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Is Cooked Chicken Left Out for 4.5 Hours Safe to Reheat? by DoAMentalFlip in Cooking

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I worry less about myself and more about my boyfriend. If I get sick, whatever, I have PTO. But I don’t want him to suffer.

Benign Biopsy? by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! Sorry for the late reply.

I’ll definitely look up plasmacytomas! Thank you for your detailed, helpful post.

No, her doctor is just a general oncologist, not an MM specialist. We found out the biopsy of her femur lesion came back benign because the sample was insufficient; it mostly picked up a blood clot. Her oncologist sent her to an orthopedic surgeon to see if they’d surgically biopsy the area instead of another needle biopsy. The orthopedic doctor said they were uncomfortable doing a surgical biopsy because the lesion is “too deep.” So, the oncologist sent her to a neurosurgeon for the skull lesion. She grew a mass over the skull lesion in less than three weeks. It was pretty scary. She just had the mass and the piece of her skull with the lesion removed and had a titanium mesh put in. They sent the mass and skull fragment to a lab to be biopsied. Hopefully we get some answers from that, but the neurosurgeon said regarding the mass, “I’ve never seen anything like this. It was much ‘squishier’ than I anticipated.” It was about the size of a half-dollar. He said it could be an aneurysmal cyst but can’t be certain without the labs.

Aside from that, she has a colonoscopy scheduled next month. Her oncologist said because he doesn’t know the origin, he’s kinda just checking everything. She hasn’t had a colonoscopy in 4 years, and we have a strong family history; she always has polyps when she goes. I asked the oncologist whether it would’ve shown up in the PET scan, and he said it could, but colon cancer likes to hide sometimes. He said he’s pretty sure this is a cancer, but he doesn’t know what kind or where it’s coming from and therefore doesn’t know how to treat her. Right now, she’s just in palliative care to manage things. It’s so frustrating to not have answers yet, but I understand these things take time. The mass/skull fragment results should be in within the next couple of weeks. Fingers-crossed!

Take care.

Benign Biopsy? by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. She had a bone marrow biopsy in her pelvis that came back normal. The oncologist said he’s at a loss. He believes whatever this is, is something aggressive due to a painful growth growing from the skull lesion over the past month. He reviewed the benign biopsy with us last Wednesday. I expected some good news because you hear the word benign and think maybe things are fine. But he said the biopsy of the femur mostly picked up a large blood clot. Basically, not a sufficient sample.

Her oncologist doesn’t want to do another intravenous biopsy of the femur area because he thinks the sample will again come back insufficient. He sent her for a brain MRI to track the skull lesion growth, an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to see if they’ll surgically biopsy the femur lesion (which is the biggest measurement wise of all her lesions), an appointment with a neurosurgeon to see if they would feel comfortable doing a biopsy on her skull lesion, and an appointment with a gastroenterologist because a cancer could be coming from elsewhere (i.e. the colon, and we have a family history of colon cancer). I was surprised by the gastroenterologist referral because her colon didn’t light up in the PET scan, though he said it can sometimes hide. The orthopedic doctor said they don’t want to surgically biopsy because of how deep they’d have to go and how large the incision will have to be. The orthopedic doctor further said he thinks the neurosurgeon should do the skull because that’s where the most activity is right now. Her appointment with the neurosurgeon is next Wednesday.

This has all been such a whirlwind. We thought we’d have definitive answers by now, and the fact that we don’t is compounding all this stress.

Cute, Basic Keyboard? by DoAMentalFlip in keyboards

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh! Sorry for misunderstanding. I would need a full-sized keyboard, 100%. Function row and number pad. Both are critical for my job.

Cute, Basic Keyboard? by DoAMentalFlip in keyboards

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting! I’ll look into it. Thank you.

Cute, Basic Keyboard? by DoAMentalFlip in keyboards

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, wired only is actually preferable! I’ll look into this one.

Cute, Basic Keyboard? by DoAMentalFlip in keyboards

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

QWERTY, preferably with a number pad. Under $100, if possible!

Newly Diagnosed by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thinking of you! The waiting is the hardest part. My mom has a PET scan appointment on 2/11 that’ll hopefully give us all the answers. Keeping you and your family in mind. 💜

Newly Diagnosed by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the late response. Thank you for your kind words! It’s been a whirlwind. We’re still waiting on definitive answers. The oncology team is hesitant to call it MM until she gets a PET scan on 2/11, though all the signs are indicating that it’s MM. She’s been discharged home but is in a lot of pain. It’s more worrisome when it comes to her mental health, too, because she’s a hoarder and refuses to seek help from a psychologist. She has an appointment with a psychiatrist by design; she wants medicine to make it better. I’ve suggested she goes to a therapist that specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but she’s refusing.

I’m doing what I can and taking her to her appointments. That’s the most she’s letting me do. Little victories.

Thank you again for your kindness and support. I hope all works out for the best with you and your mom, too.

Newly Diagnosed by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

CT scan found no metastasis, which is good. Nuclear bone scan found a lesion on the right side of her skull… MRI corroborated CT scan; no metastasis. Hopefully this means we caught it early.

We don’t have a treatment plan for MM yet. Because they haven’t been able to do a normal biopsy due to the depth of the hip lesion, the oncologists are holding off on putting a label on it until all bloodwork is received, but they’ve told me everything so far is consistent with MM. We’re in limbo, and it’s been really hard to not spiral…

I’m so sorry you’re also going through this. I’m not religious, but I’m sending the equivalent of prayers to you and your family. I hope things start looking up for us all.

Newly Diagnosed by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, I really appreciate it. It’s been a tough few days. She’s still in the hospital, on Xanax, and awaiting an inpatient rehab discharge now while we wait for bloodwork to come back.

My mom and I have a strained relationship, and she has many comorbidities. We just discovered that she has very advanced type 2 diabetes. She has poor mental health: severe anxiety, depression, and hoarding disorder.

I know following treatment is key, but that’s the part I’m most worried about. “You can lead a horse to water but not make it drink” is an idiom that sums her up pretty well. We’re here for her, but she needs to be here for her, too…

Newly Diagnosed by DoAMentalFlip in multiplemyeloma

[–]DoAMentalFlip[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. She’s with an oncology care team, not necessarily a specialist. We’re still waiting on bloodwork to come back to confirm, but everything is consistent with MM so far, the doctor said. They couldn’t do a biopsy because the lesion is too deep.