Free from Cancer!

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I am taking the liberty of creating my own thread for this as I feel it deserves it!!

I haven’t been active around here for quite some time, although I have been popping in almost daily. The truth is that I didn’t really feel up to doing much (any) posting here or anywhere else.

However, I am here with some very good news… a few days ago I got the results from my biopsy and I am now officially cancer free!!

It’s only been 10 months since I was diagnosed but, being totally honest, it has been a long road. The radiation and chemo did not sit well and… actually, it doesn’t matter, it’s over!

The bad news is that the treatment has affected my hearing (and my taste buds!) and, although I haven’t really lost much hearing, it has become very sensitive in the mids and highs, along with rather severe tinnitus. It’s like getting home after a festival except that this won’t be gone in the morning!

While the ringing is obviously annoying, the sensitivity to the mids and highs, and elevated noise in general, is very painful. Any time that I am in a place with any kind of elevated noise (bar, restaurant, kids playing, supermarkets, etc.), I need to wear earplugs or ANC earphones.

Being totally honest, if these are the only side effects I have been left with, then I am not going to complain as I feel very lucky. However, it does mean that I am no longer able to review earphones, at least not the sound quality of them. I have always aimed to be as sincere as possible in my reviews and being sincere now, I can’t bring myself to comment on audio quality, especially if it means that there is a possibility of anyone spending any money at all.

I can still enjoy music though, I just have to EQ it differently and use more ANC stuff than high end stuff. I guess it saves me money in the long run :wink:

I would still like to keep the Acho Reviews channel and page going, as I do enjoy reviewing, but it won’t be reviews of headphones, at least not the sound quality. I am probably better equipped to judge noise cancelling more than anyone elso though :smiley:

Thank you to all who sent me messages of support, they were greatly appreciated even if I didn´t have the energy to respond a lot of the time!

Who knows what the future holds but for now, I am enjoying my new freedom.

It has been a good week, on Monday I got the “all clear”, on Wednesday was my wifes birthday and tomorrow is my birthday, so it’s a great week to celebrate!!!

cancer loops
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Welcome back and here’s hoping for recovery or improvement. I used to have pretty bad tinnitus and got into headphones partly as self-created therapy. It helped a lot—I started with gentle vocals and simple acoustic music.

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I was already on simple vocals and gentle acoustic at low volumes before tinnitus :rofl:

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Oh, shoot! Congratulations, brother! Such amazing news. Happy first and second birthday to you! :folded_hands:t2: And Happy birthday to your wife! This might be a crazy week…

Welcome back!

I’m so very sorry to hear about the complications…

Hope you’ll be able to heal both physically and emotionally, and celebrate your life to the fullest. All the best to you and yours!

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Congratulations @SenyorC , I’m so happy for you and your family.

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The lack of taste does come back eventually according to my wife (so there may be some hope for the hearing), though her tastes did permanently change the first time she went through Chemo.

I wish you the best and hope you stay cancer free, the monitoring period following the treatment can itself can be extremely stressful, you just have to learn to live with the disruption every 3 months when you wait on test results (assuming a similar protocol).

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Thanks.

Yes, it’s every 3 months for a year then every 6, then per year etc.

I’m sure it will be more stressful when it gets closer but if I have learned anything going through this is that it’s now that’s important!

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I think that’s the only attitude that works.
Just keep telling yourself there is no point worrying about it until you know something, it’s easy to say and harder to do. But you have to take it one appointment at a time.
Good luck.

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This is great news at the end of a busy week. @SenyorC I am so happy that you have gotten the “all clear”. I know you are frustrated with the changes in you body, but you are still with us and that is priceless.

Mark Gosdin

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Congrats on the good news from the biopsy! I’ve always enjoyed reading your reviews. I find music a great solace, so do whatever you need to (EQ, ANC, any and all of it) to be able to continue enjoying music!

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I’m very glad you’re here again @SenyorC, we’ve missed you so welcome back!

I know from personal experience how incredibly taxing treatment is, with the side effects and long term follow up so my best wishes to you and your family.

This birthday deserves much celebration, happy birthday! :balloon: :birthday_cake:

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Congrat’s to SenyorC on the all-clear. It is a wonderful bit of news.

The rest of my comments here are with those that may have just, or recently, received a cancer diagnosis in mind.

My experience has been that cancer treatment, for some (and I emphasaise SOME) cancers has changed massively in recent years. Yet if you read around online, a high proportion of anecdotal evidence of what it’s like is based on a more historic view, which is understandable given that changes have been dramatic, and pretty recent.

What am I on about?

Two things really.

First, if you have ANY reason to suspect cancer, the longer you wait to get checked out the worse the potential outcome, if it turns out you do. Don’t delay, get off your ass and get checked.

Secondly, both the outcomes and the severity of the treatment vary a LOT, depending on the specific cancer. If you are only aware of the more unpleasant side of treatments, it is a natural sort of reaction to put off finding out. That is a mistake.

Neither radiotherapy nor chemo are pleasant, but again, vary a LOT. I’ve had quite a few rounds of radiotherapy and, so far, the worst side effect has been an itch at the treated site for a day or so, and a bit of a permanent suntan.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not minimising anybody else’s experience if it is not like that. I’m merely pointing out it isn’t necessarily unpleasant. You can’t know what your treatment will be like, should you need it, because it varies.

The same applies to chemo, but much more so. This is where the traditional experience, at least until recently, can be anything from highly unpleasant to horrible. I’ve seen that side of it up close in family members several times.

However, these days, it is not always like that.

I have been taking chemo, DAILY, for a bit over 5 years now. It’s one tablet, and it makes me feel a bit queasy for, typically, 60-90 minutes. That’s pretty much it. I get scans usually every 4 months, and starting chemo shrank my tumours by up to 50-60%, and they are still, 5 years later, dormant. No growth.

To be clear, my cancer is stage 4. It has already spread and is not curable. But from that initial diagnosis, which was 6 to 18 months, here I am here typing about it >5 years later.

My message? Pretty simple, really. IF you have cancer, there is really no downside to getting checked ASAP. You might find out you don’t have it, so heave a sigh of reief and move on. But if the result is positive, then the sooner treatment starts the better the outcome might be. And while some treatments MIGHT be very unpleasant, even chemo is not necessarily as bad as you may have heard. Mine is a case in point. But even if it is still of the unpleasant variety (and the list of highly targeted chemo’s like mine grows almost monthly) it STILL gives you the best chance of complete recovery to get on with it.

So if you have suspicions, don’t delay checking because doing so might turn it from curable to uncurable, or render it past the point where less intrusive treatments will work. Get checked. ASAP.

Sermon over. :smiley:

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Congratulations on such wonderful news! (And happy birthday!) You may find that subjectively the tinnitus is less annoying over time. Hopefully so.

I wouldn’t regard it as disqualifying to be a headphone reviewer either, by the way. Anyone who’s an audiophile hobbyist in his 50s and beyond is quite likely to have some hearing loss somewhere and tinnitus nearby, and your reviews might even be more useful to us now. Cheers