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Flyertalk, travels, etc thru the "eyes" of a FTer having Stage 4 cancer (Part 1 of 4)

Flyertalk, travels, etc thru the "eyes" of a FTer having Stage 4 cancer (Part 1 of 4)

Old Mar 19, 2013, 9:06 pm
  #1  
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Flyertalk, travels, etc thru the "eyes" of a FTer having Stage 4 cancer (Part 1 of 4)

Background: I was born in mid 1958 in the midwest. I had an interesting childhood. I had 2 younger sisters with Cystic Fibrosis (born 1963/1964) that are deceased, my parents brought us up to be honest, ethical & to be positive! I also had 2 other sisters that were healthy.

As an child, I was hyperactive, and needed speech therapy. (at 5 yrs old, I could not speak well but I knew to spell BIG words!). I was always very curious and wanted to see the world. I started out small and gradually worked my way from there!

I always run into negative people but I never let those people get in my way. I remained positive in spite of the negativity that often came before me. I always listened when advice was helpful and even at a young age, I had very good intuition.

Getting back to travels, I will give examples of my "curious nature" and how it ties into travels.

1. At age 7, I lost a button at my summer speech therapy camp (6 summer weeks 1965-1970) and I knew enough to go downstairs to a sewing lady to have her sew my button.

2. At age 14-15, I collected stamps, coins and old bottles. I also had my first job at age 12 (picking apples). I also started riding my bike starting at age 12. By the time I was 15-16, I rode my bike 25+ miles from home. (near MBS). I pursued my hobbies using my bicycle as a means of transport.
I wanted to find my way to a relatives house 200 miles from home (near TVC) but I couldn't ride a bicycle that far!!! I was going to buy a motorbike but they moved back to our area.

3. At age 17 (1975) , I got my car. (actually 1966 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup). In 1975-77, I was all over lower Michigan, Ohio,Indiana. My travels were expanding alot. I started college in Fall 1976 (you can guess my major by my FT handle!!!) and travels increased alot during college. Still no airline trips but that will change alot starting in the summer of 1980.

4. I had my airplane trip and I was looking for the cheapest airfare. I was invited to the University of Texas-Austin to look at graduate schools in the summer of 1980. I took my airline flight & I flew MBS-DTW-IAH-AUS, AUS-DFW-DTW-MBS. I was on NW Orient/TX intl/Continental/Southwest/Braniff. I even joined a FF program (TX intl?) on that trip. This was my first time that far away from home &I loved it!!!

5. During grad school, I took alot of airline trips for cheap!! I was smart enough to join every FF program including CO. I was a very late bloomer on flying but I took the plunge. I did my first MR IAH-JAX for $32 RT w/no taxes. O got something like 4X or 5X times. Too bad I did not do it many times! That would come in later years!!
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Old Mar 19, 2013, 9:55 pm
  #2  
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FT, travels, etc thru the "eyes" of a FTer having stage 4 cancer (Part 2 of 4)

Part 2:

After grad school I moved to California in 1986. I loved Austin & the friendly people there. I could not find a scientific (chemist, laboratory,etc).

I hated moving to California but I had a relative that moved there in 1985. The job market was HOT in the Los Angeles area. (LAX,ONT,BUR,SNA,etc) Within a few months, I got my first permanent job at an oil refinery. I did alot of travels by car, plane, etc. I worked at the oil refinery from 1986-1989. I got creative in my travels to save $$!! In the late 1980's, I interviewed for jobs and when an employer flew me out for job interviews, I would ask them (nicely ) to book me on a certain airline. I was still a "rookie" on airline travels but I did my homework to make sure my "airline" didn't cost the prospective employer any more $$!

In 1989, I changed employers to the environmental field. I moved to the FAT area (Fresno, CA) but I was 1.5 hrs outside of FAT. After a year, I did not care for the employer and was job hunting within a year. In 1990/91, the environmental field became the HOT ticket but most employers did not want to pay my wages I was getting with that employer. (note: my wages were just average for chemists at that employer). At that time (early 1990's, I was flown all over the country and I registered for the segment promos that gave me a "boatload" of FF miles plus lots of free travel at that time. I worked 4/10 and had Mondays off. I would offer to the prospective employer to leave on Saturday instead of Sunday to save them loads of $$ (note: at that time, airfares were full price if Sat nite stays were not met ). I got lots of free mini vacations whenever I flew out for Sat-Mon interview trips and the employer did not know I was flying all over the country for job interviews!!). My mini vacations were paid for by the prospective employer!!! I also would have them fly me out of ONT (I had a relative near ONT that I could stay for free & he got lots of visits from 1990-1993!!!). On top of that, I owned an old (1974 AMC Hornet $1000 car with 36K miles that never broke down!!). I got paid IRS mileage (500+ miles RT) rates for driving to/from ONT. (Note: the airfares FAT-XXX were alot more and they ran sales from LAX/ONT-XXX all the time and the employer saved many times what they paid me in mileage rembursements!!). I was super creative and I got to see the sights around the country in my many mini vacations and free tickets!!! I also got to visit Canada, PR, Bermuda, Bahamas, and Alaska for free!!!!

Fast forward to 1993. I secured a chemist position with my present employer--(govt job). I got all this free travel and had to figure out how to use it having no vacation. As usual, I figured out a way that was win-win for me & my new employer. Needless to say, I got to take every free trip that had an expiration date. (tail end of segment promo #3 with UA & DL).

In 1994, I took my intl trip LAX-ATL-LGW on DL. I paid $400 for the ticket, got a $400 bump and flew 4 hrs later LAX-CVC-LGW securing FC on both legs to LGW. I suffered thru coach on the way back!! I had so much fun taking trains all over England & Scotland. I did it all in 8 days and only taking 1 days of vacation.

During the mid/late 1990's, I flew all over the US, Canada, Mexico, and all over Western Europe. I wanted to see Australia/NZ but that would come later.

In 1999, I used my CO stash I accumulated during the 1980's to visit Australia. I did have fun and for very cheap!! Since that time, I visited several times, (during my time on FT that I will get to!).

Last edited by Moomba; Mar 20, 2013 at 12:39 am
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Old Mar 19, 2013, 10:34 pm
  #3  
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FT, travels, etc thru the "eyes" of a FTer having stage 4 cancer (Part 3 of 4)

Now I will go into FT (pre cancer: April 2001 to Oct 2011).

I will try not to write too much but I can write many pages on FT benefited me (and others along the way!)

In Apri 2001, I joined FT a year after looking at www.clarkhoward.com travel forums. I wanted to find a cheap trip to London (Note: at that time, that was the cheapest all in airfare--especially from the west coast!!). NO excessive taxes, etc!!!

When I joined FT, my travel world changed by orders of magnitudes!! I did the following in the first year of FT:

1. bought mistake fare DEN-FRA on LH for $137ai. I booked a 6 segment trip on UA LAX-DEN and upgraded on all legs
2. Comped US Gold to UA PremEx (both mid tiers at the time)
3. Took alot of bumps and bought alot of $150-$200 transcons!

By 2002-2004, I was taking $400-$500 LAX/ONT/SNA-SIN trips. I routed thru HNL. stopped for free @NRT/HGK and took advantage of promos. On two SIN trips, I got 5X miles on two SIN runs, made 1K for 3 yrs & got upgraded almost all the time.

The most fun I had was I met FTers doing the same thing. One time, my boss found out I took a long weekend to SIN and asked me about it!! That was during one of my 5X promos. I told her that trip gave me enough miles to go to Australia in intl F!!! Not much more was said!!!

Toe brief, I had to work in a full time job, etc. Word got around that I was the "go to" person at work (expert) for finding deals on airfares. I was happy to help them!!! that was always my nature and it was my "fun" hobby. I becamed well traveled in the coming years because of FT!!!

In early 2004, I met my wife & we married in Sept 2006. She was the complete opposite of me. Her big airline trip was on AS in 1988 to Mexico.

I did take her to FCO in late 2005 (I used 40K RT off peak coach for her ticket and I used an expiring $600 bump voucher from 2002. (long story on how I got a 1 yr voucher to extend that long!! trick posted on FT at the time!!!). I proposed to her @St Peter's Square. I was cruel and took her in coach!!! I took her to Hawaii twice.

For a while, I didn't travel alot w/her when I first got married. Being a very good wife, she allowed me to use up most of my upgrades on UA/AA (for 2004, I was both UA 1K & AA Exec Plat. I then took her to Hawaii in upgraded Biz w/lots of legroom. By then, I was AA Plat. the upgrades did not go thru and my wife was spoiled!!! She was sad! I promised her I would take her to Europe in Biz!! Every Europe trip was in upgraded Biz (I would burn miles for her & take chances w/upgrades! I snagged Biz every time!!).

There are alot more examples of fun travels but I will move to the last series: FT from Oct 2011 to present when I first got dignosed with cancer.
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Old Mar 19, 2013, 10:43 pm
  #4  
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Originally Posted by chemist661
2. At age 14-15, I collected stamps, coins and old bottles.
Brings back some good memories from the 60s for me. I had those blue cardboard folders full of pennies and nickels, but have no idea what happened to them over the years. Also had a decent Superman comic book collection that I wish I had held onto.

I worked with a sergeant at the PD in the 70's who would go out to some of the old Victorian homes in town and collect bottles from what used to be the sites of outhouses. He had quite a significant collection of bottles going back to the mid-1800s just from around town.

I did a little better with my first car as I got my dad to cosign for a new 1974 Pontiac Firebird when I started my first job (used it to commute to Sacramento State plus the ride to work). I do remember those Hornets you mention in part II (and Gremlins). The PD had a feet of unmarked AMC cars back then, either Matadors or Rebels. and the AMC brand was pretty popular.
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Old Mar 19, 2013, 11:03 pm
  #5  
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Originally Posted by chemist661
I worked 4/10 and had Mondays off.
I started 4/10s with Tues/Wed/Thurs off and has progressed to Fri/Sat/Sun a few years before I retired---certainly makes it less painful to give up a day of your weekend for a mileage run. Actually turned down the opportunity to work 12. 5 hour shifts with Mon/Tues/Wed/Thurs off as I needed more free time than that afforded during the week (barely enough time to get home, go to bed, and get back up again for work, and God help you if you had to work overtime as they'd hold you for 16 if needed). Those shifts were very popular with dispatchers with small kids at home. No opportunity for prospective employers to pay for travel, though, and it looks you really made out well there.

Originally Posted by chemist661
I had so much fun taking trains all over England & Scotland. I did it all in 8 days and only taking 1 days of vacation.
Was that with a railpass? My first international trip was in 1992 and I spent 25 days in the UK, including a 21 day rail pass. Did the same thing in following years in Switzerland, France and Germany, though now I tend to buy individual tickets which I think are the better value (recall back in 1992 you could not buy individual rail tickets on line--you had to get a travel agent involved even for those). Now it's second nature to just get on-line and buy a ticket from London-Edinburgh or Berlin-Salzburg.

Did you do any shift trades in there? The folks I worked with survived on shift trades just to get longer weekends.
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Old Mar 19, 2013, 11:19 pm
  #6  
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FT, travels,etc thru the "eyes" of a FTer having Stage 4 cancer (part 4 of 4)

Summer/Fall 2011: I had the first stages of cancer but I didn't realize it. I was flying all over when I wasn't managing 4 rental houses 90 miles away, working full time, being married & doing lots of cheap, fun traveling!!!

To be brief, I had HMO insurance (I could write a "book" on my dislike of HMO's and the horrible insurance experiences but I will spare the details in this thread---you can find throughout FT where I wrote bits & pieces on my horrible HMO!!). I have PPO for 2013 and my medical care has been superb for 2013.

From July 2011 to Sept 2011, I went to urgent care 2x & my primary care Dr 2x. They told me I just had a fungus & I took more trips. (Austria/Germany/Switzerland, Hawaii, long weekends around the USA, etc)It took a 80 yr old local Dentist on in mid Oct 2011 to raise suspension of tongue cancer and referred to a dental oral surgeon. I paid cash for his opinion (<$100 as I was maxed out on the dental side) and got a referral to an ENT (neck surgeon). 9 days later, my biopsy of my tongue confirmed it was cancer. There was fungus under the tongue but as I found out the Dr's missed the cancer part of the tongue.

I was in alot of pain so I worked at my job as long as possible. I took OTC pain pills during the day and narcotic pain pills when I wasn't driving to/from work. I LOVED my job and I had the wisdom to work as long as possible to preserve my sick/vacation time. I wanted to work and got the OK to work a lighter workload due to my pain. I can manage pain very well and I worked until days before my Dec 22, 2011 head/neck surgery.

To not write a book, I will post a timeline of events of cancer & travels.

Dec 22, 2011: Head/neck surgery (15 hrs!). 2 week hospital stay.
Jan/Feb 2012: recovery from surgery.
March/April 2012: Chemo (round 1) and head/neck radiation--35x.
May 2012 (mid): went back to work full time
July 2012: PET Scan showed 2 cm spot in rt lung
Sept 2012*: Lung biopsy on 9/23/12. *delay due to HMO! & bad Oncologist
December 2012: Worked to 12/17/12. 1st chemo (round 2), rt hip/rt leg radiation
Dec 2012/Jan 2013: 7 day hospital stay due to pneumonia.
Jan 2013-late Feb 2013: Chemo #2 & 3.
March 2013: Hip fracture in San Diego (100 miles from home). Hospital stay 3/2 to 3/11. I was one of 2 out of 500 hip fracture cases that went from hospital direct to home w/o rehab. The other person was an athlete in his 20's and I will turn 55 in June.

I did alot of travels in spite of my cancer. During my cancer, I flew alot on award tickets to visit relatives in Michigan. I was cleared by the Doctors to attend the Chicago Seminars in 2011 & 2012. Although being Plat/Exec Plat on AA was excellent, my recent focus is getting better so I can travel again. Even with cancer and my setbacks along the way, I remain positive. Always have, alway will remain positive.

There were times that my Doctors told my wife I may not live very long (negative prognosis) but so far I kept active whenever possible!! When I injured my hip on 3/2, I walked over a mile from the Amtrak station to the hotel in DT San Diego. I injured my hip after resting for over an hour at the hotel. I fell going out walking 3 blocks for lunch.

I was on the path to recovery with keeping active and the Dr cleared me to fly in the 2nd/3rd weeks of chemo (round 2--Feb 2011). I was being cautious and haven't flown yet.

My hip injury on 3/2 is just another setback. I have my next chemo on on 3/25/13 (Monday) and only 4 more weeks until my hip heals up. I am doing as well as possible.

I am taking advantage of being on FT (and other blogs, etc) alot since I am not being able to drive and having to mostly stay at home. (Note: I do get out a few times to do necessary erands--ATM deposits, etc). I now have the best insurance my employer has and it cost us some $. Well worth it to keep me alive!!!

I have explored other threads (Milebuzz Mfg spend), CC threads, etc. I have learned from FT, MP & the various blogs on getting rewards from CC signups. for the time being, that has been my focus. Of course, my #1 focus is for my health!!!

I enjoy FT and reading other threads have been educational. I have tried to post what I know in other areas. (credit, Southwest CP by CC signups so my wife can travel w/me for free--SWA meet our short term needs as I may not be able to take transcons just yet!).

Bottom line: In spite of my advanced stages of cancer, my journey (travels, life, etc) have been alot of fun. FT taught me how to travel for very cheap/free. Attending the various DO's, travelling around the world for next to nothing, going in intl Biz/F has been superb!! I hope to "lick" this cancer by chemotherapy and be able to take to the skies again and see more of the world. I am a "born again" Christian and I am at peace. For me, my positive attitude comes from my faith. I have never put anyone down because of religion/politics. Never had put anyone down to my knowledge. (Note: If I had put someone down by mistake, I apologize in advance--not intentional!!) On FT, the wide variety of topics talked about is where it is at. For this old timer on FT, I became much informed about travels, plus other areas and for that I am thankful!!!

I hope you enjoy reading about my life's journey and I am praying I will have alot more time to enjoy my remaining time on this earth. I am hoping to read alot more FT in my future!!!

Thank you for reading my trip report series!!!

Last edited by chemist661; Mar 20, 2013 at 12:18 am Reason: finish trip report
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 12:46 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by tom911
Was that with a railpass? Did you do any shift trades in there? The folks I worked with survived on shift trades just to get longer weekends.
I bought a 8 day BritRail pass and really maxed out that pass. I went to York, Edinburgh, Iverness, William/Oben & Isle of Skye plus in/out of London. I went during Thanksgiving and the weather that year was unusually warm. One place in Scotland was over 70 F and the usual weather was snow!!!

For that job at the hazmat site, there was little flexibility since everyone had a fixed day off. Mine happened to be on Monday and no one wanted to trade. One reason I left!! Sat-Mon for interviews were good enough for my needs. I worked at a small lab at a hazmat site and everyone knew other people's business so I kept things (job hunting ) discrete at the time. The average tenure of a new chemist was 6 months and I stayed 3.5 yrs. I rose to #3 out of 12 chemists/lab techs at the lab. I was wise to leave in early 1993 as 1.5 years later, the hazmat site went from 240 people to 70. Most of the lab people got crappy buyouts due to their short tenure. My trusted coworker told me what went down.

I was well past probation at my new govt job and never looked back!!! I still work there!
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 11:56 am
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Thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope you with the battle against cancer and are back in the skies at the first opportunity.
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 1:33 pm
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Thanks for sharing your experiences with FlyerTalk and best wishes for beating the cancer. I admire your optimism.
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 2:13 pm
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You are the man, chemist661... so many awesome experiences and happy memories.
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 3:37 pm
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My prayers are with you! Fight the fight, live the life and be comforted in your faith!
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Old Mar 20, 2013, 6:20 pm
  #12  
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It was great to meet you at FTU LA. Good luck.
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Old Mar 21, 2013, 8:06 am
  #13  
 
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May you enjoy each and every lounge, each and every flight, each and every flight and each and every journey.

Strength and peace.
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Old Mar 21, 2013, 3:21 pm
  #14  
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Thanks for sharing this very personal perspective. Life is a lesson and the world is a fascinating classroom.

FT members are in the minority of the traveling public and they are a privileged bunch. I have benefited a lot from the kindness and expertise of a few people here and I will always be thankful for that. You have taken great advantage of your time here and I am glad that you were fruitful in your travels.

I wish you luck in your fight. There are so many more experiences awaiting for you out there. Most importantly, I admire your optimism and in my opinion you have won already.
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Old Mar 21, 2013, 4:39 pm
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You are in my thoughts. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer almost 5 years ago, so I know a bit about your ride. It's not easy and I wish you the best. Thanks for sharing.
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