Posts by Rachel Williams

Joshua Kim69 The longer this drags on, the less you'll find yourself surprised by what the human body is capable of enduring—or by the kind of findings that can surface in a lab report. Honestly, even little things like mushrooms can be incredibly useful in situations like these...

Brenda Johnson68 said:By the way, I asked my private doctor about medical cannabis. She told me I don't need it yet (doctors only view cannabis as a tool to ease chemotherapy symptoms or manage pain in the terminal phase, rather than as an actual medicine... But she said she'll write me a prescription if I ask, and when I do ask... great! That's exactly what I intend to do!)

Even if the whole idea of cannabis as a curative treatment remains somewhat undefined and, frankly, unproven—well, what the hell. If it isn't doing any harm (aside from costing an arm and a leg, or more specifically, enough to make Saint Peter weep😲), then I am willing to try it. Especially since I asked two different doctors if there could be any interactions with my specialized medications, and they claimed it wouldn't interfere with the chemo... fine, then... though, really, who can say? If they deny its medicinal properties entirely, how can they possibly claim there are no interactions?
Good grief... so many questions... so much ambiguity and, quite frankly, ignorance... 😢

Regarding cannabis, several oncologists at two different hospitals in Chicago tell my mother that she is essentially a medical phenomenon; aside from her own mindset and her use of cannabis oil, they see no reason why she is even still alive. And this comes from the very same doctors who view cannabis as perhaps just something acceptable for managing pain or nausea in the terminal stages...
My warmest advice, once again: look into the difference between RSO oil (the original cannabis oil) and the stuff you can get with a standard prescription... the prices are somewhat comparable, but the potency and effects are a completely different conversation...

Mete on the bone respond quite effectively to radiation therapy, but around here, people rarely bother with it until the pain becomes absolutely unbearable and starts causing real issues. :/
You might also want to consider medical cannabis; specifically, the kind your doctor can officially prescribe. For more detailed information, it would probably be best to look through the dedicated section on cannabis within the alternatives PDF guide.

And here we go... I just hit the 9-week mark today, and honestly, I’m still not even brave enough to bring up the pregnancy topic yet. We’ve already broken the news to my parents and the folks at work (because, unfortunately, I have to).

At the office, the water cooler talk has already shifted to those endless comments about how "once the baby starts kicking, the morning sickness will finally vanish."

Then there’s the situation tonight: my parents are "offering" (to use a polite term) to come stay with us after the baby arrives. The thing is, the two of us live in a tiny 300-square-foot studio apartment. They know this perfectly well; they used to stay with us for ten days at a time back when they could visit more often, but now that we aren't living in the same area, things are different. They want to move in this summer, right around the time I'm due... and they just don't get why that's a bad idea. My husband has spent the last ten minutes on the phone trying to explain it—not by saying we want privacy, and not even by pointing out the lack of space, but simply because we don't want them there. A flat "no," thank you. Let's see how long this goes on... 🤦😵

Grumpy: I truly love these people and they are wonderful, but sometimes, even with the best intentions, people just fail to realize when something doesn't fit.

Robin Diaz4 said:How does candidiasis actually show up? My dad had it in his mouth and was given some kind of gel that cleared everything up in just two days.

Sent from my B1-770 using Reddit

If you can recall the name of that gel, perhaps Joshua Kim69 could look into it for us?

For most oncology patients, weakened immunity typically causes it to manifest in the throat, mouth, or gums. In our case—among non-oncology women—it most frequently appears in the vaginal area. There is an entire dedicated thread about this over on the women's health forum.

Joshua Kim69 said:I suppose his white blood cell count and bilirubin were fine, considering he eats bacon or pork rinds with garlic or onions every single morning.
I tried making porridge instead of juice, but it just didn't sit right with him. I'll give it another shot.
On top of all that, we're dealing with Candida too. 😢

Uh... that's a mess. Honestly, I don't have any "ace up my sleeve" for this, especially since I've been battling it myself for years and I'm not even an oncology patient. Perhaps someone more intelligent or experienced will chime in with some actual advice.

Joshua Kim69 said:I make him a blend of beet, carrot, and apple every single day, adding a touch of honey with propolis and pollen. He also drinks pressed blackberry juice and green smoothies, but I find myself wondering if any of this is actually enough. Before his first round of treatment, his blood work was absolutely perfect; yet, despite all these juices, things haven't stayed that way heading into the second round.

To be honest, what you're making is more of a syrup than a juice. When you juice everything like that, you're essentially throwing away most of the fiber along with a significant amount of the nutrients and beneficial compounds. Now, propolis and pollen are fantastic additions for anyone who can handle them. 🙂(My own mother can't tolerate anything but honey because her system reacts so violently to everything else.)
As for white blood cell counts, I suspect things like speck, garlic, and onions might help; so many patients swear by those. 😁

Joshua Kim69 said:What’s the best thing to take to fix blood counts after chemo before the next round starts?
My mom's white blood cell count was at 5.5 after the first round, but everything else was slightly below the recommended levels.

Both times, my mother stuck to a mix of grated carrots (1kg), apples (1kg), beets (1kg), and dandelion root—sweetened with two spoonfuls of honey. Whether it was twenty years ago or just three years ago, her blood work remained perfect during chemo. She would simply grate everything raw and eat it daily, sometimes more, sometimes less; on average, one batch would last her about four or five days.

Laura Lee78 said:She’s quite frail—she’s dropped nearly 65 pounds, and she's managing diabetes on top of everything else...
But I appreciate the advice; I’ll be sure to seek out his opinion.

Sent from my GT-N8020 using Reddit

I also highly recommend Dr. Cepulic. We actually went to him when we were looking for a second opinion for my mother regarding her lung issues. On top of that, he’s been my aunt’s physician for years, so I can say with absolute certainty that he comes highly recommended.

ruggedfox11 said:Honey, I am honestly falling apart.
Physically, mentally, and emotionally.
This is just so incredibly hard...

🙂😢
I can't even begin to fathom what you're going through, but I truly believe you'll find the strength to fight through all of this for the sake of your little ones. 🙂

Thanks, ladies. My mom's cancer has spread to her brain (they did a brain CT yesterday), and everyone is just being incredibly vague—talking in circles without giving any actual, concrete answers. When my mom asked what the next steps are, Dr. Jordan just replied that he’ll touch base with her specialist at the Mayo Clinic once they've conferred, and then they'll decide on a plan. 🙂 Honestly, when I get there this weekend, I won't even have anyone to talk to about the full picture, because unless you're dealing with the on-call resident in the ER, the doctors are nowhere to be found...

After three years of peace, the pests have spread through my lungs in just three weeks. Mom is stuck in the hospital on an IV drip, and I’m just sitting here waiting for Friday so I can finally head home and be with her for at least the weekend...

I feel for you... you fought for him like a lioness...😢🙂

I had my own nightmare dealing with the Ventolin; I was shaking like a leaf and my heart rate was absolutely through the roof.🤦 Thank God I finally got past that ordeal—I truly hope I never have to touch it again.

Anyway, we just got the results back from the CT scan of her chest and upper abdomen. After three years of watching and waiting, everything in her lungs remains stable, and her organs all look clear. My mom has been dealing with occasional swelling in one leg lately, which had us worried about a blood clot, so they rushed her in for a Color Doppler. It turned out to be a complete wash—nothing found. Now the recommendation is to follow up with an abdominal ultrasound. Her CRP has dropped significantly over the last two months, falling from 186 down to 3.5, though we are still waiting on the rest of the bloodwork. Aside from her pulmonologist calling me out of the blue one day (for the umpteenth time), even the trio of doctors at the emergency room at Johns Hopkins went over the labs and the history, and they were just as baffled as anyone else as to how my mother is still standing.
As long as they're confused, we’ll take it; we are just happy and grateful that she is doing okay.🎉🙂

Sending nothing but positive vibes to everyone who needs them right now.🙂

ruggedfox11 said:How absurd. Now my pulmonologist is trying to make me feel guilty just because I sounded the alarm with the Department of Health. Really? It isn't about "looking someone in the eye," but... am I actually in the wrong here?

Sent from my D2005 using Twitter

You aren't in the wrong—not by a single inch. Don't you dare feel guilty for this; instead, take pride in yourself and in what you're fighting for as a family. If our healthcare system weren't in such a state, you wouldn't have been forced to go down this path in the first place. Unfortunately, because of how broken the system is, we're left having to fight tooth and nail for every little thing.

Angela Wright said:Good grief... things really are spiraling out of control. I just hope they can actually manage to get this situation under wraps.

Sent from my Samsung J510FN using Twitter

Yeah... it’s always like this with my poor mother. Doctors tend to just breeze past everything until things hit the fan, if you'll excuse the expression. Twenty years ago, when she first faced breast cancer, her primary care physician spent over six months just prescribing various ointments to rub on the lump. When Mom finally took matters into her own hands and went to a specialized oncology clinic, that doctor first lost her mind because Mom was "disobeying" her instructions—and then, once the diagnosis actually landed, she was completely blindsided. Eventually, Mom switched to her current doctor, who is honestly one of the most wonderful physicians one could ever hope to find.

As a result of everything—the surgery to remove a breast and some lymph nodes, followed by chemo and radiation alongside regular checkups—she also had to go in for frequent lung ultrasounds (over at the pulmonary clinic near downtown). For THREE (!!!) years, they kept trying to convince her that she just had scarring from TB, even though no one in her family could remember her ever having a cough or anything similar. Aside from a little jaundice back in elementary school, she was an incredibly healthy kid. Then, when lumps started appearing on her neck near the ribs, they sent her from pillar to post, bouncing between diagnoses ranging from inflamed lymph nodes to mere fatty deposits. She wasted another year wandering through the system before we finally made it to Jordanovac and got a real diagnosis of lung cancer (which, naturally, had already metastasized significantly by then). Regarding that facility, I have nothing but praise for them over these last three years while Mom has been receiving treatment there, but in reality, it feels like they are just using trial and error with her. It seems they simply aren't used to seeing patients with such advanced diagnoses. And now, after those lumps flared up again over the last six months, they sent her to the dermatology clinic for a biopsy, and today we received these results... People everywhere seem baffled as to why she isn't receiving any major therapy beyond Ibuprofen for pain, Megestrol for appetite, and Euthyrox for her thyroid. Despite all my efforts to stay informed, I truly don't even know what they could theoretically offer her anymore...

Ugh... I've gone on quite a tangent... I suppose I need to vent every once in a while too...

We finally received the biopsy results today regarding Mom’s lumps on her back and head. We had already braced ourselves for the news that they were lung metastases, but instead, they’re breast cancer metastases... where does this even end? Her breast cancer markers have been elevated since last year, yet both her physical exams and ultrasounds came back perfectly fine. Now we’re just sitting here waiting for the pulmonologist from the Mayo Clinic to get back to us so she can figure out the next steps, all while we wait on the chest and abdominal CT scans to drop—not that those will do anything besides crush our spirits even further.

Betty Lopez3 said:Hello everyone. I haven't really posted here until now, but I've been reading all your updates. It's because, unfortunately, cancer hasn't spared my own family either.

I just saw a news report about a young man from a small town in Florida dealing with stomach cancer. He’s actually reaching out, asking if anyone happens to have any leftover Nexavar (Sorafenib) from Bayer that they no longer need and could send his way, simply because he can't afford to buy it himself.

I hope you don't mind me sharing the link to the story here; I'd like to help in whatever small way I can:

He even posted himself that all the funds have already been collected, and he's asking people to stop sending money now. 😉

ruggedfox11 said:It’s progressing regardless. God damn it, Prime Minister!
No matter how much I hate this curse, I just want to enroll in medical school and find a way to fix it once and for all.

Sent from my D2005 using Twitter

I feel for you; we’re also waiting (not with much optimism, honestly) on my mother’s CT scans for her abdomen and chest.

ruggedfox11 said:Supposedly, the radiation doesn't hit the exact field, and they claim the radiation "can't" affect the brain's speech center, and that this is just "how the disease progresses." On top of that, there's no sense of taste...

Anyway, she’s getting an anti-nausea solution from her oncologist, and tomorrow she heads in for a follow-up CT scan of the chest and abdomen to check things out. The only thing working against us right now is the NSE level, which jumped to 101—it was at 69 four months ago. Now I’m just left worrying if that spike is because of metastases in the head.

Sent from my D2005 using Twitter

I wouldn't worry about the loss of taste; that's a completely standard side effect from both chemo and radiation. My mom went through the same thing; it eventually improved, though it never quite returned to how it used to be. Ever since her first rounds of chemo and radiation back in 1997/1998 when she was fighting breast cancer, her sense of taste has been diminished.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Twitter