Almost time to start my investment journey :)

Dan, if I see you in the next meet up, bogan beer on me aka VB.

 

As long as you and your accountant are clear on the tax implications of this method! Best of luck on your investment journey Hope there are still some gems to find in Sydney...

 

I'm not buying in Sydney mate

 

Mate the next one is the day I get my final surgery but I assume there will be one in July-ish, I will be at that one (Providing its not on the same night as the Cure concert )

 

My terminology is all wrong as I am still new to this stuff but it is set up as tax deductible .

 

Well done Dan, wishing you well both in your health and investment journey.
There is currently a great well researched documentary called 'The Truth about Cancer' which you can sign up to watch for free and I've been watching the episodes daily. It is up to episode 7 today so another 3 to go. It is a thorough investigative approach to what we are not being told about health and cancer including vaccines etc... It is really worth everyone watching.
https://go.thetruthaboutcancer.com/?ref=af1a4104-4115-466b-b991-92e1712e2e79

 

We are about half way through it, it's a good show and raises some valid points I most certainly learned a lot about what cancer actually is but there is a definite "Chemo is bad, the drug companies are poisoning you to get rich" odour to it.

For me personally I completely avoided ALL natural and alternative remedies this to me proves that Chemo works. Also if I took something else and it in some way countered the Chemo, it wouldn't have been good .

 

Wish you very good luck mate. Looking forward to reading more about your investment journey.

 

Thanks Buddy, looking forward to telling you all about it

 

Hi Dan, A balanced approach is best. I think the documentary is really trying to raise awareness for other methods that are proven to work as well and not necessarily natural and remedies e.g. a virus that kills cancer which is being used in Latvia with great success for melanomas. Sometimes chemo is the worst choice however people think it's their only option. So like anything else which applies to investing as well, do your own research and don't rely on what you are told. Belief and mindset also helps which can be applied to anything we want to achieve in our lives so if you take the chemo route and have a great mind for healing through that method, it is already half your battle won.

 

Absolutely and I learned a lot about T-Cells and the reprogramming of cells to fool the body into fighting the cancer for itself (which I found super interesting and see there could be a massive future for this). Don't get me wrong, I found the program super interesting and informative but I had already made my mind up right at the start, it was only oncologist prescribed treatments that I would use. If I hadn't seen the program, I most probably would not have researched the treatment I chose as much as I did, at the very least it challenged me to become more informed about my chosen treatment which can only be a good thing.

Whilst going through it, my key learning was that Chemo is not all one Chemo, it's a word we use to describe a specific type of drug but there are many out there, I always thought you got plugged in and started losing hair but that's how it was when Chemo first came out, it was a one size fits all scenario.

for me personally I had the IV only 5 out of 8 times because the side effect were too much for my oncologist to be comfortable with (I am sat here with two pairs of socks and gloves on currently due to the nerve damage being so severe and will most likely last me a few years). The oncologist didn't seem overly concerned about canning the IV (which is a blast every rapidly developing cell in your body thing) but rather seemed keen to keep hammering me with the Chemo pills, these ones (Xeloda) are specifically designed to target bowel cancer. I was completely amazed and to be honest am grateful in part for what I have learned on this journey.

The IV I had (oxaliplatin) is nasty, there are many (like over 60) possible side effects and you are pretty much guaranteed to get a whole bunch of them. The pills I had have a grand total of about 4 common side effect of which I got 1 occasionally (nausea, happened about 10 times over the 6 months and in all honesty, you take a sickness pill and you are fine in about 10 mins ).

At one point the Oncologist suggest we may need to use a portacath (another method of getting the drug into you, basically a slow release IV that is strapped to you that slowly feeds into a pipe above your heart for 2 days), I refused, that was the one thing that I did not want unless absolutely 100% necessary, I don't think I could have remained as positive as I did if I had one. I already had terrible insomnia from the IV (I slept 1 hour a night for the first few days after each IV) and what little sleep I did get was broken as I was still getting used to having a colostomy bag, I can only imagine if I also had a bottle strapped to me and pipes all over my chest.

It's all a moot point though because illness will no longer be an issue when nano bots become a thing in everyday society........... that is a virus will be a computer virus rather than a biological one .

Lastly, I would like to point out, everything you see about cancer on cancer awareness advertising is a load of crap, they show people who look like they are dying. This gave me a mindset that I was OK because I "looked" and "felt" healthy and for the most part, I was.

Imagine my surprise when we found this cancer in a routine colonoscopy, I was NOT exhibiting any symptoms.

By the time you look like they do on the awareness campaigns, it's going to be really hard to come back from it.

So if you want to be healthy, get your colon a selfie. Don't be dumb, get a camera up yer bum. Get a video of your bowel, the alternative is foul. (seriously, I could come up with these all day lol)

TL;DR version:
Cancer sucks, it can be beaten, prevention is better than the cure, investing is a more fun journey.

 

All the very best on your journey Dan. Thanks for sharing your story ​

 

OK So a quick update, I know some of you are keeping track on what's going on with me so thought it best to just update in here.

Investment journey is on hold for a few more months.

18th May I was supposed to have the bag removed and be fixed however things did not go well.

1 week before I was informed my bowel had closed up and he would have to perform a different surgery, only minor and it should be a day procedure but bring a bag in case I needed to stay overnight.

As I was on the trolley waiting to go in. My surgeon came and spoke to me, he had discussed the procedure with many surgeons and the only one who had done it before was a 70 year old bloke, all the others urged him to just open me up and do it properly. This was now going to be a 5+ night stay and a very involved surgery.

I said to him I don't care if you slice me from head to toe, just please fix me.

It worked out for the best as once he got me open he realised he couldn't have done it the way the old bloke said to.

He worked on me for 5 hours and built me what is called a "J pouch", basically he cut out my S bend and built something similar out of other bits of bowel.

I was in a little pain but pain is nothing you can manage once you put your mind to it. I hate Endone and I can't use the slow release morphine (it comes out whole in the bag so no point even taking it) so I managed the whole thing on Panadol, now almost 4 weeks later I don't take anything.

I still get sore and I still hurt if I sit for too long or stand for too long but all in all, i'm doing okay.

We are currently penciled in between 18 Aug and 18 Sept (interestingly enough the 1 year anniversary of my original procedure) for the final reversal surgery. There is a 70% chance that this will work and a 30% chance that I will need a bag for life. 6 months ago this concept scared me, now I really don't care, the bag is really not that bad . No one can blame it on the guy with the bag if they let one rip .

Roll on reversal so the investment journey can begin.

And remember guys, if you want to be smart, put a camera up where you fart .

 

Thanks for sharing and what a brilliant attitude and perspective you have. Best wishes with the upcoming surgery and your recovery in general.

 

Great attitude mate... glad to see you made it this far.

High five from a fellow survivor!

 

Changes your perspective on life doesn't it . Nothing makes you want to live more than thinking you are going to die .

Every day to me now is an adventure, I ain't interested in wasting any more time .

 

My thoughts exactly. Still remember the freedom and energy I felt when I finished it all...

 

Well I think this is my final update of the situation until a few weeks time when I should be simply posting "I'm fixed". I know a few of you have been tracking my journey so wanted to just give you a quick update .

My XRay showed everything is working and has healed as expected. They have booked me in for September 7 for Surgery.

I am calling September 7 "National Dyson day" because this is the day they make me bagless .

3 things to do after this:
Come along to a meetup and meet you guys in person
Begin my investment journey
Live

I just wanted to thank you guys, your messages and comments have been very sweet, I have been continually blown away by the love and care I have felt from people who in all reality, I don't even know. There has been support on here and an outpouring of support from friends and strangers on my Facebook and in person.

I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to start to pay this back, I won't go into too many detail but suffice to say I was the guy that a friend of a friend confided in when he was having tests and the outlook was grim (it all worked out ok in the end). It was an absolute honour and pleasure to be there for this guy and help him in his time of need and I know you would all say the same about the encouraging thoughts and words you have sent my way.

All you Sydney folk, I will have a beer with you at the first Wenty meetup after Sept 7 (and i'm more than happy to show you my massive belly scar if you like ), all you none Sydney folk, you have to settle for my eternal gratitude .

 

Been a crazy ride. Get dysoned and live.

 

Hats off to you Dan - I really admire the courage and determination, and hope it all works out in the end - you deserve that much. Don't think I'll ever complain about anything trivial ever again. We need posts like yours to put things in perspective.