I’ve got big news, Legionnaires, and it’s not great.
Most of you are familiar with ClarkKent_DC, aka KC, aka Kelvin Childs. Kelvin isn’t just another Legionnaire, he’s an OG Legionnaire whose genial comments, enormous knowledge and expansive spirit have informed this board since near its inception in the ‘90s. I think it’s fair to say that Kelvin’s generosity and decency are imbedded in this forum’s DNA. We wouldn’t be who we are without him, and I know a lot of Legionnaires (myself included) consider him a dear friend.
Eight years ago, Kelvin was diagnosed with prostate cancer. That’s not good, but he did all the right things, fought the good fight, and knocked the Big C back. It’s been more than five years, which is technically “cured.”
Then came a diagnosis of gastric cancer. Again, Kelvin rallied, took the fight to the disease, and came out clean. You can’t keep a good Legionnaire down.
But this wasn't a cure, it was jut remission. And the cancer is back.
Kelvin is once again on the battlefield. I want to be there with him. I know a lot of you will feel the same way. Kelvin is our guy, One Of Us, a teammate and friend. If he’s in a scrap, we all want to be with him.
I know we can’t help him physically. But there’s a lot of other ways to jump into the fight. We can root for him from the bleachers, we can help his family financially, we can provide support where needed.
But don’t listen to me; KC has — as you’d expect — taken his story online. He’s on CaringBridge, and I urge every Legionnaire to go there and talk to him. This isn’t just anybody, it’s KELVIN we’re talking about. So log in and register for the fight.
You know he’d do it for us.
Replies
I wasn't able to use that link, for some reason, but going to Caringbridge.org and searching for Kelvin Childs brought me to him. It's not a public-facing page (which might be why the link didn't work); you have to send a request for Kelvin to approve in order to see it. But like Cap, I urge everyone to do so. Kelvin is an amazing guy, and deserves our very best.
I’ve been following Kelvin’s occasional posts on Caring Bridge. He’s going through a round of chemo according to the last one I read, with occasional insurance company BS.
Anyone who wants to read his updates should send him a note using the Captain Comics Messages option at the top of the home page (envelope image).
Hi, all.
First, thank you, Cap for those ebullient words of praise. I didn't know I was thought of in such terms, and it humbles me.
To all of you, my apologies that I haven't been posting here with any frequency, or any regularity, because I've been tied up on an urgent case of my own.
Cap described the long and short of it. I was diagnosed with gastric (stomach) cancer in March of 2023, underwent chemotherapy over June and July, major surgery in August, and was in the clear until November 2024.
Prostate cancer, I have learned (the hard way) is relatively easy. It can be dormant in your body for years and even decades and you can actually die of old age without it being a real problem ... unless it goes from 0-to-60 malignant (0 to 100 in Black men), and you can't know if or when it will. But there are multiple treatment options.
Gastric cancer, my surgeon told me, is hard. The only real option that works is surgery, and even then the odds aren't great with surgery alone, often (but not always) because by the time it grows to the point of being detectable, it's already too late. Couple surgery with chemotherapy and that brings the odds up to only 50-50. In my case, it was caught early enough-ish to give me options that worked ... until they didn't.
I say more -- a lot more -- on my Caring Bridge page. It's a specialty blog for people with medical issues to tell their stories. As Rob Staeger noted, I have my privacy settings tight (although we are reminded, yet again, that nothing is really private on the Internet). So if you're interested in reading my story, as Richard Wills suggests, send me a note with your email address using the Captain Comics Messages option and I'll send you an invitation.
I hope you will find my posts entertaining as well as informative. In the comments, I'm told I am a "talented writer," that my explanations are "thoughtul" and "thorough" and "superbly written," and I "find a way to inject humor into every situation." I need to.
Thanks!