Brain Tumor

[BrokenTrack]

Yeah I had a pretty tough time of things for awhile there.

There was the bout with cancer, then I was so fatigued I could no longer farm, so I had a guy come in and cut my woodlot off to pay the property taxes. He ended up stealing all my wood (72 truckloads) so I ended up having to go to court...twice. Then we ended up selling our flock of sheep to pay the property taxes that the logger was supposed to pay me with. Then while dealing with that, my wife and our son, and just when I was sure I could not take any more, I found out I had pituitary cancer.

It was a tough go of things for sure, enough so I wrote a book about it. In writing this post, I realize it does not sound all that bad, but I left a lot of details out. It was a tough time.

But now, I have just accepted things. It has taken awhile, and while I hate the term, what I have is just the new-normal. I have good days, and I have bad days. And a lack of sleep, that is just how life is. And my wife, I feel bad for her, but as she says, she signed up for it "for better or for worse."

But It has given me more compassion for other people. I try to give to charity a lot more, and help the less fortunate out.

 

[Doofy]

Broken Track,Very admirable. I admire your guts and tenacity and your wife's fortitude. Easy to be bitter, I would think.

 

[Sigarms]

It was a tough go of things for sure, enough so I wrote a book about it. In writing this post, I realize it does not sound all that bad, but I left a lot of details out. It was a tough time.

Name of your book please? I would love to buy it. Not certain if you believe in a higher power or not, but I do believe sometimes we're given more than we can deal with. Seems you've been there, yet you seem to care about others as well as yourself. I admire you.

 

[3Ts]

Doofy - I've added you to my church's prayer chain so you now have more people praying for you.

By the way, for those of you who attend church regularly, get Doofy added to your church's list of people to pray for. You do not need to give any names, just "a friend of mine" for I consider all who are on this forum a friend. Friends are people who help others and this forum is definately that.

 

[Doofy]

Thank you, 3Ts. I can use all the prayer I can get. This is a very caring forum and I also consider many of them friends even though we have never met in person.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I’m interested in your “wonky” vision symtoms.

A couple of years ago I walked into the brace arm on our motorhome. It took me to my knees. But I came up with a vision change. Before I used 2.50 reading glasses. I also had 2.50 “cheaters” in the welding hood. My vision was perfect for reading, even the smallest of print on the cell phone. I called it mallet therapy. 6 months or so later I had an eye incident, metal piece in eye from grinding, had safety glasses on but still a piece got through. My vision was checked and it was 20-20.

My distance vision started going away about a year ago. 20 yards is now fuzzy. I got glasses for driving a month or so ago but the vision is getting worse. Eye doc said I had cataracts but not bad enough to entertain surgery. I’m 71.

All of the docs I’ve told about the vision change after the incident have just shook their head and moved on. I’m a two tour Nam vet and some of the guys who served with me have died from the brain tumors. So I have a reasonable concern I believe. Vision loss with age, needing readers, is about muscles getting wore out and lazy. The instant reversal doesn’t make sense because a smack upside the head shouldn’t cause muscle regeneration. But if there was a tumor in the brain and it moved that could cause the vision change.

I’m comfortable with getting old. Natural events caused by age are inconvenient but work arounds make it better. I’m building our dream on our land and having a ball doing it. I just resent the idea of doing the right thing being my punishment while pukes who didn’t are making out like bandits right now.

Sorry for the rant and I hope this isn’t a hijack.

 

[Doofy]

My vision has been slowly deteriorating for the past five years or so. 6 months ago, I noticed my peripheral vision was blurry and beginning to close in. Went to my MD for a check up and physical and he said my eye lenses were clear. A week later I went to my traveling eye folks for an exam and they said I had cataracts forming. The Wife made me go see a real Ophthalmologist/MD that immediately sent me for an MRI. His hunch was correct that I had a pituitary tumor that was pressing down on my optic nerves and distorting my vision. A good Doctor is hard to find.

 

[hawkeye08]

My cousin is doing better, she went home and has been on FB some, but no details about her vision or general health. She is resting for sure (and I hope eating better, she was very thin before surgery). Prayers sent your way, not just for healing, but for doctors wisdom and guidance.

 

[Doofy]

Thanks for the Prayers. Prayers sent for your cousin also. Prayer and positive thought makes a huge difference in these situations.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Name of your book please? I would love to buy it. Not certain if you believe in a higher power or not, but I do believe sometimes we're given more than we can deal with. Seems you've been there, yet you seem to care about others as well as yourself. I admire you.

I have not found published it yet, but it is called "Greater than Gold."

My wife and I are Christians and that is what we found out with each debilitating issue we faced, the same question: "Is Jesus enough?" This was asked as we lost my health, our livestock, our finances, and even our child.

But throughout this ordeal, I was also chasing a hunch that I had, and discovered heavy mineralization on our farm too, and hence the name of the title. On March 20th 2019 in a stream I discovered a rare palladium nugget. There are only 20 locations in the world where this has been found, and Maine is one of them. The date was significant, it was the day Palladium hit its highest price ever; $1560.40 per troy ounce, some $260 an ounce higher than gold.

So the book is not just about gloom and doom, but about a major geological discovery, incredible hardships, intense loss, but ultimately that faith in God that is the most precious thing of all.