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Maxwell 35: Choosing The Right Vest For an Extended Family Member


Coconut Flan

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10 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

I was raised Old-school Lutheran back when they gave you credit for having a brain,* and this is what I heard from Day 1 whenever illness was announced:

We were, and are, “allowed” to say “ This is awful,” and to cry, and demand to know why. 

To me it’s never been about not being positive, but about acknowledging — after we pray for healing and renewed health — that God is mysterious, and not our errand boy, and that we have no guarantees that things will turn out well.  Realism, as I see it. 

We never hear or say that “death is OK because Jesus.”  Death sucks and shouldn’t be, but because the world is effed up by sin (that phrase isn’t official Lutheran doctrine), it’s a reality.

And yes, we take comfort — sometimes not right away— in believing that we will see each other again, in a place of peace and joy. 

~~~~~~~

* Lutherans on the whole may still give credit for brains.  I’m unfortunate in attending (when I do) a congregation where complementarianism is not a bad word, but “reproductive choice” and “same-sex marriage” are, oh, very bad ideas indeed. I know, I need to find one with realistic ideas and good music. Sadly, they seem to be mutually exclusive, at least so far. 

My sister is in the process of becoming Missouri Synod Lutheran.  From what she tells me, they still give credit for brains but also embrace the mystery of Christianity and don't expect you to have your theology compartmentalized into neat little packages. 

As a side note, the Southern Baptist church she is leaving thinks that Lutherans are ridiculous, stupid, and practically Catholic (which to this church is the highest form of insult short of calling someone an infidel).  Their attitude toward her church switch is making her even more glad that she's leaving.

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I know nothing about laser surgery for breast cancer. 

I can only hope they are making the best decision for her health, period. End. Of. Story. No other factor should play into their decision. 

They clearly have money available to them in order to just choose their doctor & treatment and travel out of state for it. Working for your younger brother's IT company obviously pays well. And self funding/fundie-medical-cost-Scamaritan type "sharing" obviously comes with the same perk. I need to stay within network while using my employer's health insurance. Which, in the big picture is actually pretty good, especially compared to any other employer insurance I've had. But, if I decide the doctor's here aren't good enough and/or won't do what I want them to, it would cost a fortune for me to go elsewhere. So, basically, I don't have that option. 

 

 

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Ordinarily, I roll my eyes at the Maxwells for living in such close proximity to each other, but I'm glad Anna Marie and Chris have a lot of family close by while they deal with this.  At least they don't have to worry about their kids, including their newborn.

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I've done some digging, here's what I've found:

1 testimonial from a lady who has reached 6 years with no evidence of disease

84% to 98% success rate for killing all cancer cells within a tumour depending on tumour size (84% <2 cm and 98% <1.5 cm) according to the phase 2 trial results.

There is/was another trial planned but I don't know if it's going ahead because the clinical trials page hasn't been updated since March last year.

Lasers seem to be used more widely for benign masses in the breast.

 

That's it, that's all I've found - it's not a technique used in the UK and I can find no evidence of it being trialed here, there are few scholarly articles for ablative therapies of any kind with respect to breast cancer and the studies I've found have all involved excision of the necrotic tissue afterwards.  It certainly looks as though laser therapy in very small tumours may be a viable path in future, but it seem like a massive risk at this point...especially for a mother with 6 children under 7yo!

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51 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

I know nothing about laser surgery for breast cancer. 

I can only hope they are making the best decision for her health, period. End. Of. Story. No other factor should play into their decision. 

 

13 minutes ago, Syriana said:

It certainly looks as though laser therapy in very small tumours may be a viable path in future, but it seem like a massive risk at this point...especially for a mother with 6 children under 7yo!

My first thought when I read “laser” was “Damn, they’re trying to protect her fertility!” 
 

I hope this is the best, most appropriate treatment for her and what would be recommended for her if she weren’t fundy and that “sparing” her fertility had no bearing. 

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7 hours ago, Syriana said:

They've chosen to go with a pretty new technique that has limited data published - the results from the phase 2 trial were only published in 2018 iirc so there's not much known unless I've missed something (I'll do a deeper dig when I get chance in case I'm out of date info wise).  That this is an option, does suggest that they consider the cancer to be early stage which is good.  It's a minimally invasive technique with good (relatively, given limited numbers) feedback in terms of patient happiness, a faster recovery than traditional lumpectomy and a better cosmetic outcome.

I am in no way a medical person so if this is crazy....

Could this allow her to breastfeed again? Also "save" her breast? I think on the last part (saving breast) many women would chose it.

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When they say "out of state" does that really mean Kansas City since its across the river in MO from Leavenworth.

Edited by SPHASH
ETA
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3 minutes ago, SPHASH said:

When they say "out of state" does that really mean Kansas City since its across the river in MO from Leavenworth.

Granted I only did a quick search and didn't dig but the only Dr. I saw who does it is in New York.

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This is a new technique but I read that they hope this technique will lower chances of the cancer coming back. I don’t think they have much proof of that. But they hope the laser kills the cancer cells all around the mass when removing it so it doesn’t spread. But I don’t think it’s proven. 

I’m just glad this is finally happening! It seems like such a long wait. 

Edited by JermajestyDuggar
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Cancer Society of Canada has this to say:

 

"Laser surgery isn’t used to treat all types of cancer. It is useful in treating:

precancerous conditions of the cervix such as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and carcinoma in situ of the cervix

esophageal cancer

laryngeal cancer

lung cancer

precancerous conditions of the vagina

precancerous conditions of the vulva

penile cancer

non-cancerous tumours of the skin



Read more: http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/diagnosis-and-treatment/tests-and-procedures/laser-surgery/?region=on#ixzz6DlJnraEY"

 

No mention of breast cancer. They also say it is fairly new. 

 

I hope it works out for Anna.

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3 hours ago, EmmaWoodhouse said:

My sister is in the process of becoming Missouri Synod Lutheran.  From what she tells me, they still give credit for brains but also embrace the mystery of Christianity and don't expect you to have your theology compartmentalized into neat little packages. 

As a side note, the Southern Baptist church she is leaving thinks that Lutherans are ridiculous, stupid, and practically Catholic (which to this church is the highest form of insult short of calling someone an infidel).  Their attitude toward her church switch is making her even more glad that she's leaving.

Thank you so much for the update! I feel encouraged, srsly!

My beloved grandma-in-law was a typical small-town SBC lady but a kind one. When the ex- first took me to meet her, her interview questions turned to my church affiliation. 

“Looootheran,” she repeated slowly, and said with all sincerity, “They are a very educated people. Very nice.”

i took  that as an honor and evidence that Grandma knew some Lutherans. Forty-five years ago, we tended to have overall educational achievement levels just below Jewish people. 

Grandma only brought up religion one other time. She said, with a little bit of agitation, “Junebug, I just don’t understand why you Lutherans need those creeds.”

Talking over my ex- (who hadn’t a clue), I explained that the creeds have nothing in them that isn’t in the Bible, and that they are statement of the main points of what we believe.

Both she and her friend who was visiting said, “Ahh!” And then Grandma said, “That does make sense.” 

I don’t think I was ever so glad to have listened in Religion class! 

2 hours ago, SPHASH said:

When they say "out of state" does that really mean Kansas City since its across the river in MO from Leavenworth.

Could be; my first thought was Mayo Clunic in Minnesota - friends who live in KC frequently travel there for specialties.  I don’t know much about Omaha but I know Creighton U. is there and it might have had good rep for advanced medicine. 

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Bet they got the info on the laser surgery from other Scamaritan members.  I also only found one website from an MD in New York; the procedure can be done in an outpatient setting so it's certainly less expensive than hospitalization.  No matter what, if she is dealing with a real malignancy she's still going to need follow up. So she may still have to undergo radiation treatments or take oral meds to further reduce the risk of recurrence.

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The fact that she is going out of state for a rare laser surgery makes me think that they were shopping around for doctors/techniques that fit their preferences. I do wonder what went into their decision.  I wish I could believe that “Save Anna Marie’s life, no matter what” was the only thing they are considering. I really don’t know about that. 
 

I also wonder how they met the surgeon if he/she is in another state. A teleconference, perhaps? 

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Teri said in a comment reply that the laser surgery was the doctor’s recommendation as it’s an easier recovery.

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1 minute ago, mango_fandango said:

Teri said in a comment reply that the laser surgery was the doctor’s recommendation as it’s an easier recovery.

C55D9D9F-4740-4AFF-B3C3-83A978B62DC4.thumb.png.f1ab09dac07af4e090b2919ff51458c2.png

I know it's BEC, but is Teri capable in writing in complete sentences?  Her terse sentence fragments come off so rude to people who are genuinely concerned about their family.

And as great as an easier recovery is, it doesn't mean anything unless the end results are equal.

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Someone else posted their story about cancer and then suffering miscarriages, followed by two healthy births. Teri posted a full sentence after that. But yeah, that was rather a brief, terse reply. Stevie was/is the king of those, though. At least Teri does write in full sentences sometimes. Sarah does mainly reply in full sentences, I haven’t seen any comment replies that come off as rude/terse from her. 

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28 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I know it's BEC, but is Teri capable in writing in complete sentences?  Her terse sentence fragments come off so rude to people who are genuinely concerned about their family.

No clue what "BEC" means, but I'll give Teri a pass. This is an awful thing for the family. No matter who you are or what your beliefs are a whole bunch of kids could be motherless. I'll pass on criticizing her blog comment replies  right now. There will be way better stuff to snark on when she rations each grandchild to a 6.75 minute story while their mother is recovering.

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58 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

And as great as an easier recovery is, it doesn't mean anything unless the end results are equal.

You and I can be on the BEC bench together.
 

“Doctor’s recommendation” could still mean they doctor shopped until they found one willing to give them the answer they wanted. 

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what kind of doctor recommends a rare new procedure for cancer as a first choice?

Everyone who though that someone was not right was correct, the delay was due to doctor shopping and scheduling with the only doctor in the country that does a rare procedure.

 

Edited by freejugar
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2 minutes ago, freejugar said:

what kind of doctor recommends a rare new procedure for cancer?

I'd bet the kind  you seek out who is one of the only who performs said rare, new procedure. 

I agree that they doctor shopped until they found someone who told them what they wanted to hear. Not best medical opinion; not best option; not most likely to have a life saving outcome; just whatever it was they wanted to hear/be told before committing to care. 

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5 hours ago, SPHASH said:

When they say "out of state" does that really mean Kansas City since its across the river in MO from Leavenworth.

Out of state? I thought the president sharpied KC into Kansas after the Superbowl...

1 hour ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

I know it's BEC, but is Teri capable in writing in complete sentences?  Her terse sentence fragments come off so rude to people who are genuinely concerned about their family.

And as great as an easier recovery is, it doesn't mean anything unless the end results are equal.

Ugh, yes. Those sentence fragments just come off as so rude, like she is lowering herself to answer their questions.

And I'm also a little concerned about an apparently new, rare treatment for breast cancer, and hoping that it really is the best option for her survival. I think I personally would have been like "Get both these boobs off of me now, just in case! I'll knit myself some temporary knockers until I can get reconstruction!" (But I don't have a newborn to think about, either, so I can't blame her for whatever she chooses.)

Sort of related, I've recently seen yarn meant specifically for making Knitted Knockers at Walmart! 

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23 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

And I'm also a little concerned about an apparently new, rare treatment for breast cancer, and hoping that it really is the best option for her survival. I think I personally would have been like "Get both these boobs off of me now, just in case! I'll knit myself some temporary knockers until I can get reconstruction!" (But I don't have a newborn to think about, either, so I can't blame her for whatever she chooses.)

From reading about laser surgery for breast cancer, it it used instead of a lumpectomy and patients then go on to have radiation or chemo or whatever is recommended by their physicians. 

Edited by keepercjr
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What is the point in preserving Anna Marie's fertility and ability to breastfeed if she dies of cancer? You can't have babies when you're dead Christopher.

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