Just got a call from my sister back East. My first cousin, who is very close to my sister, was just diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that is also in her liver. She is 49 years old, married to a wonderful guy and has a great family of 3 kids, she is really an incredible person we were all close to as kids and I just spoke to her Dad last week, my Uncle on my father's side. She just moved to a real nice house on the Lake in northern NJ about a month or so ago.
She was having stomach pain, went through a bunch of tests and they found nothing. It then got so bad she went to the ER in excruciating pain and suddenly they do a scan and find it.
They immediately put a port in her and are giving her chemo. Chances are very slim she makes it and while I do know that some immunotherapy with special cocktails these days, her outlook is poor. :-)
I'm stunned and this is another of our cursed family with cancer. Like 12 of our family.
Just live your life and enjoy everyday because if you keep postponing things until the future, it may never arrive.......
I have always believed I will have a short life like so many in our family so I live it up like my time on this Earth is very limited.
One thing about lung cancer it’s really not hereditary. It’s from the environment.
My grandmother died of pancreatic cancer in 81. Her sister a few years later
One thing I learned is there is a gene and it wasn’t passed onto my mom
My mom ended up with breast cancer back in 2016. It was found very early thru 3d scanning. It was very small. She beat it
Just recently my mom died of small cell lung cancer. Most times once diagnosed it’s too late. She died 2 weeks after being diagnosed
Feb 9 she has my son. Took him to Union Station
Feb 10 went to my sons basketball game then dinner. She fell going down the stairs outside of Red Robin. She was ok. Just slipped.
Feb 14. She watched my son so my wife and I can go out.
Feb 15. She texted she had Covid.
Between the 15th and 21st went to urgent care
Aldo sent out sone confusing texts. Felt dizzy
Feb 21. Went to er. Thought her BP was high. They told her to relax and not take her BP that much. No chest X-ray. No bloodwork
Feb 23. Went to a diff ER. Sane symptoms. Her sodium level was 109. That’s a very critical level. Most often people are in a coma not conscious. They said it might be a sign of cancer They felt it was coming down gradually due to her being alert
Previous to this she had her wellness visit in October. Everything was good
She was in the hospital about 10 days trying to get her sodium up. She was slurring her words at time and talking nonsense. They thought she might have been having a stroke and tias. Nothing. They thought she had pneumonia as well. Chest rays. Scans. Did not find anything. Except 2 nodules on her skull.
Got out of the hospital. Was suppose to see her oncologist that week but ended up back in the hospital.
Match7-8? Went back to er. Had fluid in Her lungs. Low sodium as well.
Was told it’s csncer. But non small cell The better kind. She ended up staying til
My mom was a big smoker and was always pointing out that a lot of other stuff causes lung cancer , she wanted me to get her a radon detector for her house , the first questions they ask patients with suspicions of lung ca are normally smoking related for a reason , smoking is also a major contributor to pancreatic and bladder and a bunch of other CAs . [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
My mom was a big smoker and was always pointing out that a lot of other stuff causes lung cancer , she wanted me to get her a radon detector for her house , the first questions they ask patients with suspicions of lung ca are normally smoking related for a reason , smoking is also a major contributor to pancreatic and bladder and a bunch of other CAs .
My mom smoked over 50 years ago for a few years. We were discussing that when all this happened
Her brother died of the sane thing but he smoked and was also a fire fighter. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
My mom was a big smoker and was always pointing out that a lot of other stuff causes lung cancer , she wanted me to get her a radon detector for her house , the first questions they ask patients with suspicions of lung ca are normally smoking related for a reason , smoking is also a major contributor to pancreatic and bladder and a bunch of other CAs .
Yeah my cousins husband lost his brother at 33 years old due to radon. He didnt smoke but he lived in a basement that was partly unfinished for years that was filled with it. In my 20s I lived in a basement with no radon system. As it is thats where my man cave is now where I always am at if Im at home but I have a radon system in my home now. Hopefully those things work. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KingPriest2:
My mom smoked over 50 years ago for a few years. We were discussing that when all this happened
Her brother died of the sane thing but he smoked and was also a fire fighter.
Second hand smoke also kills like 30k people a year in the US I’m sure that has improved with laws against smoking in public but unfortunately there is no such thing as good smoke and that includes delicious smoked foods . [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Yeah my cousins husband lost his brother at 33 years old due to radon. He didnt smoke but he lived in a basement that was partly unfinished for years that was filled with it. In my 20s I lived in a basement with no radon system. As it is thats where my man cave is now where I always am at if Im at home but I have a radon system in my home now. Hopefully those things work.
I think smoke detectors emit radon and granite countertops and background radiation etc.. 1 CT abdo is equivalent to multiple years of background radiation and chest x -ray equals 1 day of background radiation. As long as your house has good ventilation most are safe but your not really getting away from radon . [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
Second hand smoke also kills like 30k people a year in the US I’m sure that has improved with laws against smoking in public but unfortunately there is no such thing as good smoke and that includes delicious smoked foods .
True. And people don’t think about that
One thing the last 30 years or do. I haven’t been around it. My kids really haven’t.
Was around it growing up with my grandma And going to the bars in collage [Reply]
Originally Posted by KingPriest2:
True. And people don’t think about that
One thing the last 30 years or do. I haven’t been around it. My kids really haven’t.
Was around it growing up with my grandma And going to the bars in collage
I remember those summer road trips with both my parents smoking the whole way with windows up , still remember going to the store to get an ice cream and by my dad his cartoons of cigarettes when I was 9 , swore I would never smoke , got my dad to quit at 55 he’s 77 now but my brother and sister still smoke quit a bit but they weren’t really around to see what my mom had to go through . [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
I remember those summer road trips with both my parents smoking the whole way with windows up , still remember going to the store to get an ice cream and by my dad his cartoons of cigarettes when I was 9 , swore I would never smoke , got my dad to quit at 55 he’s 77 now but my brother and sister still smoke quit a bit but they weren’t really around to see what my mom had to go through .
Yeah. Those are the days. But do sone odd thing they smelled different back then and I liked it?
My friends use to smoke in high school. I never did. We use to go down in my friends basement listen to Ozzy. Metallics AC/DC [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
Pretty much much every CT or ultrasound has as incidental benign finding that ends up needing more imaging or follow ups that will never amount to anything . Thyroid nodules are probably the cancer we spends the most money on and there hasn’t been a change in mortality or morbidity in 50 years , been doing yearly ultrasound on the same people for 25 years even the ones that do get there thyroid removed for cancer we still do yearly F/u for possible recurrence, which I think I have see once in that time span.
I had throat cancer and was successfully treated. I asked my surgeon if I needed to get scans every year and he said, "No, too many false positives and we do more damage looking and or treating". He is treating me only if I have symptoms. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jdubya:
I had throat cancer and was successfully treated. I asked my surgeon if I needed to get scans every year and he said, "No, too many false positives and we do more damage looking and or treating". He is treating me only if I have symptoms.
Probably best practice, as a cancer survivor I am sure it causes some uneasiness but if you do get symptoms you are probably not going to sit on it etc.. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ThrobProng:
This. I've actually listened to a telephone conversation where a longtime coworker was told by our health insurance company that they wouldn't pay for his liver transplant. It was about $1 million at the time. He never drank, was with the company for 30+ years, and was 2-3 months from death. They gave him a death sentence on ****ing speakerphone.
Our company ponied up the cash for him, but screw insurance companies.
That's not on the insurance company, it's on the employer for choosing that group plan. There are plans that would cover those costs but it would be much more expensive for the employer and most likely lead to less actual pay for all employees while the total benefit package would be similar. Insurance Companies get the blame many times for a policy that has clear exclusions with a reduced cost compared to plans with fewer exclusions. [Reply]
Fuck cancer and everything that goes along with it. If you ever need to vent don't hesitate to call or text me. I'm an open book when it comes to this shit.
Sorry, Robert. That unfortunately sounds way too familiar to someone we lost here. (God bless Joe). Prayers that new treatments can effect healing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
I think smoke detectors emit radon and granite countertops and background radiation etc.. 1 CT abdo is equivalent to multiple years of background radiation and chest x -ray equals 1 day of background radiation. As long as your house has good ventilation most are safe but your not really getting away from radon .
Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief:
That's not on the insurance company, it's on the employer for choosing that group plan. There are plans that would cover those costs but it would be much more expensive for the employer and most likely lead to less actual pay for all employees while the total benefit package would be similar. Insurance Companies get the blame many times for a policy that has clear exclusions with a reduced cost compared to plans with fewer exclusions.
I don't know the details of the coverage we had at the time, but I can't imagine health insurance that doesn't cover at least part of a life-saving transplant. If the plan excluded transplants, that supports my assertion that health insurance companies only care about money, and don't give a **** about people. [Reply]
