Maxwell 36: Wearing What Some Might Call an Outer Garment While Dealing with Cancer in the Family

[CyborgKin]

This thread is giving me Australian Government ads for cancer clinical trials.  No thanks, I tried it once already and didn't like it. ?

Jokes aside, maybe some natural remedies to deal with chemo side effects would be reasonable, but 'natural chemo' reads like a recipe for failure to me.

And it's not as if there's some consistent definition of 'natural' where everything natural is good and helpful and everything artificial isn't.

 

[Tatar-tot]

20 hours ago, ElizaB said:

She does say she is waiting to see what the oncologist recommends and if chemo is necessary. Maybe wishful thinking on my part but I am thinking she is doing the natural stuff on top what her doctor recommends.  One of my coworkers is doing something similar. Her oncologist told her the natural therapies won't interfere with the chemo so her thought was- why not try everything possible? 

There is no way Chemo was not recommended & for her to start ASAP.  This journey of alternative medicines is insane.  Why do I say this? Family member chose this lunatic path.  Her journey of natural healing  terminated at her funeral. 

[Syriana]

1 hour ago, Tatar-tot said:

There is no way Chemo was not recommended & for her to start ASAP.  This journey of alternative medicines is insane.  Why do I say this? Family member chose this lunatic path.  Her journey of natural healing  terminated at her funeral. 

I agree that chemo (or maybe radiotherapy, lumpectomy and radio for stage 2A is a fairly common protocol over here) must have been recommended.

Complementary therapies are just that, complementary as opposed to alternative.  They can undoubtedly improve quality of life for some people (I mentioned earlier in the thread about oils helping with nausea when conventional meds had all failed), but they don't cure cancer!  I'm sorry your family member was unable to see the value in conventional medicine.

[anjulibai]

This "they don't have time to explain natural chemo" is BS. Teri could write a quick sentence or they could link to something. Anna put it out there that she was doing that, so I don't buy this is about boundaries. And if it were, she could just say that. Teri is either being cagey to be cagey (not unusual for the Maxwells) or they know that natural chemo isn't a great idea, whatever it is. 

[Dandruff]

7 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Is there a bible verse that will get me out of a meeting I have in an hour?

Lamentations 3:26: "It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

I realize that more than an hour has passed, and am sorry you couldn't use it to avoid the meeting.  Since meetings, in my experience, tend to beget other meetings (gospel of Dandruff) I expect you'll have an opportunity to try it out soon.

[Black Aliss]

7 hours ago, EmmaWoodhouse said:

It's taken from Matthew 5:45

Still weird, given that it's a random Bible verse thrown into a comment on what some might call spring showers.

For all the Bible reading they do, I think their reading comprehension is pitifully low. When Sarah needs a verse for one of her posts she just looks up a word, such as "rain", in her Bible Concordance and picks a random verse without ever thinking about its meaning.

[Giraffe]

1 minute ago, Black Aliss said:

For all the Bible reading they do, I think their reading comprehension is pitifully low. When Sarah needs a verse for one of her posts she just looks up a word, such as "rain", in her Bible Concordance and picks a random verse without ever thinking about its meaning.

You’re right. Something the fundies are great at is reading the Bible. They don’t seem to ever study it though like you would for a college class. They avoid using critical thinking skills or ask hard questions about the text. 

[Can'tBelieveMyEyes]

I have two fears for Anna Maxwell right now.  

First - she's into alternative medicine as evidenced by having 5 of her 6 kids at home even before the words 'natural chemo' left her mouth.  And if her surgical incision(s) are healing well - the natural chemo is probably NOT  doing a damned thing, fyi. 

Second - how many of her medical choices are dictated by the constraints of the stress and cost of using Scamaritan for 'health insurance' rather than a reputable insurance plan?  No pregnant mom wants to have a preemie baby - but the Maxwell fear of NICU stays of any period of time has to be related to the fact that NICU stays cost serious money.  (My son was a 26 weeker with a 4 month NICU stay.  We call him the 5-million dollar baby.).   Yup, delivering Simon Peter at 34 or 35 weeks increased the chances he'd be in the NICU for two weeks or less - but how did waiting 2-3 weeks to deliver affect the staging of Anna Maxwell's cancer?  Pregnancy kicks up growth hormone signaling between mom and baby - and cancers like those hormones too.  Chemo drugs are expensive - and it's not fun declaring that you are a self-pay patient and haggling with every provider to knock down costs.   

[Ozlsn]

2 hours ago, Can'tBelieveMyEyes said:

NICU stays cost serious money. 

Oh yeah. I was absolutely shocked when I looked at the first summary of costs. 

9 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

This thread is giving me Australian Government ads for cancer clinical trials.  No thanks, I tried it once already and didn't like it. 

Thank you for enrolling - and yes, some protocols are hard and exhausting. I hope any you participated in were OK.

I am getting ads for Limestone bricks and T20 cricket, which is not even the oddest combination I've had here.

[Wolf in Sheeples’ Clothing]

On 3/9/2020 at 7:47 AM, anachronistic said:

They seem to cut down trees a lot. It surprises me that the grandkids are still entertained by doing chores with their extended family or watching the older ones do big yard work things. It maybe says something about how dull their lives are that there is so much interest from so many people in the chopping down of a tree. 

They also seem to wash their vehicles a lot. And why post about it? It’s about as exciting as watching paint dry. But then again, this is the Maxwells, so they would probably find that entertaining as well. 

[anjulibai]

I think I actually remember them doing a post where they watched paint dry. 

[kpmom]

8 hours ago, anjulibai said:

I think I actually remember them doing a post where they watched paint dry. 

Which bible verse to they quote for that post?

[Sister Mozz]

3 hours ago, kpmom said:

Which bible verse to they quote for that post?

 

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:26

[mango_fandango]

Sarah has been having problems with motion sickness lately and is looking for reader suggestions for what might help.

I can understand why they’d be wary of the NICU. Susannah was there, as was Abby, as was Drew later on. So that’s three babies in the NICU. Having one baby in the NICU is bad enough, but three? I cannot imagine how expensive that must be. Melanie has always given birth in hospital anyway due to having high-risk pregnancies, including multiple c-sections. Andrew was not actually a preemie, but he still needed some NICU help; I think he had breathing problems and needed an IV line in his belly button. 

[PennySycamore]

I was watching an ad for Piqray this morning which is a new med for patients with certain types of metastatic breast cancer.  It been shown to prolong the lives of these women.  One thing that struck me about the ad was all the scenes of young mothers with their children:  playing with them, attending their school events and so on.  It didn't just feature us old ladies who've raised our kids.  

Would shitty Scamaritan cover something like Piqray?

Dammit, Anna needs to be there for the kids they have now.

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

On 3/9/2020 at 8:17 PM, Can'tBelieveMyEyes said:

I have two fears for Anna Maxwell right now.  

First - she's into alternative medicine as evidenced by having 5 of her 6 kids at home even before the words 'natural chemo' left her mouth.  And if her surgical incision(s) are healing well - the natural chemo is probably NOT  doing a damned thing, fyi. 

Second - how many of her medical choices are dictated by the constraints of the stress and cost of using Scamaritan for 'health insurance' rather than a reputable insurance plan?  No pregnant mom wants to have a preemie baby - but the Maxwell fear of NICU stays of any period of time has to be related to the fact that NICU stays cost serious money.  (My son was a 26 weeker with a 4 month NICU stay.  We call him the 5-million dollar baby.).   Yup, delivering Simon Peter at 34 or 35 weeks increased the chances he'd be in the NICU for two weeks or less - but how did waiting 2-3 weeks to deliver affect the staging of Anna Maxwell's cancer?  Pregnancy kicks up growth hormone signaling between mom and baby - and cancers like those hormones too.  Chemo drugs are expensive - and it's not fun declaring that you are a self-pay patient and haggling with every provider to knock down costs.   

To be fair, having home births does not mean someone would completely forgo chemo for essential oils or something. That’s hardly a fair leap. Anna has made it clear that she is doing natural stuff while waiting to see what more may be necessary. 
 

We also have literally no idea what the doctors told her about induction dates, etc.  They’ve had multiple families in the babies need nicu stays, including precious Savannah who passed away in the hospital. I’ve had more than one baby in the nicu and it sucks and I don’t blame them one bit for trying to balance things in hopes of avoidIng the nicu. Some of the Maxwells use hospitals for their births and none of them have ever seemed to vilify routine medical care. I don’t see other Maxwells pressuring her to skip chemo; if anyone in that family is into the woo, it is Anna! She seems to be the crunchiest Maxwell by far! And while I hope she does everything to prolong her life and prioritize the babies she has over the babies that could be, it’s her own damn business. 
 

People really seem to be jumping to crazyville conclusions about Anna and her cancer and what they think she should be doing. I hope anyone can agree that she should retain full bodily autonomy and make whatever choices she is comfortable with!

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, JemimaPuddle-Duck said:

I hope anyone can agree that she should retain full bodily autonomy and make whatever choices she is comfortable with!

Why, yes. Yes, I do.  Please cool your jets a trifle.

I have been rather protective of Anna's choices so far if you read back a little.  I agree that she is one of the woo-iest Maxwells, and I also hope that she manages to include some of the woo with conventional treatment   Because, gosh-darn-it sometimes including woo (alternative medicine) can be good.

I do wonder what Samaritan's limits are on pricey conventional, newer (like laser ablation), or even clinical trials for cancer treatment are though.  If that is where Anna's full body autonomy takes her -- will Samaritan actually cover it?

Not sure the Maxwells will ever tell us. 

The Poster Family "Nathan Maxwells" have, and now the other Poster Family, "Christopher Maxwells," will be drawing heavily on that Christian cost sharing "ministry."

The amounts Scamaritan pays out are capped.   And there is a lot of fine print.  I wonder whether the Maxwells will be honest about how good the Scamaritan coverage they receive actually turns out to be.

As for Steve and Teri, they were denied Scamaritan coverage because of preexisting conditions.   

However, I have no doubt that Steve has pretty good conventional and non-christian-sharing insurance for himself and Teri.  He'll take care of himself while screwing his flock with bad advice.  That is Steve.

 

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Palimpsest

[Alisamer]

17 hours ago, JemimaPuddle-Duck said:

I hope anyone can agree that she should retain full bodily autonomy and make whatever choices she is comfortable with!

I agree, as I think most people here do.

I also, however, hope that those choices are her own, based on good factual information and advice from good doctors. NOT based entirely on her husband's preferences, or Steve's, or on producing future children at the expense of the ones she has, or on advice from people shilling woo, and especially not based on the limitations of the "insurance" they have.

I think it's appropriate to worry a little, just as we might worry about a family member who seems to be getting sucked into the "woo" alternative treatments shared so often on Facebook. She should absolutely make whatever choices she is comfortable with, but at the same time we can all hope those choices are wise, sensible, and fact-based. Luckily the Maxwells seem to be happy with using conventional medical care!

[mango_fandango]

I was just wondering about Sarah’s situation re motion sickness. I’ve never had any kind of motion sickness, and so I’m wondering about it myself, whether it might hit me later in life. She’s also been increasingly hit with altitude sickness over the past few years, and yet they still continue to go on their Colorado trips and those goddamn hikes. I know there are plenty of people who enjoy going to the same places every year. But to even consider doing something else in Colorado, or going somewhere different, would throw the Maxwells into a complete tailspin. Even family members having their hamburger in a lettuce wrap as opposed to a burger bun threw Teri off completely. I get how a schedule is important, but they sound so completely inflexible. 

[kpmom]

45 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

I was just wondering about Sarah’s situation re motion sickness. I’ve never had any kind of motion sickness, and so I’m wondering about it myself, whether it might hit me later in life.

I've gotten a bit of motion sickness later in life.  Never had a problem in my younger years.  Not sure why that is.

I'm fine when I'm driving, but when someone else is driving I'm better off looking out the window and listening to a book or music over ear buds than trying to read something on my phone or read a book.

I've tried ginger root capsules with some success.  I was going to leave a comment for Sarah, but it looks like she got at least one ginger root suggestion.

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, mango_fandango said:

But to even consider doing something else in Colorado, or going somewhere different, would throw the Maxwells into a complete tailspin. Even family members having their hamburger in a lettuce wrap as opposed to a burger bun threw Teri off completely. I get how a schedule is important, but they sound so completely inflexible. 

You know, Sarah might be a beach person. She might enjoy a cabin on a quiet lake, riding horses in the Grand Canyon, zip lining through the jungle, or taking a cooking or language class on her "vacation". Heck, she might enjoy a big city with nightlife, or going to museums, or any number of things.

But it's hiking in Colorado. Every single year. 

That's one of the things that bothers me about fundie kids, but Sarah in particular considering her age. She most likely doesn't KNOW what she would enjoy! There are so many wonderful, beautiful, amazing, weird things out there to experience, and she has tons and tons of free time (or would, if she'd toss the schedule). But she sits at home, doing what she's told in 15 minute increments, then goes on "vacation" to Colorado just like always.

God made the world beautiful so we could enjoy it, Maxwells. There's no virtue in sitting home afraid of it.

[Granwych]

34 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

You know, Sarah might be a beach person. She might enjoy a cabin on a quiet lake, riding horses in the Grand Canyon, zip lining through the jungle, or taking a cooking or language class on her "vacation". Heck, she might enjoy a big city with nightlife, or going to museums, or any number of things.

But it's hiking in Colorado. Every single year. 

That's one of the things that bothers me about fundie kids, but Sarah in particular considering her age. She most likely doesn't KNOW what she would enjoy! There are so many wonderful, beautiful, amazing, weird things out there to experience, and she has tons and tons of free time (or would, if she'd toss the schedule). But she sits at home, doing what she's told in 15 minute increments, then goes on "vacation" to Colorado just like always.

God made the world beautiful so we could enjoy it, Maxwells. There's no virtue in sitting home afraid of it.

“”Sarah” and “nightlife” will never , ever, be in the same sentence written by any Maxwell.  Sadly, none of the fun experiences noted above will delight Sarah because she won’t be allowed to try one or all.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Granwych
Additional thought

[PennySycamore]

@kpmom,  it's not unusual for people to be perfectly OK driving on twisty mountain roads, but to get carsick to the point of throwing up if they are passengers.  We'd see this often on club drives with the MINI Cooper club. In A Woman's Guide to Sailing by Doris Colgate, she advises taking the helm if you're bothered by seasickness.  It's the same principle.  Apparently, if you are in control of your vehicle or vessel, you are less bothered by the motion of the twists or waves.

@Alisamer what you wrote reminds me of this couplet by Robert Louis Stevenson I read about 60 years ago in Childcraft, volume 1, Poems of Early Childhood titled "Happy Thought:

Quote

The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

It make me so sad that Sarah's world (all the Max kids and grandkids, actually) that their world is so damn narrow.

[SPHASH]

I wonder if the Maxwells know about the Coronavirus.

[Jana814]

1 minute ago, SPHASH said:

I wonder if the Maxwells know about the Coronavirus.

I was wondering the same thing. Since they do church in a nursing home they may not be able to go. All the nursing homes around me (northern New Jersey) are banning people unless it’s family and they are over the age of 12.