12 and a Half Years After A Prognosis of 3 months or less to live With Stage IV Cancer

Some people get a miracle and live through that terminal cancer talk of "get a quality of life" and "get your affairs in order, no treatment for you" or maybe some palliative treatment with no hope of recovery.  Mark was not yet 45 and 3 months and a few days shy of his 45th birthday. Would he live to celebrate it? With a lot of treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand not only did he survive for that birthday but every sweet birthday thereafter. Currently Mark is in Austin with Mom. He is looking good. He paces himself carefully. His gout is under control...no  seizures (he had a few really bad seizures after someone robbed him and hit him in the head a few months ago).  He enjoys life and especially cooking. He often volunteers to cook supper and one of this favorite activities is to bake a fruit pie.  He's been here about 2 months to get checked up at the VA. Is he cancer free? Who knows? The VA here is just clinics. He was not referred for any scans. Next visit, maybe we can get Mark to Temple or to Houston and hopefully get him a scan.

Mark returns to Thailand on July 4 where he is found most of the year. His sister comes from Okinawa on July 2 so we have a tiny overlap in their visits which calls for a celebration.

If you are new to the blog, read prior blogs to see more about the adventures of Mark Richardson in battling cancer and life after cancer battles. If you have cancer I hope you make decisions that feel right to you and bring peace to your life. Some people go all out for treatment and some opt for no treatment. We are not all alike in our decisions and whatever you want to do, that's of course really ok.

Mom recently discovered a lump in the breast. Now mom has no hair and is getting chemo post lumpectomy. I have it easier than Mark did.  I have a port and I have chemo then a break and then radiation. Mark had chemo and radiation concurrently and he had a whole lot more of each than I will have. If curious: my cancer was triple negative and no lymph node involvement....life goes on hopefully with lots more adventures.