Anyone else remember this?

[GaryE]

I was jolted back to life twice, maybe 3 times as a kid. I just felt really weak, kind of unattached to the world and then wham, they spiked me back in. It wasn't scary or mystical - no lights and tunnels. I'm glad they had the tech then, and know that now with medical advances, someone in my shoes would be very unlikely to ever get that seriously ill. Chronic pneumonia, chronic bronchitis - it made me a nerdy fishkeeper and a mad reader, since for long periods I could do nothing else.

Nothing happens for a purpose, but if you survive and adapt, the weirdest things can lead to good directions.

Nothing like leukemia though. I'm glad you got through that one. My wife deals with the longterm effects of chemo - a lot of people around me do.

 

[OldFishKeeper]

Thank you. They kill everything to get rid of the cancer, then you look forward to the side effects for the rest of your life (lung issues and memory issues from the radiation, heart issues from the chemo...etc. and yet tbd)

Hopefully you are doing well, am assuming the clots are no longer an issue?

Got my Dad to stop smoking about 20 years ago. Instead he got hooked on the nicotine gum..

I take blood thinners so clots haven't been a problem. Just have to live with the black and blue skin bruising. I have had memory and sleeping issues ever since my walking pneumonia put me in a near-death coma. We should start a "Survivors Club"!

me blood thinners

 

[Boundava]

Yeah I am part of a long term leukemia survivor study group and occasionally I will get updates like; studies show long term effects of radiation to head and upper chest/lungs...leading to early memory loss and chronic lung issues. Once I hit early menopause my memory went out the window and right into the gutter and down the sewer...it sucks as I thought I had excellent memory prior to that.

 

[GaryE]

In my travels through life I've noticed two groups where a lot of people had serious early in life illnesses - writers and aquarists. For writers, it's easy to figure out. For aquarists, we tend to be from the generation when fishtanks were around and all the rage, and it's a learners' hobby that doesn't take enormous physical strength. It's also an indoor activity.

For young people now, illness won't produce aquarists because the hobby is fading compared to the past. But there seems to be something there.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have been lucky. Diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years ago, Most of the biopsies were stage 1 save the one most likely to break out of the prostate and spread which was stage 2. I did 27 radiation treatments. I am doing fairly well re this now. When Diagnoses my PSA were 10-11 and were a big rise when discovered.

Big PSA changes indicate the likely-hood of having prostate cancer, They had to wait almost 6 months after the radiation to test them again, My first test was 0.06. I had no idea they could be that low. My highest test so far wae 0.10 and my most recent one was back down to 0.07.

I also recently did a Cologuard test for colon cancer which came back positive. But the follow-up colonoscopy proved this was one of the 13% of false positives. The doctor told me I never needed another colonoscopy for the rest of my life. That was a few years ago and I am now 78.

I had triple bypass heart surgery after a heart attack in 2019. I was diagnosed with Afib last year in July. I was a candidate for the Watchman procedure and had it late last year. I no longer need to use blood thinners as a result. But I also have a heart condition--> "Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (ApHCM)—often called Yamaguchi syndrome—is a rare variant of HCM where the heart muscle at the bottom tip of the left ventricle (the apex) becomes abnormally thickened."

Mostly it has not been an issue until recently as it is a known cause of Afib.

Despite all of the above I had a healthy childhood and for a good part of my life, The COPD was diagnosed soon after I quit smoking and the heart stuff when I was in my 60s. I am curious to find out waht finally kills me- my lungs or my heart or maybe I get hit by a bus. But I cannot complain. When I was born my life expectancy was to go at 72-73. So I am 5 years ahead of the game. Mom dies from dementia at 96, dad passed from kidney failure at 86 as he refused both dialysis abd a transplant. But his sister went at 101. So I have good genes but a lifetime of bad habits. The fight is on.

 

[OldFishKeeper]

In my travels through life I've noticed two groups where a lot of people had serious early in life illnesses - writers and aquarists. For writers, it's easy to figure out. For aquarists, we tend to be from the generation when fishtanks were around and all the rage, and it's a learners' hobby that doesn't take enormous physical strength. It's also an indoor activity.

For young people now, illness won't produce aquarists because the hobby is fading compared to the past. But there seems to be something there.

It may be a learners' hobby that doesn't take enormous strength but, I do need my O2 when I am moving larger tanks or water buckets around! I use hoses and pumps for water changes. For heavy lifting, carts and/or volunteer help!

 

[Boundava]

In my travels through life I've noticed two groups where a lot of people had serious early in life illnesses - writers and aquarists. For writers, it's easy to figure out. For aquarists, we tend to be from the generation when fish tanks were around and all the rage, and it's a learners' hobby that doesn't take enormous physical strength. It's also an indoor activity.

For young people now, illness won't produce aquarists because the hobby is fading compared to the past. But there seems to be something there.

My parents asked my brother and I if we wanted a pet when I was 11; 1 year into treatment. I chose fish as we had Shasta pet center in a little shopping mall about 6 blocks from home. My brother picked a box turtle which I adopted when he moved out.

Since then I have been hooked to the hobby. My sister was a surprise and we have a 13 year age difference (she is also the only one 100% marrow match for me). Growing up with me and my fish tank she also became a fish enthusiast. We have many shared tanks and she has introduced me to eels; big and small
She can also remember the scientific names of the fish and plants...lol