. Period. You can quit hinting. It’s not gonna happen. It doesn’t matter if I get cancer, or if when I say “non-standard treatments”, you know I mean experimental healing factours in Canada. It’s still not gonna happen. Really.
No problem. How are things going with your man, anyway?
I know. The whole RPGColorado thing Big Dizzy suggested years ago might actually happen, but instead of a party, kicking the shit out of me. Just goes to show, nothing brings people together like a collective desire to beat me up.
Shame it’s gone. You would’ve been the dream of every lady with a vampire fetish. Or, rather, any other man would’ve been. You’re already the dream of every lady. My bad.
It’s very early stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma, so I’m much less fucked than I could be.
Sinistral is a doctors. He knows the science. If he says it’s a bubble, it’s a fucking bubble.
Theoretically, insurance would cover it. But that’s not one of those “theories” that’s essentially a fact, like evolution. That’s one of those “theories” that ziggy posts about the Loch Ness Monster.
Nah, that wouldn’t bother me. I could join SHARP (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice/Racist Pricks) and go around beating up nazis and being a general hooligan. So, kinda like now but without hair and another patch on my jacket.
This makes me miss Hades. I want him to tell me Linkin Park isn’t angsty again, so I can use my pure semantic fury to destroy the disease within me. Then I’d pick up my katana and destroy a tank with the anger I had left.
Well, I really don’t want everyone all worried about me, but Sin’s comments don’t bother me at all. People show their care/concern and whatnot in different ways, and it’s nice to hear in whatever way it’s expressed. So, get off Sin’s back about being insensitive (maybe I am, too, but either way, I don’t mind his comments), and Sin let everyone express themselves how they do.
On the whole “I’m fucked,” issue, it should be noted that any way I go about things, I’m fucked. If I get cured of this, something else will someday kill me. It is how I live before that happens that matters, and I’d rather do it with the majority of my normal life. I know people who have lived years/decades without treatment from cancers supposed to kill them in months (most all of whom actually ended up dying of something else); the guy I did an acupuncture internship under was told he had 6 months to live, maybe 9 with treatment, treated himself and is still alive 22 years later. I don’t have months to live, either; I have months before I’ll even drop the 3% down to a 9/10 chance of survival with treatment. I have time to think about it and look into all options, standard and non, and see how things change.
Partly, I really am enough of a dirty hippie to think there are ways to help yourself without baths of radiation and horrible chemicals and so on. If things don’t improve by the time I’ve dropped down to that 9/10, I’ll definitely rethink it, but I hate to run to an unfavourable option the very first thing, when I don’t even really like it as a last resort. Mostly, though, it really comes down to the understanding that I’ll die, and that death isn’t something I’m really afraid of. Living in a way I don’t want to live is. Death happens to everybody, and there’s no point running through hell to get away from it.
Thanks to everyone for the comments, information, well-wishing, and most of all, the luck.
Well that’s good news in a thread about bad news. Mario Lemieux, the hockey player, was diagnosed with Hodgkins in his early 20’s. He had radiation treatment (I think), missed a couple weeks in the middle of the season, came back, and won the scoring title. He went on to become the first athlete in a major North American sport to buy the team he plays for (Pittsburgh Penguins), and he retired two years ago.
I’m not a regular here by any means, but I visit occasionally and I enjoy your posts. I was worried after reading this thread, and I’m glad to hear that you’re most likely not “fucked” for the short term. Best of luck as you move forward with this.
Dude, major bummer. Good luck and don’t forget to smile (or for more your style it might be to steeple your fingers and chuckle in a low tone, or something).
Actually, he just said no formal treatment, that doesn’t mean personal stuff. I know a guy that had cancer and did this ancient orient cleansing thing and it worked for him.
PS. Arac, if you want any info on this, PM away and I’ll ask Cliff.
Arguing about this is never gonna get anywhere, I’m gonna go get a chimichanga. Er, uh, something else to eat?
(I hope he didn’t notice my slip of the c-word. Or my inability to speak in first-person monologues.)
Arac, I sincerely hope you investigate all the options available to you and choose the course that you are most confident in. Personally, I’d do whatever it took to cure it, regardless of the technique, but ultimately everyone has to make their own choice.
Not so good - he’s been back in the hospital more than once, and he’s gotten worse. He’s having more trouble walking, and his speech is pretty messed up now. I have to clarify, I don’t know this firsthand because any attempt I make to talk to him is ignored. Any information I have is secondhand from people to whom he’ll talk. This has gone on for a month. :\ It makes me sad.
It’s good that you have the “luxury” of time to weigh your options. You can work on blocking punches with your face in the spare time.
Ouch, the whole not talking to you thing sucks. From his perspective, I can understand it, maybe. When I first heard, I was pre-distancing my friends and being a complete asshole to them in the hopes of getting it to the point that they wouldn’t miss me when I was gone until I decided that was dumb, morbid, and really fucked up. A lot of people I know have reacted similarly in that kinda situation, though. If it’s for some other reason, I’m still sorry. The fact that his condition isn’t too good sucks, on top of that.
My Kru Master has a similar theory to your facepunchblocking practice. He says “You know all that bullshit about curing cancer with positive emotions. That’s bullshit. Positive emotions never killed anything. Go back to that really angry, drunk period from a few years ago and kill your cancer in a vortex of negative energy.” I think that was the period when I did the facepunchblocking, so it’s a similar idea
