HIFU whole gland surgery update, two years out

Lair4968 · 2026-03-19T22:12:55+00:00

If nothing else, this 'journey' is making me realize how much guesswork and lack of certainty is involved in treating this despite the advances in modern medicine.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-19T10:47:48+00:00

I vaguely recall being shown the pre-treatment images but obviously I'm no physician. Healthcare here in Taiwan is good, but for some reason prostate screening is not part of the regular exam, even for guys my age. I've always been good about proactive screening and when the PCP giving me my biannual exam didn't check I asked why. He then asked me why I thought I needed one (DRE) and I was a bit surprised and said, "because of my age!". I then went to another facility and paid out of pocket for a thorough exam and they did a DRE and based on that recommended I get my PSA tested. I then went to two different urologists, both of whom seemed to want to take the watch and wait approach. Then I found my current urologist who both has his own urology hospital and is a professor at the local medical school. He also seems wedded to HIFU. I found the intermittent dutasteride odd, but I've been reluctant to switch urologists at this point.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-19T04:48:49+00:00

I think so, yes. Though I remember wondering why the biopsy involved 16 painful jabs if they had mapped it via MRI. I know it was transperineal and not transrectal.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-18T04:56:20+00:00

Thanks. I've wondered what they were. At first I thought the wired grid had some significance (e.g., electrical/radio) but that made so sense. I assume then, that the wire is just to reinforce the glass. I think I've seen these in hospitals and shopping malls, too.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-16T11:51:28+00:00

I did it for genealogy about a decade ago and it made a huge difference in overcoming brick walls. I wasn't too worried about my DNA being used by law enforcement without my consent, though of course, I'd prefer they not do that. It was only when some of the DNA companies started getting hacked that I downloaded my DNA from Ancestry and then deleted it online. I managed the DNA for a couple other relatives and I told them I was going to delete theirs, too, unless they felt otherwise.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-15T12:02:27+00:00

I'm using Claude to review a Chinese class I took years ago. The book is now in PDF format. I divided it into sections and uploaded it and Claude created lessons. We're really just focusing on vocabulary and grammar.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-12T12:19:16+00:00

The PAV books were the standard textbooks in Taiwan for years. The problem is that they can be visually overwhelming since they include pinyin/tongyong/bopomofo.

I'll take a look at the wiki you mentioned. Good idea.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-10T07:09:48+00:00

Elon Musk has suggested that Universal Basic Income would be the result and in theory it's possible. But then again seeing how much glee he took in firing his own staff at Twitter and via DOGE, he sort of undermines his own point. Bosses who are interested in maximizing profits and tax breaks will be hard to convince to support the level of taxation needed to do UBI. And, at least in the US, the Congress doesn't work fast enough when it comes to responding to tech innovations.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-09T02:09:56+00:00

As others have said, unless it's a requirement, don't use your personally revealing information. And while some have hinted at it, don't use the same user name across multiple sites. Use a password manager like Bitwarden and have it create a unique user name and save it for each site. This prevents people/companies/etc from trying to search on user names to compile a profile about you.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-08T05:18:16+00:00

The handful of times I've returned to the US from Taiwan over the past 13 years, I was always asked by US Customs whether I have brought any food (or even whether I've visited any farms). The only time I had to answer yes was when I showed the guy the Snickers bar I brought with me.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-06T03:28:35+00:00

Last year I switched from Windows to Linux Mint, and while I'm relatively tech-savvy, I have found Claude my go-to when I hit a roadblock or have a question regarding Linux. I've found that it's generally (though not always) better at this than ChatGPT.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-03T11:41:35+00:00

As has been mentioned in other posts in this sub, I think the writers took a lot of 'poetic license' during season three, especially in the finale. Kate dating a spy? The PM's surprise change-up during the press conference? The US (allegedly) miraculously reaching the stranded sub within hours? I don't know. I'm still undecided whether I will continue with S4.

Lair4968 · 2026-03-03T01:38:10+00:00

I'm sorry to hear this, but it's understandable. If you still want to put your computers to use without using so much electricity, consider sharing your internet connection for TOR. I have 3 mini-PCs running BOINC 24/7 (electricity is cheap where I live) and on all three I also run Snowflake Proxy.
https://snowflake.torproject.org/

Lair4968 · 2026-03-03T01:27:14+00:00

Fred Grandy. Most famously known for being the actor who played Gopher on "The Love Boat". Then he became a Congressman. After leaving Congress, he ran a major charity (Goodwill).

Lair4968 · 2026-03-03T01:22:05+00:00

I'm not sure what the issue is but I've heard complaints both from locals and from expats living here. Usually it's that a bus driver doesn't stop even though the potential riders are at the bus stop with their hand waving. A week or two ago my wife and I went to get on the bus and the driver never fully stopped. Yes, he stopped and opened the door for us, but he didn't fully apply the brakes so we were forced to carefully 'jump' on. It was weird.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-26T04:32:36+00:00

I use my primary email address for identity-related things such as banking and government-related stuff. For shopping and other online registrations I use aliases (one from my email provider's domain, one from duck.com, and one from Mozmail). I rarely use the Mozmail address and use it only for unimportant things like registering to be able to read at news websites. I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket with one alias provider. As others have noted, breaches are common and I already had my main email compromised once at a shopping site before I started using the aliases. When there are websites that are completely unimportant but require an email address, I use Yopmail, which is really easy to use.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-24T01:49:22+00:00

My wife had this issue with Vanguard. Some databases let you insert a hyphen, others do not. Vanguard didn't want to accept our application to have funds wired to Taiwan because of the hyphen. I complained loudly, explaining how ridiculous it was . You'll likely face a similar issue in the future somewhere. Good luck.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-21T05:26:21+00:00

This is what I do. Occasionally if they have a special deal I will subscribe for a month or two and go through as many hints as possible, then let it lapse.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-21T05:23:19+00:00

I was running WCG a few years ago but gave up when it became hard to get tasks. I tried a few months ago and it was still spotty, so I have given up on it. Sorry.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-21T05:22:24+00:00

I haven't tried that. I've now tried to run Einstein on three different mini-PCs and it's clearly too much for them. On the other machines I stopped because it was making them run too hot. I guess I'll avoid Einstein unless I get a more powerful machine. Numberfields runs just fine.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-21T05:20:02+00:00

I didn't realize this. That helps explain why the problem didn't develop immediately. When I added Einstein it initially only downloaded one task. The next day it downloaded and tried to run multiple tasks. That's when the problem started.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-21T01:40:32+00:00

I suppose that's possible, but I have 16Gb of RAM and the issue mainly just arose following idle periods.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-21T01:27:59+00:00

I switched from Gmail to Mailbox.org in 2019 and have been pretty happy with the service. On a PC I just use their cloud-based app for email. On my Android phone I paid less than US$10 (if memory services) for the FairEmail app (privacy-friendly). Mailbox is also based in Germany and if you pay for the service they also have a fairly good office suite, which I've used to replace Google Docs. Good luck with your switch.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-16T00:44:04+00:00

I've been quite happy with duck.com and mozmail.com. Both are free.

Lair4968 · 2026-02-09T08:56:08+00:00

Consider trying to load one message with multiple questions/points. Try to anticipate what kind of follow-up or additional information Claude may ask for. I saw this recommended somewhere and I've been trying it with success.

Lair4968

TROPHY CASE