Posts by Angela Wright

neonmoose3 said:I need some perspective here.

My grandfather is battling urinary tract cancer. Between his advanced age (87 years old) and his declining health, he’s reaching the end of the road. He’s partially lucid, understands what’s happening, feels that the end is near, and has expressed that he wants to go home to pass away.

At home, he would be cared for by his immediate family and a nurse with palliative care experience. The family feels that being at home surrounded by loved ones is a much more humane way to go than dying in a hospital setting.

The doctor isn't keen on letting him leave because he currently has a fever and is in very poor condition. The nurse who would be caring for him says we should listen to the doctor.

My question is: can the family take responsibility and take him home even if it goes against the ward doctor's opinion? What are our options regarding this?

In a way, this feels like the exact opposite of the usual scenario where a hospital discharges a patient because "there's nothing left to do," while the family fights to keep them in the hospital for treatment until the end.

Thanks.

If your grandfather is legally competent to make his own decisions, he can sign himself out against medical advice. You can certainly ask the doctor, but as far as I know, you can't sign for him unless you have specific legal status—like a power of attorney or guardianship if he isn't capable of making independent decisions anymore.
My advice? Listen to the doctor and get that infection under control first. You absolutely cannot manage that kind of thing at home. It’s all about quality of life, and you can't provide quality care for an infection like that in a living room. Follow the nurse's lead and stick with the doctor's plan. Trust me, they won't keep him a single day longer than necessary because hospital beds are always in short supply. Maybe when you next speak with the doctor, bring the nurse along too, so they can both assess the situation and you can reach the best decision for him.

@Fiz
Anything with a yogurt-like emulsion consistency could work for administering propolis. You can even find kid-friendly propolis powder so you don't have to mess with opening capsules; it might be cheaper, too. Mixing it into fruit yogurt or an AB culture might make the taste easier for him to handle, though I'm not sure what specifically is bothering him—it's similar to honey. 🤷 Grab some Beta Glucan as well; that will perk him up, just like multivitamins supposedly perk up the dead. I've had really good results with that when dealing with elderly people. Hang in there and don't let it get to you. You're working harder than you should have to, acting like a devoted daughter-in-law, while he has a son and daughter who can handle the arguing with him. Just offer it to him, and let him decide. Your conscience is clear, dear, so don't beat yourself up over it.

Carl Kern66, please accept my sincerest condolences. You all did everything absolutely right, and you should hold your heads high. Knowing you gave him everything possible will be a massive source of comfort for you in the years to come—it stays with you for life. Now, let him rest in peace and make sure you take some time to look after yourselves; you’ve all earned it. 🙂

If they can implement this within the EU, there’s no reason we can't do the same here in the States. Just look it up for yourself:
http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.j..._page.jsp&mid=

I think it’s high time you started looking for a connection to switch over to Rebro.

Fiz should get him a TENS unit so he can do some passive muscle training. Since his abdominal muscles are weak, that reflux is hitting him much harder. They really need to bring in physical therapy at the hospital. A physiotherapist could even come right to his ward to work with him and help build up his strength. If he’s finally cleared of the infection, I honestly think it would be best to discharge him home. That kind of move would be a massive psychological boost for him.

M

Lisa Lopez75 said:Guys, I really need some help here if anyone has info—does anyone know if any oncologist in America prescribes valganciclovir (Roche's Valcyte) when diagnosing glioblastoma? If you know, please shoot me a PM. Thanks so much in advance!

Any oncologist can prescribe it, provided there’s a medical indication for treatment. It's an antiviral medication used for viral infections—I believe CMV, which has been found in the tumor tissue of certain glioma patients and is thought to have some sort of causal link to the onset of the disease itself.

Hey everyone, I’m heading out to a dead zone without any internet access, so if you don't hear back from me immediately over the next few days, that's why. I'll try my best to hunt down a bit of signal here and there just to catch up on what's happening and get back to you.
Stay safe, everybody.

Look, Fiz, I wouldn't touch anything unless I knew exactly what was inside and how it might interact with any medication I'm already taking... I'd stick to probiotics, maybe some Beta Glucan to start, and some propolis to help ward off infections.

Amanda Miller69 said:My father-in-law is still struggling with that damn muscle that's completely blocking his digestion.
He’s going to try to "blow past it" today and through the weekend, and if he can't make it work, he promised he'll go under the knife on Monday to finally get this sorted once and for all.
Luckily, my father-in-law is a pretty tough guy and handles all of this stoically, though he does have those moments where he mentally hits a wall—thankfully, they pass.
I don't even dare get my hopes up anymore, because usually, once I start feeling optimistic, everything just goes sideways.

Man, they should have dealt with that immediately instead of letting him waste away for a month until he was already weakened. 🙄
Hopefully, everything will be fine now.

cosmiclynx14 said:Angela Wright, my dad actually went over to the clinic, and unfortunately, it’s still just that same da Vinci surgical robot. There isn't anything groundbreaking happening here; they're just starting to use it for colon procedures now, whereas before they were only using it for prostate stuff..

Just thought I'd share, since there's zero new info out there.

😢
Anyway, keep pushing forward. Don't back down.

Linda Ramirez30 said:Thanks a lot. 🙂 Is it possible that the radiation therapy her pelvic area underwent caused these bone pains, especially considering she was already dealing with osteoporosis? Could the lesions actually be a result of the treatment itself?

It’s possible this is stemming from osteoporosis, but you absolutely need to get that checked out!

Linda Ramirez30 said:Hi everyone, I wasn't sure where else to look for answers, so I figured I'd try here. Is it possible for bone lesions shown on a PET-CT scan to mean something other than metastasis?

Sure they can. For instance, you might be seeing old fracture sites, heavy impact injuries, or similar things. Generally speaking, if you want the most reliable look at what's happening in the bones, a bone scan is the gold standard.

That’s a pretty optimistic take.

Regarding CyberKnife, I’ve already shared the data about the brain tumor with you—pay attention! There is a massive distinction here. Brain tumors, specifically gliomas, are notorious for behaving aggressively if you try to touch them with a scalpel; they practically go berserk and expand. CyberKnife and Gamma Knife work by cauterizing the vessels that feed them and irradiating them so they eventually wither away and get resorbed. Quite often, these tumors sit in spots in the brain that are simply unreachable by surgery because you'd wreck vital centers, so this approach is an incredibly effective solution.
As for the procedure itself and Medicare coverage, you have to secure opinions from three specialist doctors who must certify that this is the sole viable treatment option and that it isn't available locally. Once that's established, it goes before a Medicare review board to get the green light. That process can drag on, so most people end up paying all the upfront costs themselves and then wait for Medicare to reimburse them based on their receipts later.
How much something like this actually costs? Honestly, I have no clue. I won't even attempt to guess, but it certainly isn't cheap—especially when you're talking about proton therapy. Your best bet is to contact the medical institutions directly and ask.

edit: please don't thank me. I've said it before: helping with this carries a deeper significance for me; it's actually a way for me to process my own trauma.

cosmiclynx14 said:So, from what I’ve managed to dig up over the last few hours, we're looking at a robot—basically a laser knife—that hunts down tumors in the body and blasts them with radiation without touching the surrounding organs. It just hits the tumor and nothing else.

Now, if I'm understanding this correctly (and maybe I'm missing something), it essentially freezes the tumor in place for a while—say, five to ten years? Am I on the right track? And in some instances, it actually shrinks them too.

I just realized this isn't exactly groundbreaking news either, and people have already been debating it here on the forum.

But for us, it definitely is.🙂

Little Ena Sarac went to Germany for CyberKnife treatment for a brain tumor.
From what I understand, you can only do this if there's a single tumor, properly positioned, and measuring no more than about 4 cm, if memory serves. That’s specifically for brain tumors; I have no clue how it works for other types of tumors in the body.

I was actually talking about proton beam therapy performed in Munich at the technical university. The late president of the Sav za on i dosta association underwent it and had a pretty positive reaction, recommending it. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0610103740.htm
I would definitely look further into this.

silenttiger52 said:Hey everyone, I honestly can’t believe I’m posting here—this is actually my first time ever using this forum. I wanted to reach out because I lost my mom four months ago. She passed away from a ruptured brain aneurysm; there was just nothing anyone could do since it hit the main artery responsible for everything in the body. When it happened, I went straight into total denial. It didn't feel real, like it wasn't actually happening to me or my family. Now, I don't know how I'm going to handle her being gone forever. It feels like the more time passes, the harder it gets. Please, tell me—how did you all cope with losing someone close to you?

I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. 😢

If you head over to the Psychologica PDF section, there’s a specific thread dedicated to dealing with grief, including a separate one specifically for those who have lost their mothers.

It just doesn't feel right to discuss the weight of grief and how to manage it here, in a space where people are fighting for their own lives or watching their loved ones fight to survive.

feralridge3 said:Is that for Rebro? It’s a total joke that we’re stuck with the exact same oncologist. 😍

Don't mess around here. Even if you end up seeing the exact same Dr. Zhivkov, my advice is to be completely upfront with him. Call him out, lay the whole situation on the table, and tell him exactly what’s happening so he can actually help you. Mom has to step up. Right away. We need to get that radiation treatment moving. If they push this back any further, one wrong move is all it takes to blow everything sideways. She could end up with a broken spine and be paralyzed for life. When you're dealing with bone metastases, targeted radiation is really your only real move. As far as I know, there isn't any chemo that's going to do much for you there.

feralridge3 said:It’s about my mom, and honestly, I don't even know which way to turn here. 🤷
The latest bone scans show metastases near adjacent vertebrae, and the results are significantly worse than the last ones. Her oncologist appointment isn't scheduled for another two months. To make matters worse, the only oncologist at the local hospital is heading out on vacation for a month. The only help we have right now is an internist, but he doesn't have the authority to prescribe anything heavy.
I'm wondering if it would even be possible to take her to a private oncologist to get chemo started, though I assume she'd have to foot the entire bill herself. 🤷

In my opinion, you aren't looking at chemo; you're looking at radiation, and you need to get that moving ASAP! I'm not sure if a private doctor can actually authorize radiation treatment. You'll likely have to load her up in the car and drive all the way to Washington, D.C., or somewhere similar—there really isn't much other choice. 🤷

Rachel Wood27, this is incredible news! 🙂 It really sparks some hope, especially considering how aggressive the cellular makeup of lung cancer can be. They often call it the "100-day window" because, more often than not, that's when people succumb to metastases in the liver or brain... but your dad has absolutely shattered every single statistic in his path. It’s an absolute landslide, honestly. 😉

Fiz, I’m going to put this under the price of a cardboard box: this is enough to drive anyone absolutely insane! 🙂🙂🙂