IAmA 21 y/o college student going through his 30th and final chemo treatment! AMA!

How did you afford 30 treatments?

Insurance took care of the majority.. I don't even want to know how much all of this has cost

You are lucky. Everyone I know that had chemo ended up taking on anywhere from $30k-$200k in medical debt, AFTER insurance.

Apparently insurance companies have been "cutting costs" by not paying for newer treatments, instead only covering older medicines.

Anything to make more money off us. I'd like to see what they say in my position

Have you read the book "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green? If so, do you find it inspiring in any way?

I can't say I have.. You recommend it?

Yes, it's a very good book about a girl who has cancer and she meets a boy who has gotten over cancer but has lost a leg. Very sad ending, I recommend it very much.

Ill be sure to check it out I've got plenty of time on my hands.. Thanks!

not a question, just a statement. I wish you the best of luck and hope for a successful treatment with no remission. cheers.

Thanks a lot! Me too

Did all your hair fall out? all of it?

Yes, was able to keep my eyebrows and peach fuzz facial hair though. It's slowly making a comeback

Did not having pubes affect your sex life?

Nah, manscaping was a breeze though

did you ever end up feeling any side effects cause of the chemo? your last post was at the beginning and you said you were still able to do everyday things which is awesome.

I have some numbness/weakness in my hands and feet but it hasn't slowed me down. Just last weekend I ran the Spartan Race in New York with my brother

Congrats!!

Thanks!

What is your major and what are you planning on doing with it?

Also, congrats on the final chemo treatment.

Mechanical Engineering, hopefully I can get into the automotive industry and work on improved engine designs or something of that sort, big fan of high performance cars.. And thanks!

Congrats on being finished. I wish you the best.

As a biotech investor, I’ve always wondered how the trial sites go about recruiting patients to participate in early phase trials of new drugs not yet approved. Did you receive any solicitations?

Thanks a lot! As for the trials, I was put into a study with the choice of 2 treatments. 1) the standard treatment and 2) a new drug and cycle regiment. It was a computer randomized decision that chose my treatment which was the standard. Not exactly solicitation, my oncologist told me I can either take the standard treatment or go into the study where I would have a 50-50 shot of either standard treatment or the new drug study. Hope this answers your question

What specific drug are you on? What I mean is, trade name, isotope, amount of activity etc

Vincristine 10 ml syringe every week basically , dactinomycin 5 ml syringe I believe, and cyclophosphamide 250 ml/hr every 21 days. Also 28 days of radiation.. I'll have to double check on the other stuff

does cytoxan ring a bell? I definitely recognize vincristine and being weekly for me

Yep, cyclophosphamide every 21 days, same thing

ahh... I should write this stuff down, 2 years later and I can't remember any of these details

Kinda wanna erase this whole process from memory haha

Any hot nurses?

Negative ghost rider, they're all at the dentistry school

Shame. did you tell the docs that you did the spartan rizzle

Yea they're all impressed

What are your plans for this summer?

I'm going to get scuba certified in June and hopefully make a trip somewhere, skydiving with some friends, and head home to Sweden for July to relax for a while, havent been back in a few years cause of this

As a 19 y/o who has been scuba diving for seven years, I really hope you enjoy it. It is a new world down deep.

I've only done discover scuba one but it was awesome. Can't wait to be certified and see everything I've been missing. Any favorite spots?

I usually dive in west palm beach and Stuart. Colorful dives with lots of fish and shark. I went to Ginnie Springs once-it was nice but I prefer ocean dives

Very nice, that's what I'm looking for so maybe ill run into you down there

I have no question. I just wanted to give you a big thumbs up. I've known people who have gone through chemo and it's no picnic. Enjoy your new post-chemo life!

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things after a years break

Fellow 20 y/o acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivor here! Just started my 2 year maintenance period last month and am ready to get back into the real world again. I had to move to Houston to receive treatment and have basically been in an out of the hospital since July 2012. Congrats! I'm glad another young person has kicked cancer's ass. Much love from Texas!

Way to go! It's sucks but the feeling of being done is indescribable! Good luck to you as well from NC

Not a question: I just want to say congradulations for beating cancer. My mom has had it twice and I know how hard it is.

Thanks a lot, she's a hell of a person for doing it twice I can't imagine doing more

How has this impacted you? Do people look at you like you're not normal?

I've been asked more times if I'm in the marines/army than if I have cancer. I'm at the gym more than any of my healthy friends and have kept up with school for the most part. It's all about your attitude and how you wanna tackle it. Cancer never stood a chance against me

I would have fucked with people and said "Yea, I'm in the marines bud. Fuck off". Then watched their face as they walked off, or what ever they did.

Oh the best is when I tell them, "no, I have cancer and lost my hair to chemo." The look on their faces is priceless! But I make sure to tell them I'm doing great and thanks for the confidence booster

Damn... That's even better than I would have thought. Any ways congrats. on the last chemo treatment.

Thanks a lot!

I know we already have a chain going, just wanted to say I love seeing how people react even now. They see you're young and they always ask "what kind of cancer was it?", and then stare dumbfounded when you tell them

Some people feel sorry for themselves and that kind of stuff. I don't need your pity I've been through more than them and am doing just fine!

Congrats!

(no questions just happy to hear)

Thanks a lot! Only an hour to go

In your opinion, what are the upsides/downsides to having no hair on your head? (And congrats and enjoy your summer!)

Downsides: none of my hats fit, it's really freaking cold in the winter, tons of "why did you shave your head questions", sunburn in the summer

Plus side: first to know when it rains/snows etc, air conditioning feels great, save money on haircuts, get mistaken for a marine

I wear it pretty well haha

In the shower, do you use soap to wash your head? Or Old Spice, perhaps?

Haha there's actually a special shampoo for chemo patients.. Supposedly moisturizes and supports hair regrowth, not sure about that but worth a shot

So having seen the inside of treatment procedures for some time, have you encountered any of these coffee enema claims?

Can't say I've heard any of these claims... Care to explain? I don't drink coffee though so that's probably why

When I'm off later I'll see if I can't procure this documentary that touted the positive effects... They made (of course) some pretty outstanding claims, I was wondering if you had insight as to how it's regarded in the... "cure community"?

Yea I'm interested to hear about it.. Sounds fishy though

Fellow rhabdomyosarcoma patient here (2 years into remission, I'm about to be 22), just wishing you the best of luck with everything in the future! Where was your cancer located? I was lucky to catch it in stage I so maybe that explains some of the radical differences in treatment, but I also had a right hemi-scrotal tumor so it was a very operable location (basically they took out my lucky third "testicle", as well as righty for safety's sake)

What's up buddy I'm turning 22 as well, in a month. I had stage 3 in my left parotid gland, jaw/ear area. Was too big to operate on, probably lime sized. But radiation and chemo was able to take care of it. Sorry about your nuts but glad your doing well!

I still got the one! haha, and finally my gross anatomy class pays off! How small has the tumor gotten throughout the chemo? Did you have some weird salivation issues or was the tumor just big enough that you could feel something that needed checked out?

Alright Lance haha! When they looked down my throat you say about half my throat closed off from the thing. I had jaw pain and trouble hearing bc it closed off my eistasoan tube? Spelling. And water got stuck in there. During radiation though my mouth was a freaking desert. The docs can't see any of the tumor when looking at MRI and ct scans and all that so 100% gone is what I'm hoping for

That is absolutely awesome dude, I was lucky enough to avoid radiation (more surgery instead, yay!) but I hear it is not a fun time. Anyway, I've always wanted to go scuba diving so enjoy the shit out of that, skydiving is a total rush and definitely a good call, and I hail from Denmark sooo technically we're kinda like rivals? I wish you an excellent summer nonetheless and hope for clean scans in the future!

Same to you! I haven't been back to Sweden in a 2 years thanks to this but this summer I plan on going back for some much needed r&r.

eustachian*

That's the one, thanks

I hope you whoop it's ass!

You bet I did thanks

sup nilsson. pops there now? Did mother leave?

Yes anwestin, pops keeping me company now. Moms left to go do stuff

Nice. say hello to pops. You gonna grab a hulk smoothie after?

Done, negative they don't taste quite right

Var bor du någonstans?

En Svensk I North Carolina

Gick du igenom behandlingen i USA eller Sverige?

Här i USA, vi har bott här in 16 år så det är som hemma. Ganska duktiga här med

Have you heard of Max Gerson? Many people to this day claim his natural method cured their cancer but current-day medical professionals ignore this despite his consistent findings/research.

I have, but when a team o oncologists from one of the top cancer hospitals in the US recommend the treatment, you tend to believe them. Worked for me

I guess if you're happy with the result shrug Personally, I would never opt for unnatural treatment when a natural treatment was proven effective back when people were still oogling over the invention of the microwave. (To be fair, I have disdain for Americas' lose-lose healthcare/pharmaceutical system as a whole.)

Same, I would never go natural or herbal for such a serious condition. Maybe if I had a cold or something I would try a Chinese tea leaf treatment or something or that sort but science and medicine knows what's up