Send Some Positive Thoughts (or prayers).

bfj · Post by **bfj** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:11 am

Don't know how may of you are friends with Buffalo Soldier on FB, but he posted a blog from his wife, Dawn, that she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. Positive vibes going out to he and his whole family.

http://dawnandthecword.blogspot.com/?m=1

rass · Post by **rass** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:29 am

Aw fuck.

I couldn't tell from Twitter who or where was affected, and didn't want to pry. Good luck Mrs BuffSol, and family.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:42 am

Have been corresponding with him (briefly) on twitter.

Def holding thoughts.

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:00 pm

Good luck, Dawn and buffsol.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:31 pm

F. Best wishes.

Post by **brian** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:38 pm

tennbengal wrote:Have been corresponding with him (briefly) on twitter.

Def holding thoughts.

Same here.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:14 pm

rass wrote:Aw fuck.

I couldn't tell from Twitter who or where was affected, and didn't want to pry. Good luck Mrs BuffSol, and family.

Me too. Fuck cancer. Best wishes.

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 1:22 pm

Sending my prayers.

Breast cancer(and the rest) can die in a fire. It was tough when my mom got diagnosed, but that shit is beatable! Fight, Mrs Buff!

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:40 pm

Sorry to hear the bad news. My thoughts go out.

Post by **brian** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:50 pm

I know he hasn't met most of us here IRL but if he lurks hopefully he knows he has a whole army of guys who will do anything he needs if he asks.

Post by **Sabo** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:53 pm

brian wrote:I know he hasn't met most of us here IRL but if he lurks hopefully he knows he has a whole army of guys who will do anything he needs if he asks.

Seconded. I feel like I owe him and Dawn anyway because they were nice enough to get me a hot sandwich while we were tailgating at the USA vs. Turkey game in spring 2010.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 5:34 pm

All the best, Buff. And Mrs. Buff.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 5:36 pm

Awful!

Thoughts and prayers.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:22 pm

He's a good guy who wanted to beat up a child for his choice in soccer kit at halftime of a Syracuse-Seton Hall basketball game. Howard can second.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:26 pm

But Dawn's niceness made up for him at that game.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:41 pm

Best wishes, Buff.

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:27 am

DSafetyGuy wrote:He's a good guy who wanted to beat up a child for his choice in soccer kit at halftime of a Syracuse-Seton Hall basketball game. Howard can second.

Little shit deserved it. :D

Thanks for the kind words, boys. I'll be around here a bit more in the coming days and months. Gonna have a bit of time on my hands, in spurts, at appointments and such.

Post by **Shirley** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:39 am

I have nothing new to add here, but I'll repeat anyway. Terrible news. If you need anything, let us know. I'm sure you guys can beat this.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:39 am

Breast cancer has come and thankfully gone from our home. Stay strong and look at that light at the end of the tunnel.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:51 am

Buff....F cancer. If you need, you ask.

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:09 am

Early testing looks positive. ER and PR positive, and lymph node testing has been positive in that no sign of spreading as of yet. No word on HER2 results yet.

We have meetings with two different surgeons over the next week.

My wife posted a new blog entry last night, before the above info came to us via phone call. Think it's her way of getting all of it out of her head without actually wanting to talk about it to everyone, all the time.

HDO45331 · Post by **HDO45331** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:51 am

BuffloSoldier wrote:Early testing looks positive. ER and PR positive, and lymph node testing has been positive in that no sign of spreading as of yet. No word on HER2 results yet.

We have meetings with two different surgeons over the next week.

My wife posted a new blog entry last night, before the above info came to us via phone call. Think it's her way of getting all of it out of her head without actually wanting to talk about it to everyone, all the time.

Thoughts and prayers for both of you.

Be strong, as you both will need it. I strong mental attitude is so important.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:24 pm

Thoughts and prayers to you both. Fuck cancer.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:06 pm

BuffloSoldier wrote:
DSafetyGuy wrote:He's a good guy who wanted to beat up a child for his choice in soccer kit at halftime of a Syracuse-Seton Hall basketball game. Howard can second.
Little shit deserved it. :D

Thanks for the kind words, boys. I'll be around here a bit more in the coming days and months. Gonna have a bit of time on my hands, in spurts, at appointments and such.

Shit, man.

Does she want me to write one of my haikus? Monkey flinging poo style?

The old BSSM crew sending thoughts and prayers, my friend.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:54 pm

BuffloSoldier wrote:Early testing looks positive. ER and PR positive, and lymph node testing has been positive in that no sign of spreading as of yet. No word on HER2 results yet.

We have meetings with two different surgeons over the next week.

My wife posted a new blog entry last night, before the above info came to us via phone call. Think it's her way of getting all of it out of her head without actually wanting to talk about it to everyone, all the time.

Great news so far!

(and I missed your avatar almost as much as Dem3Pig's....almost.)

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:56 am

So, some good news, some bad (see the blog).

Looks like chemo begins first week of February. Next week is full of consults, etc. First surgery is an insertion of a port into her chest. Chemo, then a break, then a surgery (likely a double mastectomy), then depending on the results of results in the next couple of weeks, radiation. Maybe six months, maybe 10.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:08 am

Stay strong buddy. Your wife certainly comes off with the "fuck this cancer" attitude which is awesome.

Sending good vibes your way. Stay positive.

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:45 pm

A few updates (for those few not reading my wife's blog):

1. Radiation is now a given; it spread to one lymph node, and that's all she wrote on that. Next 24-36 hours will likely provide, through a bone scan, MRIs and CAT scans, whether it's spread. It's not expected to have, per what the docs think, beyond the one breast and the effected underarm lymph node. Game plan is still the same--chemo, break, surgery, break, radiation. But six to ten months is now at least a year in all of this.

2. A lot of shopping for hats and scarves was done this weekend.

3. Sister in law is doing at least three fundraisers (one crowdsourcing, one Origami Owl jewelry and something else) to help out. 10-20% of me feels uncomfortable about it from time to time, but the rest of me curbstomps that shit for brains.

4. Wife is stressing most about her job at this point. Talk with her supervisor did not go well, pretty much wanted to work through the chemo and radiation while taking day(s) off at times when the treatment kicked her behind a bit. Supervisor pretty much asked what would happen when her PTO was used up, and said if you need to, just go on disability for the entire time. Beyond the financial implications of it all, everything we're hearing about treatment and your life is try to keep things as normal as possible, and not sit on your ass every day thinking about being sick, etc. More to come on that.

5. Started bringing in the subject with Calla (our 4yo). Saying how Mommy will have Daddy's haircut for a while, it'll grow back, Mommy might have days where she's not feeling very well, etc. Last few months, Calla has been very clingy to my wife and I'm not sure how that will change and how much my wife's going to be able to physically do with her in the middle of chemo, much less that time after surgery, radiation, etc.

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:58 pm

Damn that's rough. Best of luck.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:05 pm

Just a tough situation all around. You guys are in my thoughts.

I didn't get a chance to read the blog to see what Ms. Buff does for a living, but her boss sounds like an inconsiderate shitbag.

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:08 pm

She is a Director of Residence Life at a small private college. Her boss, which just happened a couple of months ago, is the Dean of Students.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:17 pm

She should probably casually mention to her coworkers how that conversation went. Anything other than "we're here for you, whatever you need ..." usually goes over about as well as (insert metaphor).

(And on the flipside, the intangible gains are off the chart when a company fully supports an employee through a bad time.)

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:19 pm

She's gotten a lot of that at work, but there's a lot of doubt in her mind when the rubber hits the road (ie, how her subordinates will do with her workload, how much they'll support her personally by dropping in, texting, calling, etc).

Post by **Sabo** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:19 pm

If your sister-in-law is arranging a crowdsourcing fundraiser, be sure to link it here. I'll be more than happy to throw a few ducats into the pile.

BuffloSoldier · Post by **BuffloSoldier** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:28 pm

My aforementioned 10-20% think putting in a link here at the Swamp is a bit pandering. If someone finds it via Facebook and wants to chip in, go for it.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 5:23 pm

What a shitty, shitty place to be.

You probably don't want to hear positive cancer beaten stories right about now, but please remember that they are legion.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:34 pm

BuffloSoldier wrote:My aforementioned 10-20% think putting in a link here at the Swamp is a bit pandering. If someone finds it via Facebook and wants to chip in, go for it.

Buff, it's for you to decide (and there are obvious workarounds), but some Swampers aren't on Facebook.

Post by **brian** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:50 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:
BuffloSoldier wrote:My aforementioned 10-20% think putting in a link here at the Swamp is a bit pandering. If someone finds it via Facebook and wants to chip in, go for it.
Buff, it's for you to decide (and there are obvious workarounds), but some Swampers aren't on Facebook.

Yeah, no one's going to think less of you for posting it here. People can choose if they want to donate or not. No hard feelings either way all the way around. I feel 100 percent comfortable speaking for the Swamp in saying that.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:57 pm

Someone else could post it here ...

devilfluff · Post by **devilfluff** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 7:39 pm

Buff,

This should qualify her for FMLA. Her boss doesn't have many options once it is set up.