Been awhile since I last made a journal entry here. So I though I would post an update.

Today marks 2 years of officially being cancer free. Just had a follow up CT scan a couple weeks ago that came back clean. It was 2 years ago today that I had my final cancer surgery to remove all remaining traces of the tumor that was in my liver.

Thank you again to all the friends that supported me during that time. <3

It has been several months since I posted any updates and a few of you have been asking how things are going. So I decided I should post an update journal.

It was a scary ride over the last year and a half. About 10 months ago I was near death, so sick I could hard move and my kidneys had shut down. Now I have made almost a complete recovery. I was able to attend BLFC a few weeks ago and had an amazing time; finally able to feel like my old self again.

I had a CT scan on May 2nd, 5 and a half months after my last surgery to remove the tumors from my liver. The results of this CT scan were great! No sign of any active cancer. I beat it! I just hope it never ever comes back. I will have to have a CT scan every 3 months for the first year, as long as they remain good I will have one twice a year after that.

I did develop an incisional hernia that had to be repaired that I am still recovering from, but after this I should make a full recovery. My story was impressive enough that our local TV news station did a story on me that aired back in February. (KMSP channel 9 out of the twin cities)

I plan to stick around for quite a long time, thank you everyone for all the support you have shown me, I truly believe I wouldn't be here if I didn't have suck amazing friends that cared so much.

It has been 1/2 a month since my surgery, still sore and plenty of healing left to do but I am feeling better each day. Thank you everyone that has sent me get well messages and left comments, it meant a lot <3
Now I want to talk about my pathology report. After the tumors where cut out from my liver, they were sent off to the lab to get a complete pathology report on them. There was about a good clean centimeter margin of healthy tissue around the tumor that was cut out. That is great they were able to get a clean margin that big. It reduces the chance of any stray cancer cells being left behind and forming new tumors. But now here is the best news... The pathology report claims the entire tumor was dead before it was even cut out of me. I cried when the doctor told me this. That is the best possible news. Because of this news they is very little chance there is any hidden or lingering cancer cells left in my body.

The trial drug I was on may have actually cured my cancer. They can't officially use the "cured" word yet. But things are looking good. You may remember earlier this year when I was talking about this trial drug I was on. How it nearly killed me twice this year. Causing acute kidney failure and later causing rapid blood loss through intestinal ulcers bleeding. But I over came those issues and my kidneys healed, after being on dialysis for about a month. This summer really sucked for me, being a good chunk of it in the hospital. But I believe that I won. Not dropping my guard yet, and there will be scans every few months for awhile. But I kicked this cancers ass, Finally now I can relax a bit.

2016 will be a much better year. After I heal up and recover my strength from this last surgery I can go back to being my normal self. Thank you again everyone for helping me fight this battle and supporting me along the way. I love you all <3

One more thing, My Oncologist told me this is the first time this drug has been reported to kill an entire tumor like this. He has been talking to lots of other doctors about it across the country. My case will be posted in many medical journals.

This update is brought to you by  itallonova.

Draces wanted me to pop in and let you all know he is out of surgery and is doing just fine. From what I got from the quick update, everything went well. He's a bit too groggy and out of it for full updates right now, but once he's up to it, he'll be able to give more information to you all.

Just know that he is okay and currently resting and recovering! Thank you everyone for being so kind and supportive. It really does mean a lot. Stay tuned for more updates and information on this snow mew's road to recovery! <3

Tomorrow is the day; getting pretty nervous but will be glad once it is over. They will be cutting out the tumors from my liver and doing surgery on my Small/large intestines to reconnect them. I will try to post a quick update sometime after surgery if I feel up to it. It will probably be pretty brief, but enough just to let you all know I am okay, or if I don't feel well enough I have have one of my close friends post it for me.

I am happy I was able to go to and enjoy MFF this year. I got to say hi and hug so many of you and spent most that weekend in suit. Thank you everyone for making that con amazing!!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I will be able to attend MFF this year! I am very excited to see everyone that will be there. I wasn't sure exactly when my surgery would be scheduled and though I may miss MFF because of it. My surgery is being scheduled for the morning of Dec 15th. During this surgery they will be removing the cancerous tumors from my liver and reversing the ileostomy they had to give me last January.

Surgery will be scary,but this time I hope they get all the cancer so I can focus on recovery and getting back to normal.

I hope to see most of you at Midwest Furfest!!! <3<3

Exactly a year ago today (on 10/10/2014) is when I received the diagnoses that I had cancer. It has been a hard year with the chemo, surgery, trial drugs, Kidney failure and dialysis. This year I have spent 31 days in the hospital total. But things are finally starting to turn around.

The trial drugs I was put on caused havoc in my body. Causing my own immune system to attack my kidneys, lungs and bone marrow. I have finally recovered from that and the good news is even with the bad side effects this drug caused it did shrink my tumors a little. This Monday I will be meeting with the surgeons to discuss the possibility of surgery to remove the rest of my tumors. Once I get those tumors removed and heal up from surgery I will be able to get back to my normal life.

Everyone has been so nice and supportive. The donations I have received and just the support of my friends being there have really helped. I am going to beat this, I am almost there.

Just giving a quick update now that I feel well enough to actually type an update here.
On Sunday 7/19/2015 I was brought into the ER high fever, nausea vomiting, ect. My kidneys stopping their proper function was just part of it. This new cancer treatment I am on is causing lots horrible side effects that should be very rare.

It seams that my own immune system is attacking things now that it shouldn't be; my kidneys being one of them. I had a renal dialysis catheter port installed in my left side chest and literally before grogginess wore off from that surgery I was already hooked up to my first dialysis treatment.

Doctors are hopeful that my kidneys will heal themselves, fore the mean time I will need dialysis treatment at least 3 days a week. Pretty depressed about this, but I am still fighting along. Just so sick of being stuck in the hospital, but I maybe well enough to return home tomorrow afternoon.

Also I wanted to mention I still have every intention of attending Furry Migration next month. Just really hoping nothing else happens to get in the way of that.

And before I sign off I want to thank everyone again. I have the most amazing friends, it is you that help keep me strong.

Sorry it took me awhile to post an update, I guess I didn't really know how I should let my friends in the furry fandom know.
about a week and a half ago I had a doctor's appointment and a new CT scan to see how the tumors in my liver have been responding to chemo treatment. It was bad news, the tumors are not responding to chemo and grew about 50% in size since my last scan two months ago. This tumor is being pretty aggressive and the doctors are out of different chemo drugs to try on it.
But there is still hope, and new type of treatment has just opened up for clinical trials and I was put on the list right away and received my first treatment yesterday. This treatment is not chemotherapy but immunotherapy. It uses my own immune system to fight the cancer.
Right now this drug is really my last hope. I am terrified, but remaining positive.
If this drug fails to stop the growth of my tumor my cancer will be considered terminal and it will be estimated that I will have 24 months left to live. But that is NOT gonna happen. Not giving up.

I also want to give a big thank you to everyone that has placed a donation on my Youcaring site.

First I will start by giving an update. On Tuesday March 17th I went in for another CT scan before I was to restart my chemo therapy treatments. The Dr. was not expecting to see anything new on this scan, but unfortunately two new tumors where found growing in my liver. This was kind of like a reset button, cause now I have to start all over with my chemo treatments and will have another surgery. Next surgery will probably be scheduled for sometime around mid to late June. This really sucks, but I will keep the fight going and do what the Dr. tells me to.

I told my Dr. about my planed trip to Nevada during May and he really suggested that I go. Doing some fun activities is good for mental health and he really doesn't see a reason why I wouldn't be able to go. So I hope to see lots of you at BLFC this May, really looking forward to it.

Next I want to thank everyone, especially my friends here that set up the donation page for me. I was asked if it would be okay for them to set up a page to collect donations for me. I told them if they want to they could but I really don't expect to get much. Wow, was I surprised at how wrong I was. I can't thank everyone enough for the amount of shares the page has gotten and how much was raised in such a short time.
Link to the page - http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fu.....cancer-/323454 it hasn't even been two weeks and it is already at about $4,500 dollars. I just.. I don't even know what to say. I want to hug each and everyone of you. Everyone has been so nice, sending me messages of encouragement and support. I really don't think I could have made it this far without you all. <3

P.S. I want to thank everyone over at Radio Unifurse for inviting me on last Sunday as a special guest. I had fun.

I figure I better post an update, first I want to say thank you to everyone that posted comments and gave me support. Sorry I was not able to reply to everyone, been tired and resting quite a bit lately.

Still recovering from surgery. There where complications during surgery, ended up taking about 11 hours. The cancer had spread further then previously thought.
They had to removed my gallbladder, 1/3 of my liver, foot and a half of large intestines, a small chunk of my duodenum (first part of small intestines) right next to the exit of the stomach, appendix, 22 lymph nodes, tissue around the pancreas and the right kidney.
Because of the surgery done to my small intestines I have to have a temporary ileostomy for the next 3-6 months, and that really sucks. But at least it is not permanent. So I will have another surgery to reverse the ileostomy then.

After the surgery I was stuck in the hospital for 8 days, the first 5 days were horrible. I had Nasogastric intubation, which is a medical process involving the insertion of a plastic tube through the nose, past the throat, and down into the stomach. I was not allowed to drink or eat anything during that time. They were keeping me hydrated with IV fluids but I was not allowed anything by mouth, not even water. That was torture the feeling of being so thirsty for 5 days and not being able to have anything. The reason for this was to allow the incisions in the small intestines to heal up a little before anything was passed through it. The tube in my stomach was there to suck out any stomach acid or bile that was produced, icky.

Just glad that I made it through that part. Surgeons are pretty confident they got all the cancer cut out, but I still have to go through at least 4 months more of Chemo as a precaution.

Had my pre-Op exam the other day and I am all cleared for surgery. Thursday January 29th at about 8am is when my colon and liver resection surgery is scheduled. The duration of the surgery is unclear, but I imagine it will take a few hours. After surgery they expect my hospital stay to be between 5 to 7 days, and recovery time of 5-6 weeks. I will also need a few months of physical therapy to restrengthen my ab muscles and regain core strength.

I am so close to finally getting this yuck cut out of me, and that much closer to being back to myself again and cancer free!!

I really am not sure what my next furcon will be, I doubt I will make it to FWA. But I think I am going to try and attend BLFC this year. By then I should be pretty well recovered d and almost done with the last of my chemo.

Please check out my previous journals if you are unaware of what has happened.

It has been just 3 months ago today that I was diagnosed with cancer. I did 4 cycles of chemotherapy and on the 2nd of January got new CT scans. Good news from the scans; the two tumors in my liver has shrunk a decent amount. I am now ready for surgery. The surgery date will be the last week of January, exact date has not been set but I expect it to be the 27th or 28th.

The surgery will be a liver and colon resection. They will have to remove between a foot and a foot and a half of the right side of my colon along with a chunk of my liver and a bunch of lymph nodes in the area. This is a bit of a scary surgery (especially the liver resection part). But I have a lot of confidence in my surgeons. After the surgery I will be in the hospital for at least 5-7 days, and have a recovery time of about 6 weeks.

I want to thank everyone again for the support you have given me during this difficult time, I love you all <3

Also if anyone local want to stop by while I am in the hospital recovering, my surgery is taking place at Abbot Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. I don't know exactly where in the hospital my recovery room will be yet, but I will post that and the exact dates later when I know.

Unfortunately I have to have a chemotherapy session right before MFF. I am still attending MFF, just will not be arriving until late Thursday night. Since the chemo is going to leave me feeling pretty tired and weak I am bringing a wheelchair with to use just encase.
I will still be able to walk/stand and give lots of hugs, but might need the wheelchair a little during the convention to help get around. If I am in the wheelchair, still feel free to ask for a picture of hug, that will be worth standing up for <3

And for those who don't know I have have a new Draces fursuit made by that I will be wearing at the convention, Yaaaaay! See it here - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/15122525/

This will be my 3rd Cycle of Chemo, I have one more scheduled for the week of the 15th. After that chemo I will have another full body PET/CT scan and an MRI of my liver. Provided the chemo did its job I will then have surgery approximately 5 weeks after my last chemo treatment. This surgery will remove part of my liver, the right side of my colon and lymph nodes in the area. There will be about a month recovery time after the surgery before I go back on chemo for several more months.

Then after that I should be in remission.

I sooooo need MFF!!! Look forward to seeing everyone there.

For those whom do not know on Last Friday 10/10/2014 i was diagnosed with stage 4a colon cancer. Please read my previous journal for more information. http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6184999/

On 10/13/2014 the doctor went over my CT scans with me and found out the cancer had spread to my liver and most likely my lymph nodes. Because of this the doctor referred me to Abbot Northwestern hospital's Virginia Piper cancer institute in Minneapolis, MN.

I have met with several doctors, an oncologist and a liver surgeon. My surgery will be put off for at least 2 and a half months, while I do 4 cycles of chemotherapy to try to shrink the tumor in my liver and kill any cancer in my lymph nodes. After my 4 cycles of chemo I will get a PET scan to see how much the tumor has shrunk, if the surgeon is happy with it I will then have surgery to remove the infected part of my liver and colon (Probably early January).

My chemotherapy starts on 10/29/2014 and I will be given a cycle every other week. Chemo does have some side effects like hair loss, fatigue and loss of appetite. But the side effect that is the most scary is permanent infertility. Someone from the livestrong foundation will be contacting me about seeing if they can help me with sperm preservation. I have contacted a sperm bank already and the cost is nearly $1700 for the first year then $400 for each year after. While that price is worth it to have children someday, it is money I don't have. But I am hopeful the people of the livestrong charity can help.

This diagnosis is scary, and I am terrified. But I will be okay. I will beat this. Fall down 7 times, stand up 8!

Was not sure if I should make a journal post about this, but I though I should let my followers know. I am sorry I do not post much, sometime I feel I just don't have much to say or never really think of it.

The last few weeks I have been feeling very weak and tired, well on Tuesday evening I went into the doctors office. Dr. said that I looked Anemic (lack of blood or the hemoglobin in blood) and ordered some blood tests. The following morning she calls me as soon as she got the results telling me my Hemoglobin count was only a 6 (Normal is about 13-14) and I need to get to the hospital ASAP to receive a blood transfusion. I was a little panic at the time but did so. while receiving the blood they scheduled me for a Endoscopy and a colonoscopy for Friday (today). They need to find out where my blood was going and most common causes of a blood loss like this was intestinal bleeding. This is a procedure that usually someone my age shouldn't have to do, something I figured would be a few decades off yet. Anyway I did the colonoscopy today, the doctor did find the cause of my bleeding...

Today I was diagnosed with colon cancer.

I am pretty terrified of what that really means... but I am trying to be positive. Thank you to all my friends and family that have already been so supportive. They did a CT scan after to see if the cancer has spread, I do not have the results yet. They are planning to operate on me early next week to remove the tumor and part of my colon.

It is easy to get mad at this situation. Dr. said it is very rare for someone my age to get colon cancer and it looks like the tumor has been there for about 4 years already judging by the size of it. Colon cancer is just not something they normally screen for until about age 50, so I had no way of knowing until my symptoms started.

Edit 10/13/2014 - I got the Scan results today. They are not good. the cancer has spread to my liver. I am being sent to Abbot Northwestern for my treatment. This will now involve Chemotherapy and aggressive surgery.

I realize I like never post journals. So how is everyone doing? Hope you had a great year. I was lucky to travel to many conventions this year and made many new friends. As for this coming year, I doubt I will be able to afford to travel to nearly as many. But For sure i am planing to attend Anime Detour and Midwest Furfest. I hope to throw a couple more in there.

meme copied from  harui and  marblesbravetail

ALL | ABOUT | ME
____________________________________________________________________________

- Name: Draces
- Single or taken: Single
- Sex: Male
- Birthday: June 11
- Sign: Gemini
- Hair color: Brown
- Eye color: Blueish (it changes)
- Height: 6'
- Are you straight/bisexual/gay?: Straight
____________________________________________________________________________

S P E C I F I C S
____________________________________________________________________________

- What kind of shampoo do you use?: Whatever is on sale I guess.
- What are you listening to right now?: At work, no music playing right now.
- Who is the last person that called you?: Uh…Don’t get many.. probably my mom.
- How many buddies are online right now?: None right now.
____________________________________________________________________________

F A V O R I T E S
____________________________________________________________________________

- Animal: I like many kinds. Felines, Canines, even fantasy animals like Dragons. I think I like them all.
- Color: Hmmm.. Blue I think.
- Drink: Water.
- Element: Carbon. Oh you mean… Okay Fire then?
- Food: I love Pasta and bread.. Pizza too. Oh and Cheese. I love cheese.
- Game: Um, yup. I plays them.
- Movie: I love Fantasy and adventure movies. Also action and sci-fi.
- Song: I don’t listen to many, but I do have a love of video game sound tracks.
- Subjects in school: I love Science.
- T.V.: I don’t even have cable or satellite. Only shows I watch are free on hulu
____________________________________________________________________________

H A V E | Y O U | E V E R
____________________________________________________________________________

- Given anyone a bath?: Just my cat. =o
- Smoked?: Nope. Ewww
- Bungee jumped?: Not yet..
- Made yourself throw up?: I have never thrown up. Even when sick.
- Skinny dipped?: Maybe once ^///^
- Ever been in love?: Never in true love.
- Made yourself cry to get out of trouble?: Nope.
- Actually seen your crush naked?: No. o.O
- Cried when someone died?: Yes.
- Lied: Yeah, I think Everyone has at some point.
- Fallen for your best friend?: I have had crushes on friends. But never fallen for a best friend.
- Used someone?: I don’t think I have.
- Done something you regret?: Yes.
____________________________________________________________________________

C U R R E N T
____________________________________________________________________________

- Clothes: a tee-shirt from Welovefine.com, black denim jeans
- Desktop picture: A photo from MFF 2011
- CD in player: It is empty.
- DVD in player: Empty too.
____________________________________________________________________________

L A S T | P E R S O N
____________________________________________________________________________

- You touched: Uh… I don’t recall.
- Hugged: Thinks…Hmm. My mom maybe. Other wise it would have been  ino89777 when I dropped her off at the airport when MFF was over.
- You kissed: It has been a few years…
- You IMed:  PlushieBunneh (last night)
- Talk to online: (See above.)
- You sexed it up with: *blush* Been a little while.
___________________________________________________________________________

A R E | Y O U
___________________________________________________________________________

- Understanding?: I sure am.
- Open-minded?: Very!
- Arrogant?: Not at all.
- Insecure?: Nope
- Random?: Uh, Yeah actually. My friends always tell me I am.
- Hungry?: Not at the moment.. But I will be in a couple hours.
- Smart?: People seam to think so.
- Moody?: Nope. I am usually calm.
- Organized?: Well, I try to be. Sometimes yes… other times not so much.
- Shy?: Yeah.. I am a bit shy. But I been working on that.
- Difficult?: Not usually.
- Bored easily?: Sometimes.
- Entertained easily?: Eh…Not really.
- Obsessed?: Maybe with fursuiting.
- Lazy?: I do get lazy.
- Angry?: Rarely
- Happy?: I am usually happy and bouncy.
- Hyper?: I can be. But not too often.
- Trusting?: Yeah, a little more then I should be.
___________________________________________________________________________

R A N D O M
___________________________________________________________________________

- In the morning I: somehow manage to wake up and crawl into work.
- Love is: Something I desire to experience. Maybe someday soon.
- I dream about: Being wealth enough to freely travel the world.
- What do you notice first in the sex you're into: Their eyes, maybe the smile too.
___________________________________________________________________________

W H O
___________________________________________________________________________

- Makes you laugh the most: Hanging out with my fur friends. They all make me laugh.
- Makes you smile: See above.
- Gives you a funny feeling when you see him/her: Um… I don’t know.
___________________________________________________________________________

D O | Y O U | E V E R
___________________________________________________________________________

- Sit on the internet all night waiting for that someone special to IM you?: Sometimes.
- Wish you were a member of the opposite sex?: Maybe for just a day, but that is it.
- Wish you were younger?: Sometimes, but I am still young..
- Cry because someone said something to you?: I don’t think so.
___________________________________________________________________________

N U M B E R
___________________________________________________________________________

- Of times I have had my heart broken?: Maybe Once, but more like a heart ache then broken..
- Of Cd's I own: 0
- Of scars on my body: 2 small ones
- Of bones I've broken: None. I never injury myself other then small

http://www.mnfurs.org/omfg/

I was Tagged by  phoenixwolf33

1. Who are you?

Most people know me as Draces.

2. Who will you be with?

probably  phoenixwolf33  schism13  shadosword17 and  plushiebunneh

3. Are you staying at the hotel?

Yup. I have a room for Saturday night.

4.Will you be suiting?

Sure Will. ^^

5. What's your gender?

Male.

6. what's your age?

I am getting old now. I am 30. =o

7. Can I talk to you?

Sure.

8. Do you like hugs?

Hugs!!! Yup =3

9. Can I buy you dinner?

Uh... Yeah. I am not going to turn that down. lol

10. Do you take commissions?

I do small commisions involving electrical wiring and fursuit lighting systems.

11. Do you take trades?

Nope.

12. Can I visit your room?

If I know you, and you ask then sure.

13. Will you be going to the pizza party?

Pizza!? Where? I am there.

14. What are you looking forward to?

Suiting and hanging out with friends.

15. TAG PEOPLE!! :D Help spread the word

 cyruschiroptera!! Even though he can't go =P

Just giving a quick report on last weekend.
I attended the Annual Minnesota Furry Fall Picnic at Hidden Falls park in St. Paul, MN.

The weekend started out with a long drive from my home here in Grand Rapids, MN. I ended up making a detour over in Wisconsin with  phoenixwolf33 and  bella_coyote . At about 11PM at night we ended up getting lost on a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere while trying to get to a Wal-Mart that was supposed to be like two minutes away (but took like 20 minutes to get there). I actually had a great time on that road trip. I drop them off at  phoenixwolf33's house. I then head to  zachhart12's house to sleep for the night since he was kind enough to let me stay there.

The day of the picnic was a bit hot for fursuiting, but I still suited up anyway. it must have been like ∞ degrees out.
I got there pretty early, and put must of my suit on. I think I had my head on for maybe 20 minutes during the entire picnic. I spent most of the time in just my body suit, feet paws and tail. I was happy to get to see all my friends again at the picnic and even make some new ones.
I was really bummed that  thesonicgod was stuck at work and could not make it(I hope you can make it to the October Event).
I also want to thank  Farellemoon for the awesome badge she made for me. Thank you sooo much *hugs* I really owe you.

I left the Picnic at about 8PM and went with  phoenixwolf33,  bella_coyote, and  shadosword17 We hung out until about midnight, instead of attending the Furs after dark event following the picnic. We had an epic time in the drive thru at Taco Bell and Dairy Queen, before we returned to  phoenixwolf33's house and watched youtube videos and Browsed FA.  shadosword17 and I did a badge trade. There were many lulz since neither one of use can really draw - I think he did a good job though. A perfect end of the night  bella_coyote let me try on my new fursuit head she is making for me. It has yet to be furred, but I was still excited ^.^

I stole this from  wolfyaysu




1. Your Name:

2. Age:

3. Single or Taken:

4. Favorite Film:

5. Favorite Song or Album:

6. Favorite Band/Artist:

7. Dirty or Clean:

8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:

9. Do we know each other outside of FA?

10. What's your philosophy on life?

11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?

12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?

13. What is your favorite memory of us?

14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:

16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarkey) - what are they?

17. Can we get together and make a cake?

18. Which country is your spiritual home?

19. What is your big weakness?

20. Do you think I'm a good person?

21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?

22. Describe your accent:

23. If you could change anything about me, would you?

24. What do you wear to sleep?

25. Trousers or skirts?

26. Cigarettes or alcohol?

27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?

28. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?