Topic: Got cancer, started my exocage

[TheBandit]

A couple weeks ago I was diagnosed with Hodgkins lympoma. As far as cancer goes, this is about the best you could ask for (prognosis wise), but my life has still turned upside down. The oncologist says my treatment (radiation and possibly chemo) will start soon, so I wanted to do this while I can to get my mind off things.

Here goes...



First I bent the two B pillars, but I forgot about the camera until they were already done, so let's start with the two A-pillars (below).



(Below) Here I am fitting one of the A-pillars.



(Below) The cage is 1-3/4x0.120 HREW. At the back of each A-pillar, I inserted some 1-1/2x0.095 tubing and plug welded it in three places around the tube. Later I will build the back half of the cage starting from these splices.





(Below) Cleanin' up the plug welds with a pearl pad.



(Below) Lots of welding and fitting.





(Below) I used some magnets to help keep the cab spacing right.







(Below) While I don't encourage it, I used a wet towel while welding to keep spatter off the windshield and body.



(Below) My welds aren't spectacular, but they should hold fine.







That's as far as I got this weekend. I should mention that while I welded as much as I could on the two cross braces, the A & B pillars are only tack welded at the bottom. When I am done doing the cross bracing, I'll break those tacks and pull the whole thing off to finish welding all the backsides.

I'll take some daytime pictures later this week. Depending on when my treatment starts, I'll pick up on this project again in two weeks. There is a lot left to build so please don't tell me how much cross bracing it needs until I'm done.

*EDIT* Added some daytime shots below

[6.72:1]

Looks good! Keep up the good work and don't let anything get you down.

Can't wait to see progress!

[Racer-X]

holy cow!

You look quite young, how old are you?

[Gittinit]

Thats a great start on the exo cage can't wait to see more progress. I hope everything goes as well as possible whith the treatment. Good luck and best whishes.

[4runner freak]

Bandit,
Sorry to here about the Hodgkins, as you go through you treatments make sure you have family and loved ones close. My wife went through a year of chemo (at 25) for melanoma(stage 3 skin cancer) and she said that it is always a little easier when you have someone to rely on to be there with you. Good luck with the treatments.

Oh, and on a non-important topic, the cage looks good. Looks like your bender is working well.
I wish that I could have a good personally usable senior design project like that(We are designing a Chassis Dyno, CU at Denver).

[79coyotefrg]

Bandit,  the cage looks good, 

dont let the treatments get you down,  i  had lymphnodes removed  2 years ago, luckily  i didnt require chemo 

our prayers  are with ya bud

[papa mike]

awsome cage ,,,sorry to hear about your cancer  i have a friend  that had the same thing  its been four years for him  no cancer  has come back    my family prays for your  health

[Hottrod81]

Looks good and don't let it get you down.  Many people have gone through the same treatment with great success.  My nephew who is 7 years old had leukemia and he is now in remission.  Good luck.

[Hottrod81]

Were you at the Surf N Turf

[854RUN]

Cage is coming along awesome, love you bender. Be strong, you will pull throw it. You are in are prayers 

[Cheesemaker]

I've had several people with similar cancer and are in remission for many years now!  One friend who had severe radiation in her lower back when she was 12, and was told that there is a 99.9% chance that she will never ever have children.  Well, she's in her mid 20's and has three kids and is trying to convice her husband to have 1 more!  So, good luck!  Alot of positive energy aims towards ya, as long as you stay positive and do as the Dr. says!  My dad died of inoperable mastastised prostate cancer this last summer!  So, have alot of faith and family is important! 


Lighter side of things, I LOVE YOUR GRILL GUARD!  That rocks!!  That is got to be the best looking guard I've seen!  You do good work!

[genericposter]

Sorry to hear about the cancer. Take care of yourself and get the hard stuff done now so you don't have to strain yourself later on.

[abnormaltoy]

Dang man! I like the way you subtly worked that in there!

I don't know if it matters to you, but, you'll be in my prayers.

Take care

[TheBandit [OP]]

Thanks everybody for all the encouragement. Cancer sucks, but with your prayers and a little optimism it will only be a bump in the road.

I am 23 yrs old. Apparently Hodgkins is bimodal - there is a younger age group and an older age group that gets it. I noticed a lump on my neck and it turned out to be one of about a dozen affected lymph nodes. So far I've been through a gammet of blood tests, surgery for biopsy, PET/CT scan, x-rays, etc etc. It's definitely not unbeatable and I am ready to kick it's ass, it's just gonna take some work.

4RunnerFreak, best wishes to you and your wife. I hope she is recovering and lives a long happy life!

Hotrod81, your nephew is SO fortunate. I am glad to hear he is in remission and I hope some day they will be able to call it CURED.

cheesemaker, I am very sorry to hear about your dad. I can't imagine losing someone that close. But I am glad you know so many people who have been able to beat it. Your prayers are appreciated! And thank you for the complements on my front bumper

As far as the cage goes, I am open to input/criticism. I kinda have an idea in my head already of how I'm going to do it. The roof will look like this /|\ and I'm going to add some smaller (1" or 1-1/4") pieces for corner gussets. I am going to at least tack a vertical tube in front of the windshield to see how bad it affects visibility. I'm thinking about using 1-1/4 tubing for that, but I'm not sure.

Thanks everyone for sending your positive vibes my way. It never hurts. I'm fortunate to have great family and friends to help me through this rather difficult time in my life.

[KYOTA]

WhyTF does like this happen to people with such natural talent (to anyone for that matter). Dont know you but from various forum convo's, but I'm betting that just by the type of person you are you will overcome this just like any other obstacle or challenge you've faced. good luck -Kyle

btw cage looks awesome as usuall

[BLACKDOG]

Awesome work!    Can't wait to see the rest of it

We'll be here when you're better, so focus on that.  I'm sure you'll beat it, just keep family and friends close by

My prayers are going out to ya!

[Rocksurfer]

I love that bumper, very cool.......  good luck on the other issue nothin' a young buck can't beat.

[Plowking]

The key to beating any cancer is the will to fight it and the positive attitude you carry. Hang in there, it will get better.

( NICE WORK )

[kajo4x4toy]

Bandit,

Seems we hav alot in common, I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma almost 5 years ago. My daugter was 2 months old. I went through 8 month's of chemo and 1 month of Radiation. Just hit 4 years or remission, 1 more year and I will be considered "Cured". It slowed me down a little during the treatments and I can't run like I used to but everyday I wake up happy to be alive. Do what the Doc's tell you to do and get plenty of rest. I remember setting up third members and building my first ultimate crawler during the chemo, I worked 30 minutes and rested an hour. Yu are in my prayers and If you need any words of encouragement from a fellow xo-caged 4Runner owner that has been there, let me know.

Cage work is lookin' good.

[TheBandit [OP]]

KYOTA - I know it's unfortunate, but it could be a lot worse. Lots of people have it much worse than I do, so I am just thankful it is a treatable illness and I have a very good chance of recovering from it. Thanks for the complements on the cage! It means a lot coming from you - yours turned out bitchin'

Blackdog - Thanks for the complements! My family has been very supportive. They have been visiting every weekend and taking time off from work to drive up and go to doctors with me. I couldn't ask for better.

Rocksurfer - Appreciate the kind words. I have another thread somewhere here with details on building the bumper and lots of pics if you want me to dig it up I can.

Plowking - Thanks

kajo4x4toy - Wow, I had no idea. Congratulations on getting through it and building some awesome wheelers since. You know how much I like your 4Runner and your old truggy was my favorite. Don't be surprised if you come across more similarities as I continue building mine. I doubt it will turn out as nice, but I will try! Thanks for the encouragement.

[weirdtimes_7]

That cage looks really good.. one question for you though.... wasnst welding that close hurt your body paint because of the extreme heat??

Best of luck on your fight against cancer, all of us know you will pull through it, you will be fine and will keep doing great things for the rest of your life

military_stang

[Hottrod81]

I think that I am going to copy the design of your front bumper, I really like it.  Will it be fitted with a winch?

[Cheesemaker]

That cage looks really good.. one question for you though.... wasnst welding that close hurt your body paint because of the extreme heat??

military_stang

He said he used a wet towel, and not recommended!!

[yotaboy79]

dood that sucks my best wishes go out to you for a speady recovery,
oh and by the way the cage looks like a very good start

[TheBandit [OP]]

That cage looks really good.. one question for you though.... wasnst welding that close hurt your body paint because of the extreme heat??

Yes, that's why I soaked a towel in cold water. Some of the pictures show me welding before I got the towel because I forgot about it early on.

I think that I am going to copy the design of your front bumper, I really like it.  Will it be fitted with a winch?

I would be flattered. Yes eventually it will be fitted with a winch, but that is low priority due to cost. I can make a duplicate of this bumper pretty easily because I designed it using Bend Tech.

dood that sucks my best wishes go out to you for a speady recovery,
oh and by the way the cage looks like a very good start

Thanks!

Here are some pictures from yesterday. It was really exhausting making these few pices.

[6.72:1]

I like.

[TheBandit [OP]]

I like.

Thanks

[Shoyrtt]

The exo looks great.  8) I am planning to start exo my soon. The only area that might be of concern is the A pillar tube into the fender tube and not the frame.   From an engineering standpoint, is there much if any difference between connecting at the fender tube then to the frame versus a a single tube to the frame.

My wife was diagnosed last year at 36 with thyroid cancer. After a small surgery, she is doing great! I was so impressed with the advances in medical treatment. Keep a positive attitude and you can beat it.

[854RUN]

Its looken sweet man

[RRMike]

Just finished the front part of mine too.  The wet towel Idea I used for the last part after reading your post.  Why do you not recommend?  I thought it worked great!



I ran out of tube before I got the tube across the cowl that's why it's not painted and the rest is.  The rest was done a couple weeks ago and I been waiting on fundage to get more tube.  Now I'm waiting on better weather

The welds on yours do look a little cold though.  Mine have heat discoloration a long way from the welds.  I don't think it will be a big issue since I've seen what a good notch and just a couple tack welds are capable of when trying to get mine apart



Reading about you designing a bender over on Pirate is the first time I ever even thought about bending tube in my life. 

Stay positive and you will be fine.  You're way too young for that stuff to take hold.  Aggressive chemo kicks a$$ and when you're young and in good shape they can be very aggressive.  You will be fine in a couple months.