Posts by Andrew Cruz3

I had a date written out as 10/04. I used CONCATENATE to tack on 2013
But for some reason, Excel isn't treating the value like an actual date; I have to manually hit enter for it to register.
I also wanted to see which day of the week that date fell on, so I used a custom cell format of dddd to show the day. However, once I pull those values into a PivotTable, it still treats them as dates instead of days. I tried using Paste Special as values, but I ran into the exact same issue. 😕
When I switch the format back to General, it just shows me how many days have passed since 1900. 🙄

I don't think filters are going to cut it here.😬

I'm looking at a dataset with about 4,000 entries, and I need to pull out specific ones where the price for a particular service stays under a certain threshold, X. The problem is, I can't figure out how to set up the filters to isolate data based on three different parameters:
price
service category
service type

It gets messy because more than 50 different services—each with its own price tag—are all lumped into a single column.
Some services consistently dip below my target price, but those aren't the ones I'm actually hunting for.

I can't just paste the spreadsheet here since it contains sensitive information.

I could use some help with this:

I’ve got a spreadsheet with these headers:
Client Type Service Price

My goal is to pull specific clients based on certain price brackets—basically everyone under $333 for a specific service (there are about 50 of them). It would be great if I could filter by Service Type too, though I could just manually sort the types since there are only four.
The sheet has over 100K rows.

I thought I could knock this out using a VLOOKUP combined with an IF statement, but I definitely bit off more than I can chew here. 😁
It’s just not working. Help.

I tried messing around with a Pivot Table, but the layout gets messy because of the sheer number of services. Plus, it sorts everything alphabetically, which makes the numerical order a total headache.

Thanks in advance.

She passed away yesterday 🙂

We didn't take her to the hospital; we just stayed by her side until the very end.

Thanks for all the support here.

Angela Wright said:He’s sitting there with that ER paperwork, being totally upfront about wanting palliative care. He's basically asking if, professionally speaking, it makes sense to pursue that route, and he's looking for guidance on how to approach someone else who might be willing to provide that kind of specialized care. If he approaches this assertively—just straight talk, no blame in his voice—he’ll probably just leave them stunned. Most doctors aren't used to being communicated with like that.
I'll be blunt: you should really look into moving Mom to a residential facility that specializes in this kind of care. There are private facilities that do an incredible job. I recently lost a friend to a brain tumor at age 36, and they spent their final months in a top-tier facility. I can look up the specific names for you if you want.

The thing is, he’s ready for palliative care, but we aren't.
Maybe I don't fully grasp what that entails, but our heart is set on keeping Mom at home for as long as humanly possible.

We were back at the ER again today for fluid drainage (it was a 12-hour ordeal this time 😠). They ran more tests
than last time, but once again, we walked away without any real answers. All I have is the discharge summary.
Is there a way to pay for these drainage procedures privately, so we aren't stuck waiting in an ER for 12+ hours every single time?
On top of that, the fluid just keeps coming back within a day or two, even though they told us it would take much longer to build up—maybe days or even weeks.
Does anyone know how to stop or at least slow down this fluid buildup?

How can I make things easier for her?

vividsailor7 said:...

It’s pretty obvious they didn't follow through on the necessary steps. They really should have ordered an abdominal ultrasound,
an abdominal X-ray, a post-procedure X-ray, an EGD, plus blood work like CBC, CRP, AST, ALT, GGT, ALP, Potassium, Sodium, and Bilirubin.
Depending on what those results show, treatment might include things like Lasix, Spironolactone/Aldactone, NSBB/Propranolol prophylaxis, or ACE inhibitors/Ramipril. If she can't handle the last two, they could try more selective beta-blockers like Carvedilol or maybe an ARB like Valsartan.

...

The ER ran some tests, I just don't happen to know which ones. 🤷
She was actually in the hospital for checkups about two months ago, and they told her everything looked fine except for her liver, though even that was considered "satisfactory."
I get the feeling her doctor isn't expecting much and has basically washed his hands of the whole thing. 🙂
He isn't prescribing anything. The last time we saw him, he sent us home with just Reglan and some talk about gas in her abdomen.
Then, when I called him during office hours, he just pointed me toward the ER, where they were the first ones to mention ascites.

Angela Wright said:Don't mention it. Honestly, I didn't say anything particularly kind, and I'm sorry about that 😢. Sometimes I hesitate to tell people what I know because the blunt truth can hit pretty hard. People often aren't actually ready to hear the answers to the questions they ask. But looking back at my own experience, even though dealing with the reality was tough, I'm glad I eventually heard the truth once I managed to find it.

It’s just that everyone keeps sugarcoating things for me, even after I told them I want the truth (Mom doesn't need to know since she isn't really built for the heavy stuff), so it’s starting to get under my skin a bit.
But hearing actual, realistic information from you means a lot.
The fact that you aren't giving me "nice" news isn't on you.😢

Yeah, actually,
it slips my mind.

@Angela Wright/">@@Angela Wright

Thanks so much for the help and the kind words.
I know I mostly just show up here looking for answers, but like you already know—it hasn't been easy.

Thanks to everyone else too (wanderingcobra76 and the rest)

I know we aren't supposed to talk about alternatives here, but I was just wondering what everyone thinks about Cannabis oil.

Is there much risk involved in using it?
To be honest, I’d consider trying it if there isn't solid evidence showing it's actually harmful—sort of like how people debate things like flaxseeds or other supplements.

@moderators

I realize I'm pushing the boundaries of the rules, and feel free to penalize me if needed, but I wanted to ask here rather than on an alternative health forum because I'm looking for a high-quality, informed perspective.

Took the advice and headed to the ER with Mom on Monday.
Turns out the fluid is 😠
They drained 5 liters of water and told us they can't take any more right now.
She seemed fine regarding that bloating sensation until this afternoon.
Now she's swollen up again 😢

I honestly expected—and that's how I interpreted the doctor's tone—that it would take much longer before the swelling or bloating returned, not this fast.

Does anyone know anything about this?
Does it mean we're running out of time if it builds up this quickly?
How often is it safe to drain that fluid, and what does it actually do to the body?

The doctor is insisting it’s just gas, not fluid. Honestly, looking at it, I think he might be right.
It feels like a balloon about to pop. Just rock hard.

Now,
I’m not sure if an enlarged liver could actually cause this much bloating.
The doctor isn't ordering any tests, which makes me feel like he was already expecting this exact scenario. He seems solely focused on whether my bowel movements are regular. Once I confirm everything is normal, all he does is give me a warning to call him immediately if I miss a day.😕

My Mom hasn't had a primary cancer identified despite all the testing (including a PET-CT scan).
Everything seems to be manifesting as secondary tumors in her liver.
She’s completed 6+3 cycles of a chemotherapy protocol.

I know the situation is serious 😢

What's really bothering me is how much she's bloated right now.
Her stomach looks like she’s expecting twins. She keeps complaining about the pressure, and it's making it hard for her to move around.
We saw the doctor as soon as the swelling started. He just told her it was gas and that it would pass.
He sent us home with some Reglan.

Does anyone have advice on what to do about this bloating?
It’s been going on for about three weeks now, even though her bowel movements are normal and she gets gas occasionally.
Her ankles are swollen, too.

@Amy Torres4/">@@Amy Torres4
My heart goes out to you.
😢

Angela Wright said:When the treatment actually hits the mark, you at least know what you're fighting through.

It feels plausible that we're looking at some kind of occult carcinoma in the colon. Because of how winding the large intestine is, things can easily be missed during a colonoscopy, and even a PET scan can sometimes miss it. Usually, it tends to jump to the liver first.

What specific treatment protocol is she on right now? Any particular meds? If you can get a copy of her doctor's report, I might be able to make sense of it, or maybe one of the doctors in this group could offer some direction on next steps.

She hasn't had a PET scan.
The doctor says it isn't necessary, but Mom is refusing to let us arrange one elsewhere.

I'm not entirely sure which medications were used. 🙈
All I know is she finished two cycles—a combination of pills and IV chemo (6+3)—and this is the first check-up after the break.

I'll grab the paperwork from Mom and post the details here.
The latest report mentions "significant progression of secondary lesions." 🙂(I didn't catch the exact clinical meaning of that phrase right away.)

@Angela Wright/">@@Angela Wright

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain all that.
We’re going to go out and get some more second opinions.
The hardest part is knowing my mom can't handle heavy-duty chemo, and this approach—even at its best—is definitely going to mean a lot of it.

Angela Wright said:Essentially, things are just staying the same. Unfortunately, without identifying the primary tumor, there isn't a clear path for successful treatment. My honest advice? Get a second opinion. Not every oncologist, radiologist, or pathologist brings the same level of experience to the table.

Could you please clarify two things for me:

What does "staying the same" actually mean in this context?
Is it a plateau—neither better nor worse? Or does it mean the disease is progressing at a steady rate, which wouldn't be good news?

Our doctor told us they wouldn't be able to find a specific site and that it was perfectly normal.
Plus, if I heard him correctly, he implied that finding it wasn't even that critical, but now
you're telling me something else entirely?

My mom has liver metastases, but they still haven't located the primary tumor.
We just picked up her latest results today after she finished two rounds of chemo and took a three-month break. Her bloodwork looks fantastic, but the CT scan shows the lesions have grown—or rather, there are more of them now.
On the previous scan, the lesions in the right lobe had vanished, and the ones in the left were smaller.
Now, they've come back.😢

What am I looking at here?
Does this mean everything is just getting worse and resurfacing?
Last time, the doctor was actually quite pleased with the results, even though, from our perspective as a family, things didn't feel all that great. I’m trying to hold onto that same hope for now.🙂