Posts by nimblepanther14

Honestly, the state of public education is just abysmal.
That’s exactly why you see so many snake oil salesmen finding success in various fields—it's all due to a lack of real knowledge.
Take physical education in schools, for instance... what is even the point of it if they aren't teaching kids anything about nutrition or a healthy lifestyle? It feels entirely hollow without that foundation.
But, I suppose that’s a whole different conversation altogether..

Yes, I’m fully aware of the price tag attached to all this—it's significant—but honestly, these kinds of analyses would benefit everyone, from individual patients to the entire medical establishment.
Doctors rarely go out on a limb and say, "Don't take this specific medication; it's harmful."
In fact, some even offer endorsements—I remember one oncologist mentioning that, in his experience, a macrobiotic diet can actually make a difference for certain patients.

I truly hope that nanomedicine and these other emerging technologies eventually put an end to tumors once and for all. Though, sadly, for some people, the clock will have already run out. 😢

Angela Wright, I'm right there with you... my only question is why we don't get any clear guidance on alternative supplements—you know, which ones might actually work and which ones are just useless noise.
Why isn't there any accountability for people peddling literal poison?
Wouldn't it be helpful if some sort of institute analyzed what’s being sold on the market—not necessarily by running their own clinical trials, but just to vet them.
They could simply state: Preparation X: potentially supports immune function. Preparation Y: no proven benefit. Preparation Z: harmful, etc.

It brings me back to when I was studying physiology using Guyton—I remember sitting there, quite fascinated, wondering how our bodies—even in perfectly healthy people—are constantly churning out these "suspicious" cells and how the system works tirelessly to hunt them down.

vividsailor7 said:Regarding follicular carcinoma, there’s a significant lack of data here—things like ultrasound, scintigraphy, or hormone levels. We also need a full history, looking at things like local lymphadenopathy or whether there's any invasion into the muscle or trachea. On top of that, they’ll likely want to run some additional scans on the bones and lungs to be thorough.

Aside from an ultrasound, I haven't actually had anything else done yet.
So, does this mean they're going to put me through more tests first, or am I heading straight into surgery?

I see where you're coming from.
I ran into those exact same issues recently—it’s frustrating because, at this stage, conventional medicine feels like it's hit a wall, leaving us with very little to work with. As for the world of alternative treatments... honestly, there is just an overwhelming amount of stuff out there. I tend to be a bit of a skeptic myself—I don't jump on every trend—but I do think it's worth exploring the options. The real headache is figuring out which ones actually hold water.
That’s why I’ve been looking for some kind of objective overview, maybe a comparison chart or something similar... something reliable.

And I can't help but wonder—why hasn't anyone stepped up to actually regulate this whole market? It's a complete free-for-all.

I am feeling a bit—actually, quite frankly—frustrated by the whole situation regarding "alternative" remedies and various supplements.
When you’re facing a tumor, you naturally start grasping at any straw that floats your way; it's human nature, really. Consequently, you end up completely overwhelmed by a sea of different alternative preparations, each one claiming to be the magic key to recovery...
The theory that mainstream medicine or the big pharma industry suppresses alternative treatments might hold water, or maybe it doesn't—from where I'm sitting, I truly can't say for sure.
On the flip side, there are certainly people in the "alternative" camp who see this as an easy way to make a quick buck... unfortunately.
The reality is that even some doctors actually recommend certain methods from this category...
What I’m really looking for is whether there exists an objective overview somewhere—perhaps a chart of available preparations including some kind of evaluation, the pros, the cons, the pricing, and so on... Is there anyone here who is a physician and could offer some professional insight or an opinion on specific supplements?
For instance, just the other day, I heard about Graviola, which is supposedly incredible...
I didn't intend to post this in the alternative subforum; I'm simply seeking an objective perspective on what among these preparations might actually help, and what is entirely useless (or even harmful)...

Amy Torres4 said:I feel so bad for Gordana... hang in there, there isn't much else to say... have faith... God will provide better days ahead...

Thank you... and yes, better days will come... or perhaps more accurately, just slightly less terrible ones...
I'm feeling a bit improved today—actually made it to the gym... there's something about a good workout that clears the fog and settles the mind...🙂
As for my own situation, I intend to manage it... I don't plan on just sitting back and letting things happen... regardless of what this follicular tumor turns out to be (at least, that's my current thinking)...

I honestly don't know how to process this anymore—it feels like tumors are just attacking from every single direction.
Now, this might sound like some kind of sick joke, but I assure you, it isn't.
I’m not sure how much longer I can hold it together, though I know I have to.

1. My sister's situation is looking pretty bleak, as I described earlier.
2. My girlfriend's father was suddenly rushed into surgery for an intestinal tumor. (He barely made it out alive from sepsis, by the way.)
3. And then there's me—I just got my thyroid biopsy results back. (I actually received them about an hour ago; I'm sitting here at a coffee shop writing this while waiting to meet with my primary care physician.)
- A follicular thyroid tumor.
- A Warthin tumor in my salivary gland.
So, that's where things stand. Mine is likely—I really hope—benign.

I just don't know what to think... I'm hanging in there because I have to, but part of me just wants to snap. If you know what I mean.

Amy Torres4 Asks:
nimblepanther14, I know exactly how heavy this feels... I recently lost my mother too.😢 Based on your posts, it’s clear you’ve done an immense amount for her—and believe me, she knows that. Even if this truly is what you call a "point of no return," just take a moment to consider how much you've actually lightened her load along the way. You've made that path easier for her, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. May God help your sister through this... and as for you, just hang in there. Fight, endure, or whatever you need to do to get through it. Please, keep posting here whenever you need to vent or just process things. There isn't some magic formula or secret recipe for this—you just have to take it one day at a time, however you can manage.😢
lp

In recent years—ever since I stopped living under the same roof as my sister and my niece (her husband passed away quite some time ago)—we’ve drifted apart significantly. We were never exactly on the same wavelength to begin with, mind you, given how different our temperaments are, but I suppose that isn't really the point...
Even after I moved away, I did what I could to help them out—mostly through financial support. And honestly, my parents were over there quite often too...
Ever since she fell ill... I’ve been doing my best to make sure she has everything she needs—constant trips to pick up supplies, trying to be there more often than I probably should. Fortunately, we live on a street where people have been around for decades; they've known us since we were born. Because of that, someone is always popping in to check on us. It makes the house feel a bit livelier than usual, even now.
Now my mother has moved in with me—just a temporary arrangement, mind you—and honestly, thank God for her temperament. She has this inherent sense of stoicism about her that helps her weather everything life throws her way... it's a quiet strength, really.

... honestly, I’m just spinning a word salad here at this point ...

Gerald Bishop said:...
nimblepanther14—getting angry at someone who is sick isn't going to help anything; you might as well try to find the humor in it instead...

Of course I’m not letting that anger show... honestly, most of the time I don't even feel it. It only surfaces occasionally when I start spiraling into thoughts about everything that happened—why it happened, where it's all heading...

She’s planning to head to the hospital in Smalltown, USA... and that is what she wants.
In my view, it's probably for the best—for her sake and for her niece's too.
I can't help but worry, though—it feels like a path from which there is no turning back. 😢

Angela Wright said:@nimblepanther14/">@@nimblepanther14
"If I were" and "if it were"—those are the great hypotheticals. The question is how things might have turned out, but unfortunately, when things start spiraling again, they usually just gallop away at lightning speed. Even if she had left "in time," the outcome likely would have been identical.
I am truly sorry. Stay strong.😢

Thank you...
When I deal with emotions that aren't exactly "standard issue"... well, I tend to transmute them into anger—mostly because grief is a much harder pill to swallow. And, much like those more "primitive" impulses, I direct that anger straight at the source of the feeling. Of course, nobody actually knows what might have happened if things had gone differently...
It was the same way with my brother. I used to blame him for the state he ended up in—blaming his messy lifestyle for why he eventually passed away (it wasn't a tumor, by the way). Even now, whenever the memory surfaces, there’s this strange cocktail of sadness and resentment bubbling up... even if the sharpness of the memory has faded over time.😢
Today I'm heading over to visit my folks... my mother is staying with my sister for a little while... it's going to be tough to navigate that heavy cloud of sorrow hanging in the air (she won't let herself show it in front of my sister)... damn it, anger and fear are much easier—and frankly, more welcome—emotions to carry than this.
And then there's the fear... the fear of that absolute nothingness, of what awaits me one day too. It's a reminder that after everything is done, nothing remains. If I were a believer, perhaps it would be easier. To just sink into the hope of something higher, something beyond this life... but I simply can't.

Gerald Bishop said:...

I wish I could offer some kind of help or comfort... though, honestly, I’m at a loss for what that would even look like..
I suppose—with a certain heavy sort of resignation—I can accept that she has entered a zone from which there is no return..
She was an emergency case yesterday; they drained her and let her go back.. she’s going (and she wants to go) to Smalltown, USA...
Let it be.. perhaps it’s for the best.
It’s definitely better for her daughter (my niece).. at least, looking at it rationally, it is.
The elderly parents found out today.. I’m heading over to see how they're holding up... I'm worried about them.
I feel this surge of anger.. toward my sister.. who, damn it, wouldn't go to the doctor when it actually mattered.. yet she'd go for every little nothing else...
I don't know how one is supposed to live with a death sentence "signed" by your own body.. knowing that truth.
No one told her directly, but she knows.. I think she knows.. I can see it in her eyes..
My thoughts are such a mess when I dwell on this.. please excuse me, but I have nowhere else to say all this.. I can't afford to break down..

Angela Wright said:I understand what’s going on here—but as I mentioned before, it isn't enough for anyone to give you a straight answer, like whether they are stalling or not. Unfortunately, it often happens that because a condition is so severe and the treatment is so expensive, decisions regarding a patient's fate are made quite pragmatically—often ignoring the simple fact that there might still be something to be gained in terms of time and quality of life. That’s why I suggested getting a second opinion.

Do you think it's possible they just don't want to take any risks because the body is too weak?
Is it a good idea to send an email to a clinic in Spain with translated reports and the doctor's opinion to see what they think... what their experience has been? Do they actually respond to questions like that?

Thanks for the reply...

Angela Wright said:Prosur is a nutritional shake designed to cover all the bases of a standard meal—that's why we give it to patients who just can't manage solid food right now. You really have to ease them back in with soups and light fare, though—you can't force anything—but they absolutely must take the Prosur. If they slip into cachexia, things will go downhill very quickly indeed.😢
Neither baking soda nor Maple syrups are going to boost her immunity. That’s just pseudoscientific nonsense, and unfortunately, plenty of people fall for it. I’d much rather suggest complementary supplements that actually have some clinical backing behind them—things like Beta-glucan or native propolis. There's a lot of that available out there; just ask at your local pharmacy. But please, don't overwhelm her with more than two different supplements. Just pick one or two and stick to it.

I’m a skeptic about all these supplements too, but you know how it goes... when someone is in this position, they’ll try anything—even me, and I’m not exactly a believer in that sort of thing.
... I have heard that Beta-glucan might be worth using... I'll try to suggest that.

Angela Wright said:It’s hard to offer specific advice without seeing her full medical history, but I do know that in cases like this, doctors often prescribe Xeloda to help slow things down slightly until the patient regains enough strength to resume their primary oncology treatment.

I don't know the exact specifics of the tumor itself... but from what I gather, the main issue is the tumor that has spread to the abdomen. It's causing edema—swelling—which puts pressure on the organs and causes abdominal bloating... which means she has to undergo drainage periodically. And it’s a miserable situation, because the pain it causes makes eating and moving around incredibly difficult.
She was always a bit thin and struggled to put on weight to begin with... and now she desperately needs to stabilize her condition... time is running out, yet she's too weak to start the actual therapy.

Angela Wright said:As far as the parents go, it truly is a heartbreaking and tragic situation.😢 My take is that in these moments, it's often best to tell them half-truths—that she is ill and undergoing treatment. You have to judge carefully what to say, how much to disclose, and in what manner; excessive details should definitely be avoided. People need time to process the reality and prepare themselves for the worst-case scenario, because if they aren't prepared, things become much harder when the situation worsens.

Right now, they just know there's "something" there—but they aren't quite sure what it is yet..

Angela Wright said:In any case, I’d strongly suggest getting a second opinion from one of the major specialized clinics abroad. If you're looking for the absolute best in the world when it comes to breast cancer, Jose Baselga is the man to see.
Just try having the medical reports translated into Spanish or English and reach out to him directly to ask for his take on the situation and how to proceed.

Thanks... we'll certainly look into that... though, for starters, we just need her weight to begin trending upward again..

Thanks again.

So...
My sister showed up at the ER quite late in the game... (breast cancer has already metastasized to her abdomen)
Chemotherapy isn't even an option right now because she’s just too weak.
The directive is basically that she has to get stronger before they can even consider starting therapy.
Eating is a massive struggle due to the abdominal pain... she’s mostly just sipping on those nutritional shakes (Prosur).
She barely eats anything... what can we actually do?
.. I don't live with them myself—I live with my daughter, who is my niece in this situation.
My niece is looking into some alternative treatment involving Maple syrup and baking soda... she sees it as a lifeline. Personally, I’m a bit skeptical, but honestly, I don't have a better idea...

I’m feeling a bit lost here... is there any actual way to help her "strengthen up"? All the doctor said was that she needs to gain strength. Before that, no therapy is on the table (and apparently, she might only have about a month, maybe two at most)... She's always had a very ectomorphic build, so even when she wasn't sick, she struggled to keep weight on.

And one more thing... I know it’s a tangent, but maybe someone has some perspective...
How do you tell your parents? I can't talk to them on the phone without breaking the news that their daughter is dying (god, that sounds so grim... it hasn't fully sunk in yet...) but I can't bring myself to say it either. They are elderly and in poor health themselves (in their 80s)... and my brother passed away a few years ago (not from cancer)... everything just feels like it's falling apart.

Larry Cooper2 said:I was thinking about getting into Tai Chi, but I have no clue if there are any decent clubs out here in Chicago?

Maybe try reaching out through here—you might find some leads... http://iacmabih.tk/