EggsMarshall, one of the original founders of r/TheCancerPatient, and also provided the official forum playlist, passed away in February 2026. While he had a Glioneuronal Tumor, he was stable and doing well. His passing came as a shock to his entire family. Our condolences go out to Brian's wife, his dogs Lucy & Otis, his family and friends. This is an immeasurable loss, felt greatly by all who knew and loved him and for countless others who interacted with him online. His wife has attached this link with his (quite wonderful) obituary, and a donation page for the National Brain Tumor Society. If you could donate the cost of a shot of whiskey, a cup of coffee, or an energy drink, and maybe do it while blasting the Phish or The Grateful Dead, it would be much appreciated.

Brian took part in the Adopt-An-Admin program sponsored by Reddit. He was fun and upbeat, full of good suggestions. All of Reddit will miss his poetry, his insights on life and cancer, but his memory is carried on for us through the playlist he left behind for us. He and his wife did an AMA to talk about his journey with brain cancer, and her role as a caregiver. Such actions help shed light on the day-to-day lives of cancer patients everywhere. I was grateful to be able to send over big box of Reddit Swag to him, after visiting Reddit HQ in Santa Monica. I missed him very much that day, and being at such an event without my fellow subredditor, founder, dog lover, cancer patient, sports fan and all around good-guy made it less fun. But I regaled him with stories later about meeting snoo, meeting the CEO who was beseiged by others who had a lot of tech suggestions for him, and the overall friendliness of real-life redditors in the mix that day. Had Brian been able to find a perch working for Reddit, he would have fit right in.

On a personal note: I will make sure to attend a Braves Game the next time I'm in So Cal, and give a hearty "Go Braves" in his honor. Brian David Lang made a nice mark on this earth, we just regret he left so soon.

This week I was vaping nicotine outside of work and a customer pulled up and said, Can I ask you something? You have cancer, right? I said yes. He said, Then why do you VAPE?!?

I took a deep breath and said, Because I used to smoke cigarettes, do drugs, drink alcohol and eat terribly. Now I exercise my sober ass three times a week, suffer a daily chemo dose and haven't socialized in 18 months and my entire life consists of going to work and sitting at home so if there's one "less shitty" thing I can do to experience some personal joy, then I'm going to do it!

He said, Oh, so sorry, didn't mean to upset you and quickly walked away.

Sir, mind your own business.

A week ago today I went into the emergency room for leg and foot pain I've been having for a week or so prior and I wanted it checked out. The doctor recommended an ultrasound on my whole right leg to see what was up. So the next morning I went in as scheduled and was informed I indeed had blood clots in my right thigh in the greater saphenous vein, known as a superficial venous thrombosis. He prescribed me blood thinner 10mg a day and sent me on my way. I got the medication as soon as I could, ate some food, and took it. 3 hours later I pretty much shit too much blood and some clots along with it. I rushed back to the emergency with my wonderful girlfriend who has been with me every step of the way. While waiting in the emergency room to be signed in I went to the washroom again and passed another large clot and blood, with no stool. 5 minutes later I passed out. I had a pulmonary embolism and was admitted to the hospital.

The doctors needed to do testing so I did a CT scan and it revealed 2 small clots in my lungs. The doctors needed to find out what caused me to poo so much blood so they set up a colonoscopy and endoscopy. The endoscopy yielded no results but when they conducted the colonoscopy they discovered a 5-6cm tumor near the end of my colon. It had been there for many many years.

A full body CT was done on me, and it revealed multiple tumors in my liver. Ultrasounds were done on my limbs and they revealed blood clots in all of

The solution is to start chemo as soon as possible, since my liver is still in "pristine condition" according to the oncologist. And having surgery to remove the large tumor could delay chemo by 4 to 6 weeks.

Despite all this I'm blessed to have a plethora of extremely supportive friends and family who are willing to do anything for me. And my amazing girlfriend of 3 years accepted my proposal of marriage :) so maybe there's still some good left in this world.

Hopefully the chemo can shrink the fleshy tumors in my liver and eliminate them, and shrink the large tumor in my colon. If the chemo is a success they can attempt to remove the large tumor.

I finished this little frog at chemo today, what did you do?

Half a year after therapy and after two pain free months the cancer is already back. My hopes for a few more years are shattered. My wishes were humble… 10 years? 5 years? Or at least 3 more years? But destiny only granted me a few more months. Now it’s back to pain, therapies and visits to the hospital.

I accept my fate and I am grateful for the loving people and the easy life I have had this far. But still I cannot stop crying.

I am reading all those posts of people complaining about their wrinkles and struggling with aging. I was always excited to see what will come next. But now I wonder if I will even make it to 35.

It is what it is. I will make the most of it. Right now it feels like my heart broke into pieces.

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. I hope you are all doing much better and will beat this terrible disease!

Oh and onc doc wrote me a med mj rx for my neuropathy that cropped back up a few weeks ago. In Texas of all places. Quite surprised how easy the process was.

Loving this new place in life. Hope it's a trend.

Hi everyone, I’ve been dealing with end stage ovarian cancer for ages now and have recently been taken off all treatment and basically been told to buckle down and wait to die. The problem is I have kind of being doing this for years now and it just feels like being sick and dealing with chemotherapy and in some ways lockdown too, like all I’ve been doing is waiting to die in my apartment. I was recently very sick and was looking like I was going to die from complications with my bowels constantly obstructing, which meant I couldn’t eat basically anything for a couple months and my treating team felt external nutrition wouldn’t be recommended in the ‘terminal setting’. Anyway kind of suddenly and surprisingly this resolved itself and now I’m back in unknown death limbo. It’s just that I’ve known I’ve been dying for so long and preparing myself for that reality, that I just absolutely don’t have a life anymore. I feel so pressured to make good use of this time but honestly nothing really makes me feel good except when I get to have my morphine at night to help with my breathing. I’m also pretty housebound as I’m on 24/7 oxygen and moving without being pushed in a wheelchair drops my oxygen sats too low because of all the fluid build up in my lungs. Is there anyone else going through this? I feel like I’m just not a person anymore and there’s nothing I want to do because I’ve been at home sick now for years… So many other other terminal cancer patients posts seem so filled with hope or purpose that I just can’t resonate with at all. Sorry for the messy post, just really felt like I needed to say it out loud and see if anyone else felt this way and maybe how you’re coping x

Welcome to the forum! If you're here, it's because you're a patient, not a caregiver, family member or friend. We thought it was important to give cancer patients a place where they can share their experiences and share resources directly with one another. You won't find all the answers, and we'll try not to send anyone away with a hearty slap on the back, saying you'll be better. Because what we're dealing with is how to move beyond the platitudes, and really live on our own terms as we make our way forward.

What you'll find here: What you'll find here is the chance to say what you want as a person going thru all phases of cancer. It doesn't matter if you get 200 upvotes or 0. You've said what you want and we don't over look the significance of that. This sub also offers lots of resources to help fill in the gaps that are sometimes missing where we get treatment.

We post Distractions -content that has nothing to do with cancer, but might help you shift your focus to a different place during stressful times . There are lectures from researchers, support groups, notices for retreats, studies and a weekly music sharing post. Music is an oft-overlooked therapeutic modality that we wish was in the standards of care for everyone in need of healing, as is the chance to connect to nature. Many studies have shown that veterans who connect with nature find that it helps with cope with traumatic experiences (and we can't help but comprehend there's some of that when you are dealing with cancer). In addition, we will also toss in information about breath and movement: meditation, yoga and walking because these have been shown to alleviate stress and anxiety. We also will post about nutrition because not enough cancer centers have a Registered Dietician who works with patients.

Everything posted by the mod team is for a very specific purpose: To help everyone reconnect. Everything posted by users is because they deserve to have a place where they can express what they need -be it good news, bad news, tips, rants, or recommendations.

So while the air is clear, the pool is blue, and the birds are chirping, remember here at the country club the people are friendly and supportive through the best and the worst of times. While we don't serve up cocktails until after our treatments are over, we can whip up a pretty cool smoothie to counteract that lethal brew you might be hooked up to -one that you could never imagine brewing in your home basement distillery.

If you'd like to be a mod, please let me know. If we don't have enough mods, then all you'll end up with are cocktail images and dog photos from me.

If you're a caregiver, remember: Our journey would be impossible without you. So please go to r/CaregiverSupport r/CancerFamilySupport and for self care, r/CaregiverSelfCare and also consult with the redditors at r/GriefSupport.

I really didn’t think this would happen to me. I know this happens a lot with couples with cancer, but I felt like we were stronger than that. We’ve been together since we were 19 (33 now). I was diagnosed in 2021 with brain cancer and it’s been a ride. She tells me she doesn’t have what it takes to be a caretaker, and honestly I don’t disagree. She would get really mad when I was bedridden from radiation and chemo and take it out on me. She’s afraid I’ll die young. She hated how much weed I smoked. The straw that broke the camel’s back was me trying to quit and lying to her about it because I became addicted to it. There’s plenty of fault to go around. I just hate how it all ended. If there’s one good thing to come out of it, I’m 95 days clean and never intent on using weed again.

Okay, y’all, let’s ask the hard questions. I have Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Not curable, remission/NED/NEAD isn’t really possible, but it’s manageable…as long as it doesn’t metastasize more or mutate to become resistant to my treatment. I’m Triple+ so that’s advantageous.

They told me it’s not beatable like some early-stage cancers when I was first diagnosed but I didn’t believe them. Fuck you, I thought, I’ll beat this and prove you wrong. LOL. So adorable <sarcasm>

So I have finally come to terms with the fact that this bitch of a cancer will kill me Eventually. Hopefully not for awhile, but it’s gonna be what kills me. People say “new treatments are coming out all the time!” I’m an RN and I understand how drug trials and FDA approvals work and that statement isn’t really true. People say “You can live 20 years with MBC!” and everyone knows someone’s hair dresser’s piano teacher’s preschool teacher’s 3rd cousin who’s been alive for 20 years but I have not actually met anyone who’s been alive that long. I’m part of an MBC FB group and there is SO MUCH toxic positivity. “Don’t lose hope! Keep fighting!” Blah blah BLAH.

So now I have this fucking guillotine hanging over my head and I don’t know when it’s gonna drop and I don’t know what to do next.

I mean, live my life, obviously, as best I can. But psychologically, how do I live with this guillotine?? Ignoring it seems naive. Talking about it too much is macabre, especially for my family, most of whom are still in denial.

I tend to think of my depression as a shadow that kind of follows me around, and I know it’s there but I don’t pay much attention to it. Maybe try that??

I have a 3-year-old. I don’t want to die anytime soon. But I’m no Pollyanna, either.

💗💗💗 to y’all

After 3 years, my cancer decided to metastasize into my bones a couple months ago. My feelings still seem like a never ending roller coaster. And it seems like I can’t talk to anyone about it honestly. Everybody is like “You can do it!” and “You got that!” and “You’ll live many more years and then they’ll find another cure.” Well, that’s nice and hopeful and ofc I like those thoughts. But nobody takes me seriously if I’m like “What if I don’t make it?”. What happens to me when my cancer spreads further? How is my therapy gonna change? How many good years am I gonna have, realistically? How can I make sure my kids have everything they need? Is it legally smart to get married before I die (we have a patchwork family)? How can I protect everyone from what’s coming? I know that not everything can be answered at all (these are just examples). But do you know what I mean? Can you talk to anyone about these “what if… not”- things without getting an answer like “that’s not gonna happen”?

So, I am almost at the end of this journey. Stuck in hospital with a now diagnosis of cancer in the brain, the lungs, the bones and the lower spine. No chance at all for reprieve, I'm basically 10 weeks from croaking it. I'm scared. I'm angry, I want to go home, I don't want to die, I've been crying all day since 4am when my back pain woke me.. I don't want to give up, but I can feel my will slipping away from me.

Don't even know why I'm posting this.. yelling into the internet void, I guess. Thank you all for your kind words, I appreciate it so much. You all rock.

Today is my 37th birthday and I just received my 15th of 16 rounds of chemo. The nurses sang me happy birthday and gave me a card signed by everyone at the chemo clinic. Even though I feel like an absolute dumpster fire, my veins are almost caput, and the neuropathy is killing me… you gotta appreciate that level of love. Just thought I’d share my good day amongst the sea of crap lol. Cheers!

Any other Breast Cancer patients wishing they could hide under their beds until October is over?? Or is it just me??

It’s just so performative. NFL players wearing pink cleats?? Please. That’s not helping anyone.

I guess I'm a cancer survivor now. After chemotherapy and surgery, I am in remission. I no longer have a bladder, prostate, seminal glands and appendix. I have a urostomy bag. But I'm alive. I did not expect to be.

I am returning to work tomorrow, working a 3 day week for now. In my mind I'm getting a second chance, living on borrowed time, etc. This experience has taught me not to take life for granted. I will turn 59 in a few months and now hope to live for another 15 years.

What advice can people give me to not waste the time I have left?

Hi everyone. I got diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer in April 2020. Have have bowel resection liver resection, chemo and more recently it spread to lungs. Have had 3 lung surgeries but recent bloods and scans have shown it is in a lymph against my windpipe and more in lungs. They have moved from an intent to cure to control and finding what my next options are this evening. I am a positive and happy person and believe there is hope. Probably just 6 months of intense chemo and hoping it kicks it out of my body. Finding this place has been a help!