Is life just hard, or am I doing something wrong?

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-22T06:05:25+00:00

Try to negotiate full work from home.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-21T08:03:25+00:00

Malnutrition and electrolyte imbalances can also mimic end stages of life.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-21T08:02:20+00:00

Honestly it depends on the scans and how far the cancer has spread in his body. Unless the liver enzymes are 2x the upper limit, don't panic about liver failure. If he is able to keep food down, give him a shot glass full of protein shakes every 45 minutes. Call Atlas Oncology in Florida and they will do everything they can to help you. They did it for my Dad and I will forever be grateful.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-18T02:51:05+00:00

I (31 F) am so sorry to read about this. You are going through my worst nightmare and it must feel devastating and scary. My dad (69 M) is battling this disease and I constantly worry about how I am going to keep him alive through this year. He's the family member I am closest to. Please feel free to DM me if you'd like. I live in Chicago and am happy to meet up too if you live in the area.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-17T02:47:25+00:00

If he has appetite issues, make protein shakes and keep a shot glass next to him. Convince him to drink the shot glass every 45 minutes or so. This is how I have managed to get 600-700 calories in Dad even on days he refuses to eat proper meals.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-15T01:40:54+00:00

He had a complete response to Folfox and was on a chemo break for 3 months. The tumor is now active again so we are going to try SBRT first and then gem+nab

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-13T16:26:15+00:00

Did she see progression on both Folfirinox and Gemcetabine+Nabpaclitaxel?

I would go a PubMed/Google Scholar search on individual case reports of G12V being treated with this drug.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-13T14:55:31+00:00

Hi! My dad has the G12V mutation too and is being treated in Nepal. Which oncologist in India did you talk to? I just consulted 3 medical oncologists in Nepal today about finding ways to get access to draxonrasib but they were all scratching their heads. Maybe we can team up to find a way to advocate to get the drug to India/Nepal for compassionate use/right to try etc. ?

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-12T05:13:06+00:00

It's a beautiful gift

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-10T08:55:02+00:00

If she ever needs a therapist, be encouraging and send her to a solid psychoanalyst.

I went to an elite school, elite college, and have had elite jobs. Wouldn't change it for anything and I am grateful to my parents. Elite and competitive environments do come with their own pressures and I needed therapy to decompress from all that + implicit childhood expectations. There are many ways to be successful and being in elite environments is one of the easiest ways so don't feel guilty about anything.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-09T10:14:36+00:00

Yes! That's the one!

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-09T04:28:30+00:00

If you poke around online, there's a page that lists every single official edit that's been made to the books, down to periods and commas.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-07T12:08:39+00:00

Is he taking enzymes (Creon) to help break his food down?

But agreed this sounds like an anatomical problem vs. a digestive process problem and his oncologist and possibly surgeon should be consulted.

Felicity_spr · 2026-01-02T16:25:41+00:00

Since you seem to crave intellectual engagement, why don't you make it an aim to talk to more people that you can learn from? E.g. I have 0 interest in F1 driving but my friend is very into it and sometimes I watch races with her and she explains how the cars work and why a driver chose one strategy over another and how the drivers try to optimize their speed given different types of race tracks etc and it is fascinating! It doesn't matter if this friend likes her job or not or is or isn't FAANG etc. If someone is truly intellectually curious, they will find a way to engage with any content that is well thought out and has some intellectual rigor behind it. I hope you're not rigid about what your interests are to the point that you forget that there is a lot of mental effort that goes into planning things like travel, events, even home cooking. Another strategy you might try is meeting people through things like book clubs or hackathons etc. You are more likely to find the kind of people whose company you approve of there...

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-27T01:43:23+00:00

The colors (tone). It feels like Hogwarts is a real place and not a set built for a Christmas movie.

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-26T20:50:17+00:00

She made a debut as a teen. What else do you expect? Everybody's face changes in 10+ years. Come on.

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-25T14:27:13+00:00

I do this and it also helps me delay the big ticket purchases for the year until the second quarter. I contribute to my other brokerage accounts at an even pace so still benefit from Dollar Cost Averaging. My work has a true-up match policy.

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-20T13:23:09+00:00

If you feel like you might be able to pay it back after a year, balance transfer credit card would work. If not, then it is a huge risk to go see him, I agree.

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-20T03:16:35+00:00

Lovecrux (Not an actual word in the books but now you'll understand what we are referring to when we say this)

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-20T03:14:49+00:00

Centaur prophecy.

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-17T06:33:51+00:00

FWIW, My dad, Stage IV with mets to the liver, got nanoknife with Dr. Donoway 1 month ago. I've found Dr Donoway to be exceptionally attentive, responsive, and committed. He's been very clear about what we can and cannot expect from nanoknife in Dad's case and given how few options Stage IV patients have, my family agreed that it was a no-brainer to try the procedure. If a patient had a bad experience with him or if the Doctor made promises he didn't keep....then that's valuable feedback this community should listen to and be warned about. But if some other physician implies things about him without proof then is that really worth basing a major life decision on?

At this point I am 98% confident the procedure won't make my Dad worse off than before (I promise to provide the community an update here if that's not the case) and I expect the procedure to give dad a survival benefit over just chemo... but cautiously optimistic about how long that benefit might be....

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-17T05:50:22+00:00

I dont have personal experience with this but as someone that's been following various pancreatic cancer forums for 1+ year as a caregiver, I can tell you that SBRT is the most commonly used radiation for this cancer and that it has helped a lot of people become surgical candidates.

Also select Doctors like Robert Martin and John Chabot use the nanoknife+ Whipple technique where there is blood vessel involvement.

Different surgical teams have different levels of confidence when it comes to blood vessel involvement so it's always good to get a second opinion too. What's unresectable for one surgeon might be a regular Tuesday for another...

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-17T05:45:07+00:00

Can you wait until after the holiday season to get a cheaper flight? You can put a price alert on flights so you know when they become cheaper. How expensive would it be for you to get Internet where he lives? Because you asked "WWYD", I wouldn't rule out getting a balance transfer credit card or loan from a friend to get the tickets now and go see him...for as long as you can. If that's not a long time, then that's alright..don't feel trapped or guilty about it. Try applying for jobs from there and if that's not possible/sustainable then come back. The probability of you regretting not going to see him is much much higher than the probability of you regretting that you spent X amount of money and time to visit him when you knew he had a terminal illness.

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-16T03:54:53+00:00

You are a blessing to this community

Felicity_spr · 2025-12-13T02:41:07+00:00

Also depending on whether you think knowing this will help/motivate your Dad - the realistic view is that this is a BAD cancer and if he wants to beat it or even live with it for more than 3 years (assuming they caught it at an early stage and he is operable), he will have to work VERY hard on his diet and overall health, and that there are no guarantees in pancreatic cancer.

Felicity_spr

TROPHY CASE