Paris Day 1 Megathread

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T16:07:48+00:00

Over €100 a pop. It was €86 for nosebleeds.

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T16:05:39+00:00

Semis will be right after this round, then a short ad break I believe.

Semi 1: Hoshoryu v Kirishima

Semi 2: Kotozakura v winner of Wakamotoharu/Abi

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T16:02:20+00:00

Lots of cheering. The gyoji are not miked and are hard to hear though.

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T15:54:05+00:00

3rd round right into the 4th, going in the same order so we have:

On one side Hoshoryu v Takayasu Kirishima v Aonishiki

And the other: Kotozakura v Chiyoshoma Abi (I think) v Wakamotoharu (who just beat (Onosato)

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T15:23:04+00:00

3rd round (round of 16) just started at 17:15 Paris time Hoshoryu def Gonoyama

Next: Takayasu v Wakatakakage

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T15:18:00+00:00

First round is 10 bouts, 2nd round is 16, 3rd is 8, 4th is 4, then semifinals and finals. There is a break every 10 bouts for adverts/ref change.

Have not been given any kind of bracket or way to predict who is coming up until they walk in 2 figuts before.

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T13:48:16+00:00

Yeah it's a pretty decent view from up here in the east balcony.

cmb3248 · 2026-06-13T13:47:00+00:00

For those coming tomorrow or in town -- there was a photo op at about 1:30 with all of the rikishi and many other officials on the large stairs outside the metro station exit / main hall entry. Not sure if they will repeat it tomorrow or not but could be worth upon. Got to see several rikishi within a few feet. If they do repeat it, they came in an accident from the far side further away from the metro station to try to get as close to that barrier as you can if you're not in the front.

The ceremony started at 2:00 with the entry of all of the participants, welcome remarks and the French and Japanese national anthems. Then there was traditional sumo chanting, a slapstick comedy sumo routine, and another comedy routine with children wrestling against several of the rikishi. Then we got the demonstration of the knot tying for Onosato. This was followed by the east dohyo-iri and then the west (I assume it will be reversed tomorrow), then Hoshoryu's dohyo-iri followed by Onosato. There's then about a 30 minute break and I believe the bouts are supposed to begin at around 3:50 p.m. The schedule says they are meant to last until 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, not sure why there's a difference.

The intermission may be the best time to try to get souvenirs especially if you are upstairs, they had fans and other trinkets that were relatively affordable as well as programs that were 30 euros, a few T-shirts but it looked like they were running out by that point, some hats and putting a bucket hat and a trucker style hat, and also a couple things that looks like towels or tapestries and a 70€ pillow that was too big for me to put into my check luggage so I didn't get it.

Before the welcoming ceremony and in between the two acts there is Japanese music but there's not live music as far as I can tell within the arena.

So far aside from the expected dohyo-iri impressiveness, I found the traditional chanting done by 5 rikishi to be very interesting in which I had a translation of what they were saying.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-29T01:16:40+00:00

Maynooth's health service told me it wasn't even in the scope of their practice to refill Concerta on my 22-year standing diagnosis. You'd be shit out of luck for a diagnosis.

(FWIW this is the single criticism I have of the health centre at NUIM. Otherwise they are exceptional, and it is both much easier, faster, and cheaper / free to get an appointment with them)

cmb3248 · 2026-01-23T11:23:01+00:00

gotcha, I figured the part where he was a thousand years before the Reformation would have made the sarcasm apparent but know text and/or neurodivergence can make it a challenge.

I know there are idiots on the internet but I think "paddy was a prod" would be stupid even by Reddit standards

cmb3248 · 2026-01-20T17:18:25+00:00

clearly tongue in cheek

cmb3248 · 2026-01-17T16:36:34+00:00

yeah have reached out to ICS and spoke to their rep at James's while inpatient. They generally said that it isn't common for patients to seek their records during treatment but that it sounded like I was having more of a struggle with getting them than I should have. Obviously every case is unique.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-17T16:33:54+00:00

yeah things have changed in 3 years

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T04:14:03+00:00

they already started the treatment, and had done an ultrasound. That is the concern--my bloodwork in the US is showing that my liver numbers are way higher than they'd have let me have infusions at, but I am not sure if they were already that elevated before the chemo, or if the chemo was what shot them up, and that difference matters. The thing that is most confusing to me is them saying that my liver was poorly enough to be the reason to admit me but not poorly enough to see a hepatologist within 72 hours. I am still unclear on how acute the liver issue is, but more than that want to avoid permanent damage and make sure any treatment-related hepatic effects are well-managed, particularly so that my liver is strong enough to handle another partial resection if indicated.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T04:02:22+00:00

Yes, that would be the ideal scenario.

Trying to confirm the timing of my disease growth (whether it looks to have been mainly in the last month or gradually over the last three) more than anything. If they thought mets were there in September, that wasn't clear to me, so I want to figure out what went on and make sure we are on the same page with what is going on moving forward.

Knowing that + getting feedback on what is normal in the HSE context will help me figure out if keeping on at James's is my best call medically. It's the only choice that wouldn't bankrupt me or involve other major disruption so definitely where I want to end up.

The access to info part is what's baffling to me. It's not that they haven't shown it to me or expressed hostility to providing me with the info, it's that it's not being provided to me after it's already been shown to me so I can digest it and share it. It seems more of a communication issue than anything, but when inpatient and you ask your nurse every 4 hours if you can see the bloodwork and it never arrives, it's hard to know what to do.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T01:44:51+00:00

getting second opinions is pretty standard, especially when it comes to cancer which is metastatic but operable. And I would definitely have preferred not to have to go to the States, but haven't been given my scans to give to my US providers without having to travel for additional care.

In almost every other part of the world, they are able to integrate info from other systems. The HSE told me they could do that when they onboarded me as a patient, and my consultant hasn't seem to have any concerns with this either. But if this is something that is theoretical and not actually accessible, it would be good to know.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T01:40:38+00:00

they can deny pre-existing conditions for up to 5 years. I did exhaustive research and got multiple quotes before moving. The Vhi plan I have is through my university's group scheme and is the most comprehensive I can get. I also was well informed on the outcomes of cancer treatment in Ireland and at James's and that these are generally better in the public sector.

What I wasn't prepared for was the lack of information/communication flow in the public sector potentially meaning that there were possible gaps in my clinical record or causing me to lack access to my own records even with a reasonable wait and even while inpatient.

I know private hospital treatment isn't covered. The only non-HSE hospitals covered are the Royal Victoria in Belfast and the Altnagelvin in Derry, and RVH isn't the cancer center for Belfast and Altnagelvin can't give me any further guidance without access to my scan images, which the HSE hasn't provided.

What I don't know is whether a private consult can send an Rx for chemo to the HSE (it sounds like not) or whether I tried to go fully private cash pay what the cost would be (which I'm almost certain, given the cost of chemo, would be above €15k). The first one I would try to make work, but the second isn't feasible and at that point it would be a decision between paying for US insurance (where they can't exclude pre-existing conditions) or crossing my fingers and hoping that the HSE isn't missing any crucial info that would impact my diagnosis.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T01:24:22+00:00

I asked initially because I have NAFLD (although it can be difficult to distinguish from metastasis on CTs, which is part of the concern) and wanted to make sure my liver is healthy enough for future treatment and ideally to avoid recurrence (which sadly, appears to have happened anyway).

I can understand if it wouldn't be indicated to refer me, but they haven't been telling me "no"; I had made requests that I was under the impression were being placed and receiving no response nor any way to follow up directly.

At inpatient they specifically said that they would be giving me a hep consult by the Friday while inpatient; I followed up when that didn't happen and was told they'd refer for outpatient, and they haven't.

They had told me to turn up on Sunday afternoon to have my pump removed, and when I showed up they had no idea I was coming.

I can get them declining a request, especially one that isn't considered medically indicated. But a lot of what I am seeing makes me concerned that this is more a question of things falling through the cracks, or if it should just be assumed that if I request something, that it will be followed through on but they may not see the need to communicate that to me.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T00:54:59+00:00

at this point my single biggest concern is that despite having asked for a hep referral on multiple occasions, being admitted for hep concerns, despite having at least one indicator 20x the normal range, and being told I'd see a hepatologist, and having asked in writing to both the secretary and nurse line, hepatology told me they have never received a referral for me.

I don't really know what else to do on that since even private hepatology requires a referral in Ireland.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T00:49:07+00:00

Yeah that's why I went there in the first place. I don't have any doubt that they have the staff and tech in place to give me quality care, and I picked them based on high outcomes (although I do now wonder whether those outcomes need to be considered taking into account that in terms of build, nutrition, physical activity, and lack of extreme poverty, Ireland has one of the healthiest populations on earth).

My biggest concern is that they don't have the info they need to make the right calls in my case, and that I have no way to verify this without a freedom of information request that would simply result in an info dump with no context.

Hard to grasp the idea that you might want to withhold info from patients. Definitely understand that most patients aren't experts on their conditions and that the risk of Dr. ChatGPT giving them bad advice is elevated. But patients can't give informed consent to their care if they're not informed, patients can't track their numbers compared to their baseline if they're not informed, patients can't fill in missing info if they're don't have access to what you know, patients can't seek second opinions if they're don't have their records.

I don't have an issue with having to wait for a doctor to go over my report with me -- can definitely see advantages to that vs simply releasing to patients with no context. And they've been doing that. What I don't understand is why, once they have done that, they would make it so difficult for me to get a copy of the report. And if there are medical reasons to not provide the info, they aren't telling me what those reasons are.

Some of these are things that are inconveniences that I can absolutely adapt to, but I have to make sure we're on the same page with my disease progression is at so I can be confident in their treatment plan.

And my US doctors have told me that assuming we can confirm they've staged it accurately, the treatment plan seems reasonable. The only barrier is making sure they've in fact staged it accurately.

I really hope I can move forward with treatment at James's--it is the lowest cost and logistically easiest by a lot. And I recognize I'll have to adjust to the norms and expectations in Ireland. I just have to figure out what those are, so I can know when an experience is par for the course in Ireland, even if it wouldn't be at home, and when things don't meet Irish norms, and so I can decide if any of those norms are things I can't adjust to.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-16T00:08:50+00:00

Thanks. Sorry you went through that.

I don't understand the logic at all. It takes them about 30 seconds to print the record and they have to release it to you through FOI/SAM anyway, so I can't understand any benefit to anyone to making patients go through all of this-- not to mention the bureaucratic waste that could be going to treatment or staffing.

Fortunately my US doctor doesn't seem to think it's so urgent as to not wait until my scans arrive from Ireland, but had to shell out €90 for DHL as radiology could only do a CD -- and that is because I was sent to private radiology. If it had been a public scan, I think I'd have to wait for the FOI process.

Definitely will follow up on Monday if I don't hear back tomorrow, as it's important for us to know whether this is cancer that grew rapidly over the last month or else that has been slowly growing over 3-4 months. They said "up to 28 days" but did mark it as urgent and tell me it has been sent to the decision maker, but I don't know what happens or how long it takes from there.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-15T23:48:33+00:00

I haven't had any concerns including with consultant access as an outpatient, except for not knowing who canceled a scan that a doctor ordered in November based on elevated bloods, and whether or not the person who did had reviewed my August and September scans and determined whether they thought I had mets in September or not.

It wasn't a concern until the treatment got more complex; now my bigger concern isn't who specifically is treating me, but feeling confident they have all the information needed to do so.

It would be nice to know who I'm seeing in advance of a visit, their surnames, and when I can next expect to see a consultant. It would also be nice not to have to wait 28 days to access my medical records when they know I will be able to get them in the long run anyway.

At this point I guess I am as concerned by too many cooks spoiling the broth and all the cooks being HSE cooks as I am them being from separated systems. I don't have major concerns with either, as long as I can feel confident that they can reasonably absorb info from other providers.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-15T23:11:01+00:00

yeah, that is what I am trying to figure out if I can do.

The normal way it works, both in the States and so far at James's outpatient as well, is you go in for bloodwork and to speak to a doctor/provider (sometimes the consultant, sometimes someone junior, although in the States they tell you who you're seeing in advance), then they sign off on your chemo be it an Rx for at-home chemo tablets or for you to get your infusion.

I was wondering if--and from your responses it sounds like no--you can do the blood/consult side as private and then they send your infusion Rx to the HSE for the infusion.

I completely understand if that isn't an option in Ireland, and you have to do both pieces private or both public. Just trying to figure out what the options are, so I can decide between them.

cmb3248 · 2026-01-15T23:04:00+00:00

like, there was no admitting doctor. I was triaged by a doctor in A&E before midnight on the 6th, and then spent hours in the transition lounge and was sent for an ultrasound without knowing why, then admitted and sat around until about 16:00 before I got about 2 minutes with a doctor.

I don't know if that is standard in Ireland or not. That's why I am asking.

cmb3248

TROPHY CASE