Living with Cancer... my pain, trials, and learning to cope.

[hindian]

My wife's aunt was diagnosed with cervical cancer abt 6 years ago and they had to do a complete hysterectomy on her and is now cancer free, so i have an idea what you went through. Keep strong brother and know that you are not alone in the fight...

[TriniAutoMart]

Keep strong man.
I wish you all the best and hope that you get through this.

[3stagevtec]

One of my biggest fears in life, especially for my wife..

[JoKeR1980]

Thanks for sharing

Keep strong

[urabus]

Clifford, all the best with your treatment.
I know its not easy for you or your family and loved ones.

Cancer has taken the lives of 5 close family members, ranging from breast cancer, to prostate cancer to tumors in the brain as well as leukeamia.

Stay strong and I know its not an easy road, but pray and stay as positive as you can and thanks for sharing your story.

[MISHI]

Clifford, all the best with your treatment.
I know its not easy for you or your family and loved ones.

Cancer has taken the lives of 5 close family members, ranging from breast cancer, to prostate cancer to tumors in the brain as well as leukeamia.

Stay strong and I know its not an easy road, but pray and stay as positive as you can and thanks for sharing your story.

Couldn't have said it better... I've lost so many family members over the years due to it... including my father. Have an Uncle presently battling it as well.

One day at a time... only way i can say it. But I am sure you know this already. Keep well.

[jm3]

it's hard to think about what i would do if i found out i had cancer. i have thought about not recieving treatment for it so that my family would not end up with the massive financial burden.

[Greypatch]

Respect and blessing's to you man.

[cinco]

please keep us updated and stay strong man

[snatman]

good luck bro

[dsignplace]

Hey Clifford. Great that you are sharing this, as you know that I have been overcoming my cancer for the last 2 years without any conventional treatment but naturally, it is a rough journey but with great results, am in better shape and more physical healthy now than ever before, some may say that I am crazy. I say maybe a little, but I would be more crazy to go through chemo or radiation. will keep following your post, the Photographer (facebook: Steve Impressions)

[bluefete]

Clifford, this is one of the most courageous and inspiring posts on the whole of tuner.

Know of a surety that you are not alone in your battle. God never leaves our side in times of crisis. All we have to do is call on Him for strength to face the trial.

God's blessings to you and your family and to all the other tuners who also have experienced a battle with cancer in any form.

[heads]

stay strong bro we all pray for u

[~Vēġó~]

good thread...keep up the fight!

get some soursop and start drinking....leaves or bark, drawn to make a tea....

[Cid]

good thread...keep up the fight!

get some soursop and start drinking....leaves or bark, drawn to make a tea....

Ent this was debunked....

I have more faith in ah alkaline diet..
Baking soda and molasses every morning

[zorced]

Clifford, this really is an eye opener when your mind is wrapped up in the daily hustle, thank you for sharing your story.

Hope you can find peace and stay strong.

Best wishes.

[Monk BANzai]

though we disagree on issues (on the other forum)..its good that you're sharing your fight with us...

much respect.

[V8 Boys]

It's is very encouraging to see so many throw their support and heartfelt thoughts my way....I am sincerely humbled, and will try to keep everyone in mind, as I try to help others with my experiences. Took 2 Panadol just now for a bad headache and now I'm fallin asleep on myself...Lard!...but I'll try to continue from where we left off.

My sister who worked at the Cancer Society at the time, got me in touch with Dr Capildeo...T&T's best Hematologist/Oncologist...we showed him the report which initially diagnosed me with Stage 3 Non Hodgekinsons Lymphoma.

He said that due to it's advanced state, I would have about a 52% chance of beating it.
That hit us like a stone.

Maybe I can say here that before we went to any doctors we all were at home doing our research and finding out as much as possible about my cancer...we did so much reading and really and truly...we frightened ourselves with what we found....yup, sometimes people with cancer can go overboard looking at every study or report on it, and confuse themselves even more...why?... Because not EVERYTHING you read or see on the internet is true and also the things people tell you.

I had so many friends and family calling and comforting, but also giving their advice too...and sometimes those that wish you well, may have NO IDEA what you're going thru, how hard it is to accept it and how discouraging it can be to hear them say things like: You know my Uncle had cancer too you know? Yes, he had it bad....and yuh know he died just last month?

I can look back on it now and smile, because I know they meant well and sometimes people who love you soooo much, at times just don't know what to say....and some I realise, just don't come looking for you, because they think they'll bond with you and then you go and die and they end up feeling so sad that you're gone...so some people just cant handle pain, or sorrow, grief, bad news and worse yet...seeing someone they love go down-hill right before their eyes.

You know what I learned very early in my fight? That it is ONLY those that have gone thru what you have and I mean cancer eh...that REALLY know what you're going thru.< I'll talk a little about this later on too.

I'll get back to the part where we were told I had a 50/50 chance just now....but you remember when I said earlier the word cancer would never sound the same way again?

Ah, imagine this: I grew up in Diego Martin, and as a young boy I would be riding thru St James and look inside that place they now call NRC...back then it was known as The Old People Home and they also had cancer patients. I would stop and look in at the people seated on the rows of wooden benches and see the empty-scared look in their eyes and think...Boy, cancer must be such a horrible thing.

And even up to 8yrs ago, my little sister used to work there, after it started to become a major hospital for cancer treatment and sometimes, I would pass in to see her, drop stuff off for her...and I'm in my late 30s (at that time) and seeing scores of people, young, old...sitting on these new plastic chairs...the wooden benches were now long gone...and they would have that "look" in their eyes.

Fast-forward a bit, and I was now--> one of them, sitting on those same chairs looking up at people, with that same look in my eyes (my wife would tell me later on that she saw that look of emptiness in my eyes too).

So when I say that the word cancer never sounded the same again...it meant that...I would never have thought that I would be saying the words "I have cancer".

I'll talk about the coping mechanism a little more, and how I felt that first and second day when I found out...so back to the search for treatment.

I'm going to drink some coffee and throw some water on my face....back just now.....oh and yes, coffee has been shown to help as it has antioxidants....but no sugar or milk eh....but that also is something we'll talk about too

[~Vēġó~]

good thread...keep up the fight!

get some soursop and start drinking....leaves or bark, drawn to make a tea....

Ent this was debunked....

I have more faith in ah alkaline diet..
Baking soda and molasses every morning

ok no problem....thanks for letting me know of that....alkaline diet I also condone.

[BAZZINGA]

Much respect for creating this thread man. All the best & keep strong.

[V8 Boys]

The initial diagnosis meant that I had to start treatment right away...but Dr Capildeo wanted to get a tissue sample from one of the lumps (biopsy) to determine exactly what type of cancer it was and what stage it was at...before a treatment regimen could be started.

This operation, though routine and straightforward for most people, would be anything but simple for me....I was a bleeder, and NO PUBLIC HOSPITAL WANTED TO TOUCH ME.

Enter the man, the doctor, who I would trust with my life...Dr Malcolm Samuel....a specialist kidney transplant surgeon attached to West Shore Hospital.

He met with me and assured me, that he would keep the bleeding to a minimum, and that I wouldn't bleed to death from the procedure. For you guys to understand my blood disorder, let me describe it...

It was only months after I was born that my mother noticed how "bruised" I always looked....and I wasn't even falling, or rolling out of the bed or crib...I would turn black and blue over my entire back....JUST FROM LYING IN THE CRIB. My mom would say the doctors used to look at her strange thinking she used to hit me at such a young age...but the bruising got worse, I would also get weak and pale...I would spend the first 5 to 7 years of my life in and out of the General Hospital and the Community Center-Cocorite.

I would come to HATE hospitals....the very smell of the corridors, the moaning of the sick, the cold and unfeeling "air" that was in every room.

Needles were a part of my life...doctors tried for years to figure out why I turned blue every time I fell, or ran into something....or why it would take 1 week for my gums to stop bleeding when I lost a tooth.

So, when the issue of cutting something out from me...and in this case a lump the size of a small orange...that was near major arteries in my neck, came up, we were naturally worried...and I had been given blood before when I was 2....when my platelets dived and the doctors thought I wouldn't make it....they soon found out that my platelets....which help you to clot and stop the bleeding, were defective and that no matter how much NORMAL blood you gave me...my body which was accustomed to the defective platelets would REJECT the normal blood.

My stand as one of Jehovah's Witnesses also made fighting this disease a challenge.

If I may, this story is not meant to "preach" to anyone, nor is it about my beliefs or faith being stronger than anyone elses...it is simply an account of someone who is still alive today because of some great doctors, a few good hospitals, excellent nurses...and the will to survive, fortified by my love for my creator.

So, the biopsy HAD to be done...and I am now out of work, as I had to close down my garage (straightening and painting cars and boats), and sell things to make up the funds to pay the doctors and the private hospitals.

Let me tell you guys something...that cancer didn't just take away my health, but it took away my freedom, my ability to provide for my family, my endless energy I once had, my joy and many of my friends...at least the so-called ones.

Oh yes, cancer destroys not only your body but can also take a toll on your inner person, the man or woman you were on the inside. It can be very tough to accept the fact that you can no longer do the things you once could...

I'm going to post some pics of what I used to be like before and how busy and involved I used to be with my favourite passion...Old Cars and seeing the smile on people faces when they look at them> THE PIC BELOW IS OF A FEW OF MY BUDDIES OF THE T&TV8 CAR CLUB...AT OUR SHOW IN 2009 @ SKINNER PARK

I ALSO ENJOYED GIVING STUFF AWAY TO COMPLETE STRANGERS

EVEN CARS....

THE KIDS WERE THE BEST THOUGH, SO INNOCENT...

to be cont'd tmrw night

[cinco]

have u seriously considered writing a book?
your writing style is great and you have me riveted waiting on the next chapter

[Team2lo2flo]

Excellent Thread, should be nominated for thread of the year..

Best wishes man.

[Monk BANzai]

Dr Malcolm Samuel.....heard of him.....like how Dr. Richard Spann is the local NeuroSurgeon Miracle Doctor.

[3stagevtec]

have u seriously considered writing a book?
your writing style is great and you have me riveted waiting on the next chapter

x2.. really have me hooked.

I'm glad you are sharing this info for us all, can really open your eyes to the subject.

[mitsu_chick941]

Takes a big man to talk about his illnesses and pains, thanks for sharing this with us, i hope our words of support helps you through a little.


Keep fighting and always keep the faith.

[bigchief3679]

This IS the thread of the year. The sad fact is that many reading this now are destined to also be diagnosed with cancer sooner or later.........

[Redman]

Thanks for sharing, if you say you've lost friends, I think you've added a grap with this thread.

Hope to meet you one day.

[Habit7]

My father just survived prostate cancer by having his prostrate removed. It has thrusted me into a drive now of having a healthy diet and exercise at least 3x a week. Nevertheless, death is the ultimate statistic.

[antlind]

Keep writing.
Yuh bringing tears to the eyes of plenty big men on this forum (myself included).
God Bless you.