Thanks Ozgolf

[jaster]

On behalf of my wife and kids I would like to thank all of those involved with contributing to the Coles voucher that Goughy and family gave to us today from Ozgolf. I had no idea that this was happening and am very humbled by your generosity. Currently I am on leave without pay from my work so I can assure you that the little things like a grocery voucher are the most valued things for us at the moment. I hope that once this rollercoaster ride is over I can once again catch up with you all.

I am not sure what detail goughy has told any of you about my situation so if you are interested please read on, I am sorry for the long story.

On the Queens Birthday public holiday (Monday 13 June in QLD) I started to get a strange pain in my stomach, after a terrible night with the pain starting to go to my right side I quickly assumed that it was appendix and a google confirmed this also. So I went to the Hospital and at 4pm that afternoon was advised that it would be best to remove it. This went relatively well although the surgeon advised that my appendix was extremely necrosed, so much so that keyhole surgery didn't work and I ended up with a lovely typical 6 inch appendix scar, nothing that would stop me for long though. I was out of hospital on the Thursday morning and given until the end of the next week off work.
Great holiday I thought!! Well it was until Thursday 23 June, went in for a check up and see that I was ok and was advised immediately that a biopsy of the appendix had shown it was Cancerous and that I had bowel cancer. Quite obviously this was the last thing that I expected and telling my family and friends proved to be an extremely confronting experience. I had no history of health problems, I did have an uncle die of bowel cancer but he was a heavy smoker and I have never smoked in my life.
So the next step was on the 1 July to have a Colonoscopy which revealed no sign of further Cancer, this was good but due to where the appendix is situated the doctors advised me that they would prefer to remove the entire right 1/3 of my bowel which they did on the 13 July. I was in hospital for 6 days until Tuesday the 19 July. Removal of this part of my bowel confirmed no further Cancer was present in the bowel but due to where the appendix was situated in my stomach they also removed Lymph Nodes and unfortunately 5 out of the 25 showed signs of cancer.
I had a CT scan on Thursday 21 July after finding out this news to check if it had spread to any further organs. Finally on Monday 25 July in the morning we had so good news, the cancer does not appear to have gone to any further parts of my body other than these nodes from what they can tell. I visited the Oncologist on Monday afternoon this week just gone and was advised that I will be starting chemotherapy (using a drug called 5 Fluorouracil + Folinic Acid) next Tuesday 2 August. This will be a once a week session for 6 months. I was told that due to the cancer being where it is the best they can offer is 50/50 that it will not come back and chemo should increase these odds to 60/40. My oncologist advised that some people tolerate this type of chemo well and he stated that once I recover enough from the bowel surgery (4-6 weeks minimum) I may even be able to return to work in some capacity.
Over the past 6 weeks things have been the more difficult than anything I have ever experienced in life, being confronted with this at 31 is a very frightening experience. I am not afraid to die as much as I am afraid to leave my wife and 2 children (5 and 3 year old girls) husband and fatherless.

Thanks again for your support and also for reading.

Leon

[cazandpaul]

Good to hear from you mate - stay strong - Ozgolf is with you.

[990B Luva]

good luck Leon, hope the chemo goes well and you are back on the golf course ASAP

[Jarro]

Leon ...

.. i was pretty gutted when Goughy told me the news ..... you just never expect this sort of thing to happen to people near to you.

just remember, everyone here is right there for you ... wishing you well ... just waiting for the next Ozgolf day at City G.C where you can show us how easy it is to go driver/3 wood to the back of the 10th green

stay strong mate .......

[Eag's]

Great to hear from you Leon, sounds like you are on track to beat this.
If you need any info at all on your treatment let me know mate
I work at the Wesley Hospital and can get you whatever you need.

Our thoughts are with you and your family.

[markTHEblake]

I quickly assumed that it was appendix and a google confirmed this also.

its almost like Google is all we need for everything

Sounds like your in great hands and well on your way to recovery. Trust the medicos to do their work, and I also believe that a big part of beating this is in how you deal with it mentally and spiritually.

You can let it beat you, or you can take it by the scruff of the neck and beat the living hell out of it, looks like you have already started (by been open about it)!

See you on the golf course soon.

Psalms 23:3

[gazgolf1]

As I sit here half tanked on a Saturday night with my biggest worry being the Lions getting their arse kicked by Footscray this post brings it all back into perspective.
How insignificant do these small things become when our mates get kicked in the guts like this.
Jaster let me know if I can help in anyway.

[nudgee]

Totally lost for words

Jaster keep fighting this frigging thing and you will beat it - you and everyone here knows that!

My new email is javieral@bigpond.net.au - let me know if you need anything, and I mean anything.

[AndyP]

Good to hear that the news is getting better, Leon. I hope it keeps heading in that direction.

[Flowergirl]

My heart goes out to you and your family Jaster. 7 years ago John ( my darling husband) had a battle with cancer. There were times that we thought he wouldn't win but - although it was tough going - he came through in the end. He's now fine. Keep positive and focused on your treatment and recovery. Don't be too proud to ask for help from others - not only for you but for your family too. Have faith in your health professionals but ask as many questions as you can. Don't take anything for granted and make sure you have a full understanding of everything that is advised.
Have someone - a good friend or family member - look out for your wife. What I found was that some people would ask me how John was progressing all the time and then would proceed to unload every cancer horror story they could on me at a time when I was so vulnerable. She's going to need help to keep strong so that she can give you all the support that you are going to need.
John's "theme" song at the time was "I get knocked down and I get up again" ( you know that drinking song) and we would yell it out with gritted teeth.
All the best
Reenie

[McMw]

good to hear the great news....nice avatar too...

[jaster]

Thanks so much guys. I am very lucky to have a great support network ranging from family, friends to work colleagues and also great people like yourselves. The one thing I appreciate out of all of this is I quickly learnt who my real friends are...and let me say I have not been disappointed once.

jarro - 10th green @ City...pfft...driver 9iron mate (ask goughy )

Eag's - thanks mate, after Tuesday I may have some questions but so far my docs have been excellent with information. I'll keep you in mind.

gazgolf1 - Lions getting kicked by Footscray? That sux!!

Flowergirl - Thanks for the words and that is fantastic about your husband, it is the indiscriminate side of cancer that has shocked me more than anything. It just does not care who, how or when. My wife certainly has been a tower of strength through this, she lost her step-father 7 years ago and then her best friend last year at 36 and I think these experiences have hardened her into a fighter. I was blessed to have met her 10 years ago and each day I get reassured more and more that I could not have made a better choice for a life partner

McMw - Glad you like it, having been a cyclist since school and a Lance fan since before his Cancer I was quick to dig out his books again and sick as a dog still watched the Tour this year either live everynight or on tape for the stages when I was in hospital that I got my wife to record The Cannondale is getting dusted off at the moment and plans are afoot once I recover sufficiently to get off my a$$ and out on the roads again. Stay tuned......

[BrisVegas]

The Cannondale is getting dusted off at the moment and plans are afoot once I recover sufficiently to get off my a$$ and out on the roads again. Stay tuned......

Cannondale eh? The Pings of the cycling world! Hope to see you back on the bike soon.

Wishing you all the best for the coming months Leon.

[Onewood]

Jaster, I’ve been off the scene for awhile setting up a new life for my family.

You were the first golfer I met, off the net and been a friend ever since. I’ll always remember meeting down the coast on the driving range, I can picture it still, this big left hander and those gay left hander fades hahahahahah

I reiterate with what has been said above, good luck with everything mate.

[Keza_G]

Jaster,

We've never met and we've never chatted but i feel as though I know you from all the things you've posted and all the things these blokes natter about.

Stay strong and keep in mind that one day you'll have to have a game with me.... a chick that can drive it up there past ya !!!

With friends like us, you'll spend you whole recovery time laughing your head off.... and that's some of the best medicine money can't buy !

See you on a golf course soon.

Cheers

Keza

[terryand]

Jaster,stay strong man,I know you have the mindset to beat this.Plus you have your age on your side.My next door neighbour has just gone though the exact same thing and after some tough weeks on and off  treatment,shes fine now and still no sign of 12 months down the track.

As for the age thing,shes 61,so if she can beat it ,you are going to kick its butt in a heartbeat.Plus with Lance as a mentor in more ways than one,you have the perfect role model to follow and draw inspiration from.

Terry.

[jaster]

Thought I would update on my progress, thanks again for the thoughts and wishes and contributions, I am unsure how to make up for all the support I have received from my friends and hope that I can do something one day to show how much my family and I appreciate it. Currently I am getting very very very very very frustrated at not being able to play some golf as I am sure you all could imagine.

I have had 4 chemo treatments so far, only 26 to go!!!

I am handling them quite well all things considered and at this stage appear to not be getting any of the nasty side affects at all which is awesome. I was having a few problems during and for about 2 hours after the chemo session as they found out that I am allergic to the anti-naseua drug Maxolon, it made me very light headed and "scatty" and then tired. The best way I can descibe it is I felt claustrophobic...sitting in a large room with people talking to you and feeling this way was now good
So now they have placed me on some new medication instead and it appears the treatments (touch wood) are going to be so much easier. Last week was my first session with it and it was as easy as you would hope, this is good and makes the fact that there are 26 to go a little easier to stomach. Certainly though I am feeling like a pin cushion as I get a blood test the day before the chemo and then a drip with the chemo...lucky I love needles **cough**bull$4it**cough**

I am extremely fortunate to have two good friends (non golfers) who have always been around and are interested in bike riding so I have been doing a little bit of riding with them when my stomach can handle it, while I cannot go too far or too fast at this stage they are willing to stay with me the whole time. I have surprised myself over the past 4 weeks since getting the approval from the GP to go riding and been able to do around 600kms in that time, albiet at only around 25kph but at this stage I am happy to be out in the wind and hills!!

From a golfing point of view I am planning a complete overhawl of a few things when I can get back to work and afford it so that way as soon as my abs heal enough for me too get out on the course I will be able to attack it with no excuses
My father who is a golfer and a miniHO himself has always been so supportive and he suggested that if I see a bargain to tell him and he will buy it for me......hmmm..what a tempting offer Imagine that..a golf Ho being told to buy something and not have to pay for it :P
I am also trying to get goughy out to do some putting this week to see how I am travelling as this should be less strenous on my abdominals, goughy will have to do all the picking the balls out of the cup though

Enough of my BS...thanks again and golf hard.

Jaster

[Jarro]

good to hear you're handling the treatments well mate.

i'm looking forward to hearing that you're back out on the course again

[jaster]

Thanks mate I can't wait either!!!

[Flowergirl]

Big hugs from me

[Courty]

HOLY CRAP! I don't now how I missed this thread before. I had no idea what has happening!

Jaster, my best wishes to you and your family. It sounds like you are doing pretty good so far (all things considered ). It's amazing what the power of positive thinking can do, so keep on keeping on... and most importantly:

LIVE Strong

[Keza_G]

Jaster,

Man.... am I proud to know such a strong person...be it online ,

When you get back a golfing I hopeI can be there...

Stay strong and keep peddlin' !!

Cheers

Keza

[markTHEblake]

Good onya jaster. just make sure you post a recent picture of you - without a hat!

[Fishman Dan]

Keep at it Jaster. You'll be back on Team Ping before you know it!

You could always get one of those golf ball suction cups for top of your putter grip - i've always wanted one of them.

I suppose if Jono can have a battery-powered buggy, I can get one of those.

[Eag's]

Good to hear they have sorted out your medication mate, quite a few patients here at the Wesley have had similar reactions to the same drug.
From what patients tell me, the first few weeks of chemo are the hardest.

One thing I have learned from people going through the same thing as yourself is, they never give up and they all have awsome attitudes

Hopefully you will be well enough to enjoy a round of golf soon mate