Posts by Angela Wright

God, I honestly can’t wrap my head around the fact that it was considered inoperable just two years ago. Based on what you’re describing now, things have clearly taken a turn for the worst—we're looking at terminal stage with widespread metastasis, and there's a high probability it's hit the brain too. I am so incredibly sorry. If you aren't in a position to provide hospice care at home or find a spot in a private facility, your only real options are going to be the Mayo Clinic or Johns Hopkins 😢 Just try to find whatever strength and grit you need to hang in there until the end; stay by her side as much as humanly possible and shower her with love. I don't know if that offers any comfort right now, but given how she's doing, we're likely looking at the end in a matter of days. If I were in your shoes, I’d do absolutely everything in my power to ensure she spends her final moments at home, surrounded by nothing but love and care. It'll give you so much more peace of mind afterward.

Ashley Smith54 said:I don't even know where to start... My mother has been battling cervical cancer for over two years now, but her condition has taken a massive turn for the worse just in the last few months. She spends more time in the hospital than she does at home. It feels like the doctors are treating her like a game of hot potato—they keep her for a month and then just discharge her like everything is fine, which is ridiculous because her situation is critical. There are phases where she doesn't recognize anyone at all, and her body just locks up in these intense spasms; there’s nothing left of her. Yesterday, we were told to look into things like Marof or Duga Resa. I'm completely lost on what to do... she's suffering so much. What should we be doing, and what am I supposed to expect? 😕🤷

What you've shared is incredibly vague. At the very least, transcribe her most recent discharge summary. What specific tests have they run? What kind of therapy has she undergone? Where is she being treated? How old is she?

wearytiger56 said:My grandfather is 83. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer four years ago. He was originally treated with Andrucom, which has since been discontinued, and they switched him over to Estracyt. Two months ago, he suffered a hip fracture caused by cancer metastasis. Since then, he's had massive issues urinating; doctors couldn't even get a catheter in because his prostate is too obstructed, so they had to perform a cystostomy. According to his discharge papers from two months ago, his creatinine was 115 and urea was 8.4. His PSA is sitting at 1050.00. He isn't in pain, though his mobility is limited because of that leg. The doctors are being incredibly tight-lipped, so I'm completely in the dark about what to expect. If anyone knows more about this situation, please guide me on how things will proceed and what the prognosis looks like. Thanks!

I strongly suggest you reach out to Dr. Trnski over at Vinogradska. I had an aunt who dealt with prostate cancer and similar complications for 20 years, especially toward the end, and Dr. Trnski managed to pull him through successfully. He lived to be 94.

Dear Vera, I am so incredibly sorry 😢
You’re right—you shouldn't have had to stay silent. You should have spoken up at the very first sign of that agonizing, spasmodic grip. Unfortunately, you learned that lesson the hardest way possible. Don't be surprised if this open letter of yours ends up triggering even more painful lessons down the road. You've gone after the staff, but since you declined an autopsy (which, in my opinion, is understandable), you lack the hard evidence or any actual leverage to purge negligent people from the medical system. As it stands, your tragic story is just one more drop in the bucket—just another shot fired into the fog.
I feel for you; I lost my own mother during her final moments and I know that specific kind of pain, so I can only imagine how much worse it is when you're watching systemic failures by doctors and nurses happen right in front of your eyes.
I truly hope you find some peace of heart.

I feel for 😢melps
you did everything within your power.

Eric Taylor13 said:If I were in your shoes, I’d head straight to the ER and demand a head CT just to rule out any internal bleeding. Even if it’s been three weeks, it's better safe than sorry... then down the road, you could grab an MRI to get a much clearer picture of whether there was any actual brain damage.

They can certainly try, but since it’s been three weeks since the fall, there’s a real chance they’ll just brush it off and tell you to follow the standard outpatient referral process. Your best bet might be to emphasize that the symptoms are actually getting worse and make sure to mention that heavy hit to the head from three weeks ago.
Whether they run a CT or an MRI isn't really up to you—it all comes down to the doctor's clinical judgment.

Paul Wells72 said:How long will these side effects last?

It could be for life, depending on how much things shifted and what kind of damage you're actually looking at. Some people end up hitting a breaking point where they suffer an aneurysm and just pop ten years down the line—I'm exaggerating there, obviously. Just go get a brain scan and book an appointment with a neurologist. Start with your local clinic.

Olivia Cook48 said:We have some INCREDIBLE NEWS!!!!! Mom's lung tumor is actually regressing. It's actually happening!!!! That means the chemo is working. Her oncologist was totally floored because the very first cycle already showed results!!!! Sending nothing but good vibes and great news to everyone else out there. Hang in there.

That's amazing!!! 👋
Whatever you guys have been doing, don't stop now! Keep it up!🙂

Bottom line? You and the rest of your crew are acting like absolute children. You seriously lucked out—like winning the Powerball—that you didn't end up meeting the same fate as Schumi or the late Natasha Richardson. To make it simple, her story plays out pretty much like yours:

On March 16, 2009, she suffered a severe head injury while skiing at Aspen. After the fall, she could still walk and talk normally, so she actually turned down medical help. She just went back to her hotel room. Three hours later, she was rushed to the local hospital in Aspen. From there, she was transferred to Notre Dame Cathedral Hospital in critical condition. The following day, she was flown to Mayo Clinic in New York City, where she passed away on March 18. The cause of death was an epidural hematoma caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

Source: Wikipedia

Look, stories like this happen all the time.
My guess? That pea-sized brain of yours probably just took a minor concussion and now you're dealing with some lingering side effects. That's my take. Now, you need to decide: are you going to keep playing the tough guy and risking it all, or are you going to schedule a proper brain scan and actually do something about it before things get ugly? There are plenty of options available if you stop being reckless. ☕

I was at Rib last week seeing a GI specialist/hepatologist, and they sent me off for an abdominal MRI. I’ve got a follow-up scheduled in two months, but naturally, the earliest I can actually get into the MRI machine isn't until November. I made sure to fill out the intake paperwork specifically noting that the doctor needs those results by April to decide if surgery is necessary and to gauge the whole situation, and I attached my full medical history. The woman at the front desk told me a review board handles these requests and that they might move my appointment up based on that—saying they'd notify me five days before a new date. Does anyone have experience with this? What are the actual odds that they’ll somehow pull that appointment forward to line up with my April check-up?

Bryan Foster4 said:Health is failing completely. Unfortunately, jaundice has set in everywhere, her strength is draining away, and the pain just keeps intensifying. She can barely eat anything because everything causes discomfort, so she's relying on IV fluids. Every single day is marked by cramps and vomiting, yet she can't seem to keep anything down. For a week now, they've been attempting to insert a biliary stent, but they haven't been successful because the 😢 has metastasized. Her movement remains slow, and her will to live is strange—unpredictable, though it’s what keeps her going to some extent. As for how much longer she has, I simply don't know. 😢

Oh, I am so incredibly sorry to hear that. 😢
Just stay by her side and do everything you can to make things easier. The priority right now is managing her pain, making sure she isn't hungry, and ensuring she stays hydrated. With proper palliative care, you can definitely achieve that.
Hang in there, and cherish every single moment you have left with her, however long that may be.

driftingsurfer14 said:There isn't a hospital right here where I live, but even Key West or San Diego are closer than Chicago, so I'm guessing none of the travel costs will be covered.

Your best bet is to call Medicare and see if they'll cover the mileage to the specialist. Fight for every penny you can get—you’re absolutely entitled to it!

The referral needs to explicitly state "examination and testing," "processing," or "day hospital care"; otherwise, they'll use that paperwork to justify denying you everything.
Regarding seeking treatment outside your home area, Medicare can be a total nightmare when it comes to travel reimbursements if they decide you could have just gotten the same diagnostics and treatment right where you live. If they make that call, they won't give you a heads-up or a chance to appeal—they’ll just sit on their hands and refuse to reimburse the costs. You'll likely end up footing the bill for the trip yourself.

swiftbear86 said:Well, obviously they prescribed her benzyl benzoate lotion after she mentioned the other stuff wasn't working.
From what I can tell, she’s having a hard time actually believing the doctors when they say the itching is real...

You can order Rogaine cream, though just a heads-up—it hasn't been tested on pregnant women. Back in the day, Pfizer used to make Eurax.

Here's a good article about itching.

Where did she post that? 🤷
The thing is, when you're pregnant, doctors won't touch any kind of live medication. My doctors refused to give me Clarityne for my allergies—even though I know some people swear it's safe to take during pregnancy—but I had asthma attacks in the past, so they weren't taking any chances.
It’s a mess, plain and simple. They'll have to weigh the risks.

Lisa Sullivan96 said:Mayo Clinic rarely issues internal referrals or handles orders on behalf of the patient. My mom has been going there for about five years, and that’s only happened maybe three or four times—and even then, it was only because she was practically begging and making a huge scene about it.
Besides, we've been told at the Mayo Clinic service counters several times that every floor operates completely independently; they aren't even coordinated by building. To quote one nurse I spoke to: "We have no clue what they're doing on the floor above us, let alone the floor below, much less in a different building."

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An internal referral can only be issued while the day hospital referral is still valid—basically, while the treatment is actively being carried out in the day unit. For my mom, her Oncologist arranged the day hospital stay specifically so she could get her labs and everything else handled all at once. It’s never been an issue.🤷

hollowridge88 said:Here are some photos from the chemo session... and yeah, she actually was given Dexamethasone to boost her white blood cell count. If that doesn't do the trick, she'll be heading to the hospital to get them bumped up manually.

I'm looking over the paperwork right now, but I don't see anything stating she was given Dex specifically to raise her white cell count.🤷

The only thing I can't wrap my head around is how she could walk away with a confirmed diagnosis and a second opinion, yet walk out without a single specialist prescribing anything or even offering a shred of advice on next steps. I mean, given that she’s pregnant, wouldn't you think she would have been the one asking them what to do about it?

hollowridge88 said:She explained it clearly to us—it’s specifically meant to boost white blood cell counts. I actually saw my GP yesterday, and he confirmed it's a fantastic injection for raising leukocytes... basically, it signals the bone marrow to kick things into high gear and produce more white cells. Anyway, we took a urine sample in yesterday, and sure enough, they just confirmed a urinary tract infection.🙂

Dex and bacterial infections are total opposites; they don't play well together at all.
As far as I know, Neupogen and Neulasta work by stimulating the bone marrow to ramp up white blood cell production.

Linda Ortiz49 said:She doesn't specify the exact reason, but she received them every single time her white blood cell count dipped below the threshold. Her oncologist was actually puzzled about why she was getting those injections, thinking the counts would likely just bounce back on their own eventually. But since waiting around would have pushed back her chemo schedule, her mom decided it was better to go with the injections instead.

So, based on that, you’re essentially taking a guess that's based on something she might have mentioned verbally. Of course the oncologist was surprised—those injections aren't actually meant to boost white blood cell counts. Those numbers will naturally climb back up given enough time, but sitting around waiting for nature to take its course isn't really an option when you're following a strict treatment protocol. In oncology, timing is everything; you need to hit those therapy windows with as little delay as possible because any lag can directly impact how well the treatment works and the final outcome.
Honestly, I think your mom was lucky her levels recovered so quickly.

Linda Ortiz49 said:My mom’s labs came back, and she was being given Dexamethasone injections specifically to boost her white blood cell count.

That's wild. 😕 Hold on, is the patient actually being prescribed that much Dexamethasone just to raise their leukocyte levels?
I'm really hoping one of our doctors here can step up and explain the logic behind that.