Going through Cancer removes any UAS Guilt hehehe.

Olarte

Olarte

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My 2nd PSA test 8 months after surgery is still less than 0.1. Yippee!!!

Still dealing with side effects of the surgery and am making progress but at least I'm still Cancer free!:cheers:

Other than being Cancer free one good thing about having gone through the big "C", surgery and recovery during the past year is that it took away any "guilt" associated with UAS hahaha!:smileybounce:

Actually it's a year since the initial biopsy, worry and head to head fight with that $@"!:& dragon began... It's also been just over 3 months since my dear sister in law Lori lost the dammed battle!

What the heck, life is short, and I'm wise enough to have my priorities straight, support my family and still have my toys. hehehe. Oh yeah baby! I get joy where I can get it...

On a side note our septic is acting up and we need a new one. We are spending $200 a month getting it pumped, it's all water down the drain. Now that the dammed snow is gone we can start the process of getting a 20k loan to get a new system.

So in the scheme of things what's a new Uke here and there... :shaka:

Gotta enjoy the Journey, I say! I'm not kidding either. I still have some incontinence, and have made NO progress with Erectile dysfunction due to the surgery(it takes 1-2 years) but at least I have guilt free UAS. :eek:ld:
 
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Congrats!! It looks like you're feeling better!

All the best, Tim.
 
Good to see you are on the mend ... may your health be fully restored. And your septic tank too.

I like your quote about the Journey ... and enjoy it for that is where you will spend most of your time. Well said.
 
Thanks. Yeah I came up with that quote about 99% of the time etc... oh about 6 or 7 years ago... Of course after that I started to see "the journey is the reward" everywhere in Frames, t-shirts, fb etc. go figure. hahaha...

And I guess "C" made me live the quote after the worry the surgery and now the normal PSA levels. ;-)

sam13 said:
Good to see you are on the mend ... may your health be fully restored. And your septic tank too.

I like your quote about the Journey ... and enjoy it for that is where you will spend most of your time. Well said.
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Aloha Olarte, thank you for sharing the great news man.,..woo hoo Yippee.. yes enjoy life and take nice walks if you can...:)
 
And let's not forget that playing music reduces stress and improves our overall health. With your priorities straight, as you say, it's money well spent.

All the best!
 
Thanks for sharing your good news, Olarte. Sounds like you're facing some continuing challenges with the best possible attitude (and with a new ukulele when one will help improve that attitude). Have a great journey on.
 
Woo hoo for kicking cancer's butt! Good for you!
 
I went though the same thing when I got my neuropathy diagnosis. I unfortunately have plenty of pain associated with it and for awhile it hurt too much to play for more than a few minutes. That's when suicide became a real option for me. I told myself if I ever get a handle on this then I can have any uke I want ever. Things have improved slightly.

So far I've bought a Godin and a Risa Les Paul and I have one other in mind for the future. I know now that life ends. It's funny how I told myself that a million times but I never really believed it until I was at the door. Then everything in my life changed in an instant. In some ways it's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
 
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Anyone who has done battle with the evil C deserves, has earned, and has a complete right to any ukulele they want!!! Yay, for good test results, Olarte! I hope the healing continues and that things keep improving.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your sister-in-law.
 
Glad to hear you're doing better Olarte. But that's some crappy news about your septic
 
Thanks Jenny, I like your statement! :D

Yeah, my sister in law's passing really sucks. she was a successful lawyer, in her prime and wasted away fighting her illness... in some ways that was even worse than my own surgery and recovery ;( You can read more about here Here

Ukejenny said:
Anyone who has done battle with the evil C deserves, has earned, and has a complete right to any ukulele they want!!! Yay, for good test results, Olarte! I hope the healing continues and that things keep improving.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your sister-in-law.
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Hi Jenny, I like your statement about Ukes! ;-)

Yeah it really sucks about my sister in law Lori. She was a successful lawyer and advocate for the elderly, and wasted away before our eyes... seeing her loose her fight, in some ways was worse for me than my own battle, and ongoing recovery. If you'd like to know more about her, you can see my essay about here HERE


Ukejenny said:
Anyone who has done battle with the evil C deserves, has earned, and has a complete right to any ukulele they want!!! Yay, for good test results, Olarte! I hope the healing continues and that things keep improving.

So sorry to hear about the loss of your sister-in-law.
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Ivan you are an inspiration to us all. Not only your courage and your positive attitude but yoir willingness to help others.

Your post in my thread was extremely selfless and helpful to me. I consider you one of the truley good ones here on UU. May you continue to improve in all aspects and continue to acquire as many ukes as you can. ;)
 
Wow Islander53, I'm so sorry to hear that. I have diabetes Type II as well, and I fear getting hit with Neuropathy some day... one time, my feet were very tingly for a good week... then it went away. I got tested and they found nothing. But I gotta tell you that scared the crap out of me. I was thinking how can anyone live with this pain\sensation day after day... I hear you about suicide being a rational option in cases someone is suffering so much. Brittany Maynard is a true heroine!

I hope things get better for the both of us! Specially about anything that would impede the joy of music, the fun of the Uke!

And please, if you ever want to chat please reach out, I'm online most of the time, and will get right back to you, if you send me a PM. Stay Strong!


Icelander53 said:
I went though the same thing when I got my neuropathy diagnosis. I unfortunately have plenty of pain associated with it and for awhile it hurt too much to play for more than a few minutes. That's when suicide became a real option for me. I told myself if I ever get a handle on this then I can have any uke I want ever. Things have improved slightly.

So far I've bought a Godin and a Risa Les Paul and I have one other in mind for the future. I know now that life ends. It's funny how I told myself that a million times but I never really believed it until I was at the door. Then everything in my life changed in an instant. In some ways it's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
Click to expand...
 
Icelander53 said:
I went though the same thing when I got my neuropathy diagnosis. I unfortunately have plenty of pain associated with it and for awhile it hurt too much to play for more than a few minutes. That's when suicide became a real option for me. I told myself if I ever get a handle on this then I can have any uke I want ever. Things have improved slightly.

So far I've bought a Godin and a Risa Les Paul and I have one other in mind for the future. I know now that life ends. It's funny how I told myself that a million times but I never really believed it until I was at the door. Then everything in my life changed in an instant. In some ways it's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you have used your health struggle as something to motivate you and help keep perspective. And I agree, you can have any uke you want, ever. Period.
 
Congratulations on the continuing good news about your cancer! Having recently been in a car accident in which I could have been badly hurt but wasn't, I feel gratitude for each day, even the challenging ones. And so sorry for the loss of your sister-in-law.
 
Olarte said:
Wow Islander53, I'm so sorry to hear that. I have diabetes Type II as well, and I fear getting hit with Neuropathy some day... one time, my feet were very tingly for a good week... then it went away. I got tested and they found nothing. But I gotta tell you that scared the crap out of me. I was thinking how can anyone live with this pain\sensation day after day... I hear you about suicide being a rational option in cases someone is suffering so much. Brittany Maynard is a true heroine!

I hope things get better for the both of us! Specially about anything that would impede the joy of music, the fun of the Uke!

And please, if you ever want to chat please reach out, I'm online most of the time, and will get right back to you, if you send me a PM. Stay Strong!
Click to expand...

Mine is not diabetes related and is over much of my body and not just my feet. We think it might be thyroid related. If I let myself think about it in the wrong way I get really scared so I've had to use my mind in a very disciplined manner these days. That's actually a good thing.

Things can go very wrong with neuropathy and many who have it choose the suicide route. So I plan I going out with a uke in my hands. :D
 
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