My son turned 18 last December, graduated in May and moves away to college in August. He will be doing so having had a legal name change, nearly 3 years on HRT and most recently (a few days ago), top surgery. It was a bit of a rollercoaster as we have marketplace insurance which will not apply, had to come up with the money and, after initially not getting medical clearance, completely rework the trip. He is with my wife at a hotel in San Francisco recovering. Sad I couldn't be there with him but part of the trip rework resulted in schedule conflicts.

Many of you are new here since the change in administration and likely won't recognize me. I was previously very active in the sub.

My last effective day working was on my last day of being 46 back in 2023. I didn't technically stop working until January 1, 2024 as I was burning leave. Since terminal leave isn't (or wasn't) legal in the federal government, I came in on Friday the 29th to turn in my equipment, out process, etc.

I have written previously about what went well and what didn't.

The 3 biggest things I didn't expect:

• Getting VA disability and screwing up ACA subsidies
• Being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
• The budget impact of a small amount of tax free disability

Cancer Situation

I was diagnosed in July of 2025 despite having symptoms I attributed to IBS for at least 6 months prior. Underwent 6 rounds of Folfrinox (extremely potent chemo cocktail), had surgery in November (on my birthday) and had 6 more rounds. Rang the bell in early March of this year. While I am extremely grateful to be alive and hopefully see my 50th birthday this year, I am not who I was. I'm now a type 2 diabetic as I don't produce enough insulin with only half a pancreas. I can't eat without taking medication (Creon) as my pancreas doesn't produce digestive enzymes. I have pretty bad neuropathy in my hands and feet from the chemo. Etc.

ACA Situation

I became eligible to use the VA for medical care around the middle of 2024 but as it was all new to me and I already had marketplace insurance, I kept things as they were. What I discovered when I went to pay taxes was that I stopped being eligible for ACA subsidies and had to pay back about a half a year's worth. Ouch. Since January 1 2025, I have been using the VA while my family continues to use marketplace insurance. The cost with subsidies is probably the same or even less than what I was paying with the government and the coverage has been just as good.

Budget Situation

The original plan had been to execute a ROTH ladder and draw down the retirement savings until the pension kicked in at 60 and SS at 62. With the small amount of tax free disability income from the VA which I hadn't planned on, the amount needed to draw down was reduced below a critical threshold (the amount we are spending is less than the amount it is growing). In other words, we have more money now than when we stopped working. In fact, I switched from a ROTH ladder to a 72T just to be able to pull out more money sooner and it's still outpacing us. I know a lot of that has to do with how the market has been (ignoring world events) and it's a good problem to have (yay for eventual RMDs). Still, it makes me think that I should have pulled the trigger even earlier.

Life Situation

I'm extremely grateful to be alive and cancer free but we are not taking anything for granted. The statistics are disheartening to say the least. I put basically everything on hold for a year and now things are in high gear. We are traveling, visiting friends and family. My youngest graduated from HS and will be moving away to college in August making us empty nesters. We are planning 3 months in Europe this fall and 6 months in SE Asia next year.

Questions And Advice

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm busier now than I ever was when I was working 40+ hours a week but I want to continue to support this community however I can for as long as I can.

My advice - if you can, do. Tomorrow is not promised and life is able to be enjoyed the younger and healthier you are. Hold those you love close, drive fast and take chances (try not to get caught).

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow but I am really confused about my symptoms and wanted the community's thoughts

* Assumed IBS for nearly 30 years which could have been chronic pancreatitis

* Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July of 2025 and began using Creon

* Chemo, Whipple Surgery (Nov 2025), Chemo, rang the bell March 5th, 2026

* CT scan from February showed mild atrophy of the remaining pancreas while May's scan indicates moderate.

I assumed the last bullet was the reason I had needed to increase my Creon dosage from 12-36K per meal to 72-96K.

This past Tuesday I went to an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ to celebrate my son's graduation for lunch and then had pizza for dinner. Wednesday EARLY morning symptoms started

I had severe stomach cramping, high velocity liquid diarrhea, etc. I assumed I was paying the piper for my previous days bad decisions. The only other symptom that was out of place was extreme tiredness - to the point if I wasn't pooping, I was sleeping.

By Thursday morning all symptoms had abated except the diarrhea. I was no longer tired, wasn't having ANY pain, felt pretty good but still nearly liquid yellow/orange-ish diarrhea.

It's now Sunday and nothing has changed. I feel great and have no symptoms other than what would appear to be a digestive enzyme insufficiency.

The only two ideas I have are:

* Somehow I am taking too much Creon (96K per meal regardless of meal size/content) and it's irritating my digestive system

* Somehow the Creon has been compromised and is not working

Your thoughts.

I was diagnosed in July of 2025, did 6 rounds of FOLFIRINOX, had surgery mid-November and 6 more rounds of FOLFIRINOX and rang the bell on March 5th.

About 3 weeks ago I started having sheering abdominal pain occasionally when getting up as well as the return of some GI issues. I was more than a little concerned about the outcome of my CT scan yesterday (May 4th).

The good news is that there's still no evidence of disease!

Bad news is that I developed a hernia and need to set up a consultation with the surgeon though the oncologist didn't seem concerned. Also, the atrophy status of my pancreas went from mild to moderate and I will likely need to increase my Creon (meeting with GI doc is Thursday May 7). Odd part of this is my insulin production has actually increased - no longer on supplemental insulin (oral meds only) and A1C is 6.0 and falling.

I'm sharing this because I know that this stuff can be extremely worrying (you see it on the sub all the time) but sometimes it is still ok.

Next CT scan is in August - LFG!

All, I recently started cruising again after nearly a year hiatus due to being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (rang the bell on March 5th yay!).

MSC

My first cruise back was with MSC and there was no way to pre-pay gratuities online through the online portal (at least no way I could figure out). When they appeared on the account, I went to guest services to see if I could get a break down on how they are distributed like I had seen with other cruise lines. Guest services said that 100% are distributed evenly amongst crew and there wasn't a specific ration for cabin steward, wait staff, etc. We talked to our cabin steward and to our head waiter and while they were reticent at first to talk about it, they both confirmed that their salary didn't fluctuate based on gratuity nor did they get a base salary + tips, that their salary was fixed. In other words - MSC appears to be subsidizing salary through gratuities. I'm not okay with this.

Carnival

My second cruise back was with Carnival. I went to guest services and they told me they still distribute tips the way they used to. I said so crew members get a contracted base salary plus a variable amount of tips and was told yes. I then asked if I were to remove the gratuities for my cabin steward and then hand the money directly to him, would he receive more/less/same as if I had just left it alone. The answer I got was "slightly more - probably". When I pushed for details the answer was that there is no concept of guest X's tip goes to guest X's cabin steward but rather all of the tips for all guests are first pooled and then proportioned to the crew members depending on department. Since there are always guests that remove gratuities and some guests are no-shows, etc. that the my gratuities would be diluted a bit if allowed to pool but not if I handed the money directly. Our cabin steward confirmed this (that their monthly pay was variable but included both a base salary and a tip amount).

My Issue

I'm not here to debate if gratuities are or are not a good thing. I choose to pay them and prefer them to be automatic. What I am not okay with is a cruise line implying that my gratuities are on top of salary but then using it to reduce how much of the employee's pay comes out of their pocket

Other Cruise Lines

Does anyone have any current and confirmed information on which cruise lines behave more like MSC and which ones behave more like Carnival? I have both Royal and Carnival still booked for the remainder of the year but am interested in any/all cruise lines. So far I have sailed with:

• Royal
• Celebrity
• NCL
• Carnival
• MSC