Support resources for families dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses

feralridge3 said:I heard that mixing beets, apples, and lemon makes for a great combination.
I haven't tried it myself... I really ought to pick up a juicer first.

Fortunately, juicers are actually quite affordable these days. We've had one sitting in our kitchen for about 22 years now... 😍 At first, it just sat there gathering dust, but nowadays we use it almost every single day, except for that one month when the poor thing had to go in for repairs... 🤣

To pivot slightly—yes, beets, apple, and lemon is a solid mix, though my mother tends to opt for lime more often because she finds it adds a certain sweetness and freshness...

Lately, she’s also taken a sudden liking to dicing up pineapple... 🤣 My father loses his mind over it, but since the pineapple is so "fresh," she ends up snacking on it all evening. Her other recent obsession is prepping salmon... 🤣 And I won't even begin to describe how my father feels when he gets to eat salmon every other day... he's absolutely thrilled. Still, salmon is a fantastic choice given how incredibly rich it is in omega-3 fatty acids and niacin, which is that B3 vitamin essential for cellular respiration...

http://www.allrecipes.com/food/salmon

What we consume and how we consume it is truly vital, especially since we all frequently resort to pills and supplements in search of a quick fix for our various ailments...

An interesting read:

http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/anthocyanins

feralridge3 said:Come on, give us some actual details here. 😉
What is she suffering from? And after taking this, what symptoms disappeared or stopped bothering her?
What's the name of the juice?
How much is it, and how much comes in a pack?
Where can we get it?
Don't be stingy—share the knowledge! 😁

Look, my mother has been battling diabetes for twelve years now, and honestly, it’s taken a massive toll on her body. She's dealt with everything: bleeding in her eyes which messed with her vision, kidney issues, and she’s actually had gangrene in her toes three separate times because she couldn't stay on top of her diet. Not to mention those agonizing leg cramps almost every single night and incredibly rare, painful bowel movements.;
But ever since she started drinking Vemmu, the first thing she noticed was the change in her digestion—she's regular every single day now. And just the other day, she told me she couldn't even remember the last time she had one of those cramps... (She apparently monitors her blood sugar, though it stays about the same, probably because she's already relying on insulin injections);
I stumbled upon this juice by total accident. It’s called Vemmu. You get a two-pack of 32 oz bottles for $207, which lasts her a full month since she takes 30 ml every morning and evening after meals;
You order it directly through their website via a standard bank transfer, and then FedEx delivers it right to your doorstep (here is my link:
http://www.myvemma.eu/suncanavlahovic. You just click "buy/join Vemmu," fill in your info, get a member ID, and set up an autoship order)

Nancy Hernandez43 said:She’s also recently taken a liking to pineapple 🤣—my father is losing his mind over it because he insists on eating "fresh" pineapple (as if it's alive or something!) for his entire dinner. Another recent development is her craving for salmon 🤣—I won't even describe how my father feels about having to eat salmon every other day... he's absolutely fed up with it. Mind you, salmon is actually quite beneficial since it's incredibly rich in omega-3 fatty acids and niacin (Vitamin B3, which is vital for cellular respiration).

pineapple? Someone told me it was good for you. I haven't had any in years, so I think I'll pick some up today.🙂
Oh boy, I can't stand fish. 😢
But, looking at the big picture, I have definitely improved my diet. When I think back to how much I used to devour gyro sandwiches, pizza, McDonald's, and Coke... now I rarely touch those things. Usually, I stick to home-cooked meals, plenty of fruit, and dairy products...
😁Anyway, I'm wasting time here when I really need to head to the farmers market to grab something for lunch.

feralridge3 said:pineapple... someone actually told me it was good. I haven't touched it in years, so I suppose I might pick some up today.🙂
I'm really not much of a fish person, though... 😢
Still, looking at the big picture, my diet has certainly improved. When I recall how much I used to indulge in pita wraps, pizza, McDonald's, and Coke... I rarely touch those things now; usually, it's just home-cooked meals, plenty of fruit, and dairy products...
But I am wasting time here when I really ought to be heading to the farmer's market to grab something for lunch. 😁

Ever since I can remember, I've been somewhat traumatized by my mother's constant outbursts about how certain foods were "carcinogenic"... essentially, from the time I was a child, we barely ate junk in our house—especially nothing from McDonald's or bags of chips. We might have had a Coke every now and then, but we didn't bake or buy pizzas... So, my mother didn't have much to change in the first place—her own vices were more along the lines of bacon, wine, deli meats, and candy.

Since she fell ill, the routine has been: juice made fresh in the morning, a light snack a few hours later (often involving mortadella, which I can't stand), and lunch is strictly a cooked meal consisting of vegetables and meat (we used to eat a lot of potatoes and pasta, but we've almost entirely cut those out). Dinner is occasionally cooked as well (for the first two months after her first surgery, everything was cooked), though we often settle for pancakes—which, admittedly, is one of her weaknesses—or perhaps some pineapple. Regarding dairy, she is currently quite wary because the recurrence spread toward her intestines, so she's been advised to be careful for a while. However, since she picked up certain eating habits while in the hospital, she hasn't stopped snacking on Grana Padano at any point... even if it is incredibly greasy and salty.

In a few hours, she'll likely reach out to let me know how the chemo went. This is the fifth session, eleventh one overall, but just like the first time, we are all feeling equally on edge...

Sending love to everyone!

Carol Ramirez said:Today marks the third week since my grandfather's first round of chemo, and his hair finally started falling out.
He tried to hide it from me by wearing a jacket all day, but he couldn't pull it off. Sometimes I think he has more grit than I do.

I'm sorry to hear about his illness,
have you guys looked into using Mother milk to help manage the side effects? It works wonders after chemo!!!

feralridge3 said:I did a little digging online

Sutten is used for kidney cancer, while
Tarceva targets lung cancer.

Both drugs are covered by Medicare's high-cost drug lists.

Since my failing organ isn't worth much to anyone—maybe a buck, if I recall correctly? Who was it that said that?—I'm not holding my breath for anything as advanced as those two treatments. 😍

Just try some Mother milk !!!!

Give Mother milk !! a shot.

Megan Rivera98 said:I’m trying to track down a used copy of Lothar Hirneise's book, "Chemotherapy Cures Cancer and the Earth is a Flat Plate"...
Does anyone have a copy I could borrow just to scan it?
My dad is fighting colon cancer; we've been dealing with this for about 8 years now...
And now it's metastasized to his liver (that's twice now—he already had surgery a few years back)... It's hit both the small and large intestines...

Why haven't you tried Mother milk?

Nancy Hernandez43,
👍I really hope this fifth round of treatment does its magic🙂 and finally clears everything up!

I’m rooting for that for everyone else out there fighting the good fight right now too...

gentlemoose62 said:Nancy Hernandez43,
👍 I truly hope this fifth round of therapy does its job🙂 and finally puts this thing to rest once and for all...

Of course, my thoughts are with everyone else currently in the thick of this fight as well.

Thank you so much. Given the sudden shifts we’ve seen—which I know many of us have experienced—if the results from the next chemo session remain as steady as they have been so far, I think we might finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief. The markers dropped quite sharply, and the blood work looks significantly better than those moments when the doctors first started casting doubt...

I suspect the biggest factor was her finally finding her mental footing again, which is something you understand all too well...

But what I am curious about today is your perspective; as someone who has successfully "beaten the beast," what do you incorporate into your daily routine? There are endless advertisements and recommendations out there... are you still taking any specific supplements to support your immune system?

Every battle is a heavy one, and we are all left with a mountain of questions and wishes... personally, I am just hoping that after two years of this ordeal, some peace will finally settle in. That is all from me for now; I find myself waiting anxiously for the phone to ring, hoping to hear that everything is back to our usual good news...

Let us all stay brave and refuse to give up. Best regards...

This is my first time posting here, so I’m hoping to find some guidance. My child has been diagnosed with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, which is causing liver issues, and I would truly appreciate it if anyone with similar experience or who has cared for someone with this condition could reach out. Thank you in advance.

Joseph Nguyen2 said:Maybe try some Mother milk!!

Look, I'm sure it works for some people, but it’s certainly not a magic bullet for everyone. My mother, for instance, couldn't handle it at all—it just made her sick.

Just the daily grind here in San Diego, though I suspect it’s much the same in other American cities too...👎

Nancy Hernandez43 said:Just the daily grind... here in San Francisco, though I suspect you'll find the exact same thing happening in just about any major American city.👎

I was digging through some old archives on the Barkun site today—you know how those deep dives go—and I stumbled upon this piece regarding immunotherapy. It’s one of those topics that feels like it’s constantly hovering just out of reach, right on the edge of being a miracle and staying a theory. The article basically breaks down the mechanics of how we're trying to teach the immune system to stop playing nice and start hunting down malignant cells. It’s fascinating, if a bit grim, to think about the sheer complexity of the biological warfare happening inside us. We aren't just talking about "fighting" cancer anymore; we're talking about reprogramming the body's own defense systems to recognize an enemy it previously thought was part of the furniture. It makes you wonder about the pace of progress. We hear these massive headlines about breakthroughs in major research hubs like the Mayo Clinic, but the reality of translating that lab-grown hope into actual, bedside treatment for a regular person in a place like Columbus or San Francisco is a long, grueling road. There’s so much bureaucracy and clinical trial red tape involved that it can feel like we're running a marathon in sand. I remember reading a similar sentiment in *The New York Post* a while back—that sense of cautious optimism clashing with the cold reality of medical limitations. You want to believe the hype, especially when lives are on the line, but a cynical mind (which, admittedly, is my default setting) can't help but look at the gap between a successful study and a standardized cure. Still, looking at the trajectory of immunotherapy, it's hard to argue that we aren't moving in the right direction. It’s just a slow, methodical, and often frustratingly quiet revolution.

The link isn't opening for me either... what exactly am I missing here?

About ten patients at the San Francisco Mayo Clinic's Oncology Department spent five and a half hours today waiting in vain for medication arriving from Washington, D.C., just so they could receive their chemotherapy. In the end, the medicine never arrived; instead, they were simply sent home with a rescheduled appointment, offered no explanation whatsoever.

"It is absolutely unacceptable for the Oncology Department to find itself in a situation where ten patients—all scheduled three weeks in advance for chemo—are sitting in a waiting room without the very drugs they need," writes one reader who witnessed today’s unpleasant ordeal at the Oncology Department.

The patients who arrived at the hospital at 8:00 AM this morning had been scheduled for their treatment three weeks prior. Among them, she notes, are many who travel specifically to San Francisco for their sessions, waking up at 5:00 or 6:00 AM just to ensure they arrive on time, only to sit uselessly in a packed waiting room.

While waiting for the essential medication that was "supposed to arrive at any moment from Washington, D.C.," they reached 1:30 PM, at which point they were sent home without an explanation, receiving nothing but a new appointment time.

"We are in the middle of flu and virus season, when half the patients are coughing and sneezing through the hospital hallways. This is a critical factor doctors must account for; they know perfectly well that if an oncology patient falls ill, they cannot undergo chemotherapy. Every lost moment for these people is incredibly precious."

Given that chemotherapy patients are scheduled weeks in advance—giving the hospital ample time to organize logistics—this kind of conduct by a medical institution toward the terminally ill is utterly irresponsible and callous.

What actually happened? Why wasn't the necessary therapy secured, and why weren't patients notified in advance after numerous calls and hours spent on hold? Unfortunately, we were unable to get answers from the San Francisco facility. We couldn't reach a spokesperson or anyone in the department, despite several hours of trying. "Only the spokesperson can provide information, and he is currently in a board meeting," we heard repeatedly until the end of the business day, after which the mobile line diverted to a landline that just rang into the void. (Barkun)

slyseal28...

The link seems to be working just fine for me 🤷

"Patients at the San Francisco Oncology Department waited hours for chemo with no results! "

To make a long story short:

"About ten patients at the San Francisco Oncology Department at the Mayo Clinic spent five and a half hours today waiting for medication coming from Washington, D.C., just so they could start chemotherapy. In the end, the meds never arrived—instead, they were just given a new appointment date without any explanation whatsoever.

Since chemo appointments are usually scheduled weeks in advance—which should give the hospital plenty of time to get organized—this kind of behavior by a medical facility toward such seriously ill people feels quite irresponsible and, honestly, pretty heartless.

We tried to figure out what actually happened, why the necessary therapy supplies weren't secured, and why the patients weren't notified sooner—especially after making numerous calls and sitting on hold—but unfortunately, we couldn't get any answers from the San Francisco hospital. We couldn't reach a spokesperson or anyone in the department, even after trying for several hours. We kept hearing things like, 'The spokesperson is the only one who can provide information, but they're in a meeting right now,' until the end of the business day; after that, the calls just went to a landline that rang into an empty room."

mistyridge5 said:hang in there, everyone...

The link works just fine for me. 🤷

"Patients at the San Francisco Oncology Department waited hours in vain for chemotherapy!"

In short:

"About ten patients at the Mayo Clinic's Oncology Department in San Francisco spent five and a half hours today waiting fruitlessly for medication arriving from Washington, D.C., required for their chemo treatments. In the end, they never even received the drugs; instead, they were simply given a new appointment without any explanation whatsoever.

Given that chemo appointments are scheduled weeks in advance—giving the hospital ample time to coordinate logistics—this kind of conduct by a medical institution toward critically ill people is utterly irresponsible and callous.

We haven't been able to uncover what actually happened, why the necessary therapy supplies weren't secured, or why patients weren't notified promptly, despite numerous calls and hours spent on hold with the San Francisco hospital. We couldn't reach a spokesperson or anyone in the department even after several hours of trying. 'Only the spokesperson can provide information, and he's in a meeting,' we heard repeatedly until the end of the business day, after which the mobile line redirected to a landline that just 'rang into the void.'"

It would be helpful if we could figure out which specific medications were involved. If we're talking about drugs funded directly through hospital budgets (the ones on the standard formulary), then we're likely looking at budget limit issues. They might be dragging their feet just to prevent those costs from hitting this month's balance sheet...

Susan Ruiz76 said:Roughly ten patients at the San Francisco Mayo Clinic's Oncology Department spent five and a half hours today waiting for a medication being shipped from Washington, D.C., just so they could receive their chemotherapy treatments. In the end, the medication never arrived, and without any explanation whatsoever, they were simply given a new appointment date...

It is frankly unacceptable that an Oncology Department would allow itself to fall into a situation where a dozen patients—scheduled three weeks in advance for chemo—are sitting in a waiting room while the very drugs they need are nowhere to be found, according to one reader who witnessed today's unpleasant turn of events at the facility.

The patients, who arrived at the hospital at 8:00 AM this morning, had their appointments set weeks ago; among them, it was noted, are many individuals who travel specifically to San Francisco for treatment, waking up at 5:00 or 6:00 AM to ensure they arrive on time, only to sit fruitlessly in a crowded waiting room...

While waiting for the essential medication that was "supposed to arrive at any moment from Washington, D.C.," they reached 1:30 PM before being sent home without any clarification, receiving nothing more than a rescheduled time slot.

"We are currently in the midst of flu and virus season, when half the patients are coughing and sneezing through the hospital corridors, which is another critical factor doctors must account for, as they know perfectly well that if an oncology patient falls ill, they cannot undergo chemotherapy, and all these wasted moments are incredibly precious for them..."

Given that chemotherapy patients are scheduled weeks in advance, providing the medical institution ample time to organize its logistics, such conduct by a medical facility toward critically ill people is profoundly irresponsible and callous...

As to what actually occurred, why the necessary therapy supplies weren't procured, or why the patients weren't notified in a timely manner—even after numerous calls and being left on hold—we unfortunately failed to uncover the truth at the San Francisco hospital. We couldn't reach a spokesperson or anyone in the Department after several hours of attempts. "The spokesperson is the only one who can provide information, and they are currently in a board meeting," we heard repeatedly until the end of the business day, after which the mobile line diverted to a landline that simply rang into the void. (Barkun)

Thanks for the copy/paste!!!!!

slyseal28 said:It would certainly be helpful if we knew which specific medications were involved... You see, if we are discussing drugs funded directly through hospital budgets—those already on the approved formulary—then the issue likely stems from budget caps, leading them to delay processing so they don't hit this month's limit...

I am not entirely certain, as there isn't much detail provided on Barkun. Regardless of the specifics—whether they are delaying because of budget limits on listed drugs or waiting for insurance approval for non-listed ones (which I suspect is the case)—the result remains the same: the sheer terror felt by people who desperately need chemotherapy is palpable, and all this stalling and stress only worsens the patients' conditions, not to mention how it pushes their treatment cycles back, forcing them to wait until the next scheduled visit where they might just sit in a waiting room again, exposed to everything...

I cannot find myself more in agreement than to simply copy and paste something that caught my eye, or perhaps pay closer attention to my own mother, especially when faced with news like this, which truly sickens me given that such things are occurring within our American hospitals...

mistyridge5 said:brave souls...

The link works perfectly fine for me...🤷

"Patients at the San Francisco Oncology Department waited hours in vain for chemotherapy! "

In short:

"About ten patients at the San Francisco Oncology Department of the Mayo Clinic spent five and a half hours today waiting fruitlessly for medication arriving from Washington, D.C., required for their chemotherapy. In the end, they never received the drugs; instead, they were simply given new appointments without any explanation whatsoever.

Given that chemotherapy patients are scheduled weeks in advance—providing the hospital ample time and opportunity to organize themselves accordingly—this conduct by a medical institution toward critically ill individuals is profoundly irresponsible and callous.

As to what actually transpired, why the necessary therapy supplies were not secured, or why patients were not notified in a timely manner—despite numerous calls and endless time spent on hold—we unfortunately failed to ascertain anything from the San Francisco hospital. We were unable to reach a spokesperson or anyone within the department, even after several hours of persistent attempts. 'The spokesperson is the only one who can provide information, and he is currently in a meeting,' was the repetitive response we received until the end of business hours, after which mobile calls were redirected to a landline that merely rang into a void."

I was starting to worry that Opera had once again failed me through some sort of faulty copy-paste error...🤣

If this eventually makes it into The Los Angeles Times, perhaps the underlying issues and the reasons such situations occur will finally become clearer...

Stay strong, everyone!