Brown Bess Saved My Life

[nit wit]

Good luck Shaman, congratulations on the bird!
Nit Wit

 

[shaman]

Thanks all.
Yesterday, I got my port installed. Monday, they start pouring the bug juice in me.

A word of advice: if not for it being turkey season, the conversation about shotguns would not have happened, and I'd not found out that I had a choice on which side the port was installed. Honestly, any right-handed working man needs to make note of that, but guys that shoot long guns especially. I had a word with the doc in pre-op, and he made the switch.

Shooting this summer is probably a non-starter just because I'll be sick with the chemo. However, having the port on the left side is the difference between shooting a 30-06 vs a 223 REM in this upcoming deer season. For devotees of the Black Stuff, it's worth taking note.

I'm going to go to silent running for now. Don't expect me to surface again until summer, but I promise I'll be back.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

LD

 

[Heyyou48307]

Good luck to you brother

 

[Dale Lilly]

My wife was given six weeks to live. Hmmm??? Seven MONTHS later she passed from her breast cancer. We had a seven month blast. She died without pain. God is still in charge. My prayers for you. Dale

 

[CyrusP]

Prayers heading up for you! Positive thoughts always and eye on the prize.

 

[shaman]

Thanks all for the well wishes and prayers.
I made it through round 1 of 4, and came out the back side feeling almost life-like.
I go again in 2 weeks-- just enough time to rest up.

 

[Treestalker]

This Friday (13th!) I go in to have a basal cell cancer removed from my ear. I offer sacred smoke in prayer to the Allfather and our Grandfathers for your recovery. My you be in peace and allowed freedom from pain and discomfort, yours, Treestalker.

 

[springfield art]

You guys haven't been hearing from me. You may not hear much from me for a while. I didn't want to go off without thanking y'all one more time and giving you an explanation for my departure.

About 3/15, I was down the basement putting the finishing touches on the hard case for the Brown Bess when KYHillChick called me to dinner. As I was coming up out of the basement, something went wrong with my left leg and I ended up resting it in the recliner for a few days. Well, that kept going, and my leg was only marginally better by the time I got out to shoot the 'Bess on 4/5. The next week I went to the doc. Doc found a blood clot. While they were dicking around with the blood clot, they ran some additional blood tests. One was an HCG Tumor Marker-- a test for cancer.

I had a seminoma back last summer, and they ended up taking one of my testicles. I'd been cancer free since. The HCG Tumor Marker had never read more than 1.5 whatevers. It was down below 1 whatevers by Christmas and I had a checkup about 3/10 this year and was told I was clean.

This HCG tumor marker was at 7 whatevers. I immediately contacted the surgeon and he re-ran the test. It came back at 11. Last Thursday it hit 43. I'm going in to have my port installed Thursday and I will start chemo in another week from that. The point is that if I hadn't been pounding up and down the stairs building the hard case for the Brown Bess, I'd have not aggravated the leg. If I had not done that, it would have been June before the HCG Tumor Marker test would have been run again. As it is, I got about a 2 month jump on a recurrence of the Seminoma-- this time it's growing near my left Kidney. Early treatment gives me almost a 100% chance of a full cure. I'll be to hell in back before the end of the summer, but I'm assured I'll be able to be in my stand by the Muzzleloder Opener in mid-October.

With all this hoo-haw, I didn't get a chance to test any shot loads in the 'Bess. As it was, I barely made the Turkey Opener on 4/16. I spent Tu-Weds flat on my back in the ICU with yet another blood clot in my lung, but they got me on the proper blood thinner. Not only did I make to the Turkey Opener, but I after an oncologist appointment on Thursday 4/21, I managed to bag a bird the next morning.

See: The Shaman Bags a Gob-- Finally


I am going on hiatus soon from my weblog as well as all the forums I visit-- this one included. I doubt I'll have much chance to shoot the 'Bess or much of anything until September. Chemo sounds like a trip to hell and back, but I'll be coming out the other side. Look for me again in the fall. Thanks to you all for all the help in getting the 'Bess straightened out. I can't wait to get it out again.

All wish you well! Have a better New year!

 

[gunpa]

Good luck to you. I'm living ( for now) with lung cancer. It's NO picnic. Hang tough and fight the good fight!

 

[Notchy Bob]

Hang in there, @shaman ! We're all rooting for you.

Just to give you something to read, here is a tale from the frontier, of another fellow whose life was saved by "... an old British musket," which was very likely a Brown Bess:



I can't find the rest of it right now, but Davis made his way back to "civilization" and knocked on a cabin door. When the occupant answered the knock and found himself facing what appeared to be a bear with a musket, he nearly passed out.

That old Jim Davis was a survivor.

Good luck to you, and Merry Christmas!

Notchy Bob

EDIT/ADDENDUM: I found the rest of that article, from The Missouri Historical Review, Vol. 4, Issue 2 (January 1910), in "Peculiarities of Life In Daniel Boone's Missouri Settlement," by Will S. Bryan. Here is a link that will take you to the entire article online: MHR, Vol. 4, #2, p.23

 

[BillinOregon]

Shaman, if it hurts to laugh, don't read Notchy Bob's post. God bless you and have as merry a Christmas as possible.

 

[oldwood]

Shaman..........Your being prayed for. Medical people can do amazing things w/the new cancer drugs , and equipment. I quit work in 2006 ,and that was part of my work , to build blood vessel Imaging equipment. The first patient on the last room equipment I installed , was a 35 yr. old guy , with a 5 cm size tumor in his liver. The Dr. ran a catheter through a blood vessel in the guy's thigh , and with imaging , we saw the catheter go into the liver , and a dose of cancer med. was inserted via a needle , directly into the tumor. The Dr. later , upon reviewing the images , said the young fellow was given instead of 5 months to live , he could easily live 5 yrs. plus. And that was way back in 2006. You will be ok , the stuff they are doing now , is light years more advanced , than when I worked. Again I say , prayers for you..........oldwood

 

[aussie pete]

That Brown Bess wants to dance with you again, Shaman! That's a good omen. All the best wishes for a healing journey.

Pete

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Chemo is not fun, but it is said to be better than the alternative. I've finished the FOLFOX series and am now on "maintenance". Doc says the average survival for me would be "a few years"... though he's also said he had a feeling we would be discussing mortality five years later. I just take each day as it comes and go out to shoot once a day if I can.

 

[gunpa]

Chemo is very nasty but cancer treatment has come I a long way. I should be dead but could still around a couple more years. I have a good good Doc!

 

[mushka]

My sweet wife died from renal cell cancer in 1996. Today they can cure it.

 

[gunpa]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

[gunpa]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

[3 trees]

First I wish you a speedy recovery. I to had similar issues and have recovered!
May Your Fire Light and Be Hot!
3 Trees