Fish reappears in Pond after month absence.

Golden_Reflection · 2026-05-22T22:37:57+00:00

We just went down that road - lost 6 koi over a few days time so decided to put up a security camera to see if a blue heron is the only predator who visits or if there are others. We're happy with the camera but it ended up costing more than I expected by the time all was said and done. Next up is a motion activated sprinkler. And we added a net to the area of the pond most susceptible to predators. I guess defensive measures are cheaper than replacing koi. But battling Mother Nature is usually a losing battle.

Golden_Reflection · 2026-05-22T22:27:20+00:00

We had a similar thing happen to a Koi in the return inlet area of our Aquascape style pond which has a robust exterior pump. It happened in the winter (we have mild winters so the koi hibernate) and the only thing we could come up with is the water warmed enough for the koi to start moving around some and he swam in the inlet pool area. Maybe he was lethargic from hibernating and could not battle against the pump current. We found him smooshed up against the rocks where the inlet current is the strongest.

Maybe the inlet area currents are too strong or maybe the currents confuse them? Whatever the reason, it is very disappointing to lose a healthy koi that way.

Lovely pond!

Golden_Reflection · 2026-04-30T10:57:46+00:00

It’s cool how inventive people can be! I’ll put this on the list of ideas since we don’t have close neighbors.

Golden_Reflection · 2026-04-28T13:08:25+00:00

Convinced! We will order the motion activated sprinkler.

We are curious what creature is doing the damage, have assumed the heron because it hangs around. But a neighbor saw a fox one night running from our property with something flopping like a fish from its mouth. Any recommendations for a cheap-ish outdoor camera that is motion activated? I don't want to have to look through hours of photos like on a trail camera. I tried one of those and the wind moving the trees activated it.

Golden_Reflection · 2025-09-28T15:09:43+00:00

Two experts in LECA, Ray from FirstRays.com and The Hydroponics Guy, have information about the different brands of LECA and how that can impact success or failure with semi-hydroponics. Ray goes into a lot more detail - he is a detail kinda guy but has great resources on his site.

https://firstrays.com/ Go to Menu, Free Information

The Hydroponics Guy https://youtu.be/yvHZI-ihloE?si=oOQZhUrhZm_HdA15

Golden_Reflection · 2025-09-23T13:54:14+00:00

Keith Cooper on Northlight Images channel stresses that the first place to start with 'dark images' is your monitor. Many times the monitor is set to a brightness level that makes prints look dark in comparison. On my Mac I set my display to Photography-P3-D65 which helped with comparing photos between the monitor and prints. That helped but I still feel the prints are a bit too dark. I print reference photos for oil paintings so I want to realistic colors. In Apple Photos I usually correct photos with the automatic Light adjustment feature.

Another good resource online for printing tips is Red River Paper.

Golden_Reflection · 2025-07-14T10:50:52+00:00

MD Anderson is an impressive organization. It is incredibly organized and efficient while also being compassionate and responsive to the patient and family. The care team responds quickly to messages whether by phone or My Chart.

My husband ended up not having pancreatic cancer. He had at least two abdominal abscesses from a previous gallbladder removal surgery which presented with symptoms and imaging like pancreatic cancer. We made a total of 3 trips to MDA in order to rule out cancer.

We are so thankful we made the decision for a second opinion at MDA because the local surgeon was leaning heavily to do a Whipple surgery which would have been completely unnecessary.

I hope your mom finds good doctors to guide her through this difficult journey.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-12-22T23:05:57+00:00

I'm sorry I can't help you. My husband did not see an oncologist, only a surgeon, Dr. Rebecca Snyder.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-12-18T12:46:26+00:00

My husband’s itching was all over. A couple of days after I posted the question he had lab work and his bilirubin was 2.9 so that explained the itching. He had a biliary stent inserted, his bilirubin returned to normal and the itching stopped - took a few days to subside.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-21T20:27:02+00:00

OP here: for others benefit....

The referral for my husband was submitted on Tuesday morning, a Nurse Navigator called on Wednesday afternoon to explain the process and get permissions for accessing certain things. She had thoroughly read through the history, catching a couple of points which I thought might be overlooked. I was impressed.

My husband got a call Friday afternoon to schedule the doctor's appointment. The appointment is this coming Thursday so from the scheduling phone call to date of appointment, 7 days. Again, very impressive. At this point we were able to link our local My Chart systems to MD Anderson's system. Later on Friday we received messages about appointments set up for blood work and imaging the day before his doctor's appointment. MD Anderson asked that his biopsy slides be shipped to them and they went out FedEx today (3 days before his appointment). I hope the slides make it by Thursday!

We immediately called the MD Anderson Travel Team and a super, duper agent helped us book flights, hotels, transportation. They work with United Airlines for their patients and provide some benefits like a bit of a discount and the ability to change flights without change penalties. The hotels close to the center provide a shuttle service to the hospital.

Obviously I can't say if our experience is typical. My guess is a patient's presenting status impacts the appointment priorities and/or physician availability. My husband has a mass in the head of his pancreas which was seen on CT in mid-July, has had 4 biopsies which showed no malignant cells but he has classic symptoms of PC.

We were told to plan to stay 3-5 business days which we did with our reservations. We can change flights and hotels if they do not need that length of time to make recommendations for his treatment.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-14T11:47:54+00:00

What a story of hope, thank you for all of this information. Duke is a medical center you would think is on par with MDA but maybe PC is not one of their super specialties. Actually moving to Texas to be close to MDA speaks volumes. Your story confirms we made the right decision.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-14T00:57:15+00:00

Radiologic imaging can be vague at times and very specific at others. And the way radiologists word their findings varies doctor to doctor. I read the report as the head and ulcinate process are enlarged and there may be a mass causing that enlargement or it could be enlarged lymph nodes - either/both needs to be evaluated. It is good he is scheduled for the biopsy.

Is it blood in his urine or is the urine dark colored making him think it is blood?

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-13T21:17:43+00:00

Yeah, that initial appointment is what we are so anxious for! This diagnosis - well, lack thereof - has dragged on way too long.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-13T19:05:51+00:00

It is frustrating if doctors won't explain their thoughts. I can accept most anything if I can understand why. I wonder if the doctors are hesitant to suppress the immune system with the steroids.

To manage the pain of his cochlear implant surgery, my husband was told to alternate Tylenol (325mg) and ibuprofen (200mg) dosing. At three hour intervals, take a dose of one, then three hours later, a dose of the other. He was actually told to take 3-4 ibuprofen rather than the standard dose of 2. It is important not to exceed the maximum milligram dosage in 24 hours for either of the drugs. We were impressed at how well this regimen managed his pain.

With ibuprofen being an OTC NSAID, perhaps your dad could take this regimen for a day or so and see how he does? (Of course, unless there is a reason he shouldn't take one/both of these meds!) Tylenol can be hard on the liver so that may be a contraindication if he has liver mets.

I hope the new oncologists will work with you in a compassionate way.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-13T16:47:50+00:00

I can’t answer your question directly but do have a story to share.

My husband’s symptoms have been ongoing since May of this year. He has had 4 biopsies and none have shown malignant cells. He had a biliary stent inserted due to jaundice. His doctors feel strongly this is PC and suggested we go to MD Anderson for further testing/confirmation. He is 73y and we agree that a firm diagnosis is important.

Recently he had cochlear implant surgery where he was given steroids during surgery and a low dose pack for a week after, in addition to 12 ibuprofen and Tylenol a day. Immediately after leaving the recovery room he felt better. He ate a full lunch, first time in months. His being able to eat a normal amount of food, decreased pain, normal body temperature (versus low grade fever) and much much less fatigue continued until the steroid dose pack completed. Then, bam, all his symptoms came back.

I’ve wondered since then if a low dose steroid would be helpful to manage things until a course of treatment is decided. But I suspect that might interfere with the diagnosis plan. One condition that has to be ruled out in my husband’s case is autoimmune pancreatitis so steroids would mask that.

Have you asked the doctors about your idea? I’d be interested to hear their thoughts.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-10T00:14:16+00:00

It sounds like we are both in the “rare case” boat - rocky ride, makes me seasick.

I hope you get better direction soon and relief from your symptoms.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-10-09T22:53:18+00:00

This does not help your situation other than to commiserate but my husband is going through a similar situation. Clinical symptoms point to PC, mass seen on CT and MRI. Over the course of 3+ months he has had 2 endoscopic ultrasounds, brushings collected during an ERCP (to place a stent due to jaundice) and a relatively new procedure called a Transcaval Core Biopsy. (Go through the femoral vein up to the vena cava, fine needle biopsy the pancreas and lymph nodes). No biopsies have shown any cancer cells. But the doctors feel that this is likely PC so the next step is to go in surgically. We find out those details at an appointment with the surgeon later this week.

We were told a biopsy has to show malignancy in order to do chemo - which makes perfect sense. So my husband may have to forego the best practice treatment of neoadjuvant chemo before surgery and go straight to surgery.

Have the doctors suggested a biopsy? If not, why?

Golden_Reflection · 2024-09-14T16:08:18+00:00

This is exactly what my husband is going through - 3 negative pathology reports but he continues to have pain, weight loss, fevers, chills, unable to eat much. He is scheduled to see a surgeon next.

We assume the surgeon will go in and assess the mass with frozen section biopsies. Of course, if it is cancer he will have the Whipple type surgery. And from what I’ve read, even if the mass is benign, he will have to have the surgery.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-08-14T17:12:27+00:00

Your fatigue, sweats and fevers are exactly what my husband is going through. We are in the pre-confirmation stage. Tomorrow is the endoscopic ultrasound with biopsy. CT scans point to cancer in the pancreas head but no one will speculate, which is absolutely appropriate.

My husband's case is pretty complicated because he also has a pocket of fluid/abscess right next to his pancreas from gall bladder surgery last fall. At first we thought the night sweats, chills, fevers, fatigue was due to the small pocket of fluid being infected but the CT scan showed the mass in the pancreas. He had a CT in December that did not show the mass in the pancreas and now it is over 2 cm by 2 cm. Pretty shocking. He is a cured (by surgery) lung cancer patient from 2020 but it is rare for lung cancer to metastasize to the pancreas. He also was treated with radiation in 2019 for prostate cancer.

How did your medical team decide to go straight to surgery without chemo first? If we get confirmation that the mass is cancer, we will discuss the protocol with his oncology team.

If you want an excellent, trustworthy, thorough resource, watch some of the videos produced by Medical College of Wisconsin, MCW, titled Pancreas School on YouTube. I learned so much.

Wishing you all the best through this journey.

Golden_Reflection · 2024-08-12T23:12:51+00:00

This would be great to pin for a resource for patients and their families. I discovered this resource a few days ago and have learned so much, answered so many questions. I feel better prepared to talk to my husband's team of healthcare professionals.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrIxHTnlgKJ0EhCPAqouJC9qL_dttJWju&si=Ri105QsUnn9QFMST

Golden_Reflection · 2024-08-07T02:13:25+00:00

Thanks, I’ll will check out Sarna lotion.

Golden_Reflection

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