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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Severus Alexander, post: 8201226, member: 84744&quot;]Hello everyone,</p><p><br /></p><p>I have some good news to report: my immunotherapy is working!&nbsp; The chances of it doing so weren&#039;t great, and my pain hadn&#039;t really improved (just shifted)... so I was feeling quite negative heading to the appointment in which my oncologist was going to tell me the results of my latest PET scan.&nbsp; I expected to have to switch to a difficult and less promising (prognosis-wise) chemotherapy.&nbsp; Instead, grinning from ear to ear (I could tell even through his mask), he gave me the good news! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie50" alt=":happy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This is the treatment that gives me the longest survival potential, so it was an incredible relief to hear my tumours were shrinking.&nbsp; Now we are working on the pain caused by a side-effect of my cancer. (&quot;Oncogenic osteomalacia&quot; - docs here, please let me know if you have suggestions regarding this!)</p><p><br /></p><p>The support I&#039;ve had on CoinTalk has helped enormously.&nbsp; Thank you!!</p><p><br /></p><p>Seven of you, in particular, did something really amazing.&nbsp; Just a few days before I received the good news, a magical surprise package came in the mail.&nbsp; It contained this coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1437147[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>It is an AE tetras from Akragas, Sicily, c. 425-406 BCE, countermarked with the head of Herakles facing right.&nbsp; In the note accompanying the coin, my lovely coin-friends explained the symbolism: Herakles, the hero, crushes the crab, which obviously represents cancer.&nbsp; I confess I burst into tears - a complex mix of happy-sad tears - upon reading the note.&nbsp; What an extraordinary, kind, and generous gesture, and a perfect expression of their hopes for me.&nbsp; Again, thank you so very, very much, [USER=56859]@TIF[/USER], [USER=57495]@zumbly[/USER], [USER=83845]@Curtisimo[/USER], [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER], [USER=91461]@Ryro[/USER], [USER=4298]@Cucumbor[/USER], and [USER=51347]@Alegandron[/USER].&nbsp; You are wonderful coin-friends, and wonderful friends tout court.</p><p><br /></p><p>Not only is it an extraordinary gift in terms of its symbolism, it&#039;s an extraordinary coin apart from that.&nbsp; I don&#039;t think I&#039;ve ever seen an example where both the countermark and the undertype&#039;s details are preserved so amazingly well.&nbsp; I love the crab, and the shrimp, and the poor leveret too.&nbsp; I needed an early bronze coin from Sicily, where token bronze began.&nbsp; Plus the countermark may well be among the earliest numismatic products of Carthage (though there is some uncertainty about this).&nbsp; Overall, the coin fits spectacularly well into my collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>For those who are interested, here&#039;s the historical note I entered into my database:</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Populated by Dorian Greeks, Akragas was one of the pre-eminent cities in Sicily until its defeat by Syracuse in 450 BCE.&nbsp; </font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">The second Sicilian war between the Greeks of Sicily and Carthage was instigated by the renegade Syracusan general Hermocrates, who attacked a number of Punic trading settlements from his base in Selinus.&nbsp; In retaliation, the Carthagineans (under Hannibal Mago, “The Greek Hater”) beseiged Akragas in 406-405 BCE.&nbsp; The siege lasted 8 months, ending in the city’s sack.&nbsp; Much of the population, including the army, had left under cover of darkness the night before.&nbsp; The Carthagineans remained for a few months, thoroughly looting what remained, then destroyed the city upon leaving in the spring of 405, moving on to Gela.</font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p><font size="3">Refugees from Akragas largely went to Syracuse, and instigated the political events that led to the tyranny of Dionysius I.&nbsp; Akragas was repopulated, but never achieved its former greatness.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Without question my #1 coin for 2022!</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, the battle against my cancer continues, but with renewed vigour.&nbsp; I&#039;ll try to give periodic updates here.&nbsp; Probably not for a while, we&#039;ll just plug away with the immunotherapy, and check again how things are going with a PET scan in a couple of months.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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