Holland | YRC The Cancer Of The Trucking Industry

Toby

TB Legend
Credits
21
YRC The Cancer Of The Trucking Industry


There comes a point that you have to stop worrying that you will be persecuted for speaking the truth, and that point has arrived. For way to long those that not only work for this corporation, but also those who are in the industry in one form or another understand that the YRC Corporation has evolved into a cancer in the trucking industry. Today the question really is should it be allowed to be euthanized, or should it mercifully be allowed to die on its own?



The cancer that started out as a simple tumor has been allowed to grow into stage four proportions. In the quest to dominate the LTL marketplace Yellow Trucking embarked upon the strategy of acquiring competing companies and running them into the ground. Long before they bought Roadway and USF they acquired and destroyed perfectly good companies. They overextended themselves when they took out loans to buy both Roadway and then USF. In the ensuing years all they have done is mismanage and dismantle companies that once were the leaders in the industry.



While competing companies have bounced back for the most part from the downturn in the economy, YRC and its sister companies continue to demand give backs and sacrifices from its employees. Even when a small profit is shown from time to time and large corporate payouts to executive officers, the rank and file employees suffer with stagnant wages and retirement contributions.



The sacrifices that the rank and file employees have gone in vane when you examine it with open and honest eyes. Since January, 2009 each hourly employee who has taken a 15% wage cut has given back to the company roughly $93,500 out of their pocket to keep this disease afloat. With an average of $11,500 dollars on the low side in wage give backs yearly one would assume that the sacrifice was being put to good use, but sadly we see that it has not. The wages alone were not the only sacrifice or overall monetary giveback. With the pension freeze that occurred and the vacation giveback the company reaped in millions of dollars annually in reductions of overhead costs.



Monetary sacrifices were not the only thing that occurred as a result of the spread of this cancer, The reputation of these once great companies suffered in the ensuing years as well, not only to the customers, but throughout the industry to fellow drivers and workers in the industry. At one time fellow drivers looked to companies like Yellow, Roadway, and Holland as the pinnacle point to strive for in a driving career. While we may never have driven the most pretty trucks or had the newest equipment on the road, we did lead the industry in wages and benefits. We set the bar for other companies in these regards, while today for like sized companies we are at the bottom in regards to wages and retirement.



When once it was difficult to be hired on to these companies without years of experience, today the scramble to bring in drivers with little to no experience is in full swing. Without a doubt the industry as a whole is suffering from a lack of drivers, especially experienced qualified drivers. It only highlights the fact that where once Yellow, Roadway, Holland, and the other companies under the YRC umbrella would be able to attract those in this industry even in circumstances such as a driver shortage. The reputation of this corporation has suffered so bad that even experienced non-union drivers whisper and in many cases feel pity towards those at YRC and its sister companies. Drivers hear it on the streets everyday whether they are honest to admit it or not.



Like anyone suffering from a disease moral and personal circumstances are tested and in many cases suffer. The overall moral of rank and file employees is an all time low, those who have been around prior to the 2009 MOU understand just what has been given away. They understand or they should understand that they will never get back what they gave up. The 2014 MOU was a clear indication that the eventual death spiral of this company was only a matter of time. Even with all the sacrifices, corporate continued to follow a failing business plan. As a result of over extending and purchasing of companies that they in all rights had no right to purchase they dug a hole that cannot be filled no matter how much the rank and file employees sacrifice.



When you go back to all the sacrifices that the rank and file employees have given for this cancer of the trucking industry the unmentioned sacrifice that those who run it do not see or understand the real personal cases. While rank and file employees suffered through loss of homes and marriages, bankruptcies, injuries, and a diminished outlook to retirement corporate officers and management made bank. They took home multi million dollar bonuses and continue to do so even as the company flounders like a fish out of water.



It is easy to begrudge the executive officers for taking these huge bonuses when the rank and file as well as the company as a whole suffers, but they are just abiding by the agreement and contracts that they negotiated. What many in the family of YRC fail to do is hold those who allowed the negotiations for what the rank and file received and have to live under. It was originally done in good faith that we would only have to sacrifice till 2015, then it was extended in 2014 with the MOU till 2019 and the question there is for what!



Did we see any improvement in the operating of this company?



Did we see a flood of new equipment roll into our terminals?



Did we see the existing equipment be properly maintained?



Do we honestly think that we will return to industry standard in wages and retirement in 2019?



I would have to argue no to all the above!



The cancer has embedded so deep that once great companies that are now under the umbrella of YRC who attracted the best are now left scrambling to just fill the roster. After years of using outside cartage at the expense of millions of dollars a day, we are now really witnessing just how poorly our sacrifices have been wasted. It is of no wonder that moral throughout the YRC family is at an all time low! The rank and file put up with many things over the last eight years from seeing ,”Do not ship on YRC” on bills at shippers, to personal financial hardships.



Without doubt we all had choices, that is not in question one bit. Today, just as when this cancer first started to go terminal we have a choice. Will we choose to continue to put off the inevitable by agreeing in the upcoming contract to keep sacrificing without holding those in charge both Corporate and Union accountable, or will we demand and possibly push for a final treatment one way or another and return to standards becoming of a company of this size?



For so many the choice to remain in the family of YRC was due to years of service and years in the Union. The most difficult thing in life sometimes is change and we are not willing to change the page and embark on a new chapter. We examine the pro’s and con’s of doing so in deep regard even allowing small nuggets of pro’s to outweigh all of the negatives. YRC so far has allowed just enough of those small nuggets to dangle in front of us with the insurance offered and the hope that the rank and file will get a portion of what they gave up back in the coming years.



If they come out with the proposal to give us a portion back wage wise, but ask for equal contribution to health and welfare then it is obvious that the gig is up for this place and that the cancer has fully overtaken the system to the point of no return.



At some point in the coming days we will all have to make the choice. Do we allow it to die on its own, or do we gracefully euthanize it and change the page and start new chapters. One thing is for certain freight will still need to be moved, and with a lack of experienced drivers in the industry there will not be difficult to continue on the career path as a driver. In most cases you just may get the raise you deserve.
 
Great Post Brother!

I often heard how the higher seniority drivers "just wanted to squeak out a few more years to get full retirement". Then, those senior drivers finally got those "few more years" and disappeared into retirement. But at that same time, there was an entirely new group that were within a few years of retirement, and "just wanted to squeak out a few more years to get full retirement". And the cycle of "yes" votes has continued ever since the first givebacks.

I understand that everyone has their own personal reasons for wanting to hang on to that single thread of hope, but the cycle of those who feel obligated to vote yes for their own personal reasons will never end. And in my opinion, because of the black cloud that has hung over the company for the past decade, most of those who have already retired are happy about their decision, but for those left working, they wish that the cancer had become terminal a decade ago, and put them out of their misery, and by now they would have 10 years in at another company.

The Company realizes that this cycle of yes voters will never end, so they are going to continue to take full advantage of future contracts that will be loaded with more concessions.
 
YRC The Cancer Of The Trucking Industry


There comes a point that you have to stop worrying that you will be persecuted for speaking the truth, and that point has arrived. For way to long those that not only work for this corporation, but also those who are in the industry in one form or another understand that the YRC Corporation has evolved into a cancer in the trucking industry. Today the question really is should it be allowed to be euthanized, or should it mercifully be allowed to die on its own?



The cancer that started out as a simple tumor has been allowed to grow into stage four proportions. In the quest to dominate the LTL marketplace Yellow Trucking embarked upon the strategy of acquiring competing companies and running them into the ground. Long before they bought Roadway and USF they acquired and destroyed perfectly good companies. They overextended themselves when they took out loans to buy both Roadway and then USF. In the ensuing years all they have done is mismanage and dismantle companies that once were the leaders in the industry.



While competing companies have bounced back for the most part from the downturn in the economy, YRC and its sister companies continue to demand give backs and sacrifices from its employees. Even when a small profit is shown from time to time and large corporate payouts to executive officers, the rank and file employees suffer with stagnant wages and retirement contributions.



The sacrifices that the rank and file employees have gone in vane when you examine it with open and honest eyes. Since January, 2009 each hourly employee who has taken a 15% wage cut has given back to the company roughly $93,500 out of their pocket to keep this disease afloat. With an average of $11,500 dollars on the low side in wage give backs yearly one would assume that the sacrifice was being put to good use, but sadly we see that it has not. The wages alone were not the only sacrifice or overall monetary giveback. With the pension freeze that occurred and the vacation giveback the company reaped in millions of dollars annually in reductions of overhead costs.



Monetary sacrifices were not the only thing that occurred as a result of the spread of this cancer, The reputation of these once great companies suffered in the ensuing years as well, not only to the customers, but throughout the industry to fellow drivers and workers in the industry. At one time fellow drivers looked to companies like Yellow, Roadway, and Holland as the pinnacle point to strive for in a driving career. While we may never have driven the most pretty trucks or had the newest equipment on the road, we did lead the industry in wages and benefits. We set the bar for other companies in these regards, while today for like sized companies we are at the bottom in regards to wages and retirement.



When once it was difficult to be hired on to these companies without years of experience, today the scramble to bring in drivers with little to no experience is in full swing. Without a doubt the industry as a whole is suffering from a lack of drivers, especially experienced qualified drivers. It only highlights the fact that where once Yellow, Roadway, Holland, and the other companies under the YRC umbrella would be able to attract those in this industry even in circumstances such as a driver shortage. The reputation of this corporation has suffered so bad that even experienced non-union drivers whisper and in many cases feel pity towards those at YRC and its sister companies. Drivers hear it on the streets everyday whether they are honest to admit it or not.



Like anyone suffering from a disease moral and personal circumstances are tested and in many cases suffer. The overall moral of rank and file employees is an all time low, those who have been around prior to the 2009 MOU understand just what has been given away. They understand or they should understand that they will never get back what they gave up. The 2014 MOU was a clear indication that the eventual death spiral of this company was only a matter of time. Even with all the sacrifices, corporate continued to follow a failing business plan. As a result of over extending and purchasing of companies that they in all rights had no right to purchase they dug a hole that cannot be filled no matter how much the rank and file employees sacrifice.



When you go back to all the sacrifices that the rank and file employees have given for this cancer of the trucking industry the unmentioned sacrifice that those who run it do not see or understand the real personal cases. While rank and file employees suffered through loss of homes and marriages, bankruptcies, injuries, and a diminished outlook to retirement corporate officers and management made bank. They took home multi million dollar bonuses and continue to do so even as the company flounders like a fish out of water.



It is easy to begrudge the executive officers for taking these huge bonuses when the rank and file as well as the company as a whole suffers, but they are just abiding by the agreement and contracts that they negotiated. What many in the family of YRC fail to do is hold those who allowed the negotiations for what the rank and file received and have to live under. It was originally done in good faith that we would only have to sacrifice till 2015, then it was extended in 2014 with the MOU till 2019 and the question there is for what!



Did we see any improvement in the operating of this company?



Did we see a flood of new equipment roll into our terminals?



Did we see the existing equipment be properly maintained?



Do we honestly think that we will return to industry standard in wages and retirement in 2019?



I would have to argue no to all the above!



The cancer has embedded so deep that once great companies that are now under the umbrella of YRC who attracted the best are now left scrambling to just fill the roster. After years of using outside cartage at the expense of millions of dollars a day, we are now really witnessing just how poorly our sacrifices have been wasted. It is of no wonder that moral throughout the YRC family is at an all time low! The rank and file put up with many things over the last eight years from seeing ,”Do not ship on YRC” on bills at shippers, to personal financial hardships.



Without doubt we all had choices, that is not in question one bit. Today, just as when this cancer first started to go terminal we have a choice. Will we choose to continue to put off the inevitable by agreeing in the upcoming contract to keep sacrificing without holding those in charge both Corporate and Union accountable, or will we demand and possibly push for a final treatment one way or another and return to standards becoming of a company of this size?



For so many the choice to remain in the family of YRC was due to years of service and years in the Union. The most difficult thing in life sometimes is change and we are not willing to change the page and embark on a new chapter. We examine the pro’s and con’s of doing so in deep regard even allowing small nuggets of pro’s to outweigh all of the negatives. YRC so far has allowed just enough of those small nuggets to dangle in front of us with the insurance offered and the hope that the rank and file will get a portion of what they gave up back in the coming years.



If they come out with the proposal to give us a portion back wage wise, but ask for equal contribution to health and welfare then it is obvious that the gig is up for this place and that the cancer has fully overtaken the system to the point of no return.



At some point in the coming days we will all have to make the choice. Do we allow it to die on its own, or do we gracefully euthanize it and change the page and start new chapters. One thing is for certain freight will still need to be moved, and with a lack of experienced drivers in the industry there will not be difficult to continue on the career path as a driver. In most cases you just may get the raise you deserve.

The inconvenient and undeniable truth
 
Toby your elegance to which you have inserted into this piece of work is so true but more insensitive to the ones that suffer from the incurable cancer you speak of. Theirs one difference between Toby and the cancer patent is they will not give up until the last breathe. Good day.
 
Toby your elegance to which you have inserted into this piece of work is so true but more insensitive to the ones that suffer from the incurable cancer you speak of. Theirs one difference between Toby and the cancer patent is they will not give up until the last breathe. Good day.
All drivers are suffering from the cancer, some just don't realize it. I don't feel like it was insensitive to me.
 
Toby your elegance to which you have inserted into this piece of work is so true but more insensitive to the ones that suffer from the incurable cancer you speak of. Theirs one difference between Toby and the cancer patent is they will not give up until the last breathe. Good day.
I don't see it as insensitive, I see it as realistic and should be quite eye opening for most readers. I think that his point is multi-dimensional. When is enough enough? Why hasn't corporate took advantage of the give backs, versus continuing to spend foolishly? Why is Management still receiving ANY bonuses? Why hasn't corporate attempted to slowly restore what you guys have lost? What adjustments have they made to better serve the customers? Why haven't they raised the wages in order to recruit drivers?

I don't see his post as an attempt to nutkick anyone, or kick people while they are down, I see it as more of an attempt to open people's eyes.
:idunno:
 
Toby your elegance to which you have inserted into this piece of work is so true but more insensitive to the ones that suffer from the incurable cancer you speak of. Theirs one difference between Toby and the cancer patent is they will not give up until the last breathe. Good day.
I am a cancer survivor and I disagree. I was in denial of having cancer for over a year, when down deep I knew I had it. I avoided going to a doctor because I didn't want to hear what I knew was true. By the time I went and got a true diagnosis I was already at an advanced stage 3 of colon cancer. The Doc said if I'd come in about a year earlier, they could have detected it and it would have been only a minor surgical procedure (probably just a one day in-office procedure). But I chose to be in denial, hoping against hope that it would just fix itself like everything else has in my life. I was wrong. The Doc said if I'd waited only 1 month longer, it'd have been too late. He still wasn't sure it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes until after surgery. He said then that it was REAL close to being too late, but he thought they got all of the tumor out. To make a longer story short, the Doc was right and after several more hospital stays, I'm still here 9 years later.
The moral of my story is : Don't kid yourselves into believing that Holland and YRC is going to fix themselves with your money. The cancer that these companies are hiding is growing and the money (give-backs) will not do it. It's like spending money to hear the good things you want to hear,about your suspicions of cancer from a quack, but never going to a REAL Doc for a REAL diagnosis and opinion. The money has been given and spent by YRC since 2009, the lies about "good news" and expected upturns in company profits have done nothing. The "patient" (YRC) is now nearing stage 4 where survival is doubtful. The "doctors" (YRC management) have taken the money and squandered it, never intending to use it to help the "patient" (YRC & Holland) survive. Meanwhile the "doctors" (YRC management) are just a bit richer going into retirement.
I'm still here because I finally faced reality and with a lot of luck I found an expert Doc just in time.
Sadly, with YRC and Holland, I think the denial of the problem has gone on too long, even though the money (givebacks) was paid, the people that could find and fix the problem (YRC and IBT execs.) were never dedicated to do it, (maybe they just didn't want to), and now it may be too late to just throw more money at it. Wouldn't be surprised to see YRC close, only to re-open later as non-union. It's happened in the past.
Sorry if my analogies offend some present and/or former cancer patients, but I "feel your pain" literally and have also felt the pain of companies closing due to mismanagement.

Just another important message that may save your life : Be a man - do something for yourself and your family. It's an easy and an "uncomfortable" thing to do - but it may save your life Get a colonoscopy If you don't, have it etched on you tombstone for others to read.
 
\ Good post. My own opinion is you'll see more "stock" awards in the next year or so, and then the letters about being on the team will arrive. They'll point out the small percentage of new equipment, ( that it's somehow a "gift" for our patience) and that we're almost there. At worst, another giveback, At best, another 5 years status quo.

. But I think yellow might make it as a non. Having talked to our "limited experience" new hires, I'm batting about 50%. Some are seeing the light, but a lot are not only going to vote yes, they are also right to workers, they have no intention of paying dues, they don't believe in seniority, they feel they're being screwed by the system because "It isn't fair that I don't get the switches, and I get stuck on the 10 stop lift gates. I've been here since October!" Who needs the union? I don't. " This is the best job most of them have ever had. $18.00 bucks to drive a truck? sign me up.With the new hires, yrc may have found the cure for cancer. And since Dr, hoffa wouldn't waste time trying to cure this patient and his insurance ran out, it's on to the next big thing. Logistics!
 
I am a cancer survivor and I disagree. I was in denial of having cancer for over a year, when down deep I knew I had it. I avoided going to a doctor because I didn't want to hear what I knew was true. By the time I went and got a true diagnosis I was already at an advanced stage 3 of colon cancer. The Doc said if I'd come in about a year earlier, they could have detected it and it would have been only a minor surgical procedure (probably just a one day in-office procedure). But I chose to be in denial, hoping against hope that it would just fix itself like everything else has in my life. I was wrong. The Doc said if I'd waited only 1 month longer, it'd have been too late. He still wasn't sure it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes until after surgery. He said then that it was REAL close to being too late, but he thought they got all of the tumor out. To make a longer story short, the Doc was right and after several more hospital stays, I'm still here 9 years later.
The moral of my story is : Don't kid yourselves into believing that Holland and YRC is going to fix themselves with your money. The cancer that these companies are hiding is growing and the money (give-backs) will not do it. It's like spending money to hear the good things you want to hear,about your suspicions of cancer from a quack, but never going to a REAL Doc for a REAL diagnosis and opinion. The money has been given and spent by YRC since 2009, the lies about "good news" and expected upturns in company profits have done nothing. The "patient" (YRC) is now nearing stage 4 where survival is doubtful. The "doctors" (YRC management) have taken the money and squandered it, never intending to use it to help the "patient" (YRC & Holland) survive. Meanwhile the "doctors" (YRC management) are just a bit richer going into retirement.
I'm still here because I finally faced reality and with a lot of luck I found an expert Doc just in time.
Sadly, with YRC and Holland, I think the denial of the problem has gone on too long, even though the money (givebacks) was paid, the people that could find and fix the problem (YRC and IBT execs.) were never dedicated to do it, (maybe they just didn't want to), and now it may be too late to just throw more money at it. Wouldn't be surprised to see YRC close, only to re-open later as non-union. It's happened in the past.
Sorry if my analogies offend some present and/or former cancer patients, but I "feel your pain" literally and have also felt the pain of companies closing due to mismanagement.

Just another important message that may save your life : Be a man - do something for yourself and your family. It's an easy and an "uncomfortable" thing to do - but it may save your life Get a colonoscopy If you don't, have it etched on you tombstone for others to read.
Thanks Henry for that post. I guess I am being a little sensitive. I'm burying my grandmother today.
 
Toby your elegance to which you have inserted into this piece of work is so true but more insensitive to the ones that suffer from the incurable cancer you speak of. Theirs one difference between Toby and the cancer patent is they will not give up until the last breathe. Good day.
Griz - The point I was making when I used my own experience with cancer as a analogy, is that not all cancer is incurable or terminal - but denying you have it, when you just know you do is terminal. Just throwing money at the problem will only delay the inevitable. Acting early and, with luck, finding the right doctor, with the knowhow and expertise the cancer can be stopped. No amount of money can stop the cancer unless the expert doctors can be found and used.
NO PROBLEM can be fixed until first somebody has to admit there IS a problem. Then the specific problem has to be identified. Then the proper "tools" need to be used to fix the problem. Just pretending the problem will go away by throwing more money at it will not work.
What's been going on ever since the 2009 giveback agreement has done nothing but make the top execs at Yellow (YRC) richer, while the employees are going the other way. (Hoffa's not doing too bad for himself, either) In the meantime the execs at YRC keep retiring with fat bonuses and retirement packages. That story has been told and retold many times in the freight industry over the past 20 -30 years. I have yet to hear of ANY union or company official cut their pay or retirement package.
Ever since YRC got the first giveback, based on lies, they will just keep coming back for more until the tank is dry. Then they will just lock the doors, liquidate whatever is left, take the tax breaks, keep whatever cash is left from the "bankruptcy" - then probably re-open in a couple years as a non-union company. (Of course they will then be "gracious enough" to offer jobs to some of the former union employees that were deemed to be favorites - at a substantially lower wage - lower benefits - and zero seniority).
Scullcramp's post # 10 is right on and unfortunately a likely scenario of what may be the future of YRC and it's current employees. The era of good company owners actually caring about their employees is long gone. I had the good fortune of working for two who did. Harvey Jones of JTL and Loren Lewis of All-American Transport.
 
I remember when they were encouraging us to buy company stock, which I foolishly did, and that was said to be treatment for the YRCW Cancer. Then came the stock warrants, (the next form of chemotherapy) which many of the employees were all giddy about. Since then, both stocks and stock warrants could have been used for toilet paper since they all have the same value.
And how about that "equal sacrifice"? Mgt got their pay and benefits package restored, has the Union members?
Those pukes hoodwinked us too many times for my likings.
If I were you guys, I'd never believe another word they said.
 
Toby your elegance to which you have inserted into this piece of work is so true but more insensitive to the ones that suffer from the incurable cancer you speak of. Theirs one difference between Toby and the cancer patent is they will not give up until the last breathe. Good day.

Brother Griz,
I am a fellow sufferer. It was not meant to be insensitive, it is to provoke thought and to express the truth so many of us feel and voice among our fellow patients.

The chemo doctor keeps attempting to treat small portions of the disease we endure, and I keep telling him just a few more years please. We have seen a placidity amongst the long suffering to accept the inevitable as Northern pointed out. In many ways the Chemo doctor has run out of options and will abide by whatever directive handed down while making it all sound rosy.

The hard truths are the ones that are the bitterness in the recipe,and if we are unwilling to seek out that blend that just might ease the palate so that it is tolerable we might as well just pour acid into the pot. Death by however many cuts is still death; it just takes longer.
 
I am a cancer survivor and I disagree. I was in denial of having cancer for over a year, when down deep I knew I had it. I avoided going to a doctor because I didn't want to hear what I knew was true. By the time I went and got a true diagnosis I was already at an advanced stage 3 of colon cancer. The Doc said if I'd come in about a year earlier, they could have detected it and it would have been only a minor surgical procedure (probably just a one day in-office procedure). But I chose to be in denial, hoping against hope that it would just fix itself like everything else has in my life. I was wrong. The Doc said if I'd waited only 1 month longer, it'd have been too late. He still wasn't sure it hadn't spread to the lymph nodes until after surgery. He said then that it was REAL close to being too late, but he thought they got all of the tumor out. To make a longer story short, the Doc was right and after several more hospital stays, I'm still here 9 years later.
The moral of my story is : Don't kid yourselves into believing that Holland and YRC is going to fix themselves with your money. The cancer that these companies are hiding is growing and the money (give-backs) will not do it. It's like spending money to hear the good things you want to hear,about your suspicions of cancer from a quack, but never going to a REAL Doc for a REAL diagnosis and opinion. The money has been given and spent by YRC since 2009, the lies about "good news" and expected upturns in company profits have done nothing. The "patient" (YRC) is now nearing stage 4 where survival is doubtful. The "doctors" (YRC management) have taken the money and squandered it, never intending to use it to help the "patient" (YRC & Holland) survive. Meanwhile the "doctors" (YRC management) are just a bit richer going into retirement.
I'm still here because I finally faced reality and with a lot of luck I found an expert Doc just in time.
Sadly, with YRC and Holland, I think the denial of the problem has gone on too long, even though the money (givebacks) was paid, the people that could find and fix the problem (YRC and IBT execs.) were never dedicated to do it, (maybe they just didn't want to), and now it may be too late to just throw more money at it. Wouldn't be surprised to see YRC close, only to re-open later as non-union. It's happened in the past.
Sorry if my analogies offend some present and/or former cancer patients, but I "feel your pain" literally and have also felt the pain of companies closing due to mismanagement.

Just another important message that may save your life : Be a man - do something for yourself and your family. It's an easy and an "uncomfortable" thing to do - but it may save your life Get a colonoscopy If you don't, have it etched on you tombstone for others to read.
Glad you're doing well Henry, I didn't read this as I was composing a reply. Hopefully our references to cancer aren't too insulting. I have a few friends that went through the same thing, a couple of which did wait too long sad to say.
 
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