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A Temporary "See You Later Folks!"


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#1 Blumenkohl

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 03:40 AM

So, some of you may or may not know or remember that my mother battled stomach cancer just over two years ago. It was rough, but she made it through and beat it.

Well over the last two weeks or so she mentioned feeling drained and lacking appetite, so she went in for some blood work yesterday, and things didn't sound too chipper when the doctor asked her to come in for the results rather than giving them over the phone. There were some values about 6x higher than they should have been, so the doctor ordered an ultrasound, to be done today. The results of that showed "spots" on her liver, and enlarged lymph nodes around the pancreas.

The doctors say it's not technically anything conclusive, but given her history, it's definitely worrisome. And their looks and words weren't exactly reassuring today. So on Monday she's been scheduled for some more tests to get down to the bottom of what might be going on.

Sooooooo things may be getting exciting with Tintin and War Horse and I may drop off the face of the earth for a short while during it. Life happens sometimes, sometimes good and sometimes sad. :) :( I'll try to stay as active as possible. But if I disappear for a while, I am no deserter! I still love you folks and this place.

But if you pray and can include one more person, I'm sure my mom would appreciate it. If you don't good vibes are just as great. If you're Tom Cruise, I'm sure she'd love alien positive energy points from ya as well.

But the most important thing I want to say, something I've slowly been learning over the last few years: spend time with you parents. Give 'em a call right now. Tell them you love them. Because inevitably, we all seem to get to the point where we wish we started doing stuff like that just even a day sooner.

#2 indy4

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 06:14 AM

Sorry to hear that, Blu. I hope your mom recovers quickly and completely.
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#3 Koray Savas

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 06:47 AM

Hopefully she will pull through once again. My thoughts are with you and yours.

In 50 years Herrmann will be forgotten.


#4 Alexander

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 07:21 AM

I feel so sorry for your mother and you.

Cancer is such an awfull decease.

#5 Quint

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 07:27 AM

All the best, Blum.

#6 Stefancos

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 09:13 AM

Hope your mum will be fine, be safe you guys.

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#7 Miguel Andrade

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 09:57 AM

I wish the best of all to your mother and you. I hope she pull out again.

And I fully second your statement... While my parents are enjoying fine health for their age, they won't be around much longer and every second spent with them is a blessing -- even when the two start a mindless argument about grapes or something absolutely irrelevant...
Miguel Andrade
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"I owe a tremendous debt of gratitute do John Williams. Without his music, Superman's powers are greatly deminished. Believe me, if you try to fly without that theme, you go nowhere... one step, two steps and... down!" -- Christopher Reeve, May 1993
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#8 Luke Skywalker

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 10:45 AM

I'm sorry Blume, good luck for your mother and my best wishes :)
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#9 Joe Brausam

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 12:38 PM

Best wishes, I hope everything turns out for the best!

My grandmother just went with a rough year, being diagnosed with breast cancer, luckily caught early and removed, and then only months later with ovarian cancer, which was removed too. Things are looking good for her, happily, but at 82 you never know what will happen next. This bothers me enough, I can't imagine how I would feel if it was one of my parents in that position though. Be strong!

#10 Omen II

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 01:26 PM

That's too bad, Blumenkohl. I'll be rooting for you and your mum and pray everything turns out ok.
His mouth is full of bees!

#11 Henry Buck

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 08:11 PM

Well wishes for your mom, Blume. My mother also went through cancer and came out of it intact - better than ever, really. In fact... yeah, I'll give her a call today.

#12 Trent Bennett

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 08:25 PM

Best of luck to you and your mom Blume. Stay safe man and hope the treatments your mom gets helps her.
""Fear. Fear attracts the fearful. The strong, the weak, the corrupt, the innocent. Fear is my ally."

#13 SF1_freeze

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 08:26 PM

Best wishes for your mom and family

#14 Trent Hoyt

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 08:29 PM

Sorry Blume, I hope everything works out for you.

#15 Pasi Tiitinen

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 08:49 PM

I hope she will make it through and beat it again.Best wishes.

And yes, I will call my own Mom tomorrow, she is recovering from a car accident.

#16 Datameister

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 08:54 PM

Very, very sorry to hear that, man...best wishes to you and your family.

#17 crocodile

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 09:49 PM

Keeping fingers crossed for all of you!

Karol
From a storytelling point of view, from a directing point of view, there is one thing I associate with what he does, which is calm. There is such an inherent calm and inherent trust of the one powerful image, that he makes me embarrassed with my own work, in terms of how many different shots, how many different sound effects, how many different things we’ll throw at an audience to make an impression. But with Kubrick, there is such a great trust of the one correct image to calmly explain something to audience. There can be some slowness to the editing. There’s nothing frenetic about it. It’s very simple. There’s a trust in simple storytelling and simple image making that actually takes massive confidence to try and emulate. - Christopher Nolan

#18 Jason LeBlanc

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Posted 22 October 2011 - 10:33 PM

Best wishes Blume
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#19 Blumenkohl

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Posted 23 October 2011 - 02:02 AM

Thanks, everyone. It means a lot. :)

#20 Chaac

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Posted 23 October 2011 - 10:47 AM

I know what this is like. I hope she gets well. Best of luck. Really.

And about the time with your parents, you're right. I realized that when I left home.

Izena duen guztia omen da.


#21 Ro Sajooc

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Posted 23 October 2011 - 11:57 AM

My best wishes for your mother.
"I get asked all the time, 'What happens after Return of the Jedi?,' and there really is no answer for that. The movies were the story of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, and when Luke saves the galaxy and redeems his father, that's where that story ends."

- George Lucas

#22 Incanus

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Posted 23 October 2011 - 12:33 PM

Best wishes to both your mother and you. I hope she gets well soon.

Ars superior est vita hominum.

"We pop out and come into the world and music is there. We didn't invent it - it's all organised in the atmosphere by divinity or whatever. It's a miracle." - John Williams-

I think music is a stream of some kind. It could be blood. It could be water. It could be ether. Whatever it is it seems to be a living, organic force that’s in motion, that serves humanity and is part of humanity and part of what describes us as humans. We sing, play, dance, all the things that we do. And there is a vibrant and great literature we have been given. ... As musicians, we join the stream. We swim in the stream with all the other millions of music makers. It’s a life force, a strong one, surrounding us and we are part of it. -John Williams-


#23 Blumenkohl

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 02:51 AM

Welp, update time, less than a year later, some complications from chemo are keeping her from continuing it. Unless those resolve in the next couple of weeks, there's no more chemo. And that will allow the cancer to propagate willy-nilly.

To use an aptly chosen Star Trek Generations quote:

Kirk: "I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim?"

Picard: "You could say that."

I think the most unsettling part in all this is watching someone age 20 years in 8 months. Your brain can't help but go "How the hell is that possible?"

#24 Wojo

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 02:58 AM

It's a terrible thing to have to go through, and I wish you and your mom luck and strength.

@Wojo: stop being facetious.


#25 Koray Savas

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:08 AM

It's very sad to have to see this thread pop up again. All the best to you and your family, Blume.

In 50 years Herrmann will be forgotten.


#26 Datameister

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:33 AM

I'm so sorry to hear that...we're all here for you, buddy. Hang in there, both of you.

#27 Stefancos

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:36 AM

Blume...all my hopes!

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#28 king mark

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:39 AM

Sorry to hear this news.

#29 indy4

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:42 AM

Good luck to your mother and family, Blume. I'm sorry you have to be going through this. Hang in there!
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#30 stewdog1

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:56 AM

Sorry to hear this Blume. Stay strong.

#31 Blumenkohl

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 04:40 AM

Despite the physical toll, and there's no way of going around it, cancer obliterates its victims bodies, and the chemo adds to that, she's still cracking jokes, chewing me out, and worrying about keeping us eating healthy and sleeping. Y'know the usual mom stuff. :) It's actually quite remarkable, considering I cower and whimper in a ball with a mild cold. ;)

And all this after her doctors told her to try and talk less (she's short on oxygen, which makes talking a bitch). We actually had to resort to playing the silent game with her.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers. And thanks for letting me vent my thoughts here, it helps.

Also, a word of wisdom, which I was lucky to have a cancer surviving co-worker pull me aside and tell me this when all this started. And I think it's something everyone should know, given that 1 in 2 Westerners will end up with cancer at some point in their lives:

The whole "fight cancer" stuff is pretty much a lie. There's no fight. That's actually what sucks about it. The helplessness. There's nothing really anyone, not even the patient, can do but watch her take her medication and hope it works. The "battle" mentality will result in all kinds of family arguments with the person who is sick and in the end will make every downturn the person takes seem like a defeat or failure...rather than a natural course for the horrible ailment. And that is not something you want to add to your plate or theirs.

#32 Ren

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 04:59 AM

Wow. Oh my god. I'm so sorry

~Renovia
Ah music, a magic beyond all we do here. ~ Albus Dumbledore


#33 Incanus

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 05:17 AM

Oh I am so sorry to hear this. My warmest thoughts and brightest hopes to you both.

Ars superior est vita hominum.

"We pop out and come into the world and music is there. We didn't invent it - it's all organised in the atmosphere by divinity or whatever. It's a miracle." - John Williams-

I think music is a stream of some kind. It could be blood. It could be water. It could be ether. Whatever it is it seems to be a living, organic force that’s in motion, that serves humanity and is part of humanity and part of what describes us as humans. We sing, play, dance, all the things that we do. And there is a vibrant and great literature we have been given. ... As musicians, we join the stream. We swim in the stream with all the other millions of music makers. It’s a life force, a strong one, surrounding us and we are part of it. -John Williams-


#34 king mark

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 06:42 AM

The whole "fight cancer" stuff is pretty much a lie. There's no fight. That's actually what sucks about it. The helplessness. There's nothing really anyone, not even the patient, can do but watch her take her medication and hope it works. The "battle" mentality will result in all kinds of family arguments with the person who is sick and in the end will make every downturn the person takes seem like a defeat or failure...rather than a natural course for the horrible ailment. And that is not something you want to add to your plate or theirs.


Yes, depicting cancer as a fight you can win with a "positive attitude" sends out all the wrong messages . Yet you see that again and again on TV talk shows. Those who survive are lucky, period.

#35 Hedji

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 10:00 AM

Hang in there, Blume. I can't imagine how difficult this is.

#36 Chaac

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 03:52 PM

I am so sorry to hear of this. My uncle died of cancer five years ago leaving a 12 year old girl behind. My thoughts are with you all.


And I think you're right. Since then I've been convinced that the only possible fight against such terrible things can only be done in a laboratory, with money, time and hope for the future. Someday, this has to stop. It's only fair.

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#37 KK.

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 04:59 PM

This is awful. I am very sorry to hear all this. My warmest thoughts and most sincere prayers go out to you you and your mother Blume. I know how awful this must be for you. May fortune be on your side.

#38 Joey

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Posted 26 July 2012 - 05:31 PM

hope things work out.
OH God, Joe is posting again, someone hand me my pills!

"You're not John Conner, I saw you die, said Kyle". "I was only injured, replied John". "No, your injuries were too severe, you died. Look at you, where are your injuries? You're, you're a Terminator." "Kyle, its still me, yes my body was beyond repair, but my essence is here." He points to his head. "No John". Kyle raised his pulse rifle and aimed it at John but before he could fire, John fired first. Knocked to the ground Kyle looked up at the Terminator in the form of the man he once idolized. All hope was lost. "If you kill me how will you ever be born?" "Thats a good question Kyle, all this time we've focus on Sarah, on John, when had we known the it was you we should have targeted all along." John pointed his rifle at Kyle's face. "The resistance is finished, the battle is won. We the machines are the victors, salvation is ours." Kyle never heard the second shot.

#39 Blumenkohl

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Posted 13 August 2012 - 08:11 PM

So there's basically no chance treatment is going to be resumed because in the break between treatment the cancer has probably obliterated the liver. And she can't take solid food anymore.

We haven't gotten a final word from the doctor, but from my own assessment...I'd be shocked to see her survive more than a week or two. If that.

So for the time being...I'm going to continue on with work and go visit her in the evenings, even though work people don't want me there (helps to have awesome understanding people at work!). And I'd rather spend time with her as well. But she wants me to go to work.

I think it makes her feel sad and guilty if her family drops their lives for her. Even though if the situation were reversed she'd be the first to do the life dropping. But I'm gritting my teeth and balancing not making her feel sad or guilty with spending time with her...because that's what makes her happy.

At least for a day or two anyway.

#40 Ren

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Posted 13 August 2012 - 08:12 PM

Sigh. I'm sooooo sorry.

~Renovia
Ah music, a magic beyond all we do here. ~ Albus Dumbledore





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