Keeping Death In Check

[Capt. Dirigible]

I remember a scene in The Young Ones where a man is playing Chess with The Reaper. The man makes a move and says 'Check mate'. The reaper looks at the board, looks up and says "Bollocks to that!!" and takes the guy's head off with his scythe...

[Sir Henry]

I remember a scene in The Young Ones where a man is playing Chess with The Reaper. The man makes a move and says 'Check mate'. The reaper looks at the board, looks up and says "Bollocks to that!!" and takes the guy's head off with his scythe...

Been there, done that. 

[J. Wilhelm]

I remember a scene in The Young Ones where a man is playing Chess with The Reaper. The man makes a move and says 'Check mate'. The reaper looks at the board, looks up and says "Bollocks to that!!" and takes the guy's head off with his scythe...

Been there, done that. 

Which either means you are the Reaper, or else you are holding your head under your arm right now....

[Sir Henry]

They don't call it 'Super' glue for nothing! 

[Banfili]

I m reminded of DEATH in the Discworld novels - anyone for a good curry?

[J. Wilhelm]

I m reminded of DEATH in the Discworld novels - anyone for a good curry?

No, but it remind's me of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy  

The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Episode 1 Meet The Reaper

[Banfili]

Oh, very nice!

[J. Wilhelm]

Oh, very nice!

So, you nohtice dat Death is from De Islahnd, mahn!  Jerk Cheekehn is moar like it!

[Banfili]

Speaking of cheating death, anyone heard from Xenon?

[Sir Henry]

He's not been here since June 30th, it appears. 

Though a post here https://www.fictionpress.com/~ajsmith implies that he's still extant, if not in the best of health.
Fingers crossed for him.

[4_0_4]

Ah yes, antibiotics wiping out gut flora... 
My daughter was given antibiotics when still too young for them (less than 2) and had an allergic reaction. Eighteen years on and she still has food allergy and digestive problems that cause her pain most weeks.
And the reason why I lost over 3 stone in under a fortnight before they discovered the cancer? You guessed it - an allergic reaction to antibiotics.
I've been one of those people who has been pushing for less use of antibiotics (in order to maintain their effectiveness) for over 30 years, so it's good to see that the medical profession is finally starting to look for alternatives. But I'm not really amused at the irony of discovering after all this time that the real reason to push for less use is that I'm allergic to most of the things.

rovingjack - if at any point you find out a way to reintroduce gut flora that have been burned out of you by antibiotics, please let us know. My daughter would be grateful. And if I find anything I'll let you know. Best of luck.

Anyway I should be back here in a couple of months (well before the eight years) with the results of my final scan, oping that it hasn't spread again as fast as it disappeared. Fingers crossed.

fingers crossed and everything else , just stay in that eternal moment you've found and use it to focus your intent.

[rovingjack]

Anyway I should be back here in a couple of months (well before the eight years) with the results of my final scan, oping that it hasn't spread again as fast as it disappeared. Fingers crossed.

may the force be with you sir henry.

[Sir Henry]

Anyway I should be back here in a couple of months (well before the eight years) with the results of my final scan, oping that it hasn't spread again as fast as it disappeared. Fingers crossed.

may the force be with you sir henry.

It appears that I have primo quality midichlorians and that my fears of being a fraud (see above) were true.

I've just got back from seeing the consultant after my mri scan last week and he admitted (with no embarrassment) that they couldn't find any sign of the cancer any more. We went through comparing the initial scan (penultimate stage lung cancer) and last week's and the difference was ridiculous - large areas of mid-grey in the first have just vanished in the second. It all looks clean now, cleaner than I've ever seen it (obviously). This was more of a surprise than it should have been because I was seriously wondering if the last (optimistic) scan had been a mistake and was really someone else's. As the consultant put it: "At every stage that I've seen you, you've been in the top 10% of the top 10% from the time before." At last, something I'm good at! And I put it all down to willpower and peanut butter ice cream. And midichlorians, obviously.

And if I can do it, the rest of you certainly can. So buck your ideas up and kick out those pesky problems and join me in wondering what you're going to do with infinitely more years of life than expected yesterday.

I'm beginning to gibber now, I should stop.
This may last several days.

Thank you to everyone here for your messages of support and your prayers - they worked.

[J. Wilhelm]

Huzzah!  Well done, Sir Henry!  But personally, I think it's all the misbehaving you were doing.  A youthful mind maintains a youthful body!  I should know, as I'm running quite a bit of mileage on my personal time machine.  Whatever you do, just repeat to yourself "adulthood is overrated". 

[Xenos]

First off, Sir Henry, that's amazing and nothing short of a miracle.  Congratulations, my good sir!

Now, on to what's been up with me these months of my absence...

First off, we've had deaths in the family of a very close friend.  That took a toll on both my wife and I mentally, even threw my faith into question.  In addition, I've been slowly losing use of my right arm (am currently restricted to a sling 24/7 except when working and sleeping).  Not much to be done for that, it's a losing game.  Cartilage in the shoulder has virtually disintegrated, and the bone is starting to destroy itself.  It's a whole new world of pain that I honestly didn't think was possible.  More than happy to discuss in PM what I'm doing to deal with THAT, but I feel it's a bit too early to post it on an open forum.

Ended up dropping two school classes because of the pain/lose of limb, and another class (of the four we initially signed on for) is slipping badly in grades.  But it is what it is.

As to my heart issue, it's starting to rear it's ugly head more and more frequent, mostly due to stress.  Yesterday, I ended up in a ditch on the side of the road with my face turning blue from lack of oxygen (I have found out the bit that's not opening right is the valve that leads to my lungs, meaning when my heart goes bonkers, my lungs are not getting blood, which means I can't breath--yay for getting hold of someone who knows what the hell is going on!), and ended up on the sofa the rest of the day, any movement was a chore and a pain.

Outside that, I'm still breathing, although I may have an allergy to oranges...  Which sucks because as I'm sure EVERYONE knows by now, my cure all for EVERYTHING is Orange Juice. 

So yeah, I'm alive, if not well, but I'm holding in and holding on.  I HAVE found a tea that helps with the parasite issue in my liver, and as it turns out, some of my slightly less than savory habits also help with that (the drinking and smoking)!

[Banfili]

Glad you are back with us, Xenos!

[J. Wilhelm]

Indeed, welcome home, Xenos!

[Xenos]

Not going to lie, feels good to be back.  Been on some other forums (mostly about either projects I was working on at the time, or dealing with health issues/depression/etc.), and ain't NOWHERE I've been been like here.

I WAS on one site where I started getting FLOODED with PMs from (I assume) girls wanting me to "get them off."    So yeah, I've uh...  It's been...

It's good to be back!   

[MWBailey]

Good lord, what were the young ladies sitting on?
(Harrruummpphhh)
Seriously, it's good to see you back, sir.

[Xenos]

Good lord, what were the young ladies sitting on?
(Harrruummpphhh)
Seriously, it's good to see you back, sir.

I asked that to a couple of them myself...  They uh, were less than friendly with their response.  Upon further inspection of the site, it's a place for A) suicidal teens, 2) cheating wives, and C) people who want to b*tch about everything in life.  So it's kind of like Tumblr mixed with Livejournal.

Again, good to be back. 

ALSO, made some major headway on my pain issues today.  Not sure if it's something I'm doing right, or just the way I've changed my sleeping habits, but I'm in less pain with less pain pills.  So that's good.

[rovingjack]

well It looks like folks are exactly where we aught to be. Fighting the good fight and amongst friends.

Xenos we'll get to work on your steam powered replacements right away.

[Xenos]

well It looks like folks are exactly where we aught to be. Fighting the good fight and amongst friends.

Xenos we'll get to work on your steam powered replacements right away.

I actually am (not seriously, but off and on) working on an exoskeleton arm so I can get out of this bloody sling, and maybe play an instrument again.  Something similar to Captain Hook's harness from the live-action Peter Pan movie from a few years back, but with tension bands and things like that to aid in movement.

[rovingjack]

Hey Xenos

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141205175027.htm

[Xenos]

Hey Xenos

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141205175027.htm

I hope it passes muster on the clinical trials.  That would be amazing if I'm not allergic!  Thank you so much for sharing that!

[rovingjack]

might wanna see if you can get in on clinical trials.