My thoughts and prayers are with you. I hope you get well soon.

Best wishes to you for a fast recovery Bob.Carlos

Bob - Beleive me I speak from experience when I say that keeping a positive mental attitude will go a LONG way in resolving your problem. In 1988, they found a tumor on my right lung (yes, I was a heavy smoker) - It was malignant and ultimately I lost a lobe of my lung. Needless to say that I am still here. Even though my Mom had died from lung cancer, I never beleived anything other than that I was going to get better.Fear and worry never solved a problem - playing the what-if game is a lose-lose situation.Keep positive thoughts! My best thoughts are with you.Feel free to email me if you just want to let off steamVic

Take a good read of Pat's (zonie) note. This is 2009, modern medicine beats cancer every day - and I'm sure you're hearing it from everybody - but it's true, nonetheless; not everyone loses out to this insidious disease, Bob. I would suggest not giving up flying the sim, and continue interacting with your buddies in the Avsim family. Your mental health becomes more important in any stressful situation, and that's just as true as if someone was faced with a bird strike, two engines out over New York in an Airbus A320. They all survived. You can survive, too. All the best, pj

Hi Bob,Chin up, Bob. I do know how you must be feeling right now. I went through it myself in 1997 when a malignant melanoma was diagnosed on my right forearm. To this day I recall that awful moment when my doctor telephoned and asked me to sit down before breaking the news. What made it seem so much worse was the fact that the pathologist's report suggested it could be a metastatic deposit and the site of the primary was unknown. So, I too was subsequently subjected to that mandatory barrage of investigations.However, as you've noted, I'm still here to tell the tale :)Yes, I was lucky. The lesion turned out, after all, to be localised to my forearm and was treated with a deep wide excision of tissue. I'm left with an 11cm longitudinal depressed scar on my arm but, what the heck, I'm alive! Frequent regular visits to the Melanoma follow-up clinic continued for 5 years before finally I was discharged. Thankfully, there has been no recurrence.I'm quite sure you have been doing your own research. I found the following brief extract from some work done in 1996 by Zagars GK, Mullen JR, Pollack A. Department of Radiotherapy, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA. and I thought you would be interested."Conclusion: Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a heterogeneous disease and its myxoid variant must be recognized as a distinct entity. Both variants are locally aggressive and require equally aggressive local therapy. Conservation surgery striving for negative margins with radiation therapy provides acceptable local control and is the treatment of choice for this disease. Patients with myxoid tumors do not require systemic therapy; patients with nonmyxoid disease exceeding 5 cm are at significant risk for metastases and the development of effective adjuvant treatment is an important research tool."Another quote from a different source: "For myxoid tumors a significant metastatic rate appeared only for tumors exceeding 10 cm (10-year metastatic rates of 8% vs. 44% for tumors less than vs. greater than 10 cm)."Your description suggests that this lesion was diagnosed early on in its development and the likelihood is that it is still quite small in size. That being the case, I would certainly be feeling more encouraged as I would be expecting it to be treated with local measures making the prognosis much more optimistic.Regards and best wishes,Mike

Hi, Bob.I am very sorry to hear about your problem. A couple of things to remember:The most difficult time is the Diagnosis / not knowing what is, and what to do.This type of battle can be just as hard on your support group / immediate family, if not harder.Approach a University type Clinic, like UCLA / others, for another input as to what avenue / treatment to pursue.Once you get a recommended plan of action, stick with it regardless of how difficult it may seem. You have to have Positive thinking. I can win, no little bug is going to get the best of me. etc. I know it's difficult, but I also know it's possible.You are a tough guy, I know it from your posts. The available medication, and Science, now days make most of these problems survivable, treatable and a very good chance to return to normal.This is a War, get all your weapons available and use them.Good luck to you and your family. You can Email me if you want to chat privately. TV

Sending out my best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery Bob, hang in there!!

Hi BobThis will be a very difficult time for you and as one who has had cancer, and recovered, I wish you all the very best over these next months. Hang in there and stay positive. All the best.CheersMike

Bob,Hang in there as there is alot to be said about a positive attitude. If you love simming and hanging out on the forums, I think you should continue if you feel up to it. Relaxing and doing what you enjoy is good for anybody.My wife and I will certainly keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Hang in there, you are going to do just fine!RegardsBob and Carla

Bob,I wish you the BEST of all possible outcomes. I feel that you were diagnosed early and you'll be back in our forums very soon. Keep the positive outlook on life, and we'll be talking to you soon.....and you'll have good news for yourself, your family, and all of your friends here at AVSIM!

Hi Bob,Here's wishing you a quick recovery along with me & my families prayers!! Sounds like you are strong person so just go after this problem like you would a bug in FSX. :( Good luck to you my friend,Gary & Family

Hopefully things will get better. Sorry to hear...argh...medical stuff is a pain...

Hi Bob,I'm very sorry for the bad news. But never lose hope, and just keep doing what you love to do and you will be completely healthy before you know it. Many people have completely recovered from malignant tumors...you can...I mean, WILL too! My thoughts are with you.Wish you a speedy recovery.

hi Bob,i'm very sorry to hear that. i hope you have a speedy and safe recovery. God Bless You & Your Family!wishing you many more happy flights Very Soon, FlyinMisfit

Hang in there mate, you will get through this!Keep in a positive frame of mind, willpower can do amazing things. On this forum are people you have never met and yet from all over the world we post back to you today to let you know you have friends and that you are in our thoughts.