Posts by Angela Wright

Quote: my Soul

Rachel Williams said:After three and a half years of fighting, we’re finally approaching the end of the road. If this were "just" lung cancer, I honestly believe Mom would have had much more time, because those bastards haven't changed much since the start. But this summer, they diagnosed a wild breast cancer that has already metastasized everywhere—all while the doctors sat on their hands. We spent nearly a year begging them for a PET scan after her breast markers first started spiking, but they insisted nothing showed up on the mammogram. When we finally secured a referral to MD Anderson Cancer Center, the doctors there were absolutely floored that no one had sent her there sooner. Starting tomorrow, Mom is officially being admitted to the hospital, and we’re just waiting for the end. If I lived in America, I wouldn't even consider this situation, but living two states away while dealing with a high-risk pregnancy makes everything harder. The most I'll be able to do is call her or visit when I can. As for how I’m going to pull myself together mentally when this all hits the fan? Only God knows.

Both my mom and I have come to the same conclusion: the single most important thing is finding a high-quality primary care physician. My mother spent four years being bounced around from one dismissive doctor to another before anyone finally caught her lung cancer—which, by then, had already progressed to Stage IV. All they did was tell her the cough was just acid reflux, or claim that scarring on her lungs was from old tuberculosis (which she’s never even had, but apparently doctors know better than she does). When swollen lymph nodes started appearing in her neck, different doctors would call them anything from enlarged glands to just fatty deposits. Her GP refused to back down; she kept pushing for more tests because she knew her colleagues were missing something, and she was 100% right. For every brilliant doctor working in our hospitals, there's a criminal who isn't fit to treat a stuffed animal. As for the specialty clinic over in the city center? I wouldn't go there if my life depended on it. Between their "treatment" and their complete failure to diagnose my mother, they are the absolute final straw regarding their incompetence. That goes for the local community hospital too, though I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, and the same applies to MD Anderson Cancer Center.

I'm really sorry. 😢
I really hope Mom gets to see those grandkids and that you get the chance to say a proper goodbye to her. You both truly deserve that much. I just hope the universe—or God, or whatever is out there—restores some kind of balance and gives you both that peace.
Hang in there.

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ruggedfox11 said:Here’s where I am after all this time...

If I haven't fully recovered from everything yet—the nights are still the absolute worst, seeing those images burned into my eyes, with sickness and death constantly playing on loop in my mind 24/7...

What I finally realized is that his neurologist never even gave him antibiotics for the pneumonia, despite repeated RTGs showing inflammation and blood tests confirming it, nor did they provide a transfusion; they basically treated him like an animal and just left him to die...

Now I'm waiting for next week, then I'm going to march right into the clinic to demand answers, because she's the only one who can explain why she pulled the antibiotics. I'll likely be looking into filing a formal complaint with the medical board...

It's horrific regardless, but I'm hoping that once I get my answers, I can finally put a period at the end of this sentence and move forward...

Did you go?
Think long and hard about whether there's actually any point, because you might walk away with insights that only disturb you deeper and turn your life into total chaos. You might feel the urge to file a lawsuit, but given the state of our legal system and the massive doctor shortage in this country, plus how much of a joke the medical boards can be, I fear you'll only end up hurting yourself. You won't find satisfaction or justice, and it won't bring him back. Just look at how that mascara situation ended up.

Here is my honest, detached perspective on the whole thing:
Objectively speaking, your husband was incredibly ill. In the situation he was in, you were fighting for even a shred of quality of life, which was nothing short of miraculous and set an example for others. A full remission would have been a literal miracle. If they took away some time from him by withholding those antibiotics, then that was simply more time lost. Ultimately, he died because of that damn diagnosis that put him in that state in the first place.
Those are the facts. No matter how much it hurts, and no matter how badly we want to pin the blame on someone—because for some irrational reason, it feels like having a villain makes the situation easier to handle—that is the brutal reality.

Focus on yourself. Go do the things you two dreamed of doing together. Keep moving. You have to. It's easier to accept it this way than to stay stuck in one place while life pushes you forward by sheer inertia and you're just slamming your head against a wall. And don't you dare blame yourself for anything. You did everything you could, exactly how you were supposed to, with everything you knew. Don't let your memories of your husband be defined by images of struggle and dying. He was so much more than that, and you both were so much more than that! You owe it to him to remember him through the lens of your first meeting and your first kiss. Live that life, and live it freely! If he loved you—and I have zero doubt he did—that is exactly what he would have wanted for you.

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Emily Martinez61 said:Jane,

What’s your take on the Megacomplex from the Megamin company out of Washington, D.C.? Aside from the bee products mentioned online, I read somewhere that it contains zeolite, but I can't find any mention of zeolite on the label itself. What kind of dosage do you think would actually do something for my immune system?

I haven't messed with that before. You might want to ask someone in the holistic health circles.

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Morgan Edwards4 said:Thanks so much for the reply. The doctor told us in the hallway that the biopsy was fine, but we haven't received any paperwork yet, and I don't see it mentioned in the discharge papers. Maybe we'll get it after the multidisciplinary meeting next week when they decide on the next steps for treatment. We don't even know what stage the cancer is...
I'm posting links to the discharge summary because the text is otherwise too tiny to read.
Page
Page 2
The discharge diagnosis is also c18.7 malignant neoplasm...

In my opinion, the pathology report isn't finished yet.
Did you have your follow-up on January 12th? Was there really nothing at all you could discuss with the doctor about this?
A biopsy is never "fine" if the diagnosis comes back malignant. That is a completely nonsensical answer.
You need to know the specific type of malignancy, the grade, and the stage—all of which are detailed in the pathology report.
Demand it from the doctors and insist. I suggest requesting consultations; go ahead and make a scene at the clinic doors if you have to, just to get some decisive answers.

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Morgan Edwards4 said:Hey everyone, unfortunately, I’m joining this thread too...
My dad had surgery for colon cancer and was recently discharged from the hospital. The discharge papers don't mention anything about the biopsy, and we haven't received the actual pathology report yet. Verbally, they told us the margins are clear and the lymph nodes look good—meaning no metastasis. None of the tests done before the surgery suggested any spread either. Right now, we're just waiting for the multidisciplinary team meeting involving oncologists to decide if he needs chemotherapy or not. Is it possible that's why we haven't seen the biopsy results yet? I'm not sure at what point they typically hand those over to the patient.

Things got pretty messy for my dad after the surgery; it took over a month to get him out of the hospital, and he actually ended up having three different operations. The doctors here are incredibly tight-lipped with information. We honestly found out most of what happened just by reading the discharge summary, because when it comes to "updates" (which basically means standing in the hallway trying to catch a doctor by the sleeve if you see one), they tell us absolutely nothing. Does anyone here know how to help me translate the discharge papers? There are so many medical terms we don't understand and don't realize how they all impact each other.

The pathology report usually takes about ten days after the procedure, and it should have been included in the discharge paperwork if you didn't receive it separately. Regardless, you have every legal right to request it directly from the hospital.
Post the discharge summary here. We have some doctors checking this thread, and even us laypeople can probably make sense of some of it.

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Dana Martin87 said:My dad just went through another major surgery—one of those massive ones where they're basically rebuilding him from scratch. This time, they had to take out part of his liver. He’s recovering okay, but there's a catch: since the procedure, he can't pee without using a catheter. It’s been two months now. Dealing with both a stoma and a catheter is a nightmare. On top of that, the donor site on his leg—where they took the skin graft for his abdomen—is healing incredibly slowly. Does anyone have experience with catheters, or maybe some advice on how to speed up wound healing?

Try Dermazin ointment. Honestly, anything with silver ions tends to kickstart the healing process.
As for the catheter situation—is the issue that he can't hold it, or is he physically unable to go at all?

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Rachel Williams said:Angela Wright - I feel like you've shared the link to the clinical trials database a few times already, but now I can't find it anywhere on here or even through a quick search online 🤦 Could you please post it again?

https://clinicaltrials.gov/

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Jason Nelson63 said:Do you guys think preventive brain radiation is actually necessary if the scans show the brain is clear, especially since the primary tumor diagnosed seven months ago is completely gone?

Regarding the supplements, I honestly believe they made a massive difference. If I recall correctly, the whole point of chemo is primarily to stop the cancer from spreading... well, after just two rounds of chemo, the lung RTG alone showed incredible improvement. Now, looking at the CT scan, it seems we managed to wipe out the primary carcinoma entirely within 4.5 months...

I was feeling incredibly conflicted about this too when ruggedfox11 brought up the option they were offering them. But after doing some digging on Google, I found data showing it really is effective. The dose of radiation being used here is significantly lower than what’s typically used to treat metastatic disease where the end results are hit-or-miss.

The goal of chemotherapy is to get the disease into remission—at the very least. Anything beyond that is just a bonus.
Whatever path you choose, stick to it.

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Jason Nelson63 said:Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone could suggest some effective alternative treatments for bone metastases (specifically in the sternum and vertebrae).

To give you some context, my dad was diagnosed earlier this year with advanced small cell lung cancer. The entire left lung was affected—mostly in the upper lobe and heavily concentrated near the interlobar area—along with involvement in the thoracic lymph nodes.
At the time, everything looked fine in the bone window on his scans.

Just a week after the diagnosis, once we had the cytology results back, we started chemo immediately. He’s completed six rounds now. Alongside the chemo, we’ve been using alternative supplements: chlorophyll, royal jelly, and medicinal mushrooms—starting with Mycosan, then moving on to Cordyceps and Maitake.
We just had a follow-up CT scan yesterday... the lungs are completely clear of cancer, the lymph nodes are too... all organs and major blood vessels look clean as well.
However, the metastases mentioned before (in the sternum and vertebrae) are visible, though they aren't causing any symptoms yet. Honestly, nobody would have even known they were there if we hadn't done that CT, since his previous scans showed nothing wrong with the bones.
Despite this, his oncologist is incredibly pleased with how he's responded to the treatment so far.

Naturally, we're planning to treat the metastases with radiation, but much like we did with the primary tumor, we want to integrate a combination of alternative therapies...
So, can anyone recommend an alternative specifically for targeting those bone metastases? Maybe a different type of mushroom, like Reishi... or something similar?

Bone metastases usually won't show up on standard imaging unless you're looking at a bone scan or perhaps a targeted RTG of a specific skeletal area. A bone scan is what covers the whole skeleton.
Bone metastases, particularly those stemming from small cell lung cancer, are highly radiosensitive and can be successfully treated with targeted radiation doses.
For both the bone scan and radiation therapy, you really need to coordinate directly with your oncologist.
As for alternative treatments, there is an entire sub-forum dedicated to that topic, so check the main page of the forum.
Discussing alternatives here in the health section is considered off-topic.
Actually, everything you mentioned you're currently using falls under "complementary supplements"—they're dietary additions rather than true "alternatives." True alternative medicine refers to anything that lacks scientifically proven efficacy or safety data. The mushrooms you listed contain beta-glucan, which is a potent antioxidant and immune booster; that's actually the most critical part of the whole equation when it comes to boosting immunity and neutralizing free radicals. You can find concentrated extracts of this at most pharmacies.

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urbanharbor15 said:Hey everyone! I’ve been lurking here for a while, but I finally decided to sign up because I really need some advice.

It’s about my mom. She’s dealing with advanced lung cancer, and because it’s metastasized to her esophagus, she’s been on a very restrictive diet for at least two or three months now. About two or three weeks ago, she started using opioid patches. Between all of that—and the fact that she still has chemo sessions coming up—she hasn't had a bowel movement in two or three weeks.

We feel like we’ve tried everything under the sun: mountain teas, castor oil, glycerin suppositories, laxative solutions, senna, probiotics... nothing works. Does anyone have any ideas or personal experiences we can try before we can get her back in front of the doctor? My primary care physician and the pharmacist both suggested what we've already tried, but we're hitting a wall. Thanks.

You could try using liquid glycerin in a 2ml syringe and administering it rectally. You can even do it multiple times. It’s a much more effective option than just using standard glycerin suppositories.
If that doesn't do the trick, your only other move might be picking up an enema kit from a pharmacy.
If even that fails, you're likely looking at a physical blockage.

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briskskipper71 said:Hey everyone,

I’ve posted on this thread before. My mom has lobular breast cancer; she’s already gone through a mastectomy, six rounds of chemo, and 25 radiation sessions. Since her tumor is hormone-dependent, she’s supposed to continue treatment with Tamoxifen. Here’s the thing—she was given a two-month supply and an appointment for January, but when we crunched the numbers and counted the pills, we realized there would be a 6-day gap if she starts taking them today. Is it okay to have a break in the medication, or should she be taking it constantly without any pauses? Also, are there any supplements she can take to mitigate the side effects? Based on what I've read, they could be pretty nasty or even dangerous, though I realize this is a long-standing drug used by tons of patients, so the side effects are well-documented.
I'm also wondering about hair regrowth after chemo. My mom's hair has started coming back, but it's incredibly thin, weak, and patchy across her scalp... I honestly expected it to look better than this, even though it's been a month and a half since her last session.

Take it EXACTLY and ONLY as the oncologist prescribed. For any dilemmas like this, call the oncology department directly—you can ask for advice there. Even the nurses on the floor can give you answers to these kinds of questions.
Regarding boosting immunity with heavy-duty antioxidants, stick to stuff that has FDA approval (usually things you'd find at a reputable pharmacy). Generally speaking, you want to avoid them while actively taking medication because they can interfere with how well the drugs work. With chemotherapy, people usually take them between cycles to help with recovery.

Hair needs time to regenerate, but it will happen. Tell her not to let that be her biggest worry. She should just pick out some nice wigs and a hairstyle that makes her feel good.

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wanderingfox92 said:Please help, advice, anything... My husband was just diagnosed with a 2x2cm squamous cell carcinoma in his throat. The doctors are recommending surgery—removing the entire larynx and vocal cords, plus an esophageal reconstruction. However, my husband is refusing the surgery. He won't even talk about his fears so we can find ways to help him; he just tells me to change the subject. I think he's struggling mentally to accept this; he has no appetite and finds swallowing difficult. Tomorrow we have an appointment in San Francisco to see if radiation is an option, because he’ll do anything to avoid the knife... they mentioned the tumor is stage D4, though I don't quite grasp what that means. How should I handle this? He doesn't want us to pressure him, but everyone keeps saying surgery is the best path forward. I'm by his side through whatever decision he makes, but it's incredibly hard to just sit back and do nothing. Thank you in advance—any advice or shared experiences would mean the world!

Contact their association here: http://www.larynx-hr.org/
In my experience, people respond best to those who have actually walked in their shoes and are living quality lives now.
Ask the association if one of their advocates could visit you at home to sit down and talk with your husband.
Beyond that, you have to give him the breathing room to make his own choice.
If I were in your position, I’d start the conversation like this:
"Look, I know you don't want to talk about this, and honestly, neither do I. I just want to be certain that you’ve truly weighed all the facts and made a rational decision to throw away every real chance you have in favor of a guaranteed death. I will respect your choice, even if it feels like my whole world is collapsing, and I'll have to live with your decision. But don't expect me to provide end-of-life care or change diapers for someone who gave up on themselves and on me at the very first hurdle. If that's your path, please go ahead and arrange your own palliative care immediately, because under these circumstances, I refuse to be part of that. End of story."

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Jacob Williams7 said:Sadly, my dad is dealing with cancer again, this time in his thyroid. 😢
Can anyone help me make sense of these biopsy results? I'm trying to figure out what the chances are and how far this has progressed:
Fine-needle aspiration of a slightly hypervascularized node (up to 16 mm in diameter) located in the lower pole of the right thyroid lobe (I-II).
I-II peripheral blood, featuring numerous mostly single cells and scattered small acinar clusters of mildly to moderately pleomorphic oxyphilic cells, occasionally showing binucleation with nuclei mostly positioned peripherally.
Impression: neoplasm (differential diagnosis includes Hurtle cell neoplasm and medullary neoplasm).
It is recommended to check serum calcitonin levels followed by PH verification.
If there are any doctors on here, I would be incredibly grateful because our whole family is really worried about him...

Basically, we’re looking at cancer, but in this context, it actually carries a better prognosis regarding disease progression and treatment options.
They say if a tree has to fall, it’s better if it falls this way.
I truly believe my dad won't be the exception to that rule.

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Laura Lee78 said:Hey everyone, I just stumbled upon this thread. I haven't read through everything yet, but I can tell the vibe here is incredibly supportive, which is wonderful.
My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer a few months ago. She’s already finished 10 rounds of radiation and that's supposedly it.
They're telling us chemo doesn't make sense at this stage. They basically gave her a few months left, and that's the end of the line.
Is it worth seeking a second opinion? Also, does anyone here have experience with the clinic over at St. Nedelj?

You should definitely try getting a second opinion from Dr. Cepulic.
If your mom is still in decent general shape, I don't see why she shouldn't be considered for treatments that could at least slow things down.

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cosmicmason15 said:It’s been almost three weeks since Dad came home... it took some adjusting. At first, you think you’ll just snap, but you get used to the rhythm, though "intense" is an understatement.
Nothing from St. Nedelj, I can't help there.

He gets these tremors in his legs sometimes—uncontrolled, of course, and he doesn't even feel them, but I can see them twitching. Even during hygiene care, he mentions feeling sensation around the anal area.
I know the brain is incredibly sensitive and the spinal metastasis caused significant damage, but I’m still holding onto hope that I can dig up some treatment that might repair that damage.

His second round of chemo is next week, and radiation for his spine and head starts in about ten days... we also started seeing a private physical therapist. It's a constant battle.

Since he spends most of his time lying on his back, he can't really cough properly; when he tries, it sounds terrible, so I turn him onto his side every time... is it normal in these circumstances to be unable to cough effectively?

His blood sugar is all over the place because of the Dexamethasone, so he started taking the pills he was on before, which makes things more manageable—he's staying under 15 now. We've lowered the Dexamethasone slightly... otherwise, has anyone here ever adjusted their Dexamethasone dose on their own? How do you even know how much to scale it up or down?

Hang in there, everyone.

Usually, you taper off Dex by 2mg per day. The dosage is basically adjusted based on whatever neurological symptoms crop up.
Right now, the blood sugar is your smallest issue; Dex is the necessary evil. The pills keep things somewhat under control. Once the radiation starts, things should improve. You might even see an improvement within a week because those targets are quite radiosensitive.

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ruggedfox11 said:...

Hey, I hope you're holding up okay. I'm really glad you reached out.

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Rachel Williams said:After three years of peace, this filth spread through her 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 get home and spend at least the weekend with her...

Oh my God, what is going on lately? Hang in there!

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cosmicmason15 said:Hey everyone,

@ruggedfox11/">@@ruggedfox11 — I am so incredibly sorry. I’ve gone back and read every single one of your posts from February 14th until now, and I can say without a doubt that you truly gave it everything you had.

First off, I just want to say that having a group like this actually exist is something worth huge praise. I have massive respect for everyone here who takes part in these discussions.

Here’s how my story goes:

August 23rd — My dad was admitted to the hospital because his left arm just gave out on him. They ran a chest X-ray that showed some shadowing, and then they rushed him through a head CT that same night. It turns out there's a 31mm lesion. Total shock. Everything hit us at once.

The same day, he was transferred over to Jordan, where they put him on Dexamethasone.
The very next day, his hand started showing signs of improvement, and within just a few days, things were almost back to normal.

The bronchoscopy was performed on August 30th, and it confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma.
Since the diabetes went haywire because of the Dexamethasone, he’s been switched over to insulin. He was relying on pills before this, but that's no longer cutting it.
Every time I talk to my dad lately, he’s giving me the same line: he says he feels absolutely incredible. He claims he’s eating like a king and can easily walk all the way over to the local shopping center without breaking a sweat.
I'm currently stationed way up north, practically at the edge of the world. Even though everyone keeps telling me there’s absolutely no reason for me to make the trip, I'm dropping everything, walking away from my work, and heading straight to the city.

September 5th—just a day before my appointment—I had a digital chest X-ray done. It showed absolutely nothing has changed since the one I had two weeks ago.

September 6th – first round of chemo.

I’m stopping by for my first visit since the last update, and honestly, it’s a total gut punch. He’s lost a massive amount of weight, and his mobility is shot—you can clearly see him dragging his left leg. When I asked, he told me that leg started acting up just a few days ago. To top it all off, he weighed himself last night and realized he’s down 12 kg compared to when he was first admitted to the hospital. That’s a staggering amount of weight to drop in just two weeks of being hospitalized.

I was talking to my doctor, and she actually started rolling her eyes at me the second I asked my very first question about his condition.
I told him he’d lost a massive amount of weight and asked what he was actually doing about it. He claimed he was getting Supportan, which I obviously double-checked and found out was a total lie. So, the very next day, I went out and picked up some Supportan myself just to bring it to him—but he hasn't even started taking it yet because chemo has been absolutely kicking his ass for the last few days.
I asked her how big the lung tumor actually was, and she just told me she couldn't find that info in the system right now... which makes total sense, considering they only ran an X-ray.
They keep telling me over and over that I need to wait for the brain MRI results, insisting that getting those scans cleared is the absolute top priority right now.

September 11th – MR results are in. There’s a metastasis in the right side of the head—an expansive intraparenchymal lesion in the upper frontal gyrus measuring 40x28x36, plus a 4mm inhibitory lesion in the parietal lobe that seems to correspond to a second focal spot. After sitting down with the neurosurgeon, the word is that we're actually looking at just one single lesion, and luckily, it's operable.
The transfer to the rib is scheduled, but things are getting pushed back a bit because my kidney function is acting up.

September 13th—I’ve dropped another 5 pounds, which means I’m down 17kg in just three weeks. If this keeps up, I’m going to lose my mind and march straight into my doctor's office tomorrow for a serious talk. They actually started him on Glucern (that specialized diabetic formula) first thing this morning, so while I'm there, I'm going to grill them with a few questions. Most importantly, I need to know when they're finally scheduling the CT or PET/CT scans for his abdomen and chest.
Then she starts getting all worked up, questioning why he even needs a PET/CT scan when they already know exactly where the primary tumor is located. She argues that since he’s already being treated and they’re just waiting for his kidney function to stabilize before transferring him to Mayo Clinic for the brain metastasis, the extra imaging feels like a waste of time.
Things are going downhill fast. His balance is completely shot—he’s dragging his left leg more often now, and his speech is starting to slur.

So, I’m still scheduled for that CT scan of my chest and abdomen on September 18th. It’s the same day I have my follow-up appointment with the doctor. She mentioned there’s something showing up on one of my vertebrae, but she was pretty quick to point out that it isn't causing any pain and that it's caught in the very early stages—basically, she thinks it'll just resolve itself later on.

Sept 19 – Transferred to the Mayo Clinic. I just got his discharge papers, and the CT scan results are grim: "Solid mass infiltrating all three lobes of the right lung (92x86x69mm). A lymph node in the right hilar region measures 13mm in short axis and appears continuous with the primary mass. Lytic lesion at Th9, potentially indicating bone metastasis. Focal thickening of 19mm noted at the junction of the left adrenal gland lobes. Small pericardial effusion, max depth 9mm."

Sept 22 – Surgery day. They removed the brain metastasis, and everything went smoothly. It was such a massive relief.
I cornered the neurosurgeon to ask about the other lesion. He claimed the radiologist probably misread it. We went back to review the scans with him, and he insisted there was nothing there—that everything looked clear now.

Sept 25 – He’s up and walking a little, but by the next day, walking is harder and he's feeling numbness in his right leg. When they tried to remove his catheter, he couldn't urinate, so they had to put it back in. He went for an MRI of the thoracic spine—most of the vertebrae and the spinal cord are affected, and it's inoperable. The prognosis is that everything below Th9 will fail, including bladder and bowel control. It’s a total nightmare.

Sept 30 – Both legs have already failed him.

He’s coming home today. We’re prepping everything—medical bed, pressure ulcer mattress, the whole works.
Honestly, my dad is a rock. His positivity and defiance are unlike anything I've ever seen.

I can't help but wonder: could this paralysis have been prevented if they had done radiation while he was still at the community clinic between Sept 11 and Sept 19, before the transfer to Mayo? And was the leg issue caused by the brain metastasis or the spinal metastasis? After the Dexamethasone, his left arm regained function immediately, but then his left leg started giving out shortly after.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Is there any chance radiation or radiosurgery—maybe at a specialized center like MD Anderson—could help him walk again?

If you have any advice on home care, please, anything helps.

Sorry for the long post, I just needed to get this all out.

Dad really needed radiation for those spinal metastases. I don't understand why that wasn't ordered. That's usually how you manage those.
The Dexamethasone helped because he had cerebral edema from the brain metastasis pressing on his brain, causing seizures; the steroids knocked that down. The leg issue is likely due to the spine, though it could be complications from the surgery.
I don't know what else to say, but it feels like a case where overworked staff are spread too thin and aren't communicating well, and in the end, the patient—my dad—suffers the consequences.
Look for a second opinion; I'm afraid you won't have enough time once other pressures pile up. Ideally, you should look into transferring him to a dedicated facility so that if nothing else works, he at least gets high-quality palliative care.
And check with a place like MD Anderson to see if they can radiate the spine.

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ruggedfox11 said:He’s in a better place now..

I opened this thread this morning and felt a sudden pang of

Please accept my deepest and most sincere condolences.
Both of you fought like lions, and given his diagnosis, what you achieved was nothing short of a miracle. I truly believe God called him home to spare him any more suffering.
I hope you find all the strength in the world to pull through this and eventually find some peace of mind.
Take care of yourself.

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ruggedfox11, I wouldn't trust those people at Firul even to look after my dog.
I've already told you everything.

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