Posts by Jason Taylor

Please, I need some help here.
My mom finally got discharged to wait at home until her next follow-up—we're basically just waiting to see if the chemo and radiation actually did anything. In her discharge papers, the oncologist prescribed her to continue with Dex, but when I went to the pharmacy, they told me that Dex injections aren't covered by Medicare. $57 It’s going to cost us for 12 days!
I honestly can't afford to shell out for this right now, especially since nobody mentioned that Dex wouldn't be covered... I'm just totally lost here.

Donna White50 said:Look, every parent is basically a superhero—raising kids is one of the hardest jobs out there. If a parent wants to maintain authority, they also need to avoid falling apart in front of their kids. Kids tend to take on the guilt and responsibility for their parents' struggles, and usually, they actually do... There’s really no point in dumping our problems or fragile emotional states onto them, because it hits kids pretty hard..
Exactly. Both men and women have their own behavioral flaws, and let's face it—tears aren't some magic recipe for happiness, nor are they a solution to stop wars, aggression, or whatever else...
I'm with you, people fight for power and profit...

I am 100% on board with this. You really have to be that steady, stable anchor for your kids and avoid having a total breakdown in front of them—at least until they're old enough to actually process complex emotions without getting totally overwhelmed.

I have a friend and his sister who are both struggling with depression, and honestly, it's because both of their parents had such weak personalities. They just folded under every bit of pressure, crying over the tiniest little things. Those kids never had anyone to look up to or someone they could actually lean on, because they basically ended up acting like the parents to their own parents.

Donna White50 said:I think you’re way off base with that take... honestly, just look around. Everyone is out here grinding—trying to climb the ladder, stack some cash, and just make sure they're set for life. It doesn't matter what kind of job you have or if you're living large in a penthouse in NYC or just scraping by—it's the same story. That whole drive for profit and building wealth? That’s basically the engine under the hood of the economy. It's what keeps everything moving. Sure, you’ve got people who intentionally opt out of the rat race, but even then, they still need to pay the bills, right?...
It’s that same old story—everything being spoon-fed to us through the TV is basically setting the blueprint for the younger generation. It's all so caricatured... like, if the media decided tomorrow that it was suddenly "cool" for guys to wear skirts, you'd see crowds of kids hitting the streets trying to pull it off just because they saw it on a screen. Honestly, if the media didn't have such a massive grip on our life choices—especially since kids are still out there trying to find themselves and looking for role models—the entire advertising industry wouldn't even exist. There wouldn't be a single commercial on the air... But instead, what we're seeing is this toxic cocktail of hypnosis and pure manipulation. They take everything we know about our own insecurities and how easily we can be swayed, and they bake it right into whatever they're pushing as "in," "trendy," or "must-have"... it's pretty wild when you think about it...

Thomas Nelson25

I only ever saw my dad break down once—it was after my mom spent hours picking at him, manipulating the situation until he just completely snapped under the weight of it all... It was honestly gut-wrenching seeing him like that, especially since I’d always looked up to him as this unshakable pillar of strength. Real authority figures aren't supposed to crumble or weep in front of the people who rely on them to stay steady and keep things together. When a kid sees a parent constantly breaking down like that, they don't learn empathy or how to process emotions—they just feel threatened. They end up having to step up prematurely, trying to play the "strong one" to comfort their parent and keep the family from falling apart. Kids can sense negative vibes and a lack of stability from a mile away... Honestly, parents really shouldn't be fighting, crying, or spiraling in front of their kids. It just leaves them feeling unsafe and totally overwhelmed...
Honestly, kids should definitely be allowed to cry when they're little—it's just part of growing up—but as they get older, they really need to start finding some stability and learning how to manage those big feelings. I actually think it’s a good idea to teach them how to pick their moments, too... you know, choosing a private time and place to let it all out so they aren't breaking down in front of everyone else. We should be teaching teenagers how to vent that emotional pressure before it builds up too much—you don't want them getting to that point where they just completely fall apart... It's all about balance, really. Every extreme is pretty bad—like, it’s just as wrong for a parent to have zero empathy for what a kid is going through or to totally ignore their emotional needs and just fail at parenting...

When parents act out of fear, they end up teaching their kids this narrow, one-dimensional way of feeling things, which basically robs them of a full spectrum of human experience and emotion.

Building a solid personality really depends on empowering a child emotionally while also knowing when to step back and let them go. A lot of times, moms find it incredibly hard to let go, which stops the kid from ever truly becoming self-reliant or confident.
And that's exactly why we end up with men who are obsessed with status symbols and driving a brand new BMW just to prove something.

The real kicker is that a parent can't teach a child something they haven't mastered themselves. So, that ignorance and those flawed approaches just get passed down from parent to child, piling up through the generations.

Thomas Nelson25 said:Honestly, I don't think it has anything to do with patriarchal upbringing or some old-school conservative lifestyle—I mean, the whole world has gone super liberal lately, that's just the vibe everywhere now. It's really more about who someone is deep down—their actual character and temperament.
Like, if someone is just naturally rational, they aren't really bothered by this kind of stuff emotionally... and honestly, that’s exactly what today's society is pushing for (if you aren't like that, people basically label you a neurotic or whatever), though I'd also throw in a bit of superficiality into that mix.

So, I guess we could get into a whole debate about what "character" actually means.
In most cases, it’s just a bunch of learned behaviors we pick up along the way.

But I've been noticing how this cold, over-rationalized way of acting is starting to bleed into how girls are being raised these days, too. Maybe I'm totally off base here, though.

placidharbor8 said:I think of crying as a simple emotional release valve. You have to let that sadness out, otherwise you're just bottling it all up inside.

Crying isn't a sign of weakness at all... I mean, nobody is invincible, and no one is immune to tragedy or those heavy, dark moments in life. No one is so strong that they never feel the urge to weep.

For sure, but let's be real—that kind of self-awareness usually gets crushed by super rigid, old-school parenting.
There are basically two massive pillars when it comes to how we raise kids based on gender.
Boys are constantly told they have to be "tough guys," while girls are basically drilled to focus on being "pretty."
And somehow, that’s the blueprint for raising a highly evolved, self-aware creature like a human being. Unbelievable.

My dad is actually super sensitive, gentle, and caring—but honestly, he never lost an ounce of that strength needed to protect me or just be there when things got real.
But apparently, those exact traits—being sensitive and tender—are strictly off-limits for men, right?
I’ll never forget when our dog passed away; my dad was crying his eyes out like a heartbroken kid, and my mom just started tearing into him, saying it was embarrassing for a grown man to cry like some total softie. It seriously pissed me off because, I mean, I knew deep down that my dad had every right to cry if he was hurting, regardless of how old he was or the fact that he's a guy.

That kind of rigid, stifling upbringing doesn't do anyone any favors—it basically just grooms men for violence that someone else is going to profit from later on.

Let’s be real—emotionally stunted men are a massive, ongoing issue.
When a three-year-old boy is allowed to cry, it isn't some kind of "feminizing" process—it's just meeting the basic needs of a kid who wants to feel loved, understood, and seen. Period.

Look, there’s a time and place for introducing social norms, sure, but early childhood definitely isn't that time. At that age, a boy doesn't even perceive himself as a man yet; he’s just learning that he shouldn't show any feelings and that he has to act "tough," even though he hasn't the slightest clue what that actually means.
Like someone else mentioned above, those labels people throw around are just incredibly toxic.

Is there actually a protocol here in the States for switching things up if Temodar just isn't doing the job?
I’ve been seeing that Avastin is available in other countries...

Hey everyone

I’ve been scrolling through most of this thread, but I’ve got a question.
My mom has Glioblastoma, and she’s almost done with her three-week stretch of radiation and chemo. They actually had to cut the treatment short because she was in such bad shape when she checked into the hospital.

The doctor isn't around, so I’m basically flying blind here—does anyone know what comes next? Like, how does the therapy continue from here, and what's the actual format she'll be getting since she just spent time in the hospital?

Thanks so much

Hey analogcanyon4, what kind of tumor were we talking about exactly?
I'm seriously pulling for you—I really hope you stay healthy and that this whole nightmare stays in the past for good 🙂