Paul, your story of survival from (near) stage 4 colon cancer is truly amazing and a beacon of hope for those in a similar situation. There are very few people who have survived that. The good Lord decided it was not your time, and that you have more work to do here (for example, dispensing this valuable advice).
Up until very recently my family was untouched by cancer but that has unfortunately changed. In January of this year my dad died of brain cancer (glioblastoma). His speech became disordered in the summer 2021 and we thought it was a mini-stroke. They initially diagnosed it as bleeding in the brain but his condition got worse over time. By Oct. is was so bad that he had to go back to the emergency room and they diagnosed the cancer then (either they misdiagnosed it originally or all the scans they did caused the cancer - the latter is more likely because of how extremely fast it is). Unfortunately at that point he had passed the treatment window. Brain cancer is absolutely merciless can can even grow its own blood vessels. By mid-Jan. 2022 he died. Even if they had been able to treat it brain cancer is impossible to beat but the treatment might have given him another year or two. I know of a 17 year old who got it and whose relatives are doctors and they flew him around the country to the best treatment facilities and even he did not make it to two years. A very small percentage of people make it to five years and one person has made it to ten years but no one beats it
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My dad was a big Penguins and NHL fan (he followed the entire league, in part because he loved the game and in part to think of trade proposals for the Pens). He followed them since 67 (their inaugural season) and I think went to some games in that first season. He is the one who turned me into a Penguins fan and I went to many games with him. The first one was in 87 (third grade for me). I also remember going to a game with him in the 89-91 time frame with seats right up on the glass and my dad getting a good laugh about the fact that Kerry Fraser's hair never moved no matter how fast he skated. He was one of the last refs allowed to not use a helmet but I guess he used a lot of product in his hair. My dad also always thought that Frasier had it in for Lemieux. I will miss my dad a lot
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And going back to colon cancer, I know this is kind of gross but one of the ways to get a warning of it is for one to observe one's poop. Other conditions can be hinted at this way too. For those with colon cancer it often is thin and ribbon-like and black in color. I suffered from irritable bowel problems for many years and at one point the doctors thought I had Crohn's but fortunately after a battery of tests they found it wasn't. I was eventually able to get the IBS under control but I am very "in tune" with what is going on there.
