The Life, Death & Resurrection of Mark Anderson

[GehrigFan]

Well... I realize this is a strange thread, but I know I have a lot of friends on here who have not heard or seen ANYTHING about me since the first month of the year. I am not kidding when I say I can write a 1000-page book about this year, so here is the EXTREMELY short version...

For those who do not know me, I am 45 years old, opened my first card store when I was 18, and since 1997 have worked for:

* James Spence Authentication (Still there as inactive but likely to never work again) - 2015 to present

* Heritage Auctions (Focused on sports memorabilia) - 2014-15

* COMC.com (Focused on helping owner Tim Getsch with growing the company but commuting from Dallas to Seattle was a bit much!) - 2013

* Beckett (Started as Price Analyst, Writer, first person to join BGS/BVG, ended as co-leader of entire office) - 1997-2013




SUPER SHORT VERSION OF MY LAST 9.5 MONTHS:

• I went to a regular neurologist appointment the third week of January and one week later went back for a follow-up. That day, January 31st, they asked me to go to the ER for a quick CT scan of something they didn’t think was a big issue. Well, the one day scan turned into 2+ months in the hospital trying to figure out the problem. Basically, they were supposed to do brain MRI’s with and without contrast, but forgot to do the contrast version.

• By March, I had become paralyzed on my entire right side. They put me on a different hospital floor and were just supposed to feed me for a night and March 3rd would try to figure me out again. The only rules were to guard what I ate and have a nurse watch while I ate. My wife went home to get something, and when she got back, they had ignored both rules and I was surrounded by 12 doctors. When my wife came back, they called her in and said she needed to say goodbye to me as I had died from the food intake. She went ballistic on them, so they tried some more things and brought me back to life. For the next moth I was on tubes and medications to keep me from remembering anything but I did come back "to life".

• Finally, at the start of April I was awake again and my wife and I told them to send me to their other hospital (UTSW - Clements) to have them try to determine my problem. They finally agreed, and the first day I was there they determined I had brain cancer. Turns out, it is the contrast version of the brain MRI that tells them if you have brain cancer so they could have known over two months prior. For the next 7 months, I was still stuck in both hospitals for 26 rounds of chemotherapy (9 different types) plus three hospices to short-term heal from the chemo. I finally had the last round lasting three weeks in September and was allowed to leave a week ago.

• Most chemo sessions were okay, except #18, and then the last round was amazingly horrid. While every day was spent trying to heal and re-grow (couldn’t even sit up, much less stand or walk, etc.), my first thought of the final therapy was how easy it seemed. But seven days after the last chemo, I suddenly had 5-6 horrible problems pop up (mouth unable to move or eat, passing out while practicing walking, losing 100% of my hair in about a 15 minute period, etc). They tested them all and said they were NOT the things they feared could happen – just common issues from that chemo, and they healed in 7-10 days... well, except the hair. People say I look like Paul Schaffer now!

• Unfortunately, the last week has been the worst yet. They still say it should heal in a couple months, but literally, the pain and lack of ANY strength to do ANYTHING has me praying God might take me home. But I hope it heals and I can start investing into my daughter and wife again soon.

Again, there are thousands of things I could add to this, but I know it would bore you. I also will say that at the end of August, God finally reached a 100% point in my life where I know beyond a doubt that I am okay if he takes me in 3 months, 3 years, or 30 years.


I will soon be posting some questions and very poor original artwork on my thoughts for a website to sell my card collection. Although I never wanted to sell, at this point it is a necessity to provide for my amazing wife and sweet 5-year-old daughter.

Mark

[swarmee]

Welcome back sir. You have lived an interesting life. Since you've been involved with COMC, Beckett, and auctionhouses, I would think you would know exactly what to do with your collection.
Invest In Baseball (Sean Bassik) and others buy whole collections and part them out, so consider them as well.

[KCRfan1]

I am wishing you well Mark, and be positive as best you can! You have two great girls in your life that are there for you!!!!

I am a stage 4 cancer survivor, and while I went thru A LOT, I cannot begin to relate what you have been thru. I understand the pain and lack of strength / energy, but that's relative and affects us differently.

I'm sure there are many other cancer survivors on the board who are will to offer encouragement.

Usually we can bulldog our way thru the physical stuff, nothing prepares us for the mental toll.

You're welcome to pm me if you want to talk / email.

Hang in there, you have come a long ways!

[GehrigFan]

Hi Lou - did you suffer post-chemo fatigue? That is the #1 problem where I cannot sleep, but all day I also literally just hate being alive because I can barely even walk. Los of Google info on this, but they all seem to say it can last months or years and there are no real cures or medications.

[GehrigFan]

John, yes, I have actually bought from Sean in the past as well as traded him a buttload for my second Lou Gehrig RC (1925 W590)! I could consider a complete sale, but I also think maximizing my finances is critical here. I owe $1-$2 million for medical, which we can never pay, and we have about $10K left total to live on :-(

Originally Posted by swarmee

Welcome back sir. You have lived an interesting life. Since you've been involved with COMC, Beckett, and auctionhouses, I would think you would know exactly what to do with your collection.
Invest In Baseball (Sean Bassik) and others buy whole collections and part them out, so consider them as well.

[BruceinGa]

Wishing you the best!

[swarmee]

Well, being in Dallas and close to many on this board, it may be possible to consign many to the local players who set up or rent table space at local card shows. In your current debt, it would probably be difficult to maximize value if you can't afford grading at PSA or BGS, and the bulk submission for each would have your cards back in two months or more. Current BGS bulk submissions are taking an average of 83 business days.
Call JustCollect or the other wholesale businesses and play them against each other. Some will fly to see your collection and make an offer on the whole amount.

[kailes2872]

Mark,
Sorry to hear of your struggles and the crazy, seemingly incompetence of your care and recovery.

You have been helpful to me in my journey and I always look for your picture when I receive any Heritage materials. I know in the past you had said that you had a similar condition to Lou Gehrig, but not exactly ALS (If I recall correctly), so I was afraid that your condition had taken a turn for the worse.

My next big projects are 53 Topps, 52 Bowman, 53-55 Red Man, 54 Red Heart Pet, and some football and basketball sets in the '70s. I am really not going to be actively looking until the spring, but if you have those full sets, let me know and I will see what I can do to pull some stuff forward and maximize your value.

However, if I recall, you had some autographed HOF rookies and a lot of prewar, so it might be a different collecting focus than mine.

At any rate, I wish you the best and pray for your recovery.

God Bless
Kevin

[drcy]

You're in my thoughts, Mark.

[Leon]

Hey Mark
I know it's been a long battle with a lot more to go. Let's catch up soon and talk about some stuff. Stay strong and call me or I will call you this coming week.

[irv]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Well, being in Dallas and close to many on this board, it may be possible to consign many to the local players who set up or rent table space at local card shows. In your current debt, it would probably be difficult to maximize value if you can't afford grading at PSA or BGS, and the bulk submission for each would have your cards back in two months or more. Current BGS bulk submissions are taking an average of 83 business days.
Call JustCollect or the other wholesale businesses and play them against each other. Some will fly to see your collection and make an offer on the whole amount.

Would Mark not be further ahead to choose SGC over BGS? Just thinking but I would assume SGC would make him more money than BGS?

Originally Posted by GehrigFan

John, yes, I have actually bought from Sean in the past as well as traded him a buttload for my second Lou Gehrig RC (1925 W590)! I could consider a complete sale, but I also think maximizing my finances is critical here. I owe $1-$2 million for medical, which we can never pay, and we have about $10K left total to live on :-(

Mark, I am not very good at knowing what to say in these situations other than saying, I am very sorry to hear about them.. Stay strong and fight the good fight and remember everyone here is praying for you.

[btcarfagno]

I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds like you just related a veritable cornucopia of malpractice. Perhaps you owe them $2 million. But it sounds like they should owe you a crapton more.

Look into it.

And my thoughts are with you and your family, hoping you can get some strength back and enjoy your family to the fullest.

Tom C

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by irv

Would Lou not be further ahead to choose SGC over BGS? Just thinking but I would assume SGC would make him more money than BGS?

Yes, SGC would be an option. I don't know how quick their bulk/club submissions get returned.

[Rich Klein]

Mark:

You are always welcome at my shows. You can set up and pay tables only if you make enough to cover them. We can get you help to get the items in and out as well. I always have room for you.

Rich

I did that at the last Adat show (with permission from the board when I explained the circumstance of why) and just as an FYI -- that person whom I did that for was the very first person to pay his table fees. And since that man had not worked in six months, we were giving him a hand to help him get back on his feet. I'm glad to say that worked. I know it sounds unorthodox (and I'm far from perfect) but sometimes the right thing to do is the right thing to do.

[Jobu]

Damn Mark, that is quite a journey. I am sorry that you had to go through all of that but glad to be able to read this post because that means you are here to write it. I hope that you continue to get stronger and make a full recovery.

[Ronnie73]

Sorry to hear about your ruff year Mark. All I can say is to try and stay as mentally strong as possible. That's the only thing that helps me. As far as hospitals go, you and your family need to try and educate yourselves as much as possible. Every trip to the emergency room or a hospital stay for me always ends with complications due to nurses and doctors just either not being fully educated, caring, or just being over worked. I've tried to explain to them that the rules in the medical book don't always apply to everyone. You really need to learn your body. I haven't had to deal with cancer yet myself but it is a definite thing for me in the future. I was born with Crohn's Disease which is an intestinal and stomach disorder. Spending years at a time in the hospital as a kid and being on so many different medications over the years, I've now developed other health issues over the past 20 years from the medication side effects. I'm now 44 years old and still sick every day. When medications stop working, you mentally have to stay strong and fight the issue to the end. We all at some point fall ill and at that point its a matter of making the best of the situation. Stay strong Mark, and everyone else on this message board, stay strong too.

[h2oya311]

OMG Mark -

I was just wondering a few days ago what ever happened to you (I think I was thinking about Santa Claus / Secret Santa or something along those lines)! This is horrible news (but I'm happy to hear you're still with us). I am so terribly sorry for you, your wife, and your daughter. This must be incredibly tough for them.

Posts like this make me think long and hard about life and what would happen should I pass. I am 40 and have a wife, 4-year old son, and 1-year old daughter. I can't imagine leaving them behind. I have spent the past three weeks seriously considering a complete sale of my collection, and a post like this makes me think I should make the move sooner rather than later.

You and I have done many deals together in the past. I can vouch for Mark if someone is looking to get a deal done with him for his collection.

All the best to you and your family on this extremely difficult journey. I hope you kick cancer's a$$ and make a full, speedy recovery! Either way, Mark, you are in my thoughts and prayers!

Regards,
Derek

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

OMG Mark -

I was just wondering a few days ago what ever happened to you (I think I was thinking about Santa Claus / Secret Santa or something along those lines)! This is horrible news (but I'm happy to hear you're still with us). I am so terribly sorry for you, your wife, and your daughter. This must be incredibly tough for them.

Posts like this make me think long and hard about life and what would happen should I pass. I am 40 and have a wife, 4-year old son, and 1-year old daughter. I can't imagine leaving them behind. I have spent the past three weeks seriously considering a complete sale of my collection, and a post like this makes me think I should make the move sooner rather than later.

You and I have done many deals together in the past. I can vouch for Mark if someone is looking to get a deal done with him for his collection.

All the best to you and your family on this extremely difficult journey. I hope you kick cancer's a$$ and make a full, speedy recovery! Either way, Mark, you are in my thoughts and prayers!

Regards,
Derek

I sold my collection (other than one sentimental item worth less than $500) and was constantly told I would regret it after 30+ years in the hobby. I have not, do not and probably will not. I do open packs of modern shiny cards with my young children and that is incredibly fun!

[glchen]

Hi Mark, really sorry to hear about your awful health issues. Hope you get better soon, and wish you the best.

[KCRfan1]

Mark,

I had 6 rounds of chemo, 1 every 3 weeks. I did not have any energy, and lots of fatigue.

However, post chemo, I slowly regained energy and strength. While I did have a major set back from the chemo, it put a hole in my intestine, you and I have had different cancers and treatments. Frankly, time has been my ally when it comes to healing in all areas from what I went thru. My obstacle is memory loss, or chemo brain. A lot of things I just do not remember as a side effect of chemo. Maybe my memory returns, maybe it doesn't, but time will tell.

I dealt with a stage 4 lymphoma and resulting blood clots along with every major complication including the above, but nothing close to what you have went thru.

[Sf24]

Mark, I feel for you and your family. I am a 2 time cancer survivor, so it can be done. The fatigue will go away over time. Music helped me get through the rough times. I put on a set of headphones and put on my favorites. Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

[GehrigFan]

Derek, I am so glad you are still active on here! I still think about the awesomeness of the "Secret Santa" cards you gave me! They are still in my collection!!!

Originally Posted by h2oya311

OMG Mark -

I was just wondering a few days ago what ever happened to you (I think I was thinking about Santa Claus / Secret Santa or something along those lines)! This is horrible news (but I'm happy to hear you're still with us). I am so terribly sorry for you, your wife, and your daughter. This must be incredibly tough for them.

Posts like this make me think long and hard about life and what would happen should I pass. I am 40 and have a wife, 4-year old son, and 1-year old daughter. I can't imagine leaving them behind. I have spent the past three weeks seriously considering a complete sale of my collection, and a post like this makes me think I should make the move sooner rather than later.

You and I have done many deals together in the past. I can vouch for Mark if someone is looking to get a deal done with him for his collection.

All the best to you and your family on this extremely difficult journey. I hope you kick cancer's a$$ and make a full, speedy recovery! Either way, Mark, you are in my thoughts and prayers!

Regards,
Derek

[JEFFV96MASTERS]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Mark:

You are always welcome at my shows. You can set up and pay tables only if you make enough to cover them. We can get you help to get the items in and out as well. I always have room for you.

Rich

I was alerted to Mark's post by several hobby friends and glad they did so.

Rich = You can send me a PayPal invoice at my jeff.verrier@gmail.com PayPal address and I'll personally pay Mark's table fees for any upcoming show he chooses your running.

Considering the friendship we developed while he was the director of BGS grading = I'll handle any expense he incurs table wise. He did me enough favors over the years to warrant me returning any favor he needs back.

I was wondering why the silence. Guess now I know.

Rich send me your mailing address again I have another batch of items to mail for the kids freebies at the shows ( tons of game used/autos).

I'll also donate some unopened Beckett Price Guides ( the big ones) for raffle prizes. Just shoot over the address please again so I don't have to dig it up.

Jeff

[Rich Klein]

Jeff:

Email sent. Thank you as always for all your help!

Rich

[Leon]

Originally Posted by JEFFV96MASTERS

I was alerted to Mark's post by several hobby friends and glad they did so.

Rich = You can send me a PayPal invoice at my jeff.verrier@gmail.com PayPal address and I'll personally pay Mark's table fees for any upcoming show he chooses your running.

Considering the friendship we developed while he was the director of BGS grading = I'll handle any expense he incurs table wise. He did me enough favors over the years to warrant me returning any favor he needs back.

I was wondering why the silence. Guess now I know.

Rich send me your mailing address again I have another batch of items to mail for the kids freebies at the shows ( tons of game used/autos).

I'll also donate some unopened Beckett Price Guides ( the big ones) for raffle prizes. Just shoot over the address please again so I don't have to dig it up.

Jeff

That is overwhelmingly nice of you. Good karma will come your way....thanks for helping a good hobby friend out...

[GehrigFan]

I am so sorry, I replied to all of this two days ago but it doesn't seem to have worked.

I just wanted to thank all of you for the amazing help and concern. You are a wonderful group.

I would normally take time to reply to all of you, but I'm afraid the "brain fatigue" or "chemotherapy fatigue" plus DVT's are absolutely killing me. As in... God had me feeling so great around Sept. 1st, then I did the final chemo, and 2 weeks afterwards I have truly wanted the Lord to take me home. I can barely walk, can't sleep, have no desire to do anything (or any energy), and there is basically no cure. Some people take a few months; others a few years. I continue to pray God will bring me healing faster than usual, and I hope to then be able to reply to all of you.

Many blessings to every one of you!
Mark

[Rich Klein]

Not the best thing I ever wrote, but still., better to let someone know when they are still above the ground

http://www.radicards.com/richs-rambl...-2017-national

Rich

[GehrigFan]

Again, not a message to say I suddenly feel any better. Still praying throughout every day that God will heal me. But I do have to admit that I am kind of finding that when I spend 24 hours sitting in a hotel bed, it sucks beyond anything... but when people ask me to do something (granted, that means sitting in a couch, eating out, other simple things, etc.), while I feel like a useless, horrible person, it does help me feel a little better.

I have a couple of appointments tomorrow (Monday), but might be free Tuesday or Wednesday. Would love to see anyone who wants to and understands I am 90% vegetable at this point!

Still waiting for my cards to be able to get that side going, too.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by GehrigFan

Again, not a message to say I suddenly feel any better. Still praying throughout every day that God will heal me. But I do have to admit that I am kind of finding that when I spend 24 hours sitting in a hotel bed, it sucks beyond anything... but when people ask me to do something (granted, that means sitting in a couch, eating out, other simple things, etc.), while I feel like a useless, horrible person, it does help me feel a little better.

I have a couple of appointments tomorrow (Monday), but might be free Tuesday or Wednesday. Would love to see anyone who wants to and understands I am 90% vegetable at this point!

Still waiting for my cards to be able to get that side going, too.

Wish you the best of luck finding someone to hang out with. If I was closer I would love to talk to you. With you history in the hobby you have to have some awesome stories to share.

From personal experience with my dad. I drove him 5 days a week for 6 weeks of chemo and/or radiation treatments to the closest hospital 50 miles away. The last 2 weeks he could hardly make it to the car before falling asleep. It took him close to a year to get back to kinda normal. He said the same thing about hating to do anything at first because after a few minutes of anything he was so tired he would just fall asleep in the middle of stuff. Now that it was a few years ago he says how the little things at first really helped him regain his strength. Without it he would have just laid around and taken much longer to get better. I wish you the best Mark.

[GehrigFan]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Wish you the best of luck finding someone to hang out with. If I was closer I would love to talk to you. With you history in the hobby you have to have some awesome stories to share.

From personal experience with my dad. I drove him 5 days a week for 6 weeks of chemo and/or radiation treatments to the closest hospital 50 miles away. The last 2 weeks he could hardly make it to the car before falling asleep. It took him close to a year to get back to kinda normal. He said the same thing about hating to do anything at first because after a few minutes of anything he was so tired he would just fall asleep in the middle of stuff. Now that it was a few years ago he says how the little things at first really helped him regain his strength. Without it he would have just laid around and taken much longer to get better. I wish you the best Mark.

Guys,

I cannot apologize profusely enough for essentially disappearing the last 2+ months.

When finally released from the hospital after 9 months, one of the first things I did was get back on this forum. I even won a small $25 auction for Babe Ruth sheet music.

Then, within 3 days of my "freedom", I was hit with something called "post-chemo/cancer therapy", which literally has made my health feel horribly worse than the previous 9 months. Bear in mind I was just informed last month by two UTSW doctors that I not only passed away on March 3rd, but also had three additional times they believed I was going to die.

While I love this site, I literally have not had the energy, health, etc. to get ON the site in 2 months. It took me over 3 weeks simply to send money for the auction, which is not at all typical of me (and again I apologize to the seller for that). I really can't explain to you all how it is even possible to not feel able to read a website you love.

But for whatever reason, God wants me alive right now and must have *something* planned for me! Yesterday was such an awful day, I prayed He would take me home if He wanted to.

Then today hit, and I seriously just woke up and felt incredibly wonderful. Not just "better", but absolutely the best "feeling" day of the year!

Now I am not going to pretend I was *perfected*. I know I have a long road ahead. But I cannot be thankful enough that God gave me this day. I pray tomorrow is a little like today. Regardless, I at least wanted to come back on here and let you know I am still alive somehow! I have not even looked at any other posts, etc.

I did also want to share a website I unintentionally discovered today. It was simply one of my dear friends, Rich Klein, writing an article about my life in this hobby and my "new" illness. I have not even been able to talk to Rich this year, yet he wrote this little piece, and it made me smile so much. He even somehow found two photos of my wife and I, plus another on his card show website of a close friend and I at Rich's booth. Thank you, Rich. Your love is amazing and has added an incredible amount of joy to my life.

I also wrote a response to his article if you want more ridiculous information on my year...


http://www.radicards.com/richs-rambl...-2017-national


Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[slidekellyslide]

Mark, it is awesome to hear that you were feeling great today. May tomorrow and every day after be only better for you. Hang in there.

[Leon]

Great to hear from you, Mark. Let's hope you keep feeling the way you did yesterday. I hope your recovery keeps going the right way. Lets do lunch soon!!

[rainier2004]

Very glad to hear you're feeling better, such a horrible 2017 and hopefully things will continue to be better....hopefully the yesterdays will continue to be the hardest day and the tomorrows will continue to get better.

[GehrigFan]

Man, installed some "Tapatalk" app which they claimed was so much better. Frankly, I don't know how to see the different forum titles, don't know how to post without it *appearing* to put every post by every person on top (I hope that is just it trying to *show* me the posts), etc.

At least I can now pretend every dumb thing I do is just because of the brain cancer!!!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[Rich Klein]

The funny thing was that was the ONLY article I wrote for that site. I will stress Patrick is very dedicated to the hobby, we did a great interview for his site earlier this year and the fact I only wrote one article for the site implies nothing bad at all about him.

Instead, I was honored to be able to use his forum to post that article about Mark. I know many of us were worried about him, and rightly so as it turned out, and I just wanted to be able to state which many of us were thinking. So, I'm grateful for Patrick for doing the heavy lifting in finding photos and making the article look as good as it was.

Originally when I wrote that, I thought that was amongst the worst thing I ever wrote. After several re-reads, I realized I got it exactly right and I was honored to be the vessel to honor Mark while he was still living.

And, on a side note, writing that article, got my writing genes back into gear and I'm now doing a monthly column for GTS distributors. It's called Klein's Korner and last night I wrote my new year's resolution column. I actually talk about an obscure pre-war German non-sports set which I've enjoyed fleshing out the checklist during the past year.

So, I owe Mark not only for his 20 years of friendship but also for being the trigger to get me to write again.

Rich

P.S. One of Mark's friends has volunteered to pay for his tables at any show Mark chooses to set up at. So, when you get better Mark, we have table(s) for you.

[NYYFan63]

Originally Posted by GehrigFan

Well... I realize this is a strange thread, but I know I have a lot of friends on here who have not heard or seen ANYTHING about me since the first month of the year. I am not kidding when I say I can write a 1000-page book about this year, so here is the EXTREMELY short version...



For those who do not know me, I am 45 years old, opened my first card store when I was 18, and since 1997 have worked for:



* James Spence Authentication (Still there as inactive but likely to never work again) - 2015 to present



* Heritage Auctions (Focused on sports memorabilia) - 2014-15



* COMC.com (Focused on helping owner Tim Getsch with growing the company but commuting from Dallas to Seattle was a bit much!) - 2013



* Beckett (Started as Price Analyst, Writer, first person to join BGS/BVG, ended as co-leader of entire office) - 1997-2013









SUPER SHORT VERSION OF MY LAST 9.5 MONTHS:



• I went to a regular neurologist appointment the third week of January and one week later went back for a follow-up. That day, January 31st, they asked me to go to the ER for a quick CT scan of something they didn’t think was a big issue. Well, the one day scan turned into 2+ months in the hospital trying to figure out the problem. Basically, they were supposed to do brain MRI’s with and without contrast, but forgot to do the contrast version.



• By March, I had become paralyzed on my entire right side. They put me on a different hospital floor and were just supposed to feed me for a night and March 3rd would try to figure me out again. The only rules were to guard what I ate and have a nurse watch while I ate. My wife went home to get something, and when she got back, they had ignored both rules and I was surrounded by 12 doctors. When my wife came back, they called her in and said she needed to say goodbye to me as I had died from the food intake. She went ballistic on them, so they tried some more things and brought me back to life. For the next moth I was on tubes and medications to keep me from remembering anything but I did come back "to life".



• Finally, at the start of April I was awake again and my wife and I told them to send me to their other hospital (UTSW - Clements) to have them try to determine my problem. They finally agreed, and the first day I was there they determined I had brain cancer. Turns out, it is the contrast version of the brain MRI that tells them if you have brain cancer so they could have known over two months prior. For the next 7 months, I was still stuck in both hospitals for 26 rounds of chemotherapy (9 different types) plus three hospices to short-term heal from the chemo. I finally had the last round lasting three weeks in September and was allowed to leave a week ago.



• Most chemo sessions were okay, except #18, and then the last round was amazingly horrid. While every day was spent trying to heal and re-grow (couldn’t even sit up, much less stand or walk, etc.), my first thought of the final therapy was how easy it seemed. But seven days after the last chemo, I suddenly had 5-6 horrible problems pop up (mouth unable to move or eat, passing out while practicing walking, losing 100% of my hair in about a 15 minute period, etc). They tested them all and said they were NOT the things they feared could happen – just common issues from that chemo, and they healed in 7-10 days... well, except the hair. People say I look like Paul Schaffer now!



• Unfortunately, the last week has been the worst yet. They still say it should heal in a couple months, but literally, the pain and lack of ANY strength to do ANYTHING has me praying God might take me home. But I hope it heals and I can start investing into my daughter and wife again soon.



Again, there are thousands of things I could add to this, but I know it would bore you. I also will say that at the end of August, God finally reached a 100% point in my life where I know beyond a doubt that I am okay if he takes me in 3 months, 3 years, or 30 years.





I will soon be posting some questions and very poor original artwork on my thoughts for a website to sell my card collection. Although I never wanted to sell, at this point it is a necessity to provide for my amazing wife and sweet 5-year-old daughter.



Mark

Mark - I just joined the board a couple weeks ago but will keep you in my prayers.

God Bless!

Rob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Mark, it is awesome to hear that you were feeling great today. May tomorrow and every day after be only better for you. Hang in there.

+1 Mark!

I hope 2018 is a rebound year for ya buddy!

[Rich Klein]

the best I could come up with a link to the photo in the next post

[Rich Klein]

https://scontent-dft4-3.xx.fbcdn.net...0a&oe=5AED6306

[JEFFV96MASTERS]

Just for Rich- see below. Glad Mark your feeling up to walking around

When you want a table at Rich's show he'll let me know- I'll pay for it. My treat buddy for all you've done for me.

[ngnichols]

Image for those who need some help with the IMG tags on here

[Rich Klein]

Thanks Nate!

I got the photo on FB but could not get it here!

Rich

[thetruthisoutthere]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Mark:

You are always welcome at my shows. You can set up and pay tables only if you make enough to cover them. We can get you help to get the items in and out as well. I always have room for you.

Rich

I did that at the last Adat show (with permission from the board when I explained the circumstance of why) and just as an FYI -- that person whom I did that for was the very first person to pay his table fees. And since that man had not worked in six months, we were giving him a hand to help him get back on his feet. I'm glad to say that worked. I know it sounds unorthodox (and I'm far from perfect) but sometimes the right thing to do is the right thing to do.

Very generous of you, Rich.

[Rookiemonster]

I wanted to say stay strong but I don’t know if you can be any stronger then you already are. What a nightmare of a story. I wish you and your family the very best.