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Post by Kerrick on Jan 27, 2016 13:03:31 GMT -6
I got a site setup for donations to help with cancer expenses. Kaytlyn (my wife) is going to setup a Facebook page for this as well. We haven't gotten a lot of bills yet, but the ones we have gotten were pretty ridiculous. I wanted to be proactive rather than reactive since surgery will be in a few months... Any support whether prayers, donations or encouraging words will be vastly appreciated. Thank you, gofund.me/gvtnwt78I got my W2 recently. I hope to do my taxes soon and should be getting a sweet tax refund check. Once I do, I'll tithe from my refund towards this.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Jan 27, 2016 15:56:53 GMT -6
Wow. I don't know what to say. That's so generous. I appreciate that so much.
My mom offered to finance "gifts" for people who donate. Its not much, just a little keepsake and thank you that I'll mail to people who show their support with a donation.
Thank you again,
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Jan 28, 2016 10:49:28 GMT -6
As a small token of my gratitude for the friends and family that have already donated, I've decided to make some instrumental classical piano music I wrote and recorded about 9 months ago as free to download. Its 8 tracks, around 30 minutes of piano and should be obvious I really like Chopin. HAHA! ( ^ - ^)♪♫ You can listen to and download that music here: www.eversoul.netThank you all again, and God Bless,
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Feb 4, 2016 19:53:01 GMT -6
I feel like I've been walking on a bad sunburn, the nausea has gotten so extreme the only thing I've been able to keep down the past 2 days is toast and water and I knew that chemo would give pain to my extremities, but I didn't think it would be for the one in my trousers.
This week, my doctor took me off my chemo until I see him next week. ...a breather because its harder to fight cancer when I can't keep food down. Radiation will resume as normal.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2016 21:00:23 GMT -6
Gosh, that sounds awful man. I've been praying about this a lot, and I will continue.
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Post by Kerrick on Feb 16, 2016 18:42:09 GMT -6
How you holding up Thomas? What's the latest? Been thinking about you.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Feb 17, 2016 9:34:07 GMT -6
I've been starting to feel better the last week or so. Thank GOD my last day of chemo and radiation was yesterday. My doctors have told me that I'll start to feel better in the next week or so, and MUCH better a few weeks after that. In that time (before my surgery) I WILL finish a 3rd Orationem album.
My radiation burn that I ranted about in the other thread has pretty much healed, so its nice to be able to destroy my wife again. (Definitely TMI, but hey - its something I'm happy about)
I did have some anxiety regarding the concert and the trip there - not the venue itself, but because of my cancer and spontaneous bowel movements. Luckily, the restroom for the concert was HUGE and there were plenty of rest stops on the way there and back. Only had to dive-and-dump out of the car once, which is good. (at this point, I'll consider not crapping my clothes, vehicle or a room with no plumbing to be "good")
I've got a doctor's appointment today, (which isn't anything new, I've been having them 1-2 times a week all year) and a few follow up appointments. They'll probably scan a colonoscopy soon to see if the radiation/chemo made any progress... Thank you all again for the prayers and I'll keep you informed.
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Post by nocturnaliridescence on Feb 17, 2016 10:21:42 GMT -6
Very glad to hear you're feeling a bit better!! Looking forward to the new album too.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Feb 17, 2016 10:26:00 GMT -6
Thanks bro!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2016 12:39:09 GMT -6
Very very glad to hear you're feeling better, too!
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Mar 1, 2016 12:27:48 GMT -6
I'm steadily making progress and feeling better I think. I still have potty issues, but my hands and feet don't hurt anymore, and overall, I have more energy. (my wife, bless her heart, a couple days ago spent 2 hours working on my feet giving me a pedicure. The bottoms of my feet no longer look like a zombie extra for The Walking Dead thanks to her, plus its a lot less painful to walk on!) My job (where I work) held a fundraiser and bake sale last Friday to help with my medical bills. Everyone I work with has a heart of gold. The contributions made by everyone have been great - overwhelming actually. I think everything is going to be just fine. Thanks to good insurance and people helping out, I'm not worried about filing for bankruptcy. (the GoFundMe page has done really well - better than I could imagine!!!) I did get a billing statement for my radiation treatments for the month of January. ...which was like 3 weeks and 3 days worth of radiation. Anyone want to take a jab at how much that costs? Some people either get pretty close or they guess way under. Still alarming considering its only the cost of HALF my radiation treatment. The total for January's bill is in the spoiler. $60,000 Since they're planning on having a multi-million dollar robot do my surgery in April, I can imagine that procedure won't be cheap either. I'm still only working 25 hours a week - but I've made it two full weeks without missing any days off work. ....which is a record since I've been diagnosed! Since I'm off work until Saturday, I'm going to spend some time DEEP in prayer/meditation, and get the guitarwork done for the 3rd Orationem album. My wife has been asking me "what I'm thinking about" a lot lately. I've been spacing out because all this music and "guitar riff patterns" have been streaming through my head. A good sign that its time to write...
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Mar 22, 2016 12:49:28 GMT -6
Sorry I haven't posted anything lately - nothing much has happened since they wanted me to heal from the chemo/radiation. I got some appointment dates a few days ago and April is going to be busy.
April 1 is another cat scan. Last scan 3 months ago found "calcium nodules" in my chest/lungs (which put me at a speculated stage 3 cancer) and they want to look at those again to make sure they haven't turned into something else.
April 6 is a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy. (Try to say that 3 times fast! LOL) ...which is sort of like a colonoscopy. They want to see what improvements chemo/radiation have done.
I've got a few pre-op appointments with my primary doctor and surgeon, the last game plan reviewing before surgery.
April 20th is the surgery itself. They're going to "install" a temporary ileostomy and remove a large section (well, it seemed large to me) of my large intestine where the cancer was. Once I've healed, they'll "uninstall" the ileostomy and "hook me back up" for regular restroom use. ...that's the plan at least.
They're also going to surgically install a "port" by my collar bone for IV chemo, which will be a 6 month program. It will be nice because any needles for any reason can easily be done through this port rather than new pokes to my arm each time.
I'm not really nervous about the surgery, but I might be a little more anxious closer to the date. I'd be a lot more nervous if I had to do the surgery myself, but I've got the easy part of being unconscious. LOL
I'm not going to put next month on my plate, but today - I feel good. (physically and emotionally/mentally) Please keep praying for me. I certainly will! I'll probably be away from the internet as I might be in the hospital a week or so recovering, unless they let me use the hospital Wifi and I have the wherewithal to make any posts...
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Post by nocturnaliridescence on Mar 22, 2016 13:15:00 GMT -6
Keeping this in my prayers, Thomas! And of course we understand if you don't get online right away after the procedure.
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Post by Deepfriar on Mar 22, 2016 14:36:23 GMT -6
Thanks for the update, Thomas; I've been curious. Will keep praying for you bro.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Mar 31, 2016 10:10:20 GMT -6
Unrelated to cancer, but I spent all day yesterday and the night before laying on the floor in my living room with a thrown out back. There was no catalyst (ie: I did something that immediately hurt my back, then it was hurt) so... I'm not really sure why it started hurting.
I'm chalking it up to the Scoliosis I inherited from my mom and the narrow spinal column I inherited from my dad. Its better today - I can at least MOVE almost like normal and it doesn't destroy me to lay in a bed or sit in a soft chair.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2016 0:29:52 GMT -6
Still praying for you my friend! Be strong in the Lord!
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 1, 2016 7:38:28 GMT -6
Thanks Edwin!
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Post by blake on Apr 4, 2016 7:23:24 GMT -6
I hope everything goes well with the procedures. I will certainly keep you in prayer.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 6, 2016 6:38:05 GMT -6
Thanks Blake. Today is the day for the Flexible Sigmoidoscopy and I will be put under for this procedure. Say some prayers please that it goes smoothly and that there's no pain...
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Post by Deepfriar on Apr 6, 2016 8:24:12 GMT -6
Thinking of you & praying for you, Thomas.
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Post by nocturnaliridescence on Apr 6, 2016 9:09:47 GMT -6
Praying, Thomas.
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Post by Kerrick on Apr 6, 2016 10:58:48 GMT -6
Praying for you dude!
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 6, 2016 13:14:26 GMT -6
I'm with that, but still all sedated up. There's a 75% chance they'll be able to hook me back up during the surgery. If not, I'll have a poop sack for the rest of my life.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2016 13:26:32 GMT -6
Will continue praying for you! I hope you won't need a poop sack...
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Post by Kerrick on Apr 6, 2016 13:28:10 GMT -6
Oh man, sending prayers up right now.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 8, 2016 8:51:48 GMT -6
I was a bad patient today. Had a pre-op physical this morning. The girl drawing my blood missed TWICE so without saying a word, I walked out of the room and left.
My wife is annoyed at me over it. As far as I'm concerned, they can just use the results from the labs taken the middle of last month. I'm not getting my blood drawn again.
Now I've got Aspercreme all over my arms because they hurt like hell and I'm still pissed about it. Frickin' jerks.
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Post by Deepfriar on Apr 8, 2016 9:56:19 GMT -6
Yikes sorry you're having difficulties dude...
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 8, 2016 11:30:39 GMT -6
Eh, my wife's over being annoyed about it. I'm getting there. Thanks though.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 8, 2016 11:51:47 GMT -6
I was a bad patient today. Had a pre-op physical this morning. The girl drawing my blood missed TWICE so without saying a word, I walked out of the room and left. I'm probably thinking about this too much, but when the nurse practitioner gave me the lab orders, she said I could have them done "anywhere", specifically, "someone who knows my veins and wouldn't use me as a pincushion". That's a pretty far cry from her saying, "Take them to our lab, we'd be happy to help you there", which is where I went. I'm definitely thinking about this too much.
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Post by Thomas Eversole on Apr 14, 2016 13:30:39 GMT -6
Had my two doctor appointments today. Surgery should take 5 hours and I should be in the hospital 3-5 days. Got marked for where they're putting the poop sack. My surgeon said I'll have a "big boy dose" of non-narcotic pain meds that I can administer to myself with the press of a button. They are doing the surgery laproscopicly with the robot, so the incisions should be small and the recovery time should be quick.
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