2-1/2 Years And Counting!

[drumpriest]

Congrats Larry, good to hear it. Keep up the cycling, it's working for ya!

[AlanJ]

That's fantastic news Larry!
I always said buying (and using) tools was the best therapy

[Knottscott]

Way to fight on Larry! That's terrific news!

[Brian G]

I'm glad to hear the great news, Larry.

[Pappy]

Great news, Larry!

[dlminehart]

Wonderful news, Larry! As an aside, did you catch the latest news about a mouse virus being detected in samples of human prostate cancer? Seems that more and more cancers are showing viral associations, which holds out the prospect of enhanced prevention if not necessarily cure. Let's hope that some day soon we'll not have to resort to such blunt instruments as radiation and chemo to deal with cancers, and only after the cancers have appeared.

[Scottydont]

Congratulations Larry!

[monte]

Congratulations Larry! That is great news.

[lrogers]

That is great news Larry.
Here's to the next ten years!

[LarryG]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Being able to hang out here is all the motivation I need to keep fighting and staying positive about the whole C experience.

(Okay, maybe not ALL the motivation I need, but it's a big part of it. )

Lee: Scroll saw? Well, let's see: so far I've picked it up in Jasper, drove it home, carted it into the shop, sprayed it down with Boeshield, and ... uh ... uh ...

I'm hoping to get it going within the next couple months, if for no other reason than it's seriously in the way and I need to get a mobile base built for it so I can wheel it around. Plan is to disassemble the existing sawhorse-type base, clean up the wood, and incorporate it into the new base somehow. Gotta be a lotta miles and history on that base; I don't want to just toss it.

David: No, I'd not heard that particular bit of news. I do think we're moving in a direction where cancer will become something that more people are able to live with, rather than die from. Advances come almost every day. As an example ... when I was diagnosed, the standard treatment was to first surgically remove the primary tumor and follow up with radiation; chemotherapy was not generally given because it was regarded as essentially ineffective on the type of cancer I had (squamous cell carcinoma; basically, skin cancer on the inside of the body). But when the tumor proved to be in a spot where it could not easily be removed, I was given chemo to shrink the primary tumor before beginning radiation. By the time I hit my two-year milestone last September, my medical oncologist told me that new studies indicate chemo DOES have a much greater effect on squamous cell cancer than had been previously thought, and that more patients are now getting chemo. IOW, I lucked out and received the better overall course of treatment being given now, at a time when it was not normally done ... only two years earlier.

Again, my sincere thanks to everyone who replied. Y'all are the best.